* Coconut Prawn Curry {Hairy Dieters}

Although I've always been on the voluptuous side of voluptuous, I have never really had a problem with my weight until I hit my fortieth birthday a couple of years back. All of a sudden it mattered. Oddly (or not) I have always struggled with my age... always... right back as far as the age of twenty four (many, many moons ago *sob*) when Neil bought me a bunch of flowers the day before my twenty fifth birthday because "You seem a bit bummed out about your birthday tomorrow".

Sweet.

He hasn't bought me flowers since. His excuses vary from "It's been so long, you'd wonder what I'd done wrong if I did"... to "The only flowers you'll be getting from me will be on your funeral wreath".

Wuuuuv. Twuu wuuuuv. 

I digress (what's new?)... in December last year I started up with Weight Watchers Online for about the fourth or fifth time and it lasted until Christmas Eve (ish), which is what I'd more or less expected - because I have the attention span of a rabid gnat when it comes to following any sort of plan... plus Christmas. Really. If you expected any different you seriously haven't been paying attention. I am offended. So... any weight that I lost before the Christmas period I gained back with big brass knobs on and a side of Christmas Pudding.

I've considered trying 5:2 again, Rosemary Conley, calorie counting... stapling my face shut. I've bought both of the Hairy Dieters Cook Books in a bid to inspire myself into Thindom and as yet, have only cooked the one recipe from them. This one. Coconut Prawn Curry. It's pretty scrumptious. So I thought I'd share it.

I have actually lost a couple of pounds this week, simply by walking the dog a bit further and a bit more often... I got up this morning to discover she'd placed a "Do Not Disturb" sign beside her bed and she's hidden her leash.

I'm tempted to shout "Walkies" just to see if she bites me.

* Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup {Meatless Mondays} + "Eggs" Winner

I have another new favourite soup, and it's this one. This Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup is getting it's own bank account, it's so good.

Really. Even Neil enjoyed it, and he doesn't like broccoli.

I probably wouldn't have offered him a bowl of it, if he hadn't asked what smelled so good when it was bubbling away on the stove. When I told him what it was, he said he wouldn't mind trying some.

So when it was cooked, I pushed the spoon into his face with a whole "Choo-choo here comes the food train." pantomime, to which he responded with "Please don't ever do that again." and "I'll eat that." A huuuuuuge compliment from my man of few words.

Neither of us are fans of soups that use flour as a thickener (though I do make them), so I used a carrot to thicken this soup, and to add a slightly golden colour - which makes this a gluten free soup. Also, this recipe uses the whole broccoli - both florets and stems.

I'm now trying to think of more ways to get him to eat broccoli because I love it, and it's far easier to cook one meal for both of us than two separate ones. Though this doesn't happen too often because although he's a man of simple tastes - Neil will try virtually anything (that isn't a flapjack), that I put in front of him.

It's that or starve.

Now it's time to announce the winner of the Michel Roux "Eggs" Cook Book Give Away from last Monday.... drum roll please...

and... the winner iiiiiiissssss.....

Katrina Pearce (comment number 2) - congratulation Katrina, your book is on it's way!

Thanks to everyone who entered xx

* Ham and Cheese Croissants {Because I Can}

These ham and cheese croissants are a quick and simple snack idea for lunch or supper. They take 10 minutes to throw together - if that - and even less time to consume.

I've had them sitting in my photographs folder for a while - whilst I considered whether or not they were blog worthy enough NOT to make my repeat readers feel ripped off...

... I'm bored. I have a spare ten minutes. So here we are.

If you do feel ripped off, you may leave... (Pleeeeease don't go!!!) I for one, hope you stay long enough to realise that although this is a glorified ham and cheese sandwich that you need no recipe for - it's actually a pretty neat idea that isn't a ham and cheese sandwich and is so easy it may not have crossed your mind to give it a whirl.

Neil loves them.

I'm not going to give you a specific recipe, but here's what you do...

* Red Pepper Frittata + Michel Roux Cook Book Give Away! {Meatless Mondays}

I have a beautiful brand new hard back copy of Michel Roux's Cook Book - Eggs, to give away to one lucky reader. And by beautiful... I mean.... beeeeeeautiful - the recipes and photographs are to die for.

Of course, because I have a book on eggs to give away, I could hardly post a recipe for something that did not have at least one egg in it.

