Resolutions

1. Create more- more sewing, more knitting, more writing and maybe pick up some new skills? Give crochet another go. I only think it's magic. It can't be that hard surely?
2. Be more social! Find a local craft group or look into joining the local SWRI. Be better at keeping game night a regular thing. Actually go to that local pub quiz Bloke's pal's been talking about. So on and so forth. 
3. Send more snail mail! Every one loves receiving mail and it's a really personal way of keeping in touch with friends far and wide. 
4. Speak Gàidhlig more often. It's good for me and it's far better for Bloke's progress learning if he's exposed to it as much as possible. (If you're interested the BBC has wonderful free resources for learners of all levels, but Beag air Bheag is the best for very beginners.)
5. Cut down on the coffee intake. Drink more tea. Tea is lovely. 

I think new years resolutions should be things that make you happy or bring some serious positivity. The days are short and drab enough in January that there's really nothing to be gained from piling on any extra negativity. 

How about you?

Minnie xoxo

Holidays

Wow, the past two months have been crazy. Winding up the semester and getting ready for the holidays it's been pretty hectic. But I managed to get all my Christmas knitting done and then some. Granted my goals weren't particularly lofty. Still an achievement to be proud of.

The Christmas cake was a hit this year again. I covered it in lemon butter cream and royal icing. Tasty. As you can see my cake decorating was pretty minimalist but it's an upgrade from last year when the cake didn't survive long enough to be iced. Progress. (The coal is put on with an edible food safe pen, I have this one.)

We had planned to head up north to the islands to see family for Christmas  but the weather has been so wild the ferries haven't been running. We had a pretty awesome day all the same, Bloke made a MASSIVE roast beef dinner and we had a film marathon. And because Bloke is awesome he got me a new camera for Christmas so this should be the last post with crappy phone pictures. Well probably.

How was your holiday? Ready for the new year?

Minnie xoxo

If You Do Anything Today

Read this post laying down the facts of the picture of Gaelic in Scotland today. It's  brilliant.

Scottish Gaelic is my first language, I went through Gaelic medium education and while I'm married to an English man I speak Gaelic at home. My husband's radio station of choice is BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal.

Causeways and odd road signs another aspect of the gaeldom

This is the time of to-do lists

It's less than two month till Christmas. I know I know it seems like all I've done is talk about Christmas. I need to share more of my life, and I promise I will. But the key to a stress free (or as close as it gets) and affordable holiday is in the planning. You don't want to pay for the holiday with only one month's worth of pay. It's not like the regular bills take the month of December off.


Gifts, decorations, food, cards, it amounts to a lot. Here are the last postage dates for mail from the UK, some of the international airmail ones are very early in December! I'm terrible for missing the postage dates, I think most of the cards I sent didn't arrive until after Christmaslast year. Whoops. We've already missed most of the surface mail dates for this year! Air mail it is then...

Not to mention that November is goign to be super busy what with me finishing up the semester, looking for a job for when I graduate while you know still trying to maintain  bit of a social life. No biggie? It's just about making the most of my time. And planning. Let's not forget tea! Tea is wonderful!

Now I have to get to the doing part of my to-do, are you guys as swamped as I am?

Minnie xoxo

Living Vicariously Through Others

Or even knitting vicariously through others. It's awesome.

Tasha over at By Gum By Golly is having a follow along, sharing the process she goes through fitting and knitting a 1940s knitting pattern. I am still knitting the grey stretch monstrosity for bloke. Mostly because it's really bloody dull and I banish it to the spare room for months on end. I am determined to have it finished before Christmas though. So here's the fancy button and link:

I do love me a red jumper. Alas the hair it is rather ginger these days. Perhaps in a nice shade of blue? Or a nice Kelly green. What ever happens I'm sure it'll look fab. If I ever finsh the one for bloke...

Also I'm never knitting an all rib jumper for my husband that isn't in the round. Just no. At this moment in time I'm refusing to believe I'll have to sew it up. Fairies will come in the night and do it for me right?

