Winter Soup #1

I came across a second-hand copy of Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest at lovely Berkelouw Books in Leichhardt the other day, and was inspired by the soup chapter to start a little weekly soup project. I kicked it off with the first soup in the book - a plain vegetable soup that was surprisingly good for such a simple, stock-less recipe.

I've adapted it slightly - you could probably throw in anything, to be honest. It was a lovely Sunday-afternoon-in-winter exercise - a walk to the local vegie shop for the ingredients, back for a session of chopping, slicing and dicing, then to the couch with some knitting while the soup simmered away on the stovetop.

Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Soup

Combine in a big pot 1 diced potato, 2 diced onions, half a chopped cabbage, 200g sliced mushrooms, 1 stalk of celery finely diced, 1 carrot diced, enough water to cover, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 bay leaves. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Core three tomatoes and drop them into the simmering soup until their skins loosen. Fish them out, peel, remove seeds and chop flesh. Return to soup with 1.5 cups of tomato juice. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Add 6 cloves garlic, chopped, 5 shallots (scallions) sliced, and a medium zucchini, diced. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Season to taste. 

Serve topped with fresh chopped herbs (whatever you like) and some grated parmesan cheese, with good sourdough buttered toast on the side.

Note: I threw some leftovers in the blender a few days later and it was delicious as a pureed soup too.

Red T

This will no doubt be the first of many knitting posts as I've been knitting like a crazy woman this winter, inspired by new babies, cold weather and the words of other bloggers who find ways of knitting a row here and a row there in an otherwise busy day. This particular pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies , which I was pleased to find at my local library one day recently.  It's the Ribbon-Tied Wool Vest and I used Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4ply in this beautiful rich red, as you can see in the photo above. It's a tiny little T-shirt and a little bit vintage, which is very appealing to me at the moment. I didn't knit it for anyone in particular so I'll put it away for a rainy day and see what happens.

I have a little project in the kitchen planned to see out the rest of this grey, wet winter. More on that soon...

Two

The very recent birthday of the now two-year-old deserves a mention. Little Soss and her ladybird cake, surrounded by friends and family on a weekend full of parties and presents. I was determined to make it a plastic-free birthday, after two years of watching her play space fill with mass-produced toys that make loud noises and break easily. I was successful to a point - buying books and crayons and other art supplies to try and encourage the budding creative within. But wouldn't you know, at an earlier party with her other two-year-old cohorts, we drew presents out of a hat, and she ended up with a big plastic contraption with a zillion little pieces of plastic to accompany it - a cash register with plastic money, a plastic credit card, and a plastic shopping basket full of plastic fruit and groceries. And she LOVES it...which is the only reason I've resisted packing it up in a bag and dropping  it in the Vinnie's bin.

I've found a bunch of patterns for knitted fruit and vegies, and when I get around to making them, I'll dispose of the plastic stuff. Wood and wool are the objectives. In amidst this, the natural and handmade are becoming important to me.

Happy Two, my little one xx

starting...

I've been procrastinating for too long about starting this - waiting for the right time, a symbolic time, a concrete idea, perhaps. Well, enough. Time to begin, let the idea form as it flows. This is my place to get writing again, to practise some sort of discipline or routine, to keep a bit of a record of the things I shouldn't be forgetting about.

Along the way I'll show off the knitting/cooking/creating/playing that fills my days. I approach this with no end goal in mind. Let's just see how it goes.