Soup Day

It was cold today, the first snow, and I had some potatoes that needed to be used up, so I made soup. Yum!

* 2 links smoked sausage, cut in thin slices
* 4 medium potatoes, cubed
* 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
* 1 onion, diced
* 3 bay leaves
* 1 star anise pod
* pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
* salt to taste
* ground white pepper to taste
* water

Simmered for about 40 minutes until the potatoes fell apart. Turned out delicious.

Here are a couple photos of the snow and the cat watching it; it snowed again in the afternoon so in the end there was a bit more than is seen in the pics. Too bad the camera didn't pick up the swirling snowflakes. Since I'm on the 13th floor, the wind was blowing the snowflakes every which direction and the cat and I both enjoyed watching them fly past the window.