Pretending to be cozy

Somewhere, as you read this, I am trudging through the rain and cold, on my way to a meeting I don’t want to be at, or I have left the meeting, and am standing at a bus stop, as annoyed as you can imagine that it’s raining on me.  I think that the friend who told me that I must have been a cat in a previous life was right, because I hate water falling on me. It makes me instantly crabby when there are spots of water on my glasses, and when the rain starts to soak your winter coat, because that garment is built for snow, not rain, and somewhere, I am bloody indignant that it’s cold enough that I have to wear a winter coat, but still raining. Rain, I am thinking, as I stand wherever I am,  is miserable. 

Somewhere, as you read this, I am contemplating that while I hate all rain, I have a spectacular loathing for early winter rain, and how cold it is, and how today is dark and grumpy and miserable, exactly the sort of day that I like to spend in the house, with soup, writing, knitting and a cup of tea. Somewhere, as you read this, I’m pretending that the 40 minutes that I was home at noontime, in between things to do, is what my whole day was like.   I am pretending that instead of (insert miserable damp cold errand here)  I am at home, blocking my finished Fernfrost.

Fernfrost is shown unblocked, here in my cozy house, where rain is not falling. 

Somewhere, standing in the rain, feeling it soak through the pockets of my coat and through my wool hat, I am thinking about this soup, which I knocked together in 30 of the 40 minutes I was home, and then ate as fortification against the rain. 

Just in case you’re wondering, and in case it’s raining where you are, and because someone will ask, and because this soup is so good, and hearty, and fast, and cheap and good for you…and vegetarian (and vegan if you use all olive oil and leave out the butter) in short, everything you would want in a soup…

Emergency Soup

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2-3 leeks (the white parts only, sliced very thin)
2-3 potatoes, scrubbed, quartered and sliced thin.
2-3 carrots,  sliced in half lengthwise, then chopped pretty fine.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
4 cups vegetable stock (If I don’t have any, I cheat and use water and 2 veggie bouillon cubes.)
1 can chick peas.  (Rinsed)
Parsley if you have it.

Put the olive oil, butter and leeks into a heavy bottomed pot, stir until the butter melts, put the flame on medium low, and put a lid on it.
Go wash and slice the carrots and potatoes. 
Stir the leeks after 5 minutes. 
At the 10 minute mark, add the potatoes and carrots, and maybe turn the heat up a little.  Stir, cooking until they’re almost tender, then whack in the garlic, and stir for about 2 more minutes. 
Add the chick peas, and cook, stirring for a minute or two.
Add the stock and parsley (if you’re using it) and bring the soup to a simmer.
Simmer until the potatoes and carrots are fully soft (this will be less than 15 minutes) then either eat it the way it is, or – for a really creamy soup (that has no cream) puree one cup of the soup and add it back.  (I always puree, but I have an immersion blender that makes it a snap.)

I serve it with warm bread and pretend it isn’t raining pouring.

179 thoughts on “Pretending to be cozy

  1. That looks delicious! Having trudged back and forth in the windy chilly rain to the dentist this morning, that soup is just perfection.

  2. I hate when the rain hits the back of my neck then trickles sloooowly down my back. It is cold (somehow the cold rain knows the weakest part of my body) rain going down my back and I can’t get away from it.

  3. it’s raining here too.
    i too had a brief noontime stop over.
    but no soup. i wish there were soup.
    bright side? wet wool on your head is still warmer than no wool on your head.

  4. I thought wool kept the wet out? time for the second coat we all had when young, to wear when the first one was soaked and there was still daylight and, well, daylight was enough when I was young.

  5. YUM! I’m archiving your emergency soup recipe immediately. Our weather in Chicago took a turn towards winter today too. And, we’re awaiting promised precipitation… hopefully of the snow variety though, because, I’m in a good mood, and having to deal with transit in freezing rain would really ruin thing. 😀

  6. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
    I hope the rain stops soon. Sending warm and fuzzy thoughts your way, I hope they will help on this miserable day.
    P.S. It’s raining here in Virginia too, but I think you have us beat on the temp part.

  7. That soup sounds amazing right now. Just the thing for holding off our icky too-thick-to-be-fog-too-thin-to-be-rain weather in San Francisco today.

  8. Loving the soup recipe. And make mitts. That’s what I’m doing despite being given hand knit gloves by my mom at Thanksgiving.

