When I think cozy winter thoughts I think candles, soup, and books. I love lighting a candle in the morning to remind me of God’s presence. Anyone else? Even though it’s not typical winter weather where we’re currently living, I thought I’d share some soup, Sabbath, and book ideas this weekend. Hope they are encouraging to you!
Soup
I’ve often quoted a mentor of mine who said, “If you don’t have enough margin in your day to take a pot of soup to someone in need, you don’t have enough margin.” As a general rule, I agree!
“Soup is cold-weather-dark-sky food. Soup is peasant food – odds and ends, bits and pieces, a way to stretch a piece of meat or a handful of rice… Soup is the wool sweater, not the little black dress. It’s the cardigan with elbow patches, not the pressed shirt and tie.”
shauna Niequist
Here’s a really easy soup recipe I give away a lot, and I posted another one on Instagram on January 17th if you want to look there.
My very flexible recipe for Chicken Tortellini Soup:
Sauté 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/2 cup (or more) chopped carrots in 1/4 cup butter.
Slowly stir in 1/4 cup flour and 4 cups chicken broth (box of Swansons).
Add some rotisserie chicken (I buy it chopped up at the store) and a package of cooked cheese tortellini. I also usually add a teaspoon of “Better than Bouillon”.
Years ago a friend gave me the idea of picking up baskets at garage sales to give away meals in!
Books
I have never used a book journal, but I feel like this one has enriched my life! If you’re a reader, I highly recommend “My Reading Life” by Anne Bogel!
It has so many great features, with suggestions of books in every genre, quotes, guidance for book group discussions, and of course a great format for recording your thoughts about the books you read.
I really hesitate to recommend books, because everyone’s taste is a little different. That’s one of the reason’s I like that Anne differentiates between your rating of how much you enjoyed the book, how well it was written, and your overall rating.
For example, I recently read Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – the same author who wrote A Man Called Ove. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed reading the book (the characters were really annoying), but it was well-written and it provided good insight into people very different from me, so I was glad I read it.
If you are looking for a creepy thriller, I’d recommend The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. If you want WW2 fiction about strong women, check out The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan. These books are very different, but I liked both of them!
And two more very different books… Live No Lies by John Mark Comer (non-fiction about culture, lies, our souls and Satan!) took me forever to get through because there are so many insights I wanted to think about.
And I’m halfway through Phillip Yancey’s memoir, Where the Light Fell
One Last Thing
I’ve shared here before that Sabbath is a challenging spiritual discipline for me, but one I think is important. On Instagram last week I shared that one way it helps me to think of is is this:
But that takes intention and preparation, right? And it’s going to look different if you have little kids from if you’re an empty nester.
Do you Sabbath? What does it look like? How do you prepare beforehand? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Thanks for the book ideas! I’ve not read any of them, except for Backman which I loved! Do you know there’s a movie of Anxious People? Also tried the soup. Thanks Laura!
No! I didn’t know there was a movie of Anxious People! Will check it out. My favorite book recently was The Girl with the Louding Voice. Just started Blue Monday on your recommendation!