This Red Pepper Frittata has six. Six whole eggs. I was very tempted to use eight and that was in fact "The plan". But you should all know by now that me and plans... we don't get along too well. I only had six eggs, so an eight egg frittata was gonna be a bust unless I went to the shops. I wasn't getting the car out for  two eggs. I had wine, or I could have gone for wine and inadvertently purchased eggs as well, and maybe some chocolate.

I would have made an omelet but this is one dish (among many) whose perfection defeats me. I like omelettes a little soft in the middle, but I'm never sure if I want to fold it, or have it flat like a frittata and half way through deciding I end up with scrambled. If you want to know How To Make an Omelette... click on the link I've just given you!

Back to THE GIVE AWAY... dun, dun, duuunnnnnnnn....

Just answer me this and you’re entered to win:

What popular kids TV show theme music started with the words... "Up above the streets and houses..."

(Not related to the cookbook at all, I know.... if you don't know the answer just say "Captain Caveman, who cares, just give me the book!" or whatever else you fancy (keep it clean though), to be in with a chance of winning.)

You can also follow me here, here, here, here and here and come let me know in individual comments below.

This giveaway is limited to UK residents only and is sponsored by Media Agency London.

I'll be picking the winner at random and announcing them on November 25th.

Good Luck!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

* Sweet Potato and Caramelised Onion Quiche {Meatless Mondays}

I know I keep saying that I'm surprised when a recipe works, but I genuinely am. This Sweet Potato and Caramelised Onion Quiche was an experiment because I used my favourite Parmesan and polenta pastry with it. I thought I might have gone for overkill with the flavour combinations and ended up with a dish that was all over the shot.

Happily I was wrong.

I made the quiche to take to mum's on Sunday as my brother and his clan were donning their life jackets and coming to Cornwall to visit. So.... an "occasion" was at hand. An "occasion" always requires copious amounts of food in my family, so you're guaranteed to have at least one individual who likes what you've put in front of them.

Both Neil and my brother, demolished my quiche. I've no idea if Josh ate any. Josh is a Ninja at family gatherings. He appears from nowhere with a plate. The plate is suddenly full to brimming. Then both Josh and his plate disappear... as if they had never been there to begin with!!! There's not even a throwing star lodged in a wall somewhere. It's like the air is displaced with his image, and a plate... then *piff paff poof*... gone.

I wish I could do that.

Especially just after I've farted.

* Sweet Potato and Chana Dahl Soup {Meatless Mondays}

I know... you've all been waiting with bated breath for yet another chunky soup recipe. Haven't you.

I'm going to take your deathly silence as assent and plod on with the post.

This Sweet Potato and Chana Dahl Soup Recipe is a copycat of a Baxter's Soup by a similar name - except mine is a damn sight cheaper and has less calories... which wasn't the ultimate point but you can't have too much *happy* when it comes to food.

The point was... actually I don't know what the point was. I forget.

Anyway.... I've ended up with an exceptionally scrumptious and healthy soup that'll serve as a dinner if you're not craving steak and chips (fries), and works perfectly as a filling and healthy meal if you're doing the 5:2 diet... which I am. Sometimes successfully... other times... notsomuch. It seems to depend on how much cake there is in the house at any one time. 

If there isn't cake, it's really not a good idea to make cake, especially on a day when you are meant to be fasting because all sorts of things can (and do) happen... like finding yourself licking the butter cream off of the whisks or suddenly discovering your tongue in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Neither are good situations to suddenly come to your senses in. 

It's also very difficult to work out the exact amount of calories in 20 licks of coffee butter cream and 5 tongues of coffee cake batter.

Though I promise I did try.

Not.

* Cheesy Leek and Red Onion Toasties {Meatless Mondays}

Guess what I've been doing!?! Go on... just a little guess...

No. I have not been para-gliding.

Try again...

Haven't dyed my hair green either...

Do you give in?

Weelllllllllll... I've been "fasting"... which is why it's been a bit quiet around here this past week.

I started the 5:2 diet/way of eating on Thursday, in a bid to shift some weight and get a bit healthier because I don't reckon this body wants to be hefting this bum around in another 10 years.... and so far so good (the diet). I fasted on Thursday and Saturday and managed with little problem to stick to 500 calories on both days because I knew I could eat normally for the rest of the week.

