Soup and sweets

[vaneramos]

With Sylvie and Sarah expected for dinner, I started scrubbing the bathroom this morning and quickly shifted into housecleaning overdrive. The living room, which mostly serves as dropping-off place when I'm here alone, still carried a full summer's detritus. This afternoon it all got sorted and put away or thrown out. I moved the couch, armchair and coffee table and vacuumed underneath, a job that only gets done twice a year (and that's a good year). After lunch, the kitchen received similar treatment. I hadn't planned to clean so thoroughly, but when the motivation comes you flow with it. I need to have the girls over more often.

I made Madeira leek and mushroom soup. Sylvie brought goodies from the bakery where she works, With the Grain. We had rosemary millet bread with the soup. For dessert we had three different squares, which we cut into pieces and shared. Sarah's favourite is the bee sting: honey and almonds cooked with cream, over a shortbread crust. Sylvie's favourite (and mine) is the hazelnut crumble: a brownie crust, with a layer of homemade raspberry jam and a crumble topping made with roasted hazelnuts. I'll be shopping at With the Grain more often.

Comments

[halation.livejournal.com]

that sounds really good--the soup-- is it vegetarian? if so could you post the recipe???

mmmmm... leeks. i planted some in our winter garden; fingerscrossed they'll grow.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The recipe calls for beef stock, which contributes a distinctive flavour, but I don't see why you couldn't substitute vegetable stock and experiment with seasoning. Here's how I make it.

Sauté one finely sliced leek, one cup of chopped onion and two minced garlic cloves for 10 minutes until soft. Add 2½ cups (beef) stock, one cup peeled, diced potato and a healthy pinch of rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potato is soft, then purée and keep warm. Sauté 12 ounces of sliced mushrooms for five minutes or until tender, add 1/3 cup Madeira (any port or sherry will do, I used Amontillado) and cook for two minutes. Add to potato mixture, stir in 1/2 cup milk and serve hot.

This is adapted from Rose Reisman Brings Home Light Cooking from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and is perfectly delicious as a low-fat recipe made in non-stick software using minimal vegetable oil for the sautéeing, but I tend to use generous amounts of butter.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Sautéeing in software will make a terrible mess. Use cookware.

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

Well instead of a spring cleaning, I think a fall cleaning can be, and often is, a better alternative.

Now as for the word detritus, thankfully www.dictionary.com helped me out with that meaning. Occasionally I actually look up words. It helped to define this one. I have never heard it before today. Ironically, it is the word that I need to use here. I have massive amounts of detritus about the house.

Maybe it's time for me to do a fall cleaning? Um...no. *laughs*

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's been a pleasure filling your vocabulary.

[bigmacbear]

I'm still somewhat amused from the time danthered -- inadvertently or intentionally, it matters not which -- spelled this word detroitus in a posting.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Haha, that sounds like a true dantheredism.

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

filling my vocabulary?

Hmmm...interesting use of words there.

I wouldn't mind you filling other things too. *evil grin*