  9. I also LOATHE cold winter rain. Like the inches that are coming down outside right now. Blech. Thanks for the dinner idea! I even have all those things! Maybe I’ll throw in some turkey too.

  10. It has been raining here for three days. Now it has started to snow. I’m trying not to act like the stapler guy in the movie Office Space but I’m a little grumpy myself.

  11. There’s this thing called an umbrella that you might like to try. Then you can be cold and miserable but mostly dry. Here in Vancouver in the winter you don’t leave home without one…although today so far it’s been dry.

  12. That sounds delicious! must make sure to have leeks and chickpeas on hand… onions probably would not be as good?

  13. Can’t wait to try the soup!
    I hope you’re back home, warm, dry, cozy 7 blocking, soon. 🙂

  14. Looks delicious. I’m going to make some now. Especially looking forward to whacking in the garlic!

  15. I’m with you. Rain stinks if you’re in it. Not sure if you’d agree but I think snow is much much better, even at its worst. I’m amazed, in fact, that it would rain at all during Winter in Toronto, as I think of that place as either being wonderfully pleasant (summer) or cold enough to snow (winter).
    I’m working and schooling full time now and all I want to do is finish projects and work on X-mas knits. Thankfully, its not snowing yet here as that would be the end of my motivation to keep up with either school or work.
    With that, Good Luck and I hope it stops raining now.
    Cheers,

  16. Definitely a soup day here in Kingston too. Plus, I have a miserable head cold which I must have caught while on the train from Toronto last week (thank you to the passenger who coughed on me the whole way).I’m thinking creamy lentil soup (olive oil, onions, red lentils, water, salt and pepper). My idea of comfort food.

  17. Thanks for sharing the recipe; can’t wait to try it!
    We were supposed to have an early winter snow here in Atlanta, but it didn’t happen. Instead, ugg, we got rain too.

  18. It’s raining here too, but it’s a balmy 60 F. I like rain, but it’s late November and this is warm, too warm. Not even cold enough for a nice wool sweater. So I spent the morning having hot cocoa with a good friend and knitting, and now I’m going to make your soup, because it sounds delicious and I have all the ingredients. Then I’m going to make Christmas ornaments, because (and don’t be alarmed) Christmas is only 26 days away.

  19. So nice to hear someone else feels as I do about the rain. I thought there was something wrong with me but clearly that is not true! Hope you are home by now and settling in, warm and dry.

  20. I feel your pain. Just about to go out in a similar rain to get my kids from school–and maybe stop for some leeks and chickpeas to try that fabulous soup. Are you at least wearing Gwendolyn to ward off the damp and cold?

  21. Hey, guys, don’t you wanna all come to Brasil? It’s mild 26ºC/80ºF here where we live and I’m using a light dress, drinking pineapple juice while I work.
    But I have to admit that I miss the cool days of autumn so much… 😉

  22. As I look out my office window in San Francisco, I can’t see more than 1 foot because of the fog. And I happen to have all of these ingredients…I know what i am making tonight!

  23. Since I live in Vancouver – and moved here voluntarily from Montreal because I hated the snow – I’m not in a good position to complain about the rain. Wearing my own cashmere fernfrost makes the cold, blustery weather more bearable.
    Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  24. Soup looks good.
    I don’t go anywhere when I don’t want to, cause I’m retired!
    Silly girl, put a rain coat on with a heavy cardigan under the coat. I know you have the cardigan and I assume you have a rain coat. You will stay warmer and way drier.

  25. I could have used a cup of that soup last night. It was cold (by my north Florida standards) & rainy & I was totally under-dressed for it. Anyway, thanks for recipe. It looks delicious & I’m already formulating dinner plans around it.

  26. Steph, should we start an UMBRELLA FUND for you??? I live in Texas…….we don’t need them here, but I’ve been told they do work well for keeping you dry.

  27. I am compelled to make this soup in the near future. I wish I had all the ingredients now since it is miserably rainy out right now.

  28. Even though it’s sunny here in southern Wisconsin it’s cold and the wind is whipping around I am typing this with a mug of hot chocolate at my ready. Have to take car to the mechanic to get the power steering fixed on it. I still want to be in the warm house with a good book, a cup of hot soup and my knitting.

