Bittersweet

The changing season has me thinking fondly of several lovely fall trips. Like a couple years ago to Italy and the afternoon spent in the big park in Rome. A surprisingly relaxing day in a crazy busy city.

I am enjoying my belated Thanksgiving long weekend by devoting it entirely to a quilting project and restocking my freezer with hearty soups - the perfect antidote to the cooling weather. Yesterday I made a favourite I often return to - noodle soup from 101 Cookbooks, but I got a bit carried away with the lentils and noodles, so now it's more stew than soup. Today I made Italian chicken soup from the Pioneer Woman. I scaled down the recipe a bit because the first time my jumbo pot wasn't big enough. This soup does involve many pots and pans and multiple steps, but it's totally worth the extra effort - and that's coming from a pretty lazy one-pot casserole kinda cook. Tomorrow I plan on making again this spicy Indian vegetable soup from Jamie Oliver. Then my freezer and me will be ready for the cool weather.

I made the switch from homemade iced tea to steaming mugs of tea. But nothing as fancy as this old English tea shop in Rome at the foot of the Spanish steps. The place setting was so lovely and the tea and treats delicious.

Sadly though, fall means my cycling season is coming to a close. If the forecast is right, I may have already enjoyed my last ride for the year. There's nothing more serene than biking through the countryside and all the fall colours. And I managed, with many extra and longer rides, to reach my second goal of beating my first by 1,000 kilometres when I passed 2,550 kilometres for this year. I have to say, that's pretty amazing when I think about it. That's about a third of the way across all of Canada! Now if only I had thought to have people sponsor me by the kilometre, I would have been able to buy a new road bike for next year. For now I will just window shop and dream of a spiffy new ride.