Creative Differences

Mother Nature has been rather fickle lately. The past few mornings I have been greeted with a lovely warm, soft, golden hug. This welcome affection tends to linger until midday, when the baby blue sky becomes overshadowed by scatterings of white cotton-ball clouds. These fluffy additions look innocent enough, but come mid afternoon mother nature begins to feel a bit creative and arty. She whips out her grey-lead pencil, colouring in all the soft pallid clusters turning them a dark, looming grey, which almost guarantees an early evening downpour. Now I'm all for encouraging creativity, Mother Nature, but this makes it very tough to select an outfit in the morning. More importantly, it makes it difficult to decide what to eat for lunch.

Do I embrace the fact that it is still undeniably cool, and warm up with some comforting soup? Or do I look ahead and spring into the sunny future with a refreshing salad? Decisions, decisions…

These morning glimpses of sunshine and warmth have made me realise that, soon, mother nature will pack away her dreary grey colours in favour of vibrant yellows and bright blues. And it will be a while before rich winter warmers are on the menu. So, call me sentimental, I decided to put off sunny salads a little longer. I do love a yummy homemade soup, and so why not extend a good thing a little longer?

I decided to make a batch of Bill Granger's Puy Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts. It is from his book Sydney Food. This book has some great breakfast recipes. Last time I visited Sydney, I hopped from Bill's to Bill's across the different city locations, eating my way through his delectable menu.

This is a really yummy, wholesome soup. Delightfully rich, the earthy Puy lentils are the main champion of the dish. Puy lentils are fantastic as they hold their shape beautifully during cooking, so aesthetically you are left with stunning olive coloured little discs. I really recommend making the parmesan toasts. The sharpness of the parmesan is really enhanced by the wholesome soup, making it even more delicious. All these flavours work really well together, combining to make something special. Now that's my type of creativity ;)

See, we are all creative in our own ways. It is a great way to express yourself, and maybe that is all Mother Nature is doing when she paints a multi-coloured sky. So, I don't hold anything against her. Especially because I get to enjoy this lovely soup on these unexpectedly chilly days...

Heidi xo