All my excitement over the weather in the last post was mostly for naught. We had about an hour’s worth of rain the other night. And today it’s back to being sunny, cool and beautiful.

But the nights are getting cold. There was a rime of ice on the Kia’s windshield early this morning, and the forecast for tonight is 29 degrees. Last time it got that cold overnight was in late February.

The sharp, chillsome snap in the air, along with the Japanese maple leaves that are changing to scarlet, yellow and orange outside my kitchen window, have combined to make me feel creative. Well, those along with the new cooking magazine I picked up at the grocery store yesterday. Daughter and I, while standing on line at the register, both saw the incredible-looking, three-layer chocolate cake with homemade marshmallows on top on the magazine’s cover and cried, in unison, “LOOK AT THAT CAKE!”

I bought the magazine.

Now, I’m not much of a baker. Each Christmas for the last several years I’ve made a really decadent bundt cake (super easy) and last Thanksgiving, I actually made a peach pie for the first time in my life. So this chocolate cake, while it truly does look scrumptuous and sinful, won’t get made until Christmas, either. We just aren’t big sweets-eaters around here.

But recipes for lavish chocolate cakes weren’t all that filled that magazine. There’s also a recipe for a wonderful autumn soup made with parsnips, yellow potatoes and leeks, turmeric, red pepper and toasted cumin seeds. I love Indian food. Need I say that this combination of ingredients just made my mouth water?

So in about 20 minutes, I’m making it. Steve just came home from the grocery with leeks and parsnips and potatoes. He’s offered to help me chop up the veggies, since I’m still battling frustratingly sore hands, which is sweet of him. I’ve taken a loaf of rosemary-potato artisan bread out of the freezer to go with the soup, so supper tonight should be intriguing, and, if I’m lucky, delicious. 

Thanks for dropping by. And wish me luck!