Minnie's Soup Kitchen

For the sake of keeping this blog alive I am making notes on some of my activities in 2015. Edmund de Waal's The White Road: A Pilgrimage of Sorts appears to be a collection of notes made as he strove to uncover the origins of porcelain while at the same time exploring the creative process. Not that I am claiming to uncover the origins of soup-making. 2015 was not a year for breaking soup-making records. I made six soups from The Soup Book : wild salmon chowder (3rd January), brandied lobster chowder (17th January), beef chilli (31st August), soupe de poissons (3rd October), chunky turkey (26th December) and minted pea and ham (28th December).  Baking Log I continued to bake frequently for fetes and other fund-raising events, baking being an activity that soothes me and the results of which bring pleasure to others.  From Martha Day's Baking :  Cherry marmalade muffins (15th January)  Orange cake (14th February) Toffee bars (16th March, 28th March and ...

Widow's Soup A quick search on the internet comfirms Sophie Grigson 's introductory remarks about widow's soup, namely that it is a Maltese soup. That search also throws up lots of recipes, all with different ingredients, so for now I'll stick with those listed in The Soup Book . You'll need onion, potato, cauliflower florets, carrots, a small lettuce (I used gem), fresh or frozen peas, tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, red wine vinegar, eggs and ricotta or goat's cheese (I used the latter). There was quite a bit of preparation involved, certainly not the seven minutes Sophie suggests. Who are all these fast peelers, skinners and choppers? Despite nearly two and a half years of soup making, I still haven't speeded up. So, after I had prepared my vegetables, I got cooking. I fried the onions until they were soft. Next into the pan were the potato, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce (if you were using fresh peas, you'd throw them in too at this point). I ...

This weekend I don't have time to make soup as I'm heading away this evening and won't be home until Monday night (St Valentine's Day). I thought I would just put in a few references to bees I have come across recently. Last week I mentioned "The Whole Day Through" by Patrick Gale . I had also read "The Cat Sanctuary" which was first published in 1990. Here's the quote from "The Cat Sanctuary": "Er ... What is it?" she asked, not wanting to appear rude. "Chamomile's the main ingredient. It tastes a bit like pond water but it works straight off. You might like a little of this in it." He slid her a honeypot shaped like a beehive. [From Chapter 15] One of the positive outcomes of jetlag has been the opportunity to catch up on my reading. I had a pile of books by the bed, one of which was Johan Theorin 's "Echoes from the Dead" (first published in Swedish in 2007, I think). I discovered his novels l...

As I have been away for the last two weekends I thought I had better make up for lost time this weekend. I've made two quite different soups, which was a huge undertaking as I am still jet-lagged and bleary-eyed! In case you're wondering, I was in Japan. Chicken Soup with Pasta The recipe for chicken soup with pasta (my forty-fifth soup outing) calls for chicken drumsticks, a mix of chopped vegetables (I used carrots, broccoli, green beans and leeks) and soup vermicelli. I wasn't sure what soup vermicelli was as opposed to ordinary vermicelli, which is what I eventually used. We had it for dinner last night (Saturday 5th February). The younger offspring, who is also still jet-lagged, was almost falling asleep while eating his. Neither the spouse nor I found this particular soup appetising, but we did feel it was healthy because of all the vegetables. The older offspring enjoyed it - he's very sporty and is quite careful about his diet. Except for when I bake. Or ...