'Tis the season of mellow soupfulness

Wow, thanks for that mate, going to copy and paste it for later, haha, just added it to my favs.

Gone into my favs as well. I am always making soups and have the beetroot ready, so will be trying it next week. Thanks Sticki

Ah..Nice looking soup.

I have always been told never to cut or trim or peel beetroot before it is cooked.

Looks delicious Sticki, well done. They say beetroot is nice served as a roasted veg along with carrotts, parsnip etc. never tried it myself but I like the idea of it.

that looks a fab soup Sticki, i might try that for my O/H she loves beetroot..

thanks yorkshire and cinderella, it isnt the best soup i have made but i quite like the colour and its different.

i followed internet instructions pimpernel ~ i only cut one in half cos it was too big, everything else was left as it arrived.

I have done it as a roasted veg GM and its nice, i believe you can buy beetroot crisps too. i have also boiled it and served it with a sauce ~ was meant to be white but of course it turned red!!

keep tasting it SL, it needs seasoning as you are going along.

Sticki beetroot crisps are delish, you can buy them in T...sco, they come in a packet that also contains parsnip & carrot crisps too, nice with a dip!

It doesn't seem to have done any harm and it makes sense to reduce the cooking time by making them smaller. Thats why I only cook them at christmas when the oven is on a long time.

I will make your soup with pre cooked ones :0)

yes i have seen them in the mixed packs ~ i really like them. i forget who makes them [possibly Burts] but i know other supermarkets have them too ~ mmmm with a dip ~ that would be good.

have fun pimpernel!! i reckon sour cream would be good to swirl in it.

They are nice to serve when friends come for drinks etc. as a starter. Dont know name, I will look next time, they are with the posh packs of crisps Lol

Tyrrells is one of them, i just looked it up.

they would be very nice with drinks and snacks. i dont entertain very much currently. no friends.!! you are all on here.

Sounds yummy!

LOL Sticki, same here really, it just sounded posh!!!! Lol and yes Tyrrells is right.

That is a gorgeous colour, Sticki! Reminiscent of raspberry jam, I think. I do so wish I liked beetroot.
I have been digging up my bumper crop of parsnips, and am going to try making soup from some of those. I've done this in the past, just using stock, parsnips, salt and black pepper, but I'd like to add something else to give it a slightly different spin, such as ginger or cumin, but I'm not sure they would work. Any brilliant or original suggestions, soup-makers and lovers?

This looks like a better version of my beetroot soup, Stickie, I will have to try that. Did you try my recipe?

yes gattina ~ stilton, curry or cumin and the other that definitely works is a bit of fried bacon ~ not all of them at once though!!!

i doubt its better rose, yes i think i did but its a while ago now.

Nice one Sticki. I love beetroot! Today I made my green lentil and bacon soup...yum yum! :))

i love the flavour bacon puts in karen, seems to work with so many things.

I know, what on earth would we do without good old bacon? I mean, without bacon and sticki toffee pud...would life be worth living I wonder? lol ;)

would it indeed karen??? thats funny!!!!!!

there is also chocolate of course and possibly a few plants??

and fun on here of course!

Children, grandchildren? ;))))

think the absolute world of both my sons, just dont see them as often as i would like.
i dont have any grandchildren.

I hope to have grandchildren one day....;)

i dont mind ~ would love them if i had them.

:)) of course! ;)) x

;-))

not triplets then BB??

seeing as i live in worcestershire i thought it would be appropriate?!! there is also that new umami (?) sauce the one with the 6th taste or something but i didnt have any of that.

Worcester Sauce is a must have..I use Geo Watkins "Harvey's" sauce and the Mushroom Ketchup as well..

sort of a bit like aspirin ~ a cure all!!???

Looks yummy Aticki..never made beetrrot soup before..might try it :)

love oxtail soup, havent had any for ages.

what does the aspirin do to the fuchsia?

Does anyone actually remember seeing Brown Windsor soup on a menu in the past 30 years? And Oxtail soup out of a tin tastes of anything but real oxtails (nice though)
We don't have any grandchildren either, and are very unlikely to get any now: it would have been nice, but we aren't breaking our hearts........
I'm intrigued by the aspirins, too, Bilbo, how can you begin to know when a fuchsia has a headache?
Thanks for the ideas for parsnip soup additions, Sticki. We used the last of the REAL bacon over Christmas, and pancetta really isn't the same, so I shall try the cumin and the curry. Guess what's on Monday's menu!
I virtually never add salt when I'm cooking things, but it's always on the table, so people can use it if they want. You can always add it, but you can't take it out.

that beetroot soup probably does need some salt but you can taste and decide for yourself.

i have heard of brown windsor soup but not tried it.

dry fried cumin then ground in pestle and mortar? i use it for lots of things, although you probably dont need to grind it if cos you will liquidise it all anyway.

delia has a curried parsnip and apple soup ~ would that be any help?

Ok, thanks, i knew you could do that with cut flowers but didnt realise you could give it to plants as well.

I do oxtail at least once a month Bilbo and your're not wrong about the price. Lamb shanks is another one they now make a fortune out of now.

I remember when you could buy oxtails in the UK for very little, then they disappeared for ages when mad cow disease reared it's head, then, a few years later the trendies adopted it and now you need a second mortgage to buy one. It costs a fortune here, as well, and is widely admired as being very very tasty and tender when properly cooked. We have something a bit similar in "guanciale" or ox-cheek. We have to order it in our butchers, and I always ask him to slice it for me on his machine, because you can blunt a good kitchen knife and damage your hands trying to cut it up, it is so tough, but 6 hours (well, overnight, really) in our slow cooker or on top of our woodburning stove and it is transformed into the most incredibly tasty, tender stew you could wish for. "Da Morire!" (To die for) One of our winter favourites. In fact, this blog has just reminded me that I have a kilo of it in the freezer. Hooray!
I've just scoured my Delia cookbooks for the apple and parsnip soup recipe , but it must be in another one. I'm sure I shall be able to find it online - sounds lovely, Sticki.
OK, I'm off downstairs now into a nice warm kitchen to start making wholemeal bread to go with all these soups. Yummy!

its in the vegetarian book gattina, i can send it to you if you like.

i think the supermarket i work for has ox cheeks, certainly if you order them, but possibly not always ~ not prepacked this is from the meat counter. sounds very nice.

i made sunflower seed bread yesterday and put pumpkin seeds in as well.

its really windy here ~ if its in the right direction i could just float a copy of the recipe out of the window and it might arrive in your kitchen gattina!!!

Just made some more soup for dinner which I was pleased with ~ Moroccan chickpea soup ~ certainly filled me up!!!

Do a butternut Squash next Sticki...about thursday would be good ;0)

Beetroot soup, yummy..........and a great colour! but not on you or the walls (or the cat!)
I am making pheasant soup next week.............

done butternut squash pimpernel ~ good with a little stilton crumbled in!

pheasant soup ~ yummy lulu, never had it but it sounds good. hope you are well.

Am well enough ta Sticki. Wanted to clear the pond a bit today, ready for 3 new goldfish I'm being given but know it will make me sore and fractious....loads of gardening to to though.
Will let you know how the pheasant soup goes. David had 4 pheasants whose carcasses I froze for the making of soup!

new goldfish, thats nice ~ dont get them muddled up with the pheasants will you?

take care.

If you hold on tightly to the corner of that recipe, Sticki, you could float on up here with it! We had OH-made butternut squash soup for lunch - you could have cut it with a knife and eaten it with a fork!
Moroccan Chickpea soup sounds nice - it also sounds a bit like the weather - windy!
Pheasant soup - OOOh yummy! What goes into it, Lulu?
I am going to clear out my freezers when we spring clean the cellar next week - I know there are some good soup-making ingredients in there, just lurking. :o))

not sure im light enough to float ~ perhaps if i keep up my visits to the gym???

eeeeeeeeeek gattina, i hadnt thought of that.

some of those soups come out incredibly thick dont they, i always water my carrot one down with orange juice.

could you grow mushrooms in your cellar?

i have been following a blog that is written from the hebrides and the writer has recently decided to try to make cheese!!!

I think OH is Poss a Baker and Cake Maker then Gattina. ?

am going to Google ingredients for the pheasant soup or else the usual veggies will end up in it innit!

should make its own wonderful stock!!

Um, NO, Pim, he just got fed up with waiting for me to come and do it for him, and made it up as he went along. Poor chap is married to a woman who has just discovered Google Earth, and is busy homing in on all her childhood haunts, Oooohing and Aaahing, and who has hardly been in the kitchen at all today. The novelty will pass, and we'll be back to proper cooking again.......

Google earth never gets near enough for me to be truly satisfied!!!!

Yummy !! i will have to give it a go, I allways make a root veg soup never thought of using beetroot :)

have fun sue, hope you like it. add more apple than i did if you feel like it.

that moroccan chickpea was much nicer than i thought it would be. i shall make it again.

where were you wanting to look lulu?

Where are you trying to look, Lulu? I've just had a look at our old house, and can tell what month the photos were taken by the flowers in bloom in the front garden. The old so-an-so has cut down my lovely variegated holly tree, too!

I keep looking at my grandparents old house in west sussex, yearning to be back there agian!!

oh, sounds lovely lulu, wont google let you see enough of it? can you do it with the google maps and take that little yellow man down the road ~ that has some quite clear pictures.

Butternut squash is my favourite Pimpernel, sometimes add a squeeze of orange juice to it.
Haven`t tried beetroot sticky, but it looks very tempting.

Orange! Worth a go Thanks Stroller..I always grate a little nutmeg in.

you can use stilton with butternut squash pimpernel; possibly cumin?? not sure.

never tried orange ~ only in my carrot soup, might give that a go next!!!

thanks stroller.

if you do butternut squash pimpernel i would roast it first before liquidising.

I roast my BN squash with fresh thyme and a little black pepper.

me too gattina, sometimes i add some onion and maybe a whole garlic??

I make doggie birthday cakes out of butternut squash too!!
Pheasant soup been bubbling away for 6 hours now, smells delish.

oooh i bet it does lulu,

i misread your first sentence ~ thought it said dodgy birthday cakes and i thought what??? out of butternut squash???!!!

Slow cookers are fab for Pheasant ..it never dries out, that's how I cooked mine at Christmas.

i like my slow cooker, works really well and only cost me £10, great bargain.

Buttersquash flesh mixed with mince and use the skin to line a bowl. Spoon flesh and mince into bowl and refrigerate. Turn out 'cake' and slice into doggie sliced pieces!
Just about to strip 4 pheasant carcasses, bet I have 3, 4 legged helpers!

That's a clever idea!

I think you will have some very willing helpers! With their tongues hanging out?

Haha! Enjoyed your blog, Sticki - put me back in the mood for cooking! Just got back to France and beetroots in abundance!

...but got a new cookery book for belated Xmas...so, thinking of trying jerusalem artichoke and roquette soup tomorrow... :)

oooooooh very nice, can you put the recipe on please karen?

I'll try it first, Sticki...lol!...and if it's nice I certainly will! :))

Welcome Back K

thanks karen and yes welcome back, good to see you.

its a must try for me, I love making soups at this time of year, today its leek and potato, equal amounts of leek and potato,s so you can adjust the amounts according to how many your cooking for, start by gently softening the leeks with a little butter and oil, add veg stock cube and water enough to cover potato,s when cooked blend with stick blender add fresh cream and lots of pepper i sometimes add a chilly serve with crusty bread , enjoy

potato and leek is my favourite soup got some ready in the fridge for when i get home this afternoon.

I like to do a slight variation to this, adding cooked, smoked fish and any other seafood you have lurking in the freezer and hurtling towards its sell-by date, but only after blending the leeks and potatoes, and cooking the smoked fish gently in milk first, and using that instead if the water and stock-cube. Sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley to serve. Mmmmmmmm!

oooh yummy lovey i like leek and potato too, maybe a few chives sprinkled in the top as well.

smoked fish i love; whats that scottish soup with haddock in its just gorgeous.

I have a great fish n potato soup recipe, can be eaten hot but is better left overnight and cold from the fridge. Next time I make it I will Blog it.

yes please pimpernel i would be interested although i cant quite imagine it??

Vichychoisse??

dont fancy it sorry karen.

somebody else might though!!!

i think it was cullen skink that was so delicious.

The Kids used to call it pond Soup..and ate it !

Cullen Skink is lovely...

...but as poor people in Scotland we had a different way with the smoked haddock...no cream...and no black pepper!!!