Parsnip soup

In my last post I mentioned that I was looking for ideas for recipes using parsnips as mine have done really well this year.  Moonroot left a comment suggesting soup which is a brilliant idea as I often have soup for lunch in the winter.  After a quick google search I chose this recipe as a starting point.

I changed it a bit to use ingredients I already had and ended up simmering (in enough water to just cover)

• four parsnips
• two leeks
• two crushed cloves of garlic
• one teaspoon curry paste - korma
• half teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
• about a tablespoons of olive oil

It took about 15 minutes to be soft enough to blend using my stick blender. I had to add more water as I blended to get a good consistency.

I have to say that the colour of the soup isn't the most appetising but the flavour is brilliant.  I have plenty left so lunch is sorted for a couple of days.  It also pleases me that it is very economical.  Since my leeks and parsnips were grown from saved seed they cost me virtually nothing so the cost must work out at less than 10p a mug.  The ingredients above made enough for four portions.

Thank you moonroot for the suggestion.

At the allotment

I have neglected my allotment over the past few months.  Last summer was not a very successful year for salads and vegetables generally although I my soft fruit did quite well.  

At the end of the season I had lost a lot of my enthusiasm. Luckily the allotment didn't know this and quietly all by itself produced this midwinter harvest for me.  The leeks aren't very big but there are plenty of them and I will be harvesting them over the next couple of months.

Parsnips have done well after an almost total failure the year before.  We enjoy roasted parsnips but we have loads and I will have to find some different recipes to make the most of them.

Another welcome success was lambs lettuce.  I have never had much success with winter lettuces but lambs lettuce seems to be foolproof.  It isn't attacked by slugs and although the local deer population have been feasting on my spinach beet and american cress, the lambs lettuce has been left untouched.

Another reason I like it is that I no longer need to buy seeds each year.  I always let some of the plants go to seed waiting until they have shed most of their seeds before pulling them up.  If there are seeds remaining I give the plants a good shake as I carry them to the compost bin. After several years I now have plants self seeding all over my plot.  I have to clear some to plant other crops but I still have plenty growing all around the edges of the beds and even under currant bushes making use of vacant patches of soil.  In places they grow really thickly to form an edible weed-suppressing ground cover - all for free!

The rest of the allotment is lying still at the moment waiting for the spring and it is time for me to start planning next summers crops.

New Year thoughts

I have been thinking about New Year resolutions. I picked up a pen this morning to scribble down a list.  Then I decided that I have enough lists in my life already.  My days are run by lists and there aren't many mornings when I don't have a new list in my notebook.

Having decided not to write a list of worthy things to do, I looked at the items on today's to-do list.  Although they all need to be done sometime, not one of them absolutely had to be done today.  Most days I get frustrated at not finishing everything on my list yet when I think about it, the things I am fretting over are not essential. 

One of my New Years resolutions from last year (and probably from the year before that) was to try to slow down, to stop rushing around frantically filling every moment.  This resolution has always failed as I invariably schedule more activities than I can possibly fit into the time available, making me always busy and always rushed.  So this year there is to be no list,  just a resolution to think a bit more carefully about the way I plan my time, trying to concentrate on the activities are the most important.  I'm not sure how I am going to do this yet, maybe getting the family to help out more or striking a few things off the list altogether.  

However I tackle it, 2009 is definitely the first new year that instead of making a list of things to do, I have instead resolved to do less!

Happy New Year

We had perfect New Year weather here today.  It was cold and quiet with a white frost.  We decided to walk a few miles from home and as we reached higher ground the frost was so thick it almost looked like a covering of snow.

It was like a winter wonderland, all the plants and twigs outlined in white.

After all the bright colours of Christmas, shades of white and grey were the perfect setting for a new year walk.

Wishing everyone a very peaceful and happy new year.

In-between time

The days between Christmas and New Year are an odd time.  Normal day to day life seems to be on hold as we celebrate the holiday for what seems like a very long time.  For many people this is a time to catch up with family and it is the highlight of the year, I wonder if I am the only one who thinks that Christmas just goes on a bit too long!

I love the winter solstice, the house full of greenery, lighting candles and the feeling that the darkest days are passing as the year turns on towards spring.  I enjoy getting the Christmas tree, cooking seasonal food and spending time cosy indoors with the family. Then by about this time every year, I've had enough and I want to resume my normal routine.  For us though, work/school doesn't start for another week - a week of in-between time.

Perhaps its my introvert nature, I like time on my own to think, to organise my time and to just potter quietly in the house letting my mind wander as I complete the day to day chores. I seem to need some down-time to recharge my batteries. The combination of four adults and a television squeezed into one room (the rest of the house is a bit chilly at this time of year) isn't really conducive to quiet and calm.

I'm not really grumbling, I do enjoy just spending time with my family and after all its just once a year.  In a weeks time, I shall be able to clear away all the trappings of Christmas and return the house to its boring, lived in normality - I'm looking forward to that!