The theme for this meal is comforting winter food. With cold conditions (for San diego, anyway) comes a reason to stay indoors, fire up the oven and let the food flow...

I found a great recipe from Epicurious, but as usual altered it a little. I added a lot more orange zest, probably about 1 1/2 teaspoons. I was also going to use Mandarin oranges, but I forgot them. Also, I reversed the proportions on the vinegar and oil, used half a yellow onion, and added a dash of salt and pepper.

Potato leek soup has always been one of my favorites, and this variation is very easy. I used:

• chicken stock (about 1 1/2 quarts)
• 2lg or 4sm potatoes
• 1 turnip
• 1 parsnip
• 1/3 stick butter
• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 leeks
• 6 cloves garlic
• half and half (about a pint)
• salt and papper to taste
• fennel tops for decoration

Cauliflower sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets (top shaved for confetti)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup half an half
• salt and papper to taste

Honey-glazed Vegetables - I started with another Epicurious recipe, but I used cauliflower instead of parsnips. Also, the amounts for each of the vegetables was off, I just used medium sized versions of each, the proportion was fine. I used honey instead of maple syrup, added another clove of garlic, and more rosemary (about another TBSP.)

I pretty much followed this Suite101.com recipe to a tee, but my rum wouldn't light. Bummer! Still tasted pretty good. Also, I added some graham crackers to have a crunchy element in the mix...