By the authority vested in me (by my cat) I hereby declare the second week of January, 2010 as Vegetable Soup Week at the Mayer household. We opened our 50 ounce tin of condensed vegetable alphabet soup. The orphanage size. So we're having vegetable soup all week long. We'll be eating enough alphabet noodles to write War and Peace.

You might think I exaggerrate, but if Tolstoy had written War and Peace with alphabet noodles it would have been a shorter book.

Maybe I am going stir crazy and not just from stirring the soup. Usually the worst of winter has only just begun, but this year we've been snowed in almost continuously since the beginning of December. Luckily I got out enough so that the shelves are filled. One big tin of soup is easier to store than five small ones.

Also the propane truck managed to make it up the hill to fill the tank so we won't freeze to death. Even more importantly we have a 24-pack of Fancy Feast on hand for the cat. Come to think of it, the cat needs us unfrozen and alive to yank the pull tabs on the Fancy Feast tins so maybe the propane is equally important.

Tonight temperatures are set to plunge into the single digits which means we have to worry about frozen pipes. Still, there's plenty to look forward to this winter. Mushroom Soup Week, Broccoli Soup Week, Tomato Soup Week...