I'm not gonna bang on about it, other than to say that it's given me a bit to think about from the perspective of what I really want to eat on the 5 days when I'm not fasting. I feel as though I have to have food that I Treally Rooly want, rather than just whatever happens to be available at the time - which means I may have to actually get organised... yeah, I know... nnnnot gonna happen.

I may not have been eating a lot of food, but I've certainly been thinking about it and trawling through my recipe books has actually helped a little - strange but true.

This Cheesy Leek and Red Onion Toasties recipe is a version of one I found in my River Cottage Veg Everyday book. It looked so damn nommy that I swear I left a puddle of drool on the photographs... I may even have chewed the page slightly...

... which might explain why I wasn't particularly hungry on that particular "fast day". Mmmmm.

Anyone know how many calories there are in paper?!?

* Cheddar and Chive Scones {Meatless Mondays}

In a bid to use up a few store cupboard ingredients that I don't use on a regular basis (I don't use any of them on a regular basis, but for the sake of having something to write about.... just go along with it)... ahem...

IN A BID to use up the wholemeal flour that was... ugh.

Okay. I was bored. And hungry.

I really shouldn't have been, because we went our for a humongous English Breakfast yesterday morning, that was not only the equivalent of an entire day's food on one plate - it was also absolutely scrumptious. The only HUGE disappointment HUUUUUUUGE - from my stand point - was that Neil ate his black pudding for the first time in 20 years....

... WE HAVE... AN... AGREEMENT!

Neil gets my egg white and I get his black pudding and grilled tomato. Yes. It is slightly tilted in my favour. However... WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to word this on the divorce papers. Irreconcilable differences, perhaps? Or emotional abuse. Either way - it's over. I've already written a letter to Hugh (Jackman), telling him what time my aeroplane lands... and that we need to stop off at Maureen Shaw's for a roast dinner (she's holding the gravy) before carrying on our way to wherever our love nest is...

... but before I hop on a plane to *Laa-Laa Land* (and I don't mean Australia)... I baked some cheese and chives scones to take with me (to Laa-Laa Land, not to Australia.... Hugh won't be there (in Laa-Laa Land) Get a grip), or to eat with Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup for tea tonight... when I forgive Neil...

... for eating my black pudding. Yeah. Not gonna happen.

I'm curious - do any of you have similar agreements with your partner's when it comes to food? And do you want to stab them in the face with a fork when they renege on the deal? Do tell.

* Corn, Three Pepper and Orzo Soup

Yes I know it's yet another bloody soup recipe. You really should be used to it by now.

My eating habits haven't changed much in forty years so they're hardly going to change in the single year that I have been food blogging... maybe if I'm still at it in twenty years you will be able to expect something different... but only because I will have cooked every, single soup recipe on the planet by then.

Or not.

Somehow I doubt that we're going to find out.

No. I really don't expect to be dead within the next twenty years. Well it's not in the plan, at any rate -I just doubt that in twenty years I'll still be food blogging. I'm hoping to be living on a Caribbean Island, in a hut, on the beach. Someone else will be doing the cooking.

I can dream.

Anyway... this soup is an adapted version of a creamless corn chowder by Cara at Big Girls Small Kitchen (Link to original recipe at bottom of page). I absolutely loved it when I cooked it, about a year ago (so did Neil), and was tempted just to repeat the recipe this time - it was that good... but I had extra peppers to use up and am still attempting to locate and divest myself of all of the pasta that I have accumulated and hidden throughout the house...

... I had my hands on a bag of mini farfalle in the supermarket the other day and for the first time ever my brain decided to get in on the action and question whether or not I actually needed another type of pasta in the house. We had a minor altercation. I lost. I came home without the mini farfalle.

I am no longer in a relationship with my brain.

* Spicy Tomato and Chickpea Soup {Meatless Mondays}

I absolutely loved this soup. It was filling. more-ish and nommy and although I have previously harboured a vindictive and somewhat unreasonable hatred of chickpeas in the past - I now love them too. Not quite as much as I love cheese, or spinach or mayonnaise... but we're working on our relationship a bit at a time and it's slowly moving forwards.

Me and chickpeas... we is now friends. 

I think this is mostly down to the fact that I stopped buying cheap supermarket *own* versions and started paying out a few extra pennies for better quality ones. There's a world of difference that you wouldn't expect in something so simple. 

Neil has always liked chickpeas, and has dipped out in the past because I've only cooked with them rarely... and Neil doesn't cook. Like... ever...