  29. It is raining here in the capital area of Michigan with predictions of this changing to snow and having 5-8 inches of heavy wet stuff by morning. You may have snow in the near future.
    Love the soup recipe. I do this with lentils also as they cook quick.
    Nothing beats that immersion blender. I would not live without mine and I have had one for years. It sure beats pouring into a blender or food processor to blend.

  30. Oh – that soup sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing. It’s cold and foggy here today. Perfect day for making soup and I have all those ingredients!

  31. I’m going to email this recipe to my two vegetarian cousins and some non-vegetarian people too. It looks great! Stay warm. 🙂

  32. This post makes me laugh as you visit Tina in Oregon so much! Born and raised here, expecting rain is like asking if the desert is going to be hot… You just expect it will be. I can deal with rain, but I hate the cold and wet, where defying logic, it still isnt snowing, despite all indications of the possibility with my breath showing and the biting wind. Regular rain is far more tolerable than the cold and wet.
    Thanks for the soup recipe! My parents recently turned vegan, so I am excited to pass on a soup made by a famous knit blogger. After six years of knitting, at least the words knit blogger don’t elicit such a confused reaction anymore 🙂

  33. I was eating soup as I read this! Leftover turkey soup, with homemade noodles. Your recipe sounds nearly as good. (-:

  34. A freezing cold errand running rain filled day is what I am having, too. I think I’ll make this soup for dinner. It sounds like just the thing I need right now. This soup, and a litle sleep will change the way I see the world.

  35. Why don’t you have an umbrella? Or one of those rain ponchos to put over your winter coat? They look dorky. But who cares if you are mostly dry?

  36. I completely concur. It doesn’t look nearly so bad out in Boston, but it is still calling me to hide in a big cushy chair with a book, knitting and old fashioned hot chocolate (made on the stove, not the instant from a can).

  37. Sorry, rain is my most favorite weather. I get cranky when it’s raining and I have to stay inside. We only get 9-10 inches a year, so when it’s raining, we all smile and talk about the beautiful weather we’re having.

  38. Rain is for children with new umbrellas and rubbers. Not for anyone else.
    The soup looks great and hopefully you will soon be home blocking and being warm and dry.

  39. It is not raining here, but instead, warm, sunny, and making me downright miserable. Forgive the furry, er, anthro connotations, but the moose in me is shaking his head, craving snow and cold.
    But that’s just me. You mention yourself as a cat in a previous life, and I got the image of a knitting cat with frizzy curly hair and glasses. *lol*
    And that recipe looks good! I’m not fond of leeks though, but I’m willing to look it over so I can boast I made a recipe from the Harlot.

  40. You need an umbrella; then your glasses won’t become speckled with rain and your winter coat wont get wet!

  41. It must be raining on the whole eastern half of North America, ’cause it’s raining here in Maryland. That soup looks incredible so I printed the recipe for the future. I have chili from last night, but frankly the soup sounds better.

  42. Thank you for sharing your soup recipe, it looks delicious and comforting. It’s raining here too, in Ottawa, and I too have to leave the nest to go run errands I don’t want to run. I think I’m gonna make that soup of yours when I come back home. A little veggie happiness in a bowl 8). Courage Stephanie, the days of the clear blue skyes and sparkling white gardens shall arrive soon!

  43. Thanks for the recipe! I love soup and chickpeas and this one looks delicious.
    Winter rain is no fun, but right now I wish for some to clean our windows that got really grimy from the dry storm we had a few days ago…

  44. The lace looks beautiful. To bad you couldn’t skip your errands and stay home to block it. Rainy and cold here today too. Hate this kind of weather with a passion. And bonus, we’re expecting snow later today. 🙁

  45. It’s pouring here too in Ottawa, and it’s a wee bit colder than Toromto, because…it’s Ottawa, and it’s dark, and humid and the windows in the bus shelters and the buses and the cars are all foggy, and my winter coat is soaked …..grrrr…..and I had to be in this mess to go to a doctor’s appointment because I have an awful cold that I can’t shake off…. blechhhh!

  46. What a fabulous idea! Emergency soup. I am a bit disapointed with myself that I did not think of it sooner. This is great soup, and I am feeding it to the folks tonight.
    Carolyn

  47. Thanks for the soup. It’s also raining here and somehow that makes it damp and cold indoors as well. At least I have knitted socks to go home to!

