Making soup is a regular ritual for me. Whenever we have a chicken I ensure that it gets popped in the big pan and boiled up to make stock which is then portioned up and frozen, ready to be used for my next mega batch of soup. It's always preferable to use whatever is in season and needs using up before it spoils.
Over the summer it's usually courgette which needs using up but this year we easily kept pace and didn't have a glut at all that I can remember.
I ditched the pumpkins of yesteryears which are difficult to cut, peel and use all in one go and instead I grew two types of butternut squash and uchiki kuri (red kuri). These are brilliant for using in soup from the day they ripen on the plant all the way through winter as they will happily store for months. The flavour of these squashes is far superior to pumpkin and they are much easier to handle although I would mention that holding the peeled flesh dries out my skin and I look particularly crusty of hand the following day.

• One large or several small chopped onions - sweat in generous blob of butter until soft
• Add a teaspoon each of curry powder and (smoked) paprika , stir and let the aroma develop for a minute or so
• Dice into approx 1cm cubes 3 or 4 small aubergine and about half a small butternut squash and pop these into the pan, stir
• Add in a can of chopped tomatoes and top it up with stock of choice, I use my homemade chicken for extra flavour. Season with salt and pepper, stir, bring to the boil then simmer for around 25 minutes
• Ensure it's all soft, take off the heat and blend when a little cooler. 

The celeriac we grew are very small this year. They are such a slow growing vegetable that if the conditions aren't right, or they have a late start you will never end up with a good crop. The little veg scrub up alright so I teamed them with some ugly parsnips to make a creamy white soup. Again, start with onions. This time add a few cloves of garlic once the onions are soft. Add sliced or cubed veg and top up with stock but if in doubt add too much liquid as the celeriac and parsnip thicken things alarmingly. Blend!
I did want a good broccoli soup recipe and the one I found from a well known chef was essentially just broccoli, stock and a drop of cream which I thought was a woeful effort. I at least added onions but mine was uninspiring.

Take care,
Sophie

We had a little pear tree, nothing did it bear...
I haven't made mention of the 'orchard' patch in terms of the trees on the blog mostly due to having reaped virtually nothing off them. Their original site was the main plot but once we took on the extra half they were dug up and moved, so we lost a year while they were settling. A few years ago we had very hard frosts while they were in blossom. I remember is trying to wrap them in fleece which not only didn't keep them warm but knocked off a fair amount of blossom in the process. The years we have grown fruit it either fell off, got eaten or never amounted to more than a handful. The cherry tree produced enough for one jar of jam last year.

However, this year we were shocked to see so many pears on our little pear tree. The other pears being devoid of any fruit, of course. I assumed many would fall off in due course as the season progressed, but no! About 6 weeks ago I decided to take one off the tree which did have a glimmer of pink and give it a try. Ok, so it was quite a 'firm' eat, not juicy but had a lovely flavour. I took around a dozen off over the next week to give away and eat myself. Since doing that I was told that pears don't ripen on the tree and need to be picked and stored to ripen. Now you tell me!!!
The weather had other ideas and the hoolie that blew in, you guessed it, knocked all the pears off bar a couple, leaving them in a heap around the tree. Of course, I was dismayed at the prospect of all the fruit going to waste so we gathered them up in a big trug bucket. Aside from maybe 5 which weren't going to make it, the rest seemed absolutely fine, I suppose the short fall onto a soft surface hadn't hurt them. Even so, I was concerned that any mild bruising might lead to the fruit rotting so we pondered what to do with an enormous bucket of potentially damaged pears.
Being a pudding glutton I was keen to make a pear sponge. I did find a recipe which sounded pleasant again on Delicious Magazine which I already had all the ingredients I wanted - always a winner. The ground almonds were previously used by C for his horrible healthy cookies and had sat opened but unused for months so I was doing a good thing by setting about using more of them up. I've made a big thing of my journey to try eating more nuts even though they are not something I enjoy at all. Anyway, ground almonds are a fairly innocuous way of consuming a nut portion especially as the crunch and texture of nuts is a significant part of the reason I don't like them. I did make this sponge three times in total though the last time was with a lovely little pear which lingered sadly in the fruit bowl with two surplus bramleys. I didn't change the recipe at all except for I didn't use the lemon juice on the fruit, just chopped it quick, added a spoonful of water and a little sugar. One time I chopped up a stem ginger ball and added some of the ginger syrup to the fruit which added a lovely wintery warmth. I didn't add the rosewater or almond extract as I don't have any but I wasn't after an especially almond taste.
The main thing we did with the fruit was to 'can' it in jars. A while ago, C bought a canning machine which basically looks like a big slow cooker. Apparently 'canning' relates to the process rather than the vessel. He had intentions of ale brewing but safe to say that's not happened in there as yet. We squirrel away all jars, bottles and glass containers in boxes, ready for such occasions as this but even our stock wasn't going to cope with this alone so we did buy some nice tall jars from Wilko to go with our mostly mayonnaise jars. The pears were peeled, cored and quartered-ish. C made a different syrup on each occasion, one was lightly spiced and the other was vanilla spiced. We had put a used vanilla pod in a kilner of sugar which resulted in a lot of highly scented sugar - this recipe put some of it to use, finally!
Pears were plopped to jars and filled with syrup then left to bubble away in the canning machine.
Unsure how they were going to turn out I opened a small jar a week later to test for whether they were edible or pleasant; it's no good giving away anything that's no good to eat. We'd forgotten to label soon enough so they're all pot luck on flavour. The pears were absolute heaven. Soft and tasty, sweet and utterly delicious. They will last a long time too so we can keep a few, while giving away some too.

