Dark Days Challenge report

The cat of the day is Mr. Grey, who decided to live here a number of years ago. He has the most beautiful markings on his face, and the most annoying habit of poking the humans in the face when they're asleep.

The past few weeks have featured meals that will sound familiar to readers of this blog. The soup I made this week was new though! I dug through the veggies in the freezer and the storage cupboard to produce a soup with all local vegetables: garlic, red onion, Lima beans, white kidney beans, green beans, tomatoes, cabbage, and corn. Tomato and veggie stock were also local and made by me. Non-local ingredients were salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

This week I also tried spaghetti and meatballs again. The meatballs were actual ball shapes this time, at least until I browned them. Judging by the wave of garlic that hit me when I opened the leftovers, I should have called it spaghetti, garlic and meatballs.

I also made chicken breasts with gravy, broccoli, and mashed purple potatoes and leeks. I used chicken and stock from the local poultry butcher, and the gravy was amazing as a result. My own chicken stock clearly needs some work.

We've also had cottage ham with sweet potatoes, corn, and Brussels sprouts with leeks - that was the last of the fresh leeks. There's still a cup or so of chopped leeks in the freezer, and I wish I had more of them.

The potatoes and onions are almost gone, save for the root cellar experiment. I should probably check on that soon (In the garage I have a cooler filled with sand and potatoes, carrots, and turnips.) I look forward to seeing what tomorrow's winter market will bring.