... the last time he made anything, it was a BLT and he brought it up to me as breakfast in bed. I don't know what he did to it, but it was the soggiest, pappiest most disgusting thing I have ever bitten into! Thankfully, he buggered off downstairs and I was able to flush it down the toilet. I was positively STARVING come lunch time because I didn't tell him.... not for about five years anyway...

...when it would no longer damage his ego. Not quite sure why I waited so long. I really didn't want him to cook again, and I'm pretty damn glad he never offered.

But that's between you, me and the gatepost.

* Roast Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I've attempted to cook a chicken and vegetable soup on about four occasions just recently, and have remained unimpressed with each of my endeavours until this one. Each previous version has had similar vegetables in it, but every time it's all come out a bit... well... bleh.

The temptation to stick a load of herbs and spices in, or a spoonful of curry paste... or even a tin of tomatoes has been HUGE... but if I'd done that I wouldn't have had the soup I wanted. I just wanted something fairly simple and wholesome that would taste... I dunno... a bit... English, maybe. Or maybe I was aiming for a bit Summery. Who knows.

So... there I was, yet again thinking "Sod it, all these ingredients and I'm still not sure I like this bloody soup." I opened the fridge door and stared vacantly inside it, looking for divine inspiration (I do this A LOT... at least, that's what I tell Neil I'm doing when he comes in the kitchen and discovers me with my head in the fridge for the eleventieth hundredth time that day)... when I spotted the mustard, sitting in the top of the fridge door, frantically waving it's little hands in the air shouting "Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!".

So I did. And it worked.

It took until this time to end up with something that I thought was tasty enough to share... and it was all down to a couple of heaped tablespoons of multi-grain mustard. There's a huuuuge chance that it's going to become my new spinach, and go into just about everything that I cook because it worked a little miracle on my soup. It gave it the flavour I'd been looking for that every previous version had been missing.

Even cream hadn't helped it's forefathers.

*Sigh*... I like cream.

* Pita Pizzas

I'm always struggling to find ways to use up fresh food... before it's no longer fresh... and these little pizzas fulfil several agendas. They're quick and easy, you can design your own topping, they use up leftovers and almost everyone loves them.

I say almost, because I have "A Josh". I think we all have one somewhere within our families. Mine doesn't like pizza... I am constantly checking his birth certificate to make sure he is mine.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I fight a constant battle between what I want to eat, what I have to eat, and what time I have to cook. I'm not the worlds most organised individual so I'm often scrabbling around at the end of the day for something half decent for us to eat, that I can put together fairly quickly and bung on a plate with a wodge of salad (or not).

I have the best of intentions in the morning, but come late afternoon and evening I've usually lost the plot. It's a personality defect that my nearest and dearest tolerate with aplomb. Today, for instance, I had fully intended to get up early, get my jobs done, walk the dog, cook stuff, blog stuff, sit in the garden and contemplate the importance of being.... then walk the dog, cook more stuff...

...I've walked the dog and... *sigh*. I've walked the dog. That's it.

OH!... and watched a film.

You can see why a meal as quick and easy as pita pizza, comes in handy occasionally. You can use any type of pita bread, but I prefer circular wholemeal ones and of course, you can make up your own toppings depending on what you have available. 

I've given you a couple of ideas below, but have at it!

* Moroccan Style Chicken Soup

I have a new passion... Instagram! Yeah, I know the rest of the world discovered it when men were still living in caves and wiping their backsides on badgers, but it's a very recent discovery for me... AND. I. LOVE. IT.

I sort of knew it was there, but honestly wondered what all the fuss was about. Then about a week ago I was bored and somehow or other I downloaded the App. I no longer remember why. I no longer care why. I just know that I. LOVE. IT.

All of a sudden, every opportunity is a photographic one... taking the dog for a walk, meeting my oldest BFF - Kerry - at the beach for lunch and a stroll, the cat snoozing, the cat stretching, the dog eyeballing me while I should be taking her for a walk.... fooooood (obviously). I even took a photo of the washing blowing on the line. Oh yes I did. Didn't share that one though. That would have been passé.

There's a heck of a lot of feet, on instagram. Just random photographs of feet. I've painted my toenails (and shaved my toes) just in case I'm over taken by an incredible compulsion to point my phone-cam downwards and click away.

I'm fairly sure I will. In fact... I might have already succumbed.

