Friday 28 October 2011

Baking & Making


Have been busy in the kitchen all morning, baking pumpkin and sunflower seed bread, spicy beetroot soup and a Bara Brith. Have never made one before but a friend brought us one back from her Welsh holiday and we enjoyed it so much, thought we'd give it a go. 

We got the recipe from this web site and used the lower main recipe but only half the quantity here
Here is a picture of the beetroot soup, which has been adapted from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.



Peel and dice 1 1/2lbs beetroot (weight after topping and tailing). Heat 2-3 tbls oil in a pan and when hot put in 2 tsp whole cumin seeds. When sizzling add 8 oz diced onion and fry gently until softened then add 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic and cook them until softened. Add the beetroot, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp crushed dried chilli and 1 pint of stock (I used 1 1/2 vegetable stock cubes). Bring to a simmer, put on a lid and cook for about 1 hour - more if you feel the beetroot isn't cooked - it should be slightly al dente. Add 2 tbls tomato puree and thicken with a little cornflour and water and adjust seasoning. Serve hot with a dash of yoghurt or sour cream on top. Enjoy.

Reference using my home made laundry detergent, I have just finished washing a pale wash and can report it has come out perfectly clean. I have read somewhere that if you have stains on your clothes you can rub a little of the detergent into it before washing. 

Got to make the spare bed up now as our DS and FDiL plus our grand-dog S. (we don't yet have grandchildren so S. is our grand-dog!) are staying overnight so DS can get his car serviced locally. A flying visit only but very much looking forward to it.

Here she is, about 10 months old now. Ain't she gorgeous!

 
 

3 comments:

  1. Sage is beautiful.
    Your pumpkin and sunflower seed bread sounds lovely. I love beetroot soup, yours looks lovely.

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  2. Those recipes sound delicious! How nice for you to have visitors coming. The dog looks grand!!

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  3. What a gorgeous dog. We have Bold staying with us at the moment , and I always refer to him as our grandkitty - he's the nearest I'm going to get to a grandchild from K and A!

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