  48. you couldn’t be more right in stating there isn’t much, weatherwise, that is more disheartening than november rain, at least in southern ontaro. (Perhaps in more temperate climes, november rain is a gentle mist and cooling relief from the heat of the sun…sigh). but the misery of cold, early winter rain is only compounded tenfold by the dreaded “indoor recess” and “inclement weather bus loading plan”… {{{shudder}}}. at least the bell has rung and all are headed homeward. just pity the bus driver, confined to the space of a schoolbus permeated with “wet backpack” odour!! ti cao iff this miserable day of rain, i am going home to make that soup and pull out some good ol’ undemanding garter stitch!

  49. That soup looks perfect and I will be making it tomorrow night… so thank you!
    I hope you are warm and cozy now.

  50. Oh thank you for the soup recipe! I am very sick at the moment, and that sounds manageable, and very yummy. Sorry to hear you are probably cold and miserable somewhere out there.

  51. I just wanted to let you know how much I LOVE your books! I discovered them just recently and have since purchased almost all of them. Don’t worry, the other’s are on my wish list. 😉 Anyway, now that I’ve discovered your blog I’m even happier. Thank you for sharing the soup recipe, as it happens I already have cut up leeks in the fridge so soup it’ll be for dinner.

  52. For those of you in the East who mock us Wet Coasters as winter wimps because we can’t deal with a couple of inches of snow… how does it feel when the shoes on the other foot?
    Somewhere between Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en it starts. The winter monsoons. The range of falling water that goes from thick fog to mist to put-on-the-wipers to break out the ark. And it is cold rain. Not warm spring showers. It’s Gawd, there’s a leak in my boot (because shoes are only worn indoors) and my sock is socking it up, cold. Nothing like a wet mitt holding a windblown umbrella to make you fell forlorn. Unless it’s the rain / wind that is too strong to even open the umbrella and you just have to forge through it.
    No amount of layering of knits will help. It’s Gortex and tarps for us. Where you have a wardrobe of knits, we have a wardrobe of umbrellas. The big one for walking the dog, the middle one that you use for commuting, the tiny one that lives in your bag all the time. There are umbrellas in the car, by the desk, at the front door and promo store branded ones at the shopping centre.
    So I feel your pain and cold. There is nothing romantic about walking in a winter rain. No lacy snowflakes, no hush and quiet. We’ll be doing this until next April. Unless we get an inch or snow and then we can just give up and stay indoors.

  53. You should come back to SoCal. It’s been warm enough to need (or at least want!) the AC running in the car during the day. “It never rains in Southern California…” (Almost, anyway!)

  54. I hate the cold. Maybe it’s not even a cerebral thing for me. My body hurts. I move like a heifer trying to get out of a vat of vaseline. Nothing tastes very good and I can’t do nuffin…Even knit. So with all that going on, I do hate the cold, perhaps mostly for the knitting part.

  55. I read this post just after making a similar trudge. The soup’s making me hungry for supper and the Fernfrost is making me wish that I was working on a pretty lace project right now. Stay Dry 😉

  56. Great soup! I’ve already made mine for tonight– thanks for the idea. I subbed shallots for the leeks (since I didn’t have any), and added one stalk of celery minced, about a cup of cream, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a dash of cinnamon.
    And now I MUST start a Fernfrost. I have the perfect white alpaca waiting.

  57. It is raining here in (Ypsilanti) Michigan, too! and while I am not trudging around in it; I hate the cold greyness that is today and November.I am also not knitting or eating hearty soup or drinking tea because I am at work. After work I have a couple of errands to run in the cold wetness. Unlike some, I don’t like snow either. This whole winter thing is a bust.
    Your scarf is beautiful and bright.

  58. Yum! I’m lactose intolerant so I love it when I find something that looks that creamy without the milk or cream in it- and I didn’t have to figure out how to do it!

  59. I hoping you were able to hunker down and get warm. I’m with you…I don’t like the rain…or cold, but mix the two…it isn’t pretty 😉
    Thanks for the recipe…that’ll be a keeper!

  60. I read this post earlier today, and I thought the soup was such a good idea that I’m eating a bowl of it right now! Delicious!! Thank you for sharing. 🙂

  61. Sending you warm snuggly dry wooly thoughts. And also the thought that your evening will likely involve that soup, plus beer, and thus be better than even your lunchtime bowl of warmth.

  62. Argh. I’m sorry you’re having one of those days. I am having one of those weeks. In any case, I just wanted to say thanks for being you and thanks for the soup recipe. Strangely enough, I had everything here for it and my kids are sick, so perhaps this is the point where things turn around this week? Our plucky heroine hopes so.

  63. Sorry it’s raining on you as it has been on us. Brrr!! Soup was a good idea. Soup is always a good idea, so thanks for the recipe, and hope the weather’s better tomorrow.

  64. Ah, soup, soup, beautiful soup! (Thanks, Lewis Carroll!)
    I had beautiful soup for lunch, too, though mine was corn chowder and not vegetarian, as it included bacon. However, if you left the bacon out, it would be vegetarian, though not vegan. I ate it with a baking powder biscuit.
    Your soup sounds good, too.

  65. Umbrella has been mentioned. I carry on with me whenever I am away from home (it’s one of those small folding ones in a Bright! color). I have an extra one in the car that is rainbow colors. When it rains I wear a skirt because I cannot stand to sit/stand/walk/be in wet/damp pants. Yuck! I think a bowl of soup made with good veggies would be very warming in damp cold weather and thanks for the recipe. It is and has been raining here for at least the last 4 days, or it feels like it has been raining that long, and it is cold. Yuck! I have been knitting and drinking tea all that time and I am still not warm. Maybe Screech needs to be added to the tea and the gas logs in the fireplace need to be lit for the extra warmth. Cheers!

  66. I second the umbrella idea. In fact, at work today, i learned a new word.. Bumbershoot.. it’s an old fashioned word for umbrella. it was in a song that Dick van Dyke did in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
    and my cat (definitely on the wild side) *loves* to take showers and get wet and put his face under the faucet whenever he gets the chance.
    I prefer the soup and knitting myself. Thanks for a great post and a great easy recipe!

  67. The soup looks so delicious. Though I had other things planned for dinner tonight I have decided to make soup as well (lentil, mmm) because it is just as miserable here (central Ohio) as you described and I think my family deserves a warm bowl of soup tonight.
    Fernfrost is beautiful.

  68. While I’m not a fan of this cold winter-ish rain, I’m just thankful that we don’t have to shovel it.

  69. Cold rain is my very least favorite weather, too. Unfortunately, I am currently living in Norway, in a particular very, very rainy coastal city. (I don’t remember a day when it didn’t rain. No joke). Since it’s Norway, it is cold for most of the year, and since it’s Norway, it is very dark for half of the year. That half of the year, with every day full of gloomy rain and cold wind to throw it in your face, soak your mittens, and ruin your umbrella, and absolutely no sunlight, is definitely NOT my favorite part of the year.
    Thanks for the soup recipe, and for all the wonderful woolly posts; you’ve helped keep my spirits up in this weather!

  70. I know how you feel; what a disgusting day it was. I spent it subbing for whiny kindergarten children who were cooped up in their classrooms all day because of the pouring rain. I wished to be home knitting on my scarf instead of marking math books. No, three plus seven does not make eleven. Go back to your desk and try it again. That was my day. Thank you for the soup recipe; it looks delicious and perfect for this time of year. I shall try it soon.

  71. Thanks for the soup recipe. I’m making potato soup with pumpernickel sunflower seed bread. A baby outfit for my new granddaughter is on th needles. Bliss.

  72. It’s been raining here since Saturday at 11pm. It’s now cold and we have had flurries and rain today. It is WAY early for any snow here in N. AL. so I feel your pain as it is a cold rain and I do have to go out in it.

  73. In the fall and winter, I make a similar soup quite often. I might change up ingredients depending on what’s in the fridge/cupboard, add a little ginger or curry. It is essentially for the same purpose, something to warm me up right down to my toes.
    You could make a pair of these in no time @ all. http://creativewhimsy.wordpress.com/patterns/newfoundland-mitts/ They are really warm and open to many different possibilities for colours/yarn.

  74. Thanks for posting the recipe. I often have wished you would include the recipe of something yummy you have written about. Sounds delicious.

  75. One can NEVER have too many soup recipes. I have some parsley pesto in my freezer that will be going into this as soon as it is done.

  76. Fernfrost looks gorgeous and the soup looks to die/dye for LOL – couldn’t resist that – sorry – anyway, I will definitely try that soup. We will be getting the rain tomorrow. It is supposed to be 15 C with up to 25 mm rain. At least we don’t have to shovel it!

