Tuesday, here in Richmond, we had a cold snap.  We were all settled in and excited about Spring; birds singing, flowers blooming, the smell of freshly cut grass in the air. Then Mom Nature offered her two cents about our vernal reverie. It got cold again and once more it was Soup Weather.

With an early Easter, I still had a recipe that I had meant to use during Lent but had not had an opportunity to fix. It was for Manhattan style clam chowder, the tomato-based type. Since Mrs CelibateorChaste? is lactose intolerant, she doesn’t enjoy the milk-base New England style. I am Bisoupual , can go both ways, and went Manhattan style for her. I had downloaded a pretty good recipe from the Betty Crocker website and started the prep.  Nothing goes exactly to plan when I cook, and by the time I finished the preparation, I had doubled the recipe. My trip to the store for missing ingredients yielded the fresh parsley which made the chowder.

Chowder simmering away, I took my walk. Upon finishing the walk, I covered the azaleas to protect them from the freeze. I was all settled in when Mrs CorC? came home from work.  We both enjoyed a fine and simple mid-week supper, more than compensating for the inconvenience of the untimely cold spell.

In the making of soup, stew or chowder, bountiful leftovers are a given.  Here is where the community piece comes in. Soup is meant to be shared!  Running down my list of likely beneficiaries, I decided my stepmother Dorothy would be the recipient. She is 90, and in no way feeble, but she has lived alone since Daddy died  in 2011. So when I dropped by the next day to take her to the YMCA  for her exercise class,  I brought the soup.  I felt good sharing it. I hope she liked it.  Simple Gifts.