If you wanna see what colour my toenails are, come say hello at abbes_antics ;)

I really should try to remember the point of all this, shouldn't I. There is a recipe, there always is. It's soup. Or stew, depending on what time of day it is and how hungry you are. This one is "to die for"...

... much like my undercoating.

* Chicken, Sweetcorn and Red Pepper Quiche

This was only meant to be a chicken and sweetcorn quiche, but when I'd added both to the quiche base it looked so blonde and boring that I had to add something else to liven up the colour a bit. There's nothing worse than being bored by your food - especially before you've even cooked it.

Actually, that happens to me a lot - it's why I never cook what I've planned. I think I spend so much time thinking "I'll cook a spag bol tomorrow night..." that when the time actually comes round to cooking it... I'm bored with the idea. It's a rare thing that we do actually eat anything that I have predicted I'll cook... sometimes even up to an hour ahead. Which is fun.... There's also the rare occasion when it's actually in the oven... which is not fun. Really.

I have the attention span of a rabid gnat. With an itchy arse.

In truth, I'm very surprised that I am still food blogging after 8 months. I can totally understand why people start these things up and then just... stop. I have NO IDEA how some food bloggers manage to find the time to update their blog every day!!! Do they have superpowers?!? How do they keep it interesting too? Because they do.

I have days when I sit here, stumped, and wonder what an earth do I write about today? And other days it just kinda happens. Like today. I had no clue where this was going until I got here. And now that I've arrived, it seems this particular journey has ended.

My mind's a blank.

.... aaaaaaaand now I'm having a Homer Simpson "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la" moment.

* Cheesy Tuna Quesadillas

I've been making tortilla wraps stuffed with just about anything I have left over in the fridge - that needs eating up - for years. I've only recently started to cook quesadillas as an alternative, and I'm falling in love with them, though I've yet to find a way of stopping the chorizo ones from oozing orangey red oil down the front of whatever top I'm wearing... those ones involve a lot of strategic chin placement and mopping up.

Quesadillas have become an almost permanent lunchtime fixture of late because none of us like shop bought bread, and I keep forgetting to load up the bread maker until I'm hungry and it's too late. This is probably also the reason that I like such hearty soups, because they don't really require bread... there's one on the stove bubbling away right now, and even though I'm writing this and thinking "I must get a loaf in the bread maker in a minute"... it ain't gonna happen.

In another ten minutes -when I've finished updating etc - I have no idea what my brain will be doing. I know it well enough by now, to know that the mere fact that it has considered the possibility of making bread... is going to convince it, that it has, in fact, gone through the entire process of loading up the bread maker with the necessary ingredients and turned it on.

In four hours time it will be completely dumbfounded by the fact that there is still no bread cooking in the bread maker.

This is when it will have a light bulb moment... It will then promise to do better next time... make my feet walk into the kitchen towards the bread maker... spot the washing blowing on the line... get meowed at by Archie because he's decided he wants feeding.... feed the cat... wander back out of the kitchen... then four hours later...

Rinse and repeat.

It's incredibly hard work being me.

* Chicken, Tomato and Pasta Soup

This Chicken, Tomato and Pasta Soup has been a life saver over the weekend... I shall explain...

We had a girly night in, at a friends house on Saturday night... there was MUCH wine, MUCH Chilli, MUCH chips and dips and MUCH competitive dancing on the Wii. I won every time I danced, because I know how to shake my thang. Really. I do.

What I don't know - is how to turn down another glass of wine. The words "No" and "Thankyou" disappear completely from my vocabulary, about halfway down the first glass. Which is when other words suddenly take a leading role. Mostly swear words. My sentences are peppered with blue language when sober, they are positively drenched when I'm not. Which is NOT FUN when in polite company, but seeing as I wasn't (in polite company), it was fine. If slightly blethering idiot.

Still. I won the dance off.

It was worth the hangover.

Which brings me back to the soup...(niiiiiice segway, Abs *pats self on back*)... I knew - with absolute clarity on Friday - that I would not want to do more than veg out, on Sunday - so I made this soup.

It was sustenance.

It was delicious.

I am SMRT.

* Sweet Potato and Spinach Gratin

It didn't matter what I did with this gratin, it would NOT take a decent photograph, and I'm not photographically skilled enough to make it look awesome. Which it was. Totally. So please don't let it's somewhat Seventies demeanour, put you off.

