This morning my
cleaner arrived early to give the downstairs rooms and the kitchen a
good scrubbing. Dust from the fires is causing havoc, leaving a fine
patina of grey ash over everything, and in spite of the fact that I
did some dusting myself a couple of days ago; the library and the
drawing room resembled Pompeii after Vesuvius had erupted!
After breakfast I
ensconced myself in the conservatory, and armed with two bowls and a
very sharp knife, set about carving our Halloween pumpkin for
Saturday's party. Even with both wrists strapped up I found it rather
a painful business and as I hacked out large chunks of pumpkin
flesh, I thought
wistfully of the plastic ones I had seen on ebay, lit by battery and
most of all involving no effort.
I think that the
time is fast approaching when I may have to resort to buying these
monstrosities, but not quite yet.
The pumpkin was a
large one and had won second prize at the Pumpkin feste last week and
I soon filled a large bowl with lovely orange flesh which I later
made in to enough soup to last half the winter. The seeds, bits of
tough skin and pithy bits went into a separate bowl ready to be
composted.
The result of my
efforts was not as good as last years, but it was adequate and would
look well when lit with candles and placed on the bench by the front
door.
PUMKIN SOUP
1lb pumpkin flesh
cut in to chunks
2 carrots
1 large onion
quartered
1 large parsnip
2 cloves of garlic
peeled
1 litre chicken
stock
1ltr semi skimmed
milk.
Salt and pepper to
taste.
3 tablespoons of
olive oil
Place the vegetables
in a large roasting tin and pour over the oil/
Roast in the oven a
200oC for about 30 minutes.
When the vegetables
have cooled a little purree them in a blender and put them in to a
large saucepan together with the milk and the stock.
Heat until almost
boiling then serve at once.
I often make pumpkin
crisps as a garnish for this dish.
Simply slice thin
slivers of pumpkin using a potato peeler and deep fry them in hot fat
until they are crisp and light brown.
Sprinkle them over
the soup when you serve it and leave the rest in a bowl on the table.
I promise you there
will be no crisps left at the end the meal!
I was glad to go to
my room after dinner for a rest and was sitting in my comfy chair
with the cat in my lap, when from under the bed the biggest spider I
had ever had the misfortune to encounter strolled out into the centre
of the room.
I felt uncomfortable
as I realised that it was heading in my direction and that I had no
chance at all of disengaging myself from the cat and getting out of
my chair in time to avoid having the awful beast run over my bare
feet!!!!!
Coming to my rescue
Twiggy jumped off my lap, pounced on the monster and ate it up at
once!
Within a moment she
was back on my knee curled up as if nothing had happened, only a
couple of spiders legs on the rug were left to show what had
happened.
Oh how I do love
that cat.
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