Friday Round-up

Each Friday, one of us does a little round-up of stuff that has stuck in the brain this week.  Kind of like an ear-wig, but with stuff.  Ear-wigs are okay, too.  It's not always sewing related.


Yes, I'm back from Greece.  However, while in Greece I contracted a stomach bug.  It seems our fancy hotel didn't have potable water.  Pete's stomach of steel somehow survived and he was able to enjoy the sun and scenery.  I was in bed for three days watching Greece's version of 'quality American movies' which seems code for anything that was straight to video 10 years ago.

Needless to say, I don't have much for you today.  I haven't looked at the internet for a week.

It is full-on fall here in London, so I will treat you with some autumnal treats.

LEEK TOAST
Admittedly, this is for spring, but one transitional season's bounty is another's treat.  I love this snack.  We make it with feta and whatever baton of bread is going stale in the cupboard. We like it with a nice juicy steak, but more often than not we eat it on its own. We made this for some friends of ours last year, one of which had never had leeks.  After this meal he insisted on including leeks in their wedding dinner.  It's that good.

MINESTRONE
This is one of those soups that is incredibly easy to make yet tastes different every time.  We use whichever pasta sauce we have or was on special at the grocery.  In addition to the mixed beans, we add carrot, corn or any other vegetable that might be languishing in the crisper.  (Do you sense a pattern with my cooking?)

FRENCH ONION SOUP
This is my take on this lovely soup.  The result is fantastic but it takes ages to simmer down.  For the crouton top I use the method described in the leek toast recipe, but add gruyere cheese to the second side.  To be honest, the croutons are the best part.

SPICY RED LENTIL SOUP
Another of my soup recipes.  Actually, it's a Weight Watchers recipe, but it's one of our favorites (it's at the bottom of the post).  A nice addition to this one also came as an accident.  I had some onion bagels which crumbled at every attempt to slice them.  I turned them into gruyere covered croutons for the top of the soup instead of the swirl of yogurt.  However, the swirl of yogurt is lovely as well.


Wrap yourself in a duvet and have some soup.  Winter is coming.