Our Soup Menu

In our family we love soups! The other day, I was wondering exactly how many different kinds of soups I can cook. Count with me!

1. Carrot Soup 

2. Potato and Leeks Soup

3. French Onion Soup 

4. Mushroom Soup. This is my favorite as it reminds me of my childhood back in Ukraine when my cousin Katia (who is six years older than me) and I would go to the forest, pick porcinis, and make soup with them. I don’t follow any particular recipe for this soup; just make it the way Katia made it back in Ukraine. 

5. Split Pea Soup

6. Ukrainian Borscht. This is something I grew up eating almost every week. I don’t follow any particular recipe; just make it the way my mom made it (but without meat).

7. Chick Pea Soup

8. Lentil Soup. This is my husband’s favorite. 

  

9. Red Lentil Soup

10. Bean Soup

11. Butternut Squash Soup

12. Acorn Squash Soup

13. Spinach and Ravioli Soup. This one is the favorite of my oldest son Viktor for he loves everything pasta! The recipe was from somebody’s blog, but I can’t remember whose blog it was.

14. Minestrone Soup 

15. Cream of Broccoli Soup. We added this one to our menu just a few days ago.

Fifteen different soups! I can’t say which one is the favorite of my youngest son (who is now almost two), but when he eats his soup, he loves dipping his bread into it.

Many of these soup recipes call for chicken or beef stock, but I substitute it with vegetable broth to make it vegetarian. 
Can you recommend any other soups to add to my list?

Tea Time Tuesday

It’s been quite a while since I joined Tea Time Tuesday link parties. Today I gladly join Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for tea.

Things are quite hectic around my house now. The weather is spring-like (though we are supposed to have some rain tomorrow) and I’m busy with lots of cleaning, decluttering, and organizing projects. I didn’t have much time to treat myself to a quiet cup of tea.  

But today I want to share pictures of a charming tearoom in Krakow. I went there during my visit in Poland last September.

I was drawn to it because of its beautiful décor. I haven’t seen such amount of flowers anywhere before. There were real ones in pots and vases, dried and faux ones in pretty arrangements, flower prints on the tablecloths and flowers painted on the walls. And, of course, teacups, saucers, teapots, and napkins also had flowers on them!

And what kind of tea did I have? I flower one! It was a mix of wild rose hips, hibiscus, and some other flower ingredients. With my tea, I had a slice of delicious honey cake.

If I lived in Krakow, I would probably visit this lovely place each week!

Camellias in Bloom

One of my favorite things about California winters is that’s when camellias bloom.

Did you know that the tea plant is in fact a camellia? I only recently learned that.

There is a big variety of camellias and if you ask me which one is my favorite, I wouldn’t be able to pick one. For they all are gorgeous!  

Here are a few camellia pictures that I took while visiting my family in Sacramento last weekend.

And here I am in Camellia Grove at Sacramento Capitol Park.

Colorful Cushions

The weather has been so gratifying for the past several days with lots of sunshine and clear blue skies. Some of the trees are beginning to bloom and daffodils are pushing through the soil! It definitely looks like spring!

It might be too soon (as rainy chilly days might still return), but I feel like redecorating my home for spring already.  The first thing that comes to mind is the spring cleaning. That’s not too exciting and since it’s only February, I’ll postpone that task for now.

Instead, I’ll think up some fun and simple ways to brighten up home. 

Adding colorful cushions with cheerful designs is a nice and simple way to convert living-room and bedroom spaces to spring mode. Here are a few cute cushions that totally scream spring to me.

Spring is the time for birds to sing their jolly songs and make nests. I love these two cushions with the birdies designs.

A pair of cushions in floral fabric design would be great for an outdoor sitting area.

And so would be these tulips in retro design.

All these cushions are from UK home decor website Interior Addict.