It's officially Winter here in Melbourne and I couldn't be happier.  

We may not get the beautiful falling snow or frozen lakes that the northern hemisphere see, but we do still get to rug up in our woolly scarfs and gloves and curl up under blankets with pots of tea or bottles of red.

My first ever experience of snow was when I was 13 and travelling through North America with my mum .  We had set off from Las Vegas early that morning, travelled through Death Valley (with its 40 degree heat) on our way to Yosemite with its beautiful snow everywhere.  This was the place of my first every snow ball!

For me, and I'm quite sure for most people, Winter means comfort food, and nothing shouts comfort food than a hearty bowl of rich, chunky soup.  So when I was assigned this months blog for our Secret Recipe Club - Jess from Inquiring Chef - I jumped straight to her soup recipes.  Within 2 minutes I'd made my decision.

White Chicken Chili Soup

(see recipe here)

I'm a huge fan of Jess' blog (Inquiring Chef) as her stories and photography are just beautiful and fun.  Her personal story is also an interesting one in that she's an American who packed up her life and headed off to live in Thailand with her husband Frank.  I always envy people who have the courage to do this.  I'm not sure I have it in me.

Jess mentions that she has made the base of the soup much lighter by using plain Greek yoghurt instead of the heavy cream commonly used.  Being a fan of yoghurt myself, I stuck with this change also.  However, through having way too much on my plate this month, I had to make a few other changes at the last minute due to poor planning.  I completely forgot to get sweet corn.  I didn't have time to make the salsa verde.  And I had nothing green to add a fresh colourful touch.

Even with all this going on, I have to say that the soup was absolutely delicious....after I worked out that navy beans were haricot beans....who knew?!