creative space

I love soup. I make litres of it every year. It's nourishing, comforting, easy, economical, healthy and delicious. I took this photo a few days ago when the weather was wet and chilly. I loved the rain and it was needed. Our garden was showing signs of being stressed. Leaves were curling up because of water lost from the fierce winds we get here. However, it made the weather unseasonably chilly and soup was needed for a casual meal.

As is obvious, this stock will turn into pumpkin soup. There is little wasted in this household and chicken carcases, lamb bones etc are put in the freezer for later use. I took out a chicken carcase and put it on for stock. Some onions, the pumpkin and most important for pumpkin soup, some nutmeg. I really don't like nutmeg, but somehow it makes pumpkin soup taste better than if it's omitted.

Later: The soup was delicious. I blended it with a stick blender. Cut some chunky bread which I spread with garlic butter, I'd just made. Topped that with freshly grated good parmesan cheese and put the slices in a slow oven, about 140° for about 40 minutes. Cheese melted and bread was crunchy. Very nice indeed and enough left for a couple of serves.

The photo is a bit blurry. Sorry. My camera has been used a lot lately, and I didn't realise how low the battery was till I tried to use the flash for this photo and it refused.

Do you like the spoon rest? It's glass and is a flattened Redback beer bottle. Being glass, it's easy to clean and being made from a beer bottle is a bit of a talking point for visitors.