Caramelized Onion & Carrot Soup + A Walk Through The Seasons

It wouldn’t be exactly true to say that I woke up to rain. Still, a heavy blanket of fog swaddled our little yellow house on the hill, and the ground was wet enough that I can imagine it may have rained overnight.

Bundled up in my red winter coat, I leashed up the pooch and went for a long walk in McLaren Park. Despite what folks say, we do have seasons in California.

Sometimes, we live with evidence of all of them at once. Just today, as Ruby and I tromped through mud and autumnal fallen yellow leaves, I also bathed in the smell of winter’s piney conifers. These firs, lush yet strangely expectant, as if they’re just waiting to be strung with shiny glass balls.

Just a short way down the path, I was surprised to find evidence of the first blackberry blossoms, a reminder that summer will come and provide mounds of juicy berries- rife for the foraging.

I found pink cottage roses wet with dew, spiders spinning sparkly webs, dazzlingly-bright yellow flowers, shy mushrooms peeking from beneath blades of grass, and nasturtiums- from whom I stole a sip of spicy nectar. When I left the cover of the tress and came upon a grassy playground, robins sang while hunting for fat little worms.

You see all the seasons, right there before me.

As we neared the end of our walk, a few raindrops fell. Tucking my camera into my coat and quickening my pace, I looked forward to the decidedly wintery soup waiting for me at home.

Tagged as: carrot, Comfort Food, dog, Gluten Free, Healthy, hearty, McLaren Park, Olive Oil, onion, organic, potato, Ruby, San Francisco, seasonal, Soup, Spicy, The Excelsior, vegan, winter