Mouth Watering

My mouth is watering. Partly because I forgot to eat lunch (so busy and excited was I about completing the final stages of the marketing project I am doing) but partly because there has been a shift to the season.

It's still winter, and I've lived here long enough to know we can still expect more snow yet. But the mornings brighten earlier, dusk falls later, and there is a definite springiness to the world.

I'm a compulsive menu planner, always planning two weeks ahead and fitting in new recipes among the tried and true we all love. And menu plans, like the seasons, have a natural flow to them. Summer grills yield gracefully to the soups and harvest fare of fall, which in turn gives way to the hearty casseroles and slow-cooked meals of winter.

This spring-like shift in season speaks to me of a new food palatte. Lighter, greener, more delicate, like the spring snowdrops which will be popping up in the next month or so. And I've started to think about lightening the menu a little, switching it up. I've been tossing around some ideas, such as:

• Taking out Chicken Pot Pie and replacing it with Chicken Crepes in Chardonnay Sauce;
• Switching Cream of Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup with Cream of Asparagus with Parmesan or (heaven) Fiddlehead Soup drizzled with creme fraiche and pepper;
• Taking the Salmon en croute out of its pastry crust and serving it sauteed and herbed on a bed of minted peas;
• Swapping decadent chocolate brownies for a light cream cheesecake topped with lemon and blueberries (a recipe stolen shamelessly from Chez Piggy in Kingston).

I have to go now before I drool over the computer.