We have ideas about being able to can more things in a similar way next year too.

Take care,
Sophie

It wouldn't be autumn without going blackberry picking - the annual foraging tradition loved by so many. An apple and blackberry crumble is the classic way to use them and I admit to having neglected this some years, more through missing the boat rather than not feeling like it. I come from a dynasty of crumble makers. Us women have produced hundreds of these over the years and yet most have fallen short of their full glory. There's nothing worse than a crumble which disappoints. With my complete lack of instinct when it comes to cooking, baking and anything to do with food assembly, I always rely on a recipe to guide me through choppy waters. I wince when I say that my previous go-to recipe was a 'healthy' option which not only failed in texture and taste but really offered little in the way of healthy benefits either. It was time to try something else. Google offered me a recipe from delicious magazine which looked suitably different and I gave it a try. Actually I'm going to be searching there for lots of recipes in future as they have a lot of mouthwatering dishes over there - plus they are easy to print off.

Is it ok to make it three weeks on the trot? Because that's what your girl did. Did I mention I love desserts? Here's my slightly tweaked recipe from the original:

Ingredients:
Approx 1100g bramley apples
250g or thereabouts carefully rinsed and sorted to ensure no stems, cobwebs or creepy crawlies have joined the party
3 teaspoons of cornflour
70g caster sugar
240g plain flour
150g unsalted butter cut into cubes. I prefer to use this from the fridge as if it gets too warm you make paste.
120g demerara sugar

Method:
Pop the flour in a large mixing bowl along with a pinch of salt and rub in the butter a few cubes at a time. Keeping this cool will help. Once it's fairly fine, don't worry about the odd buttery lump, mix in the demerara sugar and set aside. Pop the oven on to about 160 oC for a fan oven.
Stir together the cornflower and caster sugar in a bowl.
You'll need to work through the apples quickly as they start to turn brown very quickly. I use a vegetable peeler and a small knife to peel and remove the core, and keep them chunky before slicing them at the last moment and adding the blackberries. Sprinkle over the cornflour and sugar mix and stir around the fruit. Grease a chosen baking dish, I prefer a deeper one than too shallow as the fruit always cooks down and if too thinly placed you hardly end up with anything.
Stir round the fruit again then lay it out in the dish, even it up roughly then gently spoon the topping over. Pop on a tray with a teflon sheet as the fruit can bubble up and escape during cooking.

I check mine after around 25 minutes at which point you can tell if it's looking 'perfect' ie golden-ish with a few blobs of oozy fruit round the edge - which would be done or if it still looks much like when you put it in - in which case try again in 10 minutes.

They stay hot for ages so no rush to eat but ours was demolished with a shocking volume of custard.
Even C agreed this crumble recipe was an absolute triumph. Super buttery with the sugary crunch and the syrupy fruit wasn't overly sweet. The original recipe called for more caster but we preferred it with less.

This is one I'll be returning to over and over again. It's hard to say how many official portions it makes but I'd suggest 6 for gluttons like myself. Plus it's pretty much a breakfast dish too, so make a weekend of it.

The blackberries are past their best now, we did gather a small handful for a pie but there were slim pickings indeed.

Have you been crumbling?

