Stalwart Hearts & Squash Soup

It has been another cold rainy day here near the base of Mt. Hood, but in spite of the unwelcoming weather some stalwart hearts safely arrived in my mailbox from across the pond, and warmed my heart!  Mellie was my partner for a heart swap and she sent me a wonderful selection of hearts that she either made or gathered for me.  Aren't they lovely?  I especially appreciate all the time, effort and skill that Mellie used to crochet and/or cross stitch three of the hearts.  I want to find just the right spots to display them and the pretty wooden flower heart.  And my imagination is hopping thinking of things I can make with the red and white heart material, green ribbon and red heart buttons to share this lovely gift with others as well :-)  Thank you soooo much, Mel!

The cold gray day called for warming food so I raided the fridge and simmered some spontaneous squash soup in my crockpot, and baked some of Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread.

Spontaneous Squash Soup

saute a chopped slice of onion

chop: some celery

          summer squash

          winter squash

          zucchini squash

          chives

           slices of turkey salami

          several large mushrooms

combine all of these ingredients in the crockpot with 2 cups filtered water

toss in some yellow raisins

honey

cinnamon 

cayenne pepper

salt 

and a handful of raw spinach

Simmer until the house smells good and the veggies are soft :-)  Serve. Enjoy!