It was lush.

It was also incredibly easy to wack together whilst I took a lunch break from spring cleaning my lounge. Yes. I said "spring cleaning my lounge". Yes. I have hit my head. Bashed it on the breakfast bar yesterday when I was fishing around underneath it, for Neil's slippers. Stood up before I had cleared the bottom of the thing and 24 hours later I find myself covered from head to toe in dust bunnies, sporting this seasons "Mop and Bucket Look". Tres chic.

The dog spent the entire day crashed out on my bed, for fear of getting roped into helping. That and the fact that at seventy seven human years old, she couldn't take all the whirling dervish that was going on, so I took pity on her and treated her to a trip Upstairs. Upstairs is somewhere that she's not usually allowed access to, unless mummy is staying out for the night - in which case, daddy sneaks her Upstairs at bed time so that they can snuggle... without mummy knowing...

... that is, until she discovers the dog hairs all over the bed (Eeeeewww), and the chew toy wedged under her pillow (Double Eeeeewwww!!!).

Obviously, it's okay when I let her up there. I'm in charge.

* Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

No... don't run away. I know it's another soup recipe, but it's a good one. Honest.

Actually, it's better than good. I've had trouble not sticking my head in it.

AND... it's surprisingly Weightwatchers Friendly. Well, it surprised me. I honestly thought when I was adding up the propoints on the recipe widget at Weightwatchers, that it would come in at a HUMUNGOUSLY high amount per portion, and that I'd have to eat air whilst everyone else stuffed their faces...

Not so... Happily. There were cries of "OhThankGod!" and a brief, bell-less Morris Dance around the kitchen, before I got stuck in... then I remembered I wasn't actually supposed to be eating it yet. I had to wait until dinner time. Dammit.

I really wouldn't have eaten it if it was OTT on the points front, because I ate and drank enough to sink a small fleet of ships when I went out to lunch with my girlfriends on Saturday. It was only supposed to be lunch, but we were having such a good time that it ended up being all day and most of the night. We were very... very... merry.

I danced too close to the speakers in the pub, and have been deaf in one ear for two days. My feet hurt. My head aches... I feel twice my age and half as sprightly.

But it was SO worth it!

* Mixed Bean and Barley Soup

I thought that giving up the job that I hated, would give me the time to get my home in order and perhaps give my brain a little TLC and a rest from the rigours of putting up with other peoples crap. I thought I'd be luxuriating in the happiness of being able to do what I want, when I want...

No alarm clock to get up to. No speed walk around the lake with the dog's eyeballs popping out of her head because I'm running late yet again and she's too old to keep up, even on her leash. No "He said, She said" upon arrival at work. No eternal clock watching until home time. No too tired to do anything but crash on the sofa and use the dog as a blankie when I finally make it home. No fish finger sandwiches for dinner because I. just. can't. be. arsed...

I am reaping the benefits of all of the above... but OHMYGODI'MBORED!!!!! I'm now only working at the weekend (at a job I love) and I have NO IDEA what to do with myself during the day. Do I do housework? Decorating? Visit friends? Do I join the gym (yeah right)? Do I take the dog for incredibly long walks in the rain??? Do I cook? Do I read? Watch TV? Rent a film? Go shopping?

What do I do?

... I eat.

I gotta get me another job.... and something with an elasticated waist.

* Carrot and Coriander Soup

The weather has turned considerably colder in the past couple of days, which means I no longer look a complete numpty when dressed in my full winter regalia of hat, scarf, gloves, boots and brolly under the arm (just in case it rains... which it does... all the time). The dog envies me. I'm tempted to buy her one of those neon coat affairs to keep her back dry when it rains... but she'd ruin what little street cred I have left.

This is the time of year when my little family actually demands soup, rather than suffer it. I love a soup that's wholesome and rustic and unprocessed. Where-as both Neil and Josh prefer smooth soups, with home made white bread to dunk into it. Neil still pulls his bread apart like a child would, and drops it into his soup to be fished out by his spoon.

Oddly - I'm often asked how many children I have (I must seem the maternal type - I'm not), my reply is always two - one I gave birth to, and one I married. Though I'm never quite sure which one is the biggest baby.

I decided to indulge Josh this time, with Carrot and Coriander Soup - he has a job interview next week, so I'm feeling all "Mumsy".

A rarity.