Take,
Sophie

After the spring and summer madness there's the autumn hubbub. With time limited opportunities to harvest and forage it means that dry weekends are spent gathering and making to preserve the available produce for months to come. It's been a year which has felt even more hectic than ever so far and I wonder whether things will start to loosen up over the coming weeks or if it will just be trading one hurry for another. There are so many changes that could or perhaps should happen in the coming few years yet I can only feel despondent about change. As with most things which come to pass 'be careful what you wish for' as it very much feels like the world around us casually trades the frying pan for the inferno itself.

Take care on these crabby autumn days,
Sophie

Norfolk boasts an amazing range of local eateries, restaurants and producers; it's inspiring to take a closer look. We've been fortunate enough to enjoy sampling plenty of places over the years as well as to travel across the county enjoying the countryside which is essentially where it all starts, the land. Animals are reared, crops grown and the hard work is put in at the earliest stage, giving strong foundations to the chain.
I got my hands on The Norfolk Cookbook which is a celebration of all that is great about our culinary offerings throughout the county. The book is far more than a recipe book and gives a wonderful insight into many familiar places as well as introducing some new names to me. The recipes from each featured chef, restaurant and producer are clear, detailed and range from exotic to a great classic.


I've really enjoyed pouring over this book while having a coffee, getting a few ideas and oogling over the gorgeous looking dishes. The photography is superb and there's plenty of it too.
In fact the whole layout is a visual delight. I'm looking forward to getting my ingredients and cooking. On the other hand I could just book a table and eat the real deal? It sound good to me.
Many thanks to Meze Publishing for sending me this book to enjoy, I'm really impressed with the high quality content, brimming with ideas. All opinions are my own as always.
Sophie

Ingredients:

• 230g self raising flour
• Half a teaspoon of baking powder 
• 125g light muscavado sugar
• 3 over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 85g glace cherries, cut into halves roughly
• 8 dessert spoons of pure orange juice
• 2 small eggs, beaten
• 150ml vegetable oil

Method:

Cooking:

Do let me know if you try this beauty for yourself. If you like bananas then this is a MUST!
Sophie

In accordance with my resolution to waste less I had to come up with a plan to make use of half a box of apples. My grandmother decided to buy several family members rather large boxes of coxes. One of those presents the sender is buying because that's more what they want to give as opposed to what the receiver would like. We don't like coxes (and nor does anyone else) so they've been something of a chore to plough through but as they're rapidly heading towards 'past their best' I wanted to use them up before being tempted to bin them. I chose to make another batch of ginger apple jam but this time with lots more apple in ratio to the ginger. Three and a half jars made. That should last me a while.
Am I getting the hang of using up things? I hope so.
Sophie

This little jar and a half of wonder came about quite by chance. I was searching for a recipe for marmalade with ginger (I still haven't yet made that) and I happened across this very straightforward recipe for ginger jam which intrigued me but also rang alarm bells in my head. We use fresh ginger fairly regularly and it's wonderful stuff; fragrant and strong. After a bit of thought I decided to go ahead with making a variation on the recipe.
My ratios were completely different to those advised:

• 2 medium bramley apples (peeled and cored)
  
• 150g of fresh root ginger (peeled and grated)
  
• 250ml granulated sugar
  
• 250ml water

I carefully chopped the apple into neat little cubes but I needn't have been so precise as the apple all merges into one soup like goo. The smell was incredible. Once boiling I reduced the temperature to 1 (out of 6) on the hob for a gentle simmer for 45 minutes before pouring into sterilised jars.
I've been eating this pot of goodness over the past week; a teaspoonful in my porridge for breakfast has made for a perfect autumnal breakfast.
However, next time I make this I'll up the ratio of apples to ginger. Maybe 4 apples or 6 apples to the 150g of ginger. The batch I made was strong enough (although nothing compared to the recommended ratios of what would have been rocket fuel).
Sophie

Making the best of things; that's what I'm up to at this precise point in time. We're beyond the tipping point of ever hoping for that elusive Indian Summer and the clocks changing has meant that it's now getting dark early evening. The feel of Autumn is undeniable. I'm propping myself up with a few treats wheeled out at this time of year, saved to distract from my gloom.

I've done the big wardrobe switch with all my summer clothes now packed away 'til spring and all my winter clothes getting rediscovered. New inspiration is growing of what I want to wear over the coming months. Recent buys teamed with old favourites; new styles and reworked classics. Yes, this may be baffling to C (and many people) but my wardrobe is a collection of wonderful possessions and I enjoy putting together outfits to wear out and about. It makes me happy.

