Blessed

Well, I'm back.  It's been awhile, but don't think that my lack of sharing has meant a lack of cooking.  (Although it was substantially less this past week.)  My husband and I traveled back to our home state for a short visit.  It was much cooler there (some days 20 degrees cooler than home).  It rained a lot it seems, and Fall has definitely arrived.  The crops have changed, and are ready to be harvested.  Of course that meant that soup had to be made.  One of my two favorite soups is vegetable soup.  I make it like my mom does, and her way is the best!  (I was reminded of this later in the week, when I discovered that people put cabbage in their vegetable soup!)  The recipe will come soon, but rest assured that supper that night was delicious!

One of the fun things (for me) about the week was my chance to cook a couple of times for my family.  (The more people that I can feed, the more I enjoy it.)  I enjoyed the cooking, but it was also nice to know that it helped my mom out a little, maybe.  She works full-time now, and I enjoyed have supper ready when she came home one night, and partially ready another night.

My favorite part of the week (culinarily speaking,  No culinarily is not really a word, but I have an English degree and I can make it up.)  was the free food I got to bring home.  What?!?!?  Free food?  Yes.  I'm so excited.  Thanks to my wonderful parents, I am now the proud owner of...

1. Real vanilla (from Mexico)
2. Chili powder (from New Mexico)
3. Cilantro (I've been needing this for awhile now, and it's too expensive for a little bottle)
4. Bacon bits
5. A bag of chips
6. A ring of deer sausage
7. A pork loin

Yes!  A whole pork loin.  Do you have any idea how much meat that is, especially for two people?  Meat is expensive, and I'm so thankful that we now have enough meat to last us for a good while.  Be watching for pork recipes!

We were blessed in many ways on this trip, just one small, yet big way of being all of this great food.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!