Just pat my head and make me tea while I sit here in denial,
Much appreciated
Minnie xoxo

Presents vs Gifts

So, the cake has been made so we're officially in the run up to Christmas. Granted we're still at the marathon stage not the sprint. But still the totting up of budgets is happening, the slow panic is building. Last night Bloke was watching Dave Gorman's new show Modern Life Is Goodish. And he made a brilliant point. There's a difference between Gifts and Presents.

Its quite a simple concept "presents" are things that you would actually buy for your self: books, clothing, perfume etc. "Gifts" are those things that are created especially for giving and are not something you'd not buy for yourself: miniature foods, mini sets of *anything*, the dad centric desk gifts and the myriad of joke presents available in the run up to Christmas. Now I can hear your "But bath sets are useful!" Well yes and no, how many selections of bubble bath are actually used? It really comes down to how familiar you are with the persons bath/shower time habits. I fully admit to buying my husband a nice shower set or posh soap every gifting holiday but I do so knowing that it's something he'll actually use. The same cannot be said for anyone who doesn't share a bathroom with me.

Now, this is not to say that presents will be what the person wants. But there is something far more personal about it. And the whole point of presents is the thought you've put into it.

And presents don't have to be about shopping. I cannot emphasise this enough. I only buy things for a very select few, and honestly most of them are children. Every one else gets food at Christmas. Bloke and I spend a few days making a section of edible goodies. we can't guarantee you'll like them, but you can feed them to any of your guests, we don't even mind if you pretend to your Aunt Mabel that you made them yourself.

And if cooking isn't your thing, don't sweat it. Use your talents! If you want to. This is just a plea against wasting your money because you have to buy some one a gift.

 If you can't think of anything, go for the best sort of gift- the charity gift. Oxfam do a wonderful range. How about some Chickens for the animal lover in your life? Or if your budget is a bit bigger you could help a vulnerable child.


So, this isn't a campaign for no gifts ever, just "Let's stop buying pointless crap, yeah?" I promise I'm not a grinch.

Minnie xoxo

Things I'd Like To Wear This Week

I really love autumn, but with the cold weather drawing in my mind always strays to the shops to see what catches my eye. Answer? A lot. But here are a few of my favourites.  This isn't a sponsored post at all, I'm just sharing my perusing and musings.

This gorgeous spotty trench coat from Boden. This is how you look dashing and elegant on a wet grey autumnal day.

These slippers from Accessorize Hello, you would make my toes ever so cosy. And I'm too behind on my knitting to make anything like you for my self.

This rocking teal animal print dress from George at Asda, psssh don't judge me. Look at that colour! Black tights, some biker boots ant a little coat? Suave, that's what you'd be. And you can pick it up with the weekly shop. (What? That's not lazy it's multi tasking!)

These AMAZING leggings from Topshop. They would make everything far more fab. Doing some yoga? going to the pub quiz? Dazzle every one with your lovely pins.

And given it's October, look a wee ghostie jumper from New Look! Cheap, cheerful and seasonal. What more could you want?

. I can never, ever resist a good flannel check shirt, like this lovely example from A wear. I totally get that from my dad. When I was growing up his wardrobe staples were wrangler jeans and plaid shirts.

Or how about this utterly gorgeous fair isle dress from Love Moschino. Another one of those "would never have the time to knit" category  and it's utterly flawless. And cosy I'm sure.

Wow, I'm really in a blue mood today. Time for another cup of tea and time to tackle all that ironing.

Is there anything you've got your eye on? A lovely autumnal coat you're lusting after or mabey you've found a killer pair of wellies? care to share?

Minnie xoxo

Christmas Cake 2013

So this is only a slight improvement on last year's series of posts. There's more rum in the fruit soak, more spice and for the sake of clarity this year the cake making is being condensed into one post for the sake off ease &  of print-ability.

I really love this cake, it was born out of necessity ( I have a nut & dairy allergy) but with a lot of experimentation I settled on a good dense, sweet and spicy cake that smells heavenly without being too filling or dry. Dry fruit cake is the pits. It's great iced or plain. Alas the alcohol content is very high so it is not suitable for every one. However an alcohol free version can be easily made a few days before Christmas- just soak the fruit in cold black tea or fruit juice (orange or cranberry juice would be lovely. )

Christmas cake can seem super daunting, baking something so far in advance spoilage can be a worry but that's the important role the alcahol plays preserving the cake and allowing the flavours to deepen and develop.

