Turtle Tots What's cooking? Smashed Potatoes

What a day we had on Sunday. Easter and the end of March duked it out all day, weather-wise, to give us the full range of lions, lambs, and bunnies. We woke to a cool and lightly overcast morning, followed by gathering clouds and eventual rain, then closing with a crystal blue canopy by late afternoon. I took an early morning walk – or at least early for me, which is around 9:30 – with house guests from New Jersey, who were so thankful to have the warm weather, they didn’t even mind the clouds.

We walked the Hike and Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake, where it appeared that much of Austin’s population had the same idea as we did. The lake used to be called Town Lake but was renamed for Lady Bird Johnson after her death, in recognition of her leadership in turning the trail from an overgrown and polluted eyesore into a centerpiece for recreational activity.

And Now We Diet... What’s cooking? New Year’s Vegetable Soup

In many ways, I’m really sad to see the holidays go. I love the decorated trees and the twinkly lights, and the stars everywhere and the twinkly lights, and the ornaments and the tinsel and...did I mention the twinkly lights? It’s all so festive. Which is one reason I leave our front door wreath and the twinkly lights up through January. In New Jersey, it was a habit that saved me from a bad case of the winter blues; but even in Texas, where the weather is considerably more tolerable, January is climate-wise a fairly grim month, so I need those twinkly lights.

But I won’t be sorry to see the end to the gifts of cookies and fudge (really excellent fudge, by the way) and the family dinners (though I dearly love my family) – all of which include dessert – and the munchie-laden parties. I’ve felt almost overwhelmed in the challenge to keep from piling on the pounds. This year, I discovered a way to fight that’s not only pain-free but delicious: vegetable soup.