Love the cold weather.

So, the weather here in Pittsburgh has been on the cool side for the past few days, which has inspired both my thoughts on the holidays and my productivity in the kitchen.  I am not, nor will I ever be, known as someone who is good in the kitchen.  The words domestically challenged come to mind when I usually think about my kitchen endeavours.  But, I have managed to find a few things that I can make, and that I make well.

The first seems to be soup.  Especially soup that you can make in the crockpot.  Being that it is cooler, and I am trying to stock the freezer a bit, I decided to try a few new soup recipes.  The first is a nice, basic vegetable soup.  This soup was not done in the crock pot, but it did turn out nicely.  I went with this basic recipe http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-plans/soup-diet-basic-recipe-1007 but I doctored it a little.  I added some canned veggies that I had and I used different kinds of canned tomatoes.  I love trying the new flavored canned diced tomatoes because it adds some subtle flavor without having to put a lot of seasoning in to the soup.  The nice things about this recipe too is that variations are included, and the basic soup if made according to the recipe, has so few calories, but it is so filling!!! 

Another soup recipe that I love is a Paula Deen recipe for Taco Soup found here http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/taco-soup-recipe/index.html.  This soup again is great because it utilizes lots of things that can be kept on hand and it tastes great.  Especially when you add taco chips, cheese and sour cream!

Both of these recipes are easy (or I wouldn't make them!) and they make lots so they can stock the freezer! 

The second thing I love making in cold weather is things with pumpkin.  Two favorites are pumpkin bread and pumpkin pound cake.  The nice thing about baking breads such as pumpkin or banana is that they can be frozen and pulled out at a later date, say DURING THE HOLIDAYS, when company may stop over, or you need a quick hostess gift!  Just wrap in a nice fabric napking, tie with some raffia and include a copy of the recipe and voila!!!

Now being that I worked last night, I didn't get a chance to make my fall to-make list.  No fears -- the list is coming!!!