What you'll need:

• 200g glacé cherries, chopped (I like French style best, if dayglo red and green are you're thing I won't judge you too much)
• 200g candied peel (often referred to as mixed peel) 
• 1kg sultans, raisins or currants (a mix or just the fruit you like best, i usually just use raisins because I like them best and we tend to have them in the pantry anyway.)
• 1 litre bottle of dark rum (this will serve you from start to finish and leave you some to spare, supermarket own brand is fine)
• 30ml/1 table spoon of vanilla extract (never essence if you can help it)
• 250g very dark brown sugar
• 250g butter (I use a dairy free margarine, as long as its okay for baking it'll work in the cake)
• 6 medium eggs
• 400g plain flour
• 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 100g ground rice or ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of ginger 

Its Autumn and that means Christmas cake.

So.... We're half way through September. How did that happen? Oh yeah getting married, moving and starting back at uni does then to be a time suck like that. Who Knew? Every one but me, obviously.

I'm still getting to grips with the new house, and uni and I still have a ton of stuff to wrap up from after the wedding. But that's tottally beside the point because September means its Christmas cake time again!

If you missed it last year, I make my Christmas cake at the end of September and feed it with rum for month and months so that come December its a lovely juicy, spicy cake that's so full of alcohol people think they love it. Its cheap and easy to do and doesn't take more than two hours in the oven or contain any crazy expensive ingredients. I'll be blogging the recipe and method again this year with better pictures and more direction because of the awesome feed back I got last year. (Mostly the cake jacket, I'll hold my hands up that was super vague.)

So back on point, lets make it a proper cake a long. No need to use my recipe, or *any* recipe for that matter. Do you make a cake? Do you buy one? Who sells the best cake for those who don't want to/don't have the time? What do you hate about Christmas cake? Is the marzipan a requirement or the devil's work? Is any icing even required (we didn't get that far next year. This year I'm making multiples)? Or is Yule log where its at for you? Will you be my new best buddy?

So who's up for it? Will you blog/ bake along, or just cheer us on in the comments?

Minnie xoxo

Still Packing, Still Moving.

Things we have done:

• been to ikea and bought the little bits of furniture and rugs we need for the bigger space (twice in two days)
• taken a few loads of stuff to the new house.
• gotten the ball rolling on getting the home phone an broadband set up in the new house. (I seriously don't understand why it takes so many phone calls or so many days. Ho hum.)
• started to get the new living room into some sort of order

Things we still have to do:

• finish packing an moving
• clean up Old Flat-surfaces, walls windows and possibly the carpet?
• Put New House together. No excuses. No living half unpacked for months. 
• makes plans and budget for how to deal with New garden

If only it were so simple....

I promise all the moving grumbling will be done with soon,

Minnie xoxo

Moving Amnesia

How do I manage to forget how much I hate moving? Every single time I get stuck with the awful realisation that we own a ridiculous amount of stuff for two people. Like multiple pairs of shoes, tools, books, hobby related stuff and don't even get me started on kitchen stuff. I swear we cull all this every time we move. Ruthlessly going through our possessions until we've got the bare minimum. Alas the bare minimum is still quite a lot, especially now that white goods (fridge and freezer) have been thrown into the mix. I do understand that we don't actually own that much, but two people with hobbies in a tiny flat? Yeah not much fun.

Anyway I always forget how much I hate this process. Or at least the packing side of things.

Still, I'm slowly attacking what feels like taking down mounds of artwork and putting up the fairly horrendous Ikea prints that came with the flat back up.

Thankfully we're moving into a much bigger, brighter space. Hurrah! This flat has been great for a really easy commute to uni but the Landlord has put it up for sale and its a bit dark and dingy in any weather that isn't bright sunshine (which lets be honest is pretty rare in Scotland.) And the new place is on the other end of the scale, a bit of a ways out but big, bright and  airy and with a wood stove hopefully much, much cheaper to heat than out current place with its ancient storage heaters.


Any tips for staying sane during all this packing?