The abundance of pumpkins everywhere has prompted me to get busy in the kitchen. As well as my most favourite pumpkin tray bake recipe, I have made two batches of pumpkin soup to really get into this curious squash in a way I've never managed to before. Maybe I'll share the recipes soon.

Alas, our own pumpkins failed so I bought my two off roadside stalls. They have a lot of flesh on them so they do stretch a long way.

After eking the final dregs of colour out of the summer bedding plants I waved goodbye to them ceremoniously and refilled the pots with fresh compost and a mix of yellow and purple violas for winter. I've never had winter bedding before and my interest is captured by the idea of some pretty colour by the front door over the greyest time of year. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

It's most pleasant to burn a berry scented candle in the evenings and snuggle under a cosy blanket. The fairy lights on the mantelpiece are omnipresent but now get switched on when it gets dark and I've swapped the bunting on the bed's headboard for more fairy lights like last year. It adds a little bit of sparkle to the dark mornings which can be just what's needed to put me in a great mood.

I have more cooking in mind and of course, more photography to indulge in over the coming months.

What changes are you making at this time of year?

Sophie

With the glut of strawberries we are finding ourselves on, jamming has been the name of the game lately. Fortunately, C is keen on making jams so has happily made batch after batch of beautiful bright strawberry jam which we are now figuring out who to offload the majority off to. Despite his enthusiasm for preserving the juicy red berries, C doesn't eat jam with anything other than rice pudding which happens roughly twice a year. I'm not a big jam eater either, but when faced with a slice or two of bread and a pot of preserve I'm too weak to turn it down. As we don't generally buy bread there is one very obvious answer; baking a loaf from scratch.

After moaning about not being able to find a recipe that I'm happy with (for the breadmaker) I was encouraged to bake from scratch using the recipe on the back of the yeast sachet. Dubiously, I had a look at ours, it was Allinsons with a straightforward recipe so I thought it would be worth a try. We had all the ingredients so I set to work getting everything measured out. My plan was to make the whole thing myself but a hoverer appeared and didn't take the hint to go away so after at least 10 minutes of unrewarding kneading I chose to make the best use of resources and allowed C to take over, while I snapped a couple of pictures. The kneading might be better next time as I now have a little more experience but I'm going to have another go soon but maybe when I have the kitchen to myself.

The bread itself was using a different brand of flour, maybe next time I will try making a granary loaf instead of white. The loaf was really dense and stodgy so perhaps a few adjustments might be in order next time but once loaded with some spread and homemade strawberry jam it was delicious.

I feel a bit grown up.

As just a quick side note; I've bought a copy of this wonderful new book called Everything Stops For Tea which is Norfolk's own cookbook, it's for charity, supporting Marie Curie and all the recipes have come from talented local people from chefs to producers of fabulous local fare. There is an amazing range of recipes for things you can bake for afternoon tea; the pork and pigeon pie and the caramelised white chocolate & vanilla cheesecake sound so good and I can't wait to get stuck in! The book costs £20, all of which goes to the charity and it's available all over Norfolk; I bought mine from Ceres in Swaffham but I know it's also available in Jarrolds and many other places. Go get your copy and support the cause!

Sophie

Everyone is busy. I'm busy, Chris is busy, you're busy. It's mostly the case that from arriving home from work we're either straight out again for workouts/running or social engagements and fitting in meals is becoming more and more of a problem. We do our weekly online shop and instead of meal planning like we used to it tends to be a few essentials and cupboard basics and dare I say it, ready meals and quick fixes. I really don't like skipping proper meals as it's no good for you in the long run and a pretty bad habit to get into.
We get a bit of home cooking in when we can but sometimes we just admit defeat and eat whatever is to hand; grabbing a pasty or something with chips just to say we ate something. Thinking of quick meals to prepare is something I'm working on (or going down the batch cooking casseroles and freezing for a quick reheated meal is a concept I favour).
I'd heard of Ilumi foods recently and thought they were a neat concept; a wholesome meal in a stand-up sachet ready to pop in the microwave for a quick dinner. What I didn't realise was that they are all gluten free, milk free and nut free which is pretty cool. I tried some of the dishes from the Asian range and was really rather impressed.
My favourite was the Tom Kah Gai soup (a fragrant and lightly spiced Thai chicken soup) which I enjoyed with a couple of slices of lightly toasted homemade bread (courtesy of Mum and her breadmaker – it's halfway to homemade). It was so tasty and something I would love to have again.
When we were deliberating what to eat for dinner one night and I suggested we tried the Ilumi meals, I chose the chicken laksa while Chris wanted the sweet five spice and chilli pork. We weren't thrilled with our choices and after a taste of each others' dishes we decided to swap; the laksa was hotter with chilli than I really prefer and the pork dish was so sweet and delicious (too sweet for Chris, he preferred the heat of the laksa). Laksa pictured below.
The beef in black bean tasted good but the sauce was thinner than expected according to Chris. When I ate the vegetable biryani I though it was a smaller portion that I would like but maybe that's just greedy me!
I like the idea of buying a selection of the Ilumi meals (which get delivered to your door) and keeping them for a couple of weeknights, the days where there is no hope of making anything yourself and of course those emergencies. Price wise at £1.90 for the soup and £3.75 for the main meals they are more than I would usually spend per meal however, they are particularly high quality with wholesome ingredients and of course taste good. To me they represent good value for what they are.
Have you ever tried Ilumi meals?
Sophie
I was sent this parcel to review by Ilumi, all opinion and content my own