  77. Wow! I was looking for lunch inspiration, and by sheer coincidence had all the ingredients for Emergency Soup in my fridge. I can vouch for the deliciousness of the recipe – it’s fabulous. The happiest part is there’s enough for tomorrow’s lunch too.
    I hope you’re getting to have a warm dry knitting evening, with your beverage of choice!

  78. That seems like the perfect recipe for a cold, wet day. I’ve got to try it! Thanks for sharing it, I’m vegetarian too and find it hard to find a recipe that is meat-free and not tomato soup.

  79. Thanks for the Soup recipe! It seems like the perfect soup for a cold wet day. Hope you are at home safe and dry 🙂
    Even unblocked fernfrost looks amazing!!! I am still knitting on the BSJ. I know, I know it must be the longest time in history someone has taken to knit one. But it is my first time after all, and i don’t have much time to work on the bigger non portable projects with college classes. Hopefully over the winter break I will have more time.

  80. Thanks YH, have totally pinched this. Winters in Scotland have much less snow but one heck of a lot more rain. (Why one heck? Shouldnt there be more than one, just for emphasis? What is a heck anyway?)
    We’re currently drowning in days of rain. Dont move here. Thanks again for recipe, will be trying it tomorrow X

  81. The scarf looks amazing, even unblocked.
    And I’m going to have to try that soup. That looks fantastic.

  82. It only just stopped monsooning here in CT only after I got out my beef, potato, veggie and barley stew…
    I will try the soup too. I have some chick peas that need using…
    bjr

  83. Sounds yummy, will definitely make that. Isn’t soup just the perfect winter comfort food? Thanks for sharing.

  84. I’m so with you on the wet coat (there’s a limit to how many sweaters can be worn under a raincoat and let you still bend your arms), and the raindrops on the glasses. I also hate getting into the truck with a wet butt.
    The soup looks lovely, but as a low carber, I can’t (and about 80% of people shouldn’t) eat 1/2 those ingredients now. It’s amazing what dropping one’s carbs can do for you, although it still can’t make me tolerate fall rain!

  85. This looks so perfect. I’ll make it this week, maybe when the snow comes tomorrow.

  86. I always console myself with this: at least it’s not snow. Gorgeous scarf; gorgeous soup. Now you’re adding souping inspiration to your knitting inspiration!

  87. I hope you are home and warm and cozy now. Thanks for the soup recipe, it sounds delicious. I’m planning on some for tomorrow. Have you tried Mollie Kazen’s gypsy soup? It’s quick and delicious too, and also has chickpeas.

  88. Sorry but I asked for rain rather than snow. I am moving in dec in ottawa and don’t want to fight the snow.
    But I will say enough is enough. At 2 today I thought it was 6ish

  89. Yep it’s rainy and cold here as well. That soul looks and sounds awesome so I am going to have to wave to recipe in front of my husband (I don’t cook).
    As for rain soaking into winter coats…that’s what they make umbrellas for. *smile*

  90. I know exactly how you feel. I live in CA and when the rain hits like that it is horrible. Previously we lived in the Seatle are and it was the same way. If you dressed for cold it rained.If you dressed for rain it was cold and you were miserable. Is there no company who can make a coat for women to attack this problem? One that covers the bum and keeps us warm and dry and not overheated. Sorry my rant. It has never worked.

  91. I know exactly how you feel. I live in CA and when the rain hits like that it is horrible. Previously we lived in the Seattle area and it was the same way. If you dressed for cold it rained.If you dressed for rain it was cold and you were miserable. Is there no company who can make a coat for women to attack this problem? One that covers the bum and keeps us warm and dry and not overheated. Sorry my rant. It has never worked.

  92. Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. Your soup was the perfect thing for a sick friend staying over tonight. I love Leek and Potato soup but the addition of the carrot and chick peas – lovely! Thank you!!

  93. Thank you for the soup recipe! It has been raining here for four days straight, and while I actually enjoy rain, the damp chill does seem to get under your skin and stay there. Soup is good in such conditions 🙂

  94. I live in Ajax and concur – today was indeed a very SHITE day weather wise. Cold + rain = extra-miserable. I’ll take snow over this crap any day. Thanks for the sensible soup recipe.

  95. Ooooh, yummy tasty treats to ward off rainy, chilly, dark winter (I think many of us are suffering through the same dreariness).
    That fernfrost looks great already – and you know that blocking magic will only enhance it exponentially. 🙂

  96. I feel the same way about the rain, and oddly enough people have made the same cat comment about me.
    I’m going to pretend it’s because we share a birthday.
    Does it make me a stalker that I know we have the same birthday?
    hmm
    Hope not.

