Minnie's Soup Kitchen

I was very busy last month as I prepared for Christmas. My cooking ventures included making three soups from The Soup Book : zuppa di verdure, Brussels sprout soup and kichidi, which I first made in January 2013, December 2010 and November 2011 respectively. I'm not sure what happened to the kichidi when I made it two days ago, but pouring out the water in which I simmered the lentils, rice and ginger was probably not a good idea.  Jamie Oliver's Christmas rocky road I spread the Christmas love by making Nigella 's and Jamie Oliver 's Christmas rocky road. Nigella uses amaretti biscuits, Brazil nuts and glace cherries while Jamie uses popcorn, coconut and stem ginger syrup. Cut and put into bags left over from the older offspring's wedding, both types of rocky road were well received as gifts. A large cake tin full of Nigella's was put to good use at my sister T's house over Christmas.  Nigella's Christmas rocky road One of my colleagues p...

Eggs molee with vegetable biryani If you're still reading this blog then you'll know that my posts have become quite infrequent compared to when I was still enthusiastically engaged in my soup-making project. That started about ten years ago. I was gung-ho to work my way through the 200 recipes. Still, 170 wasn't bad going. Yesterday I made curried parsnip soup, which I first made in May 2012. It was very tasty and well received by the spouse and younger offspring.  So much has happened in the last ten years and even in the seven years since I first made the parsnip soup. The older offspring is now married. The younger offspring is at university. The spouse has become prodigiously creative in the last eighteen months and  blogs prolifically  about his accomplishments. I have dabbled in various things - poetry, calligraphy, comedy improv, knitting - but baking and cooking remain my favourite pastimes and creative outlets. So far this year I've tried about ...

As I write I'm listening to Summer Breeze sung by the Isley Brothers . Makes me feel fine.  Salted coffee, pecan & lime rocky road Lots of baking since my last blog entry. At the end of June I revisited a couple of lemon and lavender combination recipes - Bronte Aurell's blondies and Paul Hollywood's loaf cake. But an absolute triumph was Ottolenghi's salted coffee, pecan and lime rocky road . Oh yes. Make it. Make it soon. Make it often.  Now I'm listening to July by Mundy. Oh my my, July.   July is baking competition time.  The baking competition is just one section of a local horticultural society's annual show. It took place last Saturday. In preparation, I made sticky gingerbread using Doreen Fulleylove's recipe (Country Fare published in 1972) on the previous Wednesday and set dried fruit soaking in chai for my tea brack which I baked on the Thursday evening.  Pistachio shortbread I took a half day on the Friday and set to with m...

Usually I love June. After all, my birthday falls in June. Roses are the flowers of June and pearls are its birthstone. I used to assume that the weather would be good on my birthday and that I was entitled to good weather on my birthday. How innocent I was! Last year we had lovely weather but all was not right with the world. This year there is more to be positive about.  Cranachan cheesecake with raspberry coulis I have baked some very good cakes and other items since the end of April. Exactly a month ago I baked a cranachan cheesecake , using a recipe from Paul Hollywood's book Pies and Puds . My mother-in-law had asked me to provide a dessert for a family lunch and I was happy to oblige.  Orange and marmalade cake A second recipe from the same book was a marmalade and almond cake . A couple of people said that orange and almond shouldn't work and then they tasted the cake. Orange has been a surprisingly luxurious flavour or ingredient in anythin...

Last night I watched the film Julie and Julia which was the original inspiration for this blog. I'd forgotten what a good story it was. It inspired me to get back to writing. Long-term readers (if there are any) might recall that I began by working my way through The Soup Book (edited by Sophie Grigson). I completed 170 of the 200 recipes and decided to leave it at that.  Cherry almond cake (November 2017) Last year I revisited some of the recipes in The Soup Book but my primary venture was baking. I tried  out over seventy (yes, 70) recipes. There were a few personal favourites: pear and cardamom upside-down cake, raspberry squares, Brunswick buns, Bronte Aurell's banana cake, amaretti plum cake, pecan toffee shortbread, cherry almond cake (pictured) and Nigella's Christmas rocky road. My apple crumble cake received a first prize and best exhibit in the cookery class at a local show and my colleagues regularly benefited from my culinary adventures. Even the one...

June: my favourite month. Not least because my birthday falls in June. This year I spent my birthday across the water with my siblings but my absence didn't hold me back from baking at home. I tried five new recipes and repeated Bronte Aurell's banana cake recipe from Hygge and Fika . I made it to bring in to work for a departing colleague and it had the best reception of practically everything I've ever brought in. You'll find the recipe here .  Strawberry flan Blondies with lavender and lemon My other June bakes were a strawberry flan with rich sweet flan pastry, banana flapjacks, walnut biscuits, lavender cupcakes (from Norfolk's Own Cookbook ) and blondies with lavender and lemon (another Hygge and Fika recipe). The blondies went down well with the younger offspring's friends.  Words to the wise: (1) strawberries dipped in hot melted chocolate seem to start fermenting and (2) when you have whizzed lavender sprigs to make lavender sugar, d...

Over the land is April  Coconut and pine nut cookies Over the land is April, Over my heart a rose; Over the high, brown mountain The sound of singing goes. Thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson for the title of this entry. April activity This month I made Chetna Makan's coconut and pine nut cookies. Distracted by something, I left them in the oven a little too long. Even so, I quite liked them but I'm not sure that my tasting audience was hugely impressed. Easter bark with Smarties I haven't bought a copy of Good Housekeeping for a long time so I treated myself to the April 2017 issue. There were lots of tempting chocolate cake recipes but I opted for the fairly straightforward Easter bark recipe . I made two batches: one with the suggested chopped mini eggs, the other with chopped up Smarties. These were very much appreciated by my tasting audience. Sometimes I have to remind myself of why I started writing this blog: to encourage...

A Sliver of Silvia Silvia cake My first bake of February was the Silvia cake from Hygge and Fika . Buttery batter and coconut topping: it had to be good. I was rather disappointed by the cake's blandness. I've checked a couple of other recipes for this cake, none of which stand out as making it more interesting or flavoursome. Spinach and Spice Loaf Spinach and spice loaf This is more like it. Spinach, chilli, cumin, garlic and pinenuts provide rich flavours and texture. Definitely to be made again.  Rabbitting On A new recipe from an old book was Dorset rabbit from Doreen Fulleylove's Country Fare . Our butcher had a couple of rabbits for less than €10, so why not have a go? Jointed and covered with a layer of breadcrumbs and suet, this was a tasty meal.  All Square  Hazelnut squares One weekend I made raspberry squares from Hygge and Fika and hazelnut squares from Martha Day's Baking . I've had my eye on the hazelnut s...

Review of 2016 Berries and cream celebration cake for New Year's Day, 2017 Last year was a bonanza year for baking. I made a total of fifty different baked items, including a berries and cream celebration cake on New Year's Eve for a special lunch on New Year's Day. This total was achieved because of the baking competition I entered in July, a fund-raising coffee morning I co-hosted in November, and various other occasions during the year. Some items didn't work out well or didn't taste as good as I'd anticipated, while others were ambrosia! Here's the big list for 2016: Ale fruit loaf 17-Jan2016 Broccoli & Gruyere tart 23 Jan2016 Fig and apricot scones 30-Jan2016 Marbled peanut butter brownies 3-Feb2016 Cup cakes 3-Feb2016 Spicy biscuits 13-Feb2016 Lemony cookies 13-Feb2016 Blondies 18-Feb2016 Apple crumble cake 18-Feb2016 Vintage cheddar & walnut scones 18 Feb16 Morning muffins 3 Mar16 Pistachio & white chocolate shortbr...