The lighter, nutritious meal preparations during the summer months - inclusive of using the barbecue to prepare delicious meals - have gone with the collapsing season of fall. Time to re-introduce what we commonly refer to as 'comfort foods' with the arrival of colder weather and the coming of winter cold.

We need more energy to keep warm during the cold months of winter when we face dropped temperatures, high winds, snowstorms and other inclemencies of the weather. And the stomach-comfort of hot food in place of summer-type salads are a reasonable accommodation to the weather that surrounds us. So it's back to what we know best; meals for winter time that we wouldn't dream of preparing through the warm months of spring and summer when lighter, cooler fare does nicely.

For us, a small half-turkey goes a long way. From a Thanksgiving meal on Monday to dicing up the leftover turkey in preparation for baking turkey-vegetable meat pies. As good a solution as any, to using up leftovers. The pies, baked on Wednesday, then labelled and wrapped for the freezer. To be used on those occasional days when I'd appreciate a break from preparing an evening meal.

Those days, for example, when I've spent many hours cleaning the house, topping it off with our daily ravine walk, and knowing that dinner has been pre-prepared. I do prefer preparing meals on a daily basis but I also look forward to those times when a frozen preparation allows me a brief break in the cooking routine.

A little bit of forward planning and attentiveness to details on one day helps out on a day to follow some time in the future.