  97. Cold Winter Rain is why we moved to Arizona from Seattle. This post reminds me of too many mornings on bus duty, and then doing recess duty later in the morning.
    BTW, we had soup tonight too. Even in Arizona.

  98. We share wedding anniversary, and almost birthday (I’m 6/11). Thank you for the soup recipe – I know it will be deliciously put to use! :^)

  99. I feel the same exact way you do about rain! I hate having water fall on me and can’t stand it when it gets on my glasses or on anything wool. I like my wool to be wet only when it’s blocking.
    Has anyone asked you the stupid question, “well, what about when you’re showering?” Dummies.
    I can’t believe you managed to bust out that soup in just a half hour!
    BTW, I’m doing something I think is really Yarn Harlot-y — I’m knitting a shawl to wear to my client’s holiday lunch in 9 days. I only need to knit two points a day to make it! lol
    http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/11/yarn-along-pottery-update.html

  100. I used to live in Seattle. When it rained it poured. Now I live in California and I have to laugh at how the locals get all excited about a little rain. The TV stations go on “Storm Alert.” People freak out. It’s just a heavy mist to me. :o)

  101. I read this post about ten minutes before I had to think of what I was going to make for dinner and just bought leeks and potatoes. That soup looked so good I thought I’d try it. Though I used a combo of veggie and turkey stock so it isn’t vegetarian, it is really good. Hubby and I just had to argue over eating the leftover bit now or letting him save it for his lunch tomorrow.
    Thank you for the recipe.

  102. Hi Stephanie,
    Just a few words of comfort: contact lenses, greased cotton jacket (good for rain or snow), big umbrella, warm hat, gloves, socks, and boots. Having lived in Vancouver for ten years I now find the winter rains really comforting, which is probably just an example of if you can’t beat it, join it. Thank you for the soup recipe!

  103. And here I sit in Cameroon (Central Africa), wishing that it would rain and cool things off. It’s too hot to work on the Fair Isle sweater that I need to finish for my trip to the States in January. Maybe I should pick up a sock instead and be thankful that at least I can stay inside, out of the sun.

  104. Great scarf! I hear ya with the whole rain thing! Being a North Country girl, I know from experience that there’s nothing worse than rain when the temperature is really low, but it’s just a wee bit too warm for snow. That kind of rain chills you to the bone and it takes forever to get warm. Rainy fall and winter days, and days with snow storms, are the kind of days I just love to stay at home inside all day. I love to knit or spin while watching movies, and either make soup, bake something, or have something cooking all day in the crock pot. I just love that cozy kind of day, and I get quite a bit of my Christmas knitting done that way too. Sorry that you had to go out in all that crap. Yuck!
    Thanks for the soup recipe. It sounds delicious. I love my immersion blender for things like that. It makes such quick work of it and it’s so easy to clean. Plus you don’t have to worry about the top of the blender flying off and spraying hot soup everywhere. (Can’t you tell that I’ve done that before LOL!)

  105. Best soup cookbook — Saved By Soup, by Judith Barrett! 100 recipes for wonderful, quick soups, many of which advise using the immersion blender. One of the best purchases I ever made … cookbook AND blender.

  106. It’s raining here too in Sydney, Australia but I LOVE the rain. Summer rain is beautiful !! ( Well, Summer officially starts tomorrow but I’ll pretend it’s December )
    Thanks for the soup recipe. Never been good at making soup but I’ll give it a go. The Fernfrost is beautiful.

  107. Fernfrost is gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve seen one in that color before. And deliberately or not, your soup matches it. I may have to try your soup. Potato soup I make fairly often but never put chickpeas in it. Thanks for the suggestion!

  108. It’s rained for two days here; last night my DH made us some turkey soup from the Thanksgiving leftovers. It finally stopped raining late last night. I was getting pretty tired of all the folks “driving like a Nashvillian” around me, in the rainy dark! I have archived your emergency soup, and wonder–have you ever before put a food recipe (as opposed to a knitting “recipe”) on the blog?

