While the Soup Simmers and the Bread Bakes

I hear the weather's getting cool up north. Vegetable soup and fresh baked bread make the best Saturday night supper, and if you don't have a recipe of your own, please go ahead and try mine:

VEGETABLE SOUP

　

2/3 cup sliced carrots ½ cup diced onion 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 ½ cups diced green cabbage ½ cup green beans ½ cup diced zucchini

3 cups broth (any kind) 1 tablespoon tomato paste ½ teaspoon basil ¼ teaspoon oregano ¼ teaspoon salt pepper

　

Bring broth to a boil, add all ingredients except cabbage and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add cabbage and cook while you chop the zucchini. Add the zucchini last because it cooks fast. If you don’t like this mix of vegetables, make your own mix. Green peppers are good; so is celery; also potatoes. Sometimes I add ½ cup of rice. If you don’t have tomato paste or broth, use V8 juice or tomato juice as a base. This is very filling, yummy, and low calorie.

　
Gather friends and family, cosey up to the fireplace, TV and each other and remember: Life's too short to waste on the negatives. Now's the time to "live like you're dying," as the song goes.