After preparing and cooking somewhat elaborate meals on weekdays we take a bit of a break on the weekend. In the winter that means cooking soups for winter comfort for weekend meals. A hot piping soup aromatic with vegetables and herbs, or one with an assortment of pulses and herbs in a chicken stock just calls out comfort. On Saturday I bake rolls to go with soup and together with a bit of different types of hard cheeses it makes for a complete meal, with fresh fruit to finish off.

Yesterday's soup was an assortment of dried peas and beans, chopped garlic, leeks and tomato paste and herbs. It's great to  have the fragrance of simmering soup waft through the  house on cold winter days. Yesterday's greeted us as we returned from a very late afternoon trek through the woods. And this time the soup was complemented with grilled cheese sandwiches.

 It's become a bit reckless to enter the forest without good cleats for gripping on the trails that have become extremely icy over the past several weeks. That's the result of much milder than usual temperatures day after day along with rain, instead of snow. The end result is the snowpack having melted and leaving behind solidly frozen trails where ascending and descending hillsides becomes treacherous. Irving had bought new cleats for both of us, updated and better designed, only his just weren't as good as those he bought for me. Even with his new cleats on he was unable to get a good purchase on the ice. 

So Saturday morning he braved the frantic shopping crushes and found a pair of cleats in his size that had the gripping features of mine, and wearing them made a world of difference. Each step on the ice produces a firmly reassuring clip as the teeth on the cleats dug into the ice. Which meant we're both now equipped with heavy-duty icers and we can relax, the tension evaporates and we climb or descend the hills with confidence.

 

We were out much earlier today. Yesterday's ravine circuit took place mostly in the dark; fortunately there was enough snow left on the forest floor to emit light and we're so familiar with the forest and its trails, darkness doesn't present much of a problem since the lights from the city tend of bounce off clouds and reflect down on the forest.

 

Although we enjoyed mild temperatures just above freezing, a heavily clouded sky meant that the forest interior was dark, even at noon. But we had an enjoyable trek through one of our circuits, and a fair number of dogs familiar with the cookie man ran happily at us through the course of the circuit, as their people waited patiently on other trails from where their pets had left to find us after hearing Jillie's incessant barking invitations.