  109. Fernfrost is beautiful. It will be wonderful blocked. Your timing is perfect. It’s cold, damp, and rainy here, so a good soup is called for. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

  110. I’m making that soup this week!! I’m going to add in a cup of kale as well…mmmm!
    Thanks for the recipe!

  111. Snow is in the forecast for today in Montana – today is the weekly Soup and Knit Day with knitting friends – a big pot of your Emergency Soup is going on my stove and bread is in the oven. It’s going to be a great day!

  112. I just put up 15 bean soup and a loaf of bread is rising right before I logged on to see this post. Today is DEFINITELY a soup day! Even the cat doesn’t want to go out! She meows to, but when I open the door for her she looks outside and looks at me and goes back to the sofa to curl up for yet another nap. The best thing about crappy cold drippy days like today is being inside with soup on the stove, bread in the oven and a warm kitty sleeping in your lap while you knit!

  113. Try being out in the rain in a wheelchair. The wheels are wet and cold and so are your hands. It splashes on the side, so your jeans are wet. If you use an umbrella, either you hold the handle between your ear and shoulder like a phone, or you try to push with one hand. Neither works very well.

  114. This soup just exactly used up the very last ingredients my roommates and I have on hand.
    Yummy–thank you! 🙂

  115. Thanks for the inspiration, I made my soup with red lentils since to canned beans were to be found in the pantry. Delicious!

  116. We had rain, and then it decided to become snow, and my son got stuck at one airport for a while due to the Chicago closures but made it back to NJ – glad I gave him extra $ for food! I totally agree with being a cat in the rain and I think the worst is I can’t wear contact lenses any more, and I seem to get cold easier when it’s raining. Curl up, eat soup, and wait for it to clear.

  117. That soup looks delicious! I’m glad I don’t have to slog around in the cold and the rain, but the soup is definitely going on the recipe list for next week, since the weather here is a little on the chilly side.

  118. Steph, you are a doll to share your recipes. Cooking is one of my least favorite things to do, and recipes are in short supply lately as I have had to sharply curtail the list of foods I can eat, and this will work! Yay! I confess too that I have used your basic recipe for granola (with lots of variations) ever since you published it. I swear you are a marvel–successful writer, knitter extraordinaire, and cook too!

  119. Yum Steph. I might make some of that this weekend. We are dipping down to the 40s for highs. (Don’t laugh Canadians!!!)

  120. sorry your day was cold and rainy! thanks for the yummy soup recipe though. will definitely be making it this weekend as we gear up for nasty, rainy weather

  121. Oh my goodness! This looks incredible. I’m so glad I clicked to your site. This is dinner tonight. Perfect for a rather brisk chill-to-the-bone evening that’s in store.
    Thank you!

  122. Stephanie,
    the soup looks lovely. And as a suggestion for a vegan replacement to butter or margarine, there’s a product by Earth Balance. They make a soy-free version as well and it’s delicious.

  123. My least favorite weather, which I get to crab about a lot here in the Chicago area, is rain so cold that you have to wear mittens while holding your umbrella. (The only plus here is that I am into knitting mittens lately, and this is another opportunity to show them off!)

  124. I tried your soup recipe last night and LOVED it! I’ve sent it to everyone I know and my hubby has requested a 2nd batch for the weekend. Thanks for sharing it!

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  126. Thanks for the recipe – I have had a window with this post open since last week, and have finally printed it out – going off to make my grocery list now! You can never have too many good soup recipes, and I have been trying to sneak in more vegetarian meals with my family.

  127. Thanks for the recipe. I’m working on it tonight. But what size can chickpeas? My grocery store only had a 19 oz. can.

  128. Serendipity – I read this recipe this morning and realized I had all the necessary ingredients in my fridge! Spent the morning making my own vegetable stock, then threw the soup together for dinner, which I just enjoyed with some bread. Delicious, and thanks for a fun day. 🙂

  129. I’ve copied the soup. I am also a “cat” in another life…HATE to be wet. Don’t even swim…
    The shawl is lovely.

  130. Ohhh-YUM! I made your emergency soup–carnivore style, which means it was adulterated with chicken stock and left over chicken–tasty.

  131. Thank you for the recipe. I made it last night & it’s SO yummy! Being vegetarian, I rarely eat soups when I go out to eat (because they’re rarely vegetarian). I love finding new (vegetarian) soup recipes because when Fall comes, I get the urge to make soup.

  132. It’s not raining here on the Central coast of California but it’s cold and yesterday I made your soup and it was delicious especially with some home made bread right from the oven. Thanks!

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