Following the thumbs up for the Degustabox in July, I was excited to see what was in store for the August delivery. I wasn't disappointed, but more importantly nor was my willing helper.

Brioche Pasquier croissants au beurre and pain au lait | I'm grouping these two together as to my untrained palette they both tasted the same; far too moreish. That's right, I'm making the positive into a negative. Darned little scrummy handfuls of tastiness! I was supposed to bake a 'pain au lait pudding' recipe with some of them but I ate them all instead; It's a compliment of course. The long date on these babies means technically (and if you happen not to be a household of gannets) you could make them last around 3-4 weeks so there is no pressure to use them up.

Caribbean Twist strawberry daiquiri cocktail | Oh my goodness, this had my name on it. Used to love an alcopop, me, before I discovered the joy of wine. I thoroughly relished this which tasted so sweet and strawberry-y but, to my taste, non-alcoholic.

Lindt Hello | I didn't get to eat a single one as somebody else ate the lot. He says they were lovely.

Berry White | I keep forgetting to drink this; I took it to work and it's still sat there, hiding from me. Looking forward to giving it a go.


Mexican Dave's tortilla chips | I'm not really that into this kind of thing; we'll eat them with a dip or something but it's not something that fills me with great excitement.

Fever Tree Mixers | Neither of these were my thing so a willing volunteer drank them. The verdict was that they were good!

Dr Oetker edible wafer cases | What a genius idea, to make the cases something you can eat too! Next time I get baking then these babies will be coming into their own.

Cawston Press |  The kids' blend apple and pear juice was too wishy-washy to be something I'd recommend or re-purchase. After a shake before drinking I still got some sediment which wasn't very nice so sadly it disappointed me somewhat.


Schwarz Flavour shots | These look really good! Things like this are really up my street; easy prep meals with the favour bit already sussed. I got all my ingredients lined up (shallots instead of an onion as I missed all the onions, the bag must have been too big), prepped the shallots then went to open the chorizo packet with the knife...the wrong way and cut my thumb. Game over, I went all woozy. Another time (but I'm looking forward to it).


You also get a voucher for a fridge item – Moma bircher muesli. To my annoyance it's not stocked at any supermarkets near us for miles so I couldn't try it myself.

To get your £3 off a Degustabox use my code GGHRD . You're welcome!

Sophie

BLT salad with homemade light dijon dressing and a salmon salad

It's been a while since I last did a recap of what we've been eating, I've been trying to include more fresh fruit and vegetables in our meals as well as making my own salads for lunches during the week. This is by no means all we've eaten (far from it) but just a selection of the more visually appealing ones from the last few weeks. Following the diet and exercise overhaul a few weeks ago I've stepped up my attention to protein and I think I'm getting more into my diet these days along with on average less calories.

Breakfast: Black pudding, avocado, bacon and egg – Cod in a parsley butter sauce with mashed celeriac and steamed vegetables

Smoked mackerel and horseradish salad – turkey meatballs and wholegrain pasta

Breakfast: egg, bacon, avocado and tomatoes – crab salad with granary bread

Looks like another BLT salad without dressing – Homemade pesto salmon in filo

Mixed bean salad with balsamic dressing – The pesto salmon with pesto crushed potatoes and steamed vegetables

Smoked trout, asparagus and pea fettuccine – yogurt with raspberries

Chicory and little gem with mustard dressing – homemade coleslaw (the BEST)

Burger, chips, onion rings, salad and slaw – turkey bolognese and pasta

My amazing homemade pizza – pork belly tacos

Pizza, sweetcorn and coleslaw

I feel distinctly peckish now.

Sophie