A Season Fit For A Hearty Soup.

A meaty broth.

Even a novice kitchen dweller can rustle up a pot of soup. Note, not a cup of soup that just needs hot water, but a real soup with real vegetables and or meat.

Basically, you could just throw a whole lot of cut up stuff into a big soup pot, add plenty of water, salt and pepper and let it stew for a few hours. Easy enough. Add in a hand held blender and even the look of it is divine. Blend the chunks right out of your soup.

My dad taught us how to make a real meaty soup and it is both of our favourite. Friday is usually the day to make it, as the local shop has a nice piece of beef fresh from the butcher's and surprisingly cheap. We merely fry up onions, toss in the meat to brown it slightly, add plenty of water and a soup vegetable mix:

Not a stock cube, but that rather strange arrangement offered in the vegetable section: Carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips and a leek.

When you make your own soup, you learn to be patient. A meaty broth can't be hurried. The meat needs to be so tender that when even a hint of spoon comes near, it just crumbles off the bone in surrender before it.

Often cooking is seen to be too complicated for novices, but soups are a good place to start. You really can't go wrong and if you do, it isn't the end of the world either.

Blend, season and add cream.

A lot of homes in our village have two stoves in their kitchens. An electrical stove and an old fashioned wooden stove. Like a sort of Aga stove. Very cozy and romantic. It is lit first thing in the morning ( it uses wood ) and is used the whole day long making the kitchen the place to hang out in winter. Warm and cozy with the added benefit that you can have pots of soups simmering all day without even using a amp of electricity.

Biggi