Soup

Last year I realised I was becoming old before my time, having developed a love for soup.

Well, as the winter months come rolling in (and we all know how much I LOVE this time of year - walking through Battersea Park last weekend through the leaves I could BARELY contain my excitement!!) it has become soup season once again.

And this year I have taken my love of soup to a new level. This year I have been making it myself!

It is a great way to use up all the rather mushy looking veg in the bottom of the fridge, it is a great snack, and can literally be made en masse.

My favourite (it took a few attempts, including one batch that was so spicy even the Boyfriend turned an interesting shade of purple on trying a spoonful - but have now got it down to a total tasty art) is red pepper and butternut squash.

My rather haphazard recipe is as follows:

1 butternut squash, cubed and peeled.
2 red peppers
1 1/2 pints of veggie stock
1 large onion
Paprika
Chilli flakes (but be careful - overly liberal use resulted in the purple faced and choking boyfriend)

Put it all in the biggest saucepan you can find and boil it all together for about 40mins. Then grab yourself a handy hand-held blender (got one from ASDA for a grand total of £4.87 - works fine thus far) and blitz it until it is smooth (although if your attention span is similar to my own you may lose interest after a bit, and therefore every serving you have is a bit of an adventure - lumps of butternut squash, large chunk of onion, etc).

It is easy to vary this recipe. I have added tomatoes, parsnips, swede, carrots, even mushrooms, all to a rather similar, but equally tasty end.

Serve with a yummy toasted sandwich (might I recommend a homemade egg mayonaise one - another of my newly discovered culinary delights). Either that or a part-baked baguette with sausage and tomato chutney. The perfect winter warmer.

Height isn't everything

I have a confession. After years of holding out, denying the benefits and refusing point blank to accept any positives about them, I have gone over to the dark side.

Yes. I am talking about Uggs. I remember when I first saw them. They looked like furry wellies. I thought they were hideous. As you may well know, I am a firm advocate of the heel. The higher the better. And yet, in the last few years my opinions have mellowed, and then, this winter, I finally took the plunge and am the proud owner of a pair of tall, black Uggs.

And they are AMAZING. They are like walking on carpet. Or on a cloud. They are like having paws. I can't take them off. I have even managed to reconcile myself to their appearance. And now, after the first true day of winter (cold, clear and crisp) they are about to become permanently fused to my feet.

The only down side has been the number of people that have said "Gosh, you're so small!"