Long Winter Nights Ahead...

I know some people hate this time of year.  Long, cold nights, short, cold days.  Waking up in the dark and getting home from work in the dark.  All these things can wear on a person.

But I guess I'm weird.  I look forward to the long nights.  The cold I'm not so crazy about, but around here, one goes hand in hand with the other.  Why do I like this time of year?  Because it's comfort food season.  Almost all of the foods that I consider comforting are cold weather things- mostly because they take a long time to cook and tend to heat up the kitchen.  This time of year, anything that heats a room in my house is a blessing.  I love stews, braises, soups and roasted veggies- chicken and dumplings, shepherd's pie, gratins.  All these yummie things take time and heat.  And with nights as long as they are in the winter, BRING IT ON!!

We got some snow this weekend, and I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen.  I made some oatmeal wheat bread, some cinnamon honey butter, some Thai chicken soup...and tonight I'm making oven roasted ribs and baked potatoes.  This week I'm planning to take on shepherd's pie and maybe some kind of Moroccan lamb stew.  Oh- and another bonus of this kind of cooking.....amazing leftovers!  Lunches for school will take a turn for the fantastic!

I'll be blogging some of the things I made this weekend.  I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed making and eat them!