December . . . Oh My!

It's already December, the holidays are upon us and the Christmas craziness has begun! Yesterday we had our first little dusting of snow, it kinda symbolizes our first look at winter. It also gives everyone a wake up call . . . er shout 'Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!' Or that's at least how it felt yesterday at the malls. Yesterday was one of my days off and I had planned since the previous week that I was going to finish all my shopping in that one day. However since the snow sent people into a shopping panic mode, anywhere I went was super busy compared to the week before! Luckily I was able to finish my shopping, thanks to a well planned list . . . sorta. R and I still need to purchase a gift for his brother and his parents and their other halves. But I think I'm going to leave that up to him!

Today is my other day off and I am enjoying a very productive day at home. I've already made some banana muffins and granola, and now I've got some soup simmering away on the stove. I love, love, love soups of all sorts!! Today I'm making Sweet Potato, Carrot and Ginger, inspired by The Candle Cafes Carrot and Ginger Soup. I've thrown sweet potatoes in mine only because they were leftovers in the fridge from dinner the other night and I wanted to make sure they got used up. It's from a vegan cookbook that I had bought just because, and I use it for ideas when I'm not in the mood for meat based meals. I've made this soup lots of times before and it is one of my favorite puree soups!

Sweet Potato, Carrot and Ginger Soup

1 tbsp olive oil - 1tbsp butter - 3 medium onions, chopped - 5 large carrots, peeled and chopped - 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped - 5 cups chicken stock - 2 tbsp ginger (I use the pre-chopped stuff in a jar) - salt and pepper

In a dutch oven over medium heat, saute onions in the oil and butter until translucent. Add in carrots, potatoes, stock and ginger. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer. Cook until carrots and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and puree with either a stick blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper, thin if desired with additional stock or water. Enjoy!