Souper Dooper

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but it’s winter. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the rest of the world had stopped, as apart from this fact, we had precisely 2 news stories on the 1 o’clock news today (something about the PM and…err, something else so interesting that I’ve already forgotten it). Everything else was some variation of the weather. Why we have to act so surprised at the cold and the snow (okay, and frost, and -18 temperatures, running out of grit/salt) etc. is beyond me. Aren’t we supposed to expect it at this time of year? Ach, perhaps I’m getting old, but when I was young – you can go make a cup of tea while I reminisce about my childhood in the 60′s in Glasgow – we had REAL snow, 2 foot long icicles, and snowmen as big as my Dad. I don’t remember schools closing either. The good old days (and if Andy makes just one more comment about me using wax tablets and a stylus to write with, I’m going to hit him. Hard) when we had coal fires, no central heating, and chilblains took the place of fashion tights.

Sorry, I’ll stop ranting now and post the soup recipe that’s getting us through lunchtimes at the moment.

Vegetable Soup

1. 5 carrots
2. 3 parsnips
3. 2 onions
4. 4 medium potatoes
5. 4 pints of vegetable stock
6. 1/2 pack of fresh spinach

Peel and roughly chop the first 4 ingredients. Place in a large stock pan and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmering point. Leave, uncovered for about an hour. Use a skewer to check that all the vegetables are very soft, and then add the half a bag of spinach. Once this has wilted, liquidise the soup in batches until most of the lumps have gone. I usually leave a few for texture. Return the soup to the pot and heat it through.

Check your seasoning and serve with a roll – home made, of course.