Minnie xoxox

So We Got Married

Fair warning: we're cheapskates. This is not the place to find a grand event. We had a small-ish cozy, diy, churchy wedding. We did the food ourselves, I wore a vintage dress I restored myself, the flower girl's outfit was bought on sale and was *gasp* machine washable. And horror of horrors we didn't employ a professional photographer (Lots of our friends took lots of lovely photos and gave them to us!) And made our own cake. We had so much fun!

  

  

We had a rocking time, and Bloke packing my trainers in the van was GENIUS. By about half six my feet were in agony, a change of shoes was heavenly. However getting married on a Saturday means you should really book some form of transport from the reception to wherever you're staying that night well in advance. The taxis hellish by the time we decided it was time to head so we walked through the town centre at half eleven on a Saturday night. Lots of fun but I think most of people thought we were a publicity stunt.

Anyway, I really need to get back to the mountain of packing that has to be done,

Minnie xoxo

A Quick Update

Got Married, went on holiday, moving house! Will regal you all with tales of our adventures when I've got the time to sit down and type.

Minnie xoxo

Wedding Style: Kidlets

We're in the official less than a month to the wedding run up. So I'm going to share my current trend loves available on-line and/or the British high street. Today, its Flower Girls, Page Boys and other tiny guests and members of the wedding party. And all under £50.

I am a massive fan of this hydrangea print dress from Monsoon. It's stocked in a range of baby sizes from 0 to 3 years for £30 and in child sizes from 3 to 12 years at £38.

 

Sticking with light fresh blue, how about this bright pop of colour from Boden mini? Its the Broderie party dress which comes in this blue, a navy and a lovely soft pink in sizes ranging from 1 to 10 years in the sizing. Prices range from £34 to £36.

 

Staying with Boden, and another broderie  dress. On sale to boot! It comes with three sashes in pink, blue and ivory. This time the size range is a bit wider ranging from 1 to 14 years, prices are from £44.40 to £46.80.

How about something a bit brighter for the littles with big personality? This bold floral dress from Next comes in sizes from 3 months to 6 years for £22 to £24. Bargain!

How about this dapper little outfit for the mischievous wee gentlemen in your life? The waistcoat set and trousers are two septate purchases from the same page in sizes 3 months to 6 years, the whole outfit prices range from £34 to £37.

 

For the really, really tiny ladies in attendance how about this gorgeous little floral number for £6? Sizes are from newborn to 6 months.  

 

A little something bright and comfy for very new wedding attendees?  This little fluro knit number is £14 and ranges from 3 months to 18 months from the Topshop mini range.

Or how about this teeny tiny boys outfit? £21, sizes from Newborn to 18 months from John Lewis.

Happy Friday! Minnie xoxo

FOCCUS part 2

So when you take part in the first part of the FOCCUS course you make an appointment with the counsellor to discuss your collated results, how you're partners answers compare to your own.  You are encouraged to talk about the experience together after your first session, and this follow up session is more about gently talking through those answers where you might not see eye to eye, or feel like you're evenly vaguely on the same page.

All fairly simple, all fairly straight forward. So why do it? Well it's easier to have a chat about bank accounts, hypothetical children and hypothetical ageing parents before it happens. And that's really the whole point of FOCCUS whether its a denomination specific version or not, talk about the hard stuff now with the help of a third party before it happens. Marriage is hard. Every one is different. But it helps to be really aware that none of you are mind readers and having some ground work laid down for the great unknown helps.

Would we do it again? Yes. Would I do anything any differently? I think making time for a treat afterwards would have helped. I kept on getting so wound up and agitated before had that by the end of both sessions I was exhausted. Cake and tea or a wee picnic on the way home would have really helped. And don't schedule anything important for afterwards, we went to meet with father K in the evening and I couldn't remember anything. My poor wee brain was frazzled.

I really hope that this wee mini series on FOCCUS is useful to someone, when I was doing my research there were very few positive reviews just reams of horrid experiences on various wedding boards. I assume this is because the majority of people have a similar experience to Bloke and I. Kind, warm, polite staff and a very straight forward common sense approach.

Minnie xoxo

I am in love with a coat

 

This one.  I love it. Alas is costs ever so much. And I'm not sure I could pull it off with out buying some new boots. Its very beautiful all the same. Le sigh. 

Have you fallen for any ridiculous items of clothing?

Minnie xoxo

FOCCUS, part 1

Bloke and I are getting married in the Catholic church, and part of that process is taking part in a FOCCUS premarriage course. I made the terrible mistake of searching FOCCUS and reading some of the posts people have made on various wedding sites. This was a bad idea, all these women talking about the arguments, tears and doubt it had all caused. I was now terrified. What had i signed us up for. I have enough problems with the politics of the Catholic church as is. What kind of questions were they going to ask us?!(FOCCUS also comes in a number of versions for various of denominations as well as a religion free version.)

Bloke tried to reassure me. He'd been the one to set up our appointment and the lady from Scottish Marriage Care had sounded lovely he said. And you know what? He was right. They have been lovely so far.

And FOCCUS itself? Its at least 150 very common sense questions. We had to do a few more because Bloke isn't Catholic and we live together, so we had two extra little blocks of about 15 questions apiece. Questions isn't quite correct, statements is more accurate actually and you have the option to agree, disagree or uncertain. And there shouldn't be anything that will shock you assuming you've both talked about money, the prospect of children, careers, the place of your social lives. That you're aware weddings don't magically fix any of your problems, that relationships are hard and that people are flawed and you might encounter problems. Some questions might be a bit shocking for more conservative types, you will be asked to think about the prospect of your partner cheating, statements on your own sexuality and if their is a pregnancy or other aspect that is pushing you into the marriage. And you have to think about how the relationship you have with your own as well as your partners parents might impact on your own relationship.

Once you fill the quiz out separately, its sent away to be computed and after about a week and a half you go back to discuss the results as a couple with a counselor.

See? Nothing to be afraid of. At all I promise. The only thing to be wary of is the smug feeling you'll get from being sure you are complete agreement over everything. More on that come part two...

Minnie xoxo

Summer

I love summer. Or rather I love Scottish summers. It gets lovely and sunny with out getting too hot. I'm pale and ginger. I don't do heat well. At all. I spend may through to early September slathered in factor 50 suncream. Suncream is a wonderful invention, it means I can hang out outside when Bloke goes on adventures to go biking. Last week we headed up to Comrie Croft in Perthshire, Bloke really likes to take the bike and ride the trails and I like to take a book or some knitting, drink tea and laugh at the chickens. The chickens are really funny, the camping facilities usually mean there are a couple of small children trying to bribe a chicken into going home with them.

Today we headed through to Alva to the Alva Glen. The Ochills are all gorgeous, but the Alva Glen is really special and the paths are all really well maintained and there's plenty of railings which is good if you're a wimp like me.

I love how close we are to so many awesome places. Its really good fun to just jump in the van and go on an explore. especially in summer when the weather is warm and the days are lovely an long.

How are you all spending you free days?

Minnie xoxo

The Passing of Iain Banks.

Others will be far more eloquent, setting down the influence this great man had on their formative years in elegant little quips.

My first experience with banks was in fifth year, Intermediate Two English. We had to choose a book for the personal study section of the qualification. I found myself casting about in the rather small community school library for something I hadn't actually read. This resulted in the librarian, rather exasperated with the mass of teenagers trying to find the smallest book they could get away with, pointing me towards the adult section. I picked up The Crow Road and promptly fell in love. I found solace in the fact that I was not the only neurotic, cynical weirdo in Scotland which is rather helpful when you're at a school with less than 100 pupils.

As an adult I am now fully aware that everyone feels like this. And I learnt this and many other life lessons through banks' brilliant writing.

He will be sorely missed.

Now I'm going to go curl up and reread everything of his I have in the house,

Minnie xoxo

My New Obsession

Yoga. or more specifically Tara Stile's approach to yoga. Its completely woo/spirituality free. Which for me makes it actually enjoyable as just exercise.  No inner peace solves all your problems rubbish, no inaccessible language, and she's a really good instructor, and she posts a ton of stuff for free on you tube. 

I've been attempting to follow her beginner's routine she filmed for live strong woman on Youtube. 

I just roll out my mat on the living room floor with a full water bottler and attempt to keep up. I'm still terrible, