Soup of the Evening.....

....beautiful, beautiful soup.

Yesterday I was up early so I decided to make a start on the three loads of washing that were glaring at me from the corner of the hall. So, one load washed, dried and put away.

After that I went to the garage in the near by small town for the car to have its MOT. Luckily I took Private Eye with me as I waited for an hour and a half. I almost, but not quite, finished Private Eye.

After that it was off to visit TBSITW for a delicious lunch of fresh home made bread with home made chicken liver pate, followed by "green" soup. It was probably made with Swiss chard, but she could not remember so we decided that green soup summed it up beautifully. We both tend to make this soup with any of a variety of green leaves and they are all good.

After lunch TBSITW went to work and produced the last picture to go in a multiple frame given by elder son and his wife for my birthday. I then produced a different multiple frame along with some pictures that I had found of me at different stages and both sons. As the number of spaces was strictly limited we decided that the frame would be limited to me alone.

Vanity, vanity all is vanity...

I had found and fitted a photo of my grandfather, my father, me and elder son (as a baby). This showed, of course, four generations of the same family.

TBSITW then scanned and re-sized and printed and guillotined to fit two further photos, one of me when I qualified as a midwife and one when I graduated from the Open University.

She has also scanned one of me taken, when I was 17, on North Bridge, Edinburgh on my way back to the office after lunch. The reason I was stopped was for a series of small articles and some photographs for Edinburgh Evening News. The press man and the photographer were carrying out a "vox pop" asking people what name they thought Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden would call their first child. I said 'David' as I thought that it was the given name of her father.

It was a particularly good photograph (ie it made me look good) so we bought some prints. One ended up with elder son and he had put it on his notice board in his halls of residence at University. His then girl friend (now his wife) was a little jealous of this pretty girl he had pinned up.!!!

Now there's a compliment.

I came home and in the late afternoon and into the evening I made a pot of chicken soup, using the stock from boiling the chicken thighs. Added to the stock were 2 onions, two carrots some rice and and the meat off one of the thighs.

Phew.

Soup

I said I was going to make chicken soup today and I thought I would share this recipe as it is so cheap and easy, so much so that my family know it as Soup soup. In fact a lot of people have asked for the recipe and I found it very difficult as I just throw it together. However, as I have just made it, it is fresh in my mind and the quantities are more or less right.

I often make it with real chicken stock made from boiling up bones from a whole chicken or even just chicken legs or thighs or drumsticks with a carrot, onion, bit of celery and some herbs but that is not necessary. If I ever cook a chicken I always try to make stock and put it in the freezer for later if I am not making soup right away

2½ litres water
3 large carrots, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
a large handful of long grain rice.
2 chicken stock cubes (I use Kallo organic ones, but any will do and Marigold stock powder will substitute if you are vegetarian)

Put all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 1 hour. Check seasoning.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

It is cheap, cheerful, tasty and filling.

This soup freezes very well.