Gloves, Soup and WIP

As promised yesterday here is a picture of my WIP gloves. The pattern will be here and in my Craftsy store very soon and free. A nice textured stitch on a two row pattern, easy one to pick up and put down without losing your place. They are crying out for some sort of decoration so maybe a crocheted flower on the wrist? Watch this space!

I love knitting gloves, they are quick to do and there is always a pile of finished ones here as last minute gifts. It is 'handy' to have a project like this to take in my handbag. Gloves are ideal for doing whilst I am on the radio. That is also the time when I get carried away knitting and forget to write the pattern down!

Speaking of radio, I am on Drive Time for two hours on a Wednesday with a 2 hour show playing a mix of music and requests. Due to the nature of the show plenty to do with checking traffic and travel  local news and of  course singing and knitting along to some fantastic music....  check out  www.radiotircoed.com

I must admit to being a slow cooker fan, I have two since my daughter returned from her Uni course and brought hers back with her. I use her small one for desserts and when there are only the three of us at home and a huge family sized one for batch cooking and when we have a crowd to feed. It is strange after many years of having at least 6 mouths to feed to now scale down portions and cook in smaller pan, I guess we could just eat more but maybe not!
I like to economise so tend to cook large and freeze quantities for a future date. Saves on the gas and gives me more time to create.
Yesterday the large slow cooker was put to use with a vegetable soup.

Ingredients

• 500g each of carrots, swede, sweet potato, parsnip. onion.. (butternut squash would be a good addition if you don't have either swede or sweet potato.)
• Three or four celery sticks, a good opportunity to use up the thick ones from round the outside. 
• I  also threw in three firmish tomatoes I had going spare in the fridge. 
• A bunch of Parsley ( a small handful unchopped including stalks.
• Pinch of nutmeg (a generous grating)
• Black pepper to taste
• veg stock  around 2 pints either from cubes or make your own if you are a domestic goddess.
• I don't add salt as I find the stock is salty enough, especially of you use Marigold Bouillon Stock powder but do add some if needed..

Peel the veg then roughly chop into similar sized chunks.
Throw all the above except the parsley, into your slow cooker turn it onto medium heat and leave for 12 hours. If you are in a hurry try 6 hours on high. You want the veg to be soft but still keeping their shape.
This made a thick hearty soup you can add more stock at the end if you would like a thinner soup.
After cooking allow to cool a little, add the parsley.
Now for the fun bit, use a hand blender to turn this veg into a smooth thick soup. If you don't have a blender or a food processor you can use a potato masher to crush the veg into a pulp.
Mine turned out a gorgeous golden colour with some nice little flecks of green parsley.
I filled two large soup freezer bags and still had enough for a very generous lunch for two...
To serve. reheat and add croutons or some crusty bread sit back and polish your halo you are not only a domestic goddess but a healthy one too, at least two of your five a day are covered in this soup.

Finally today after all the rain here is mad dog stretched out enjoying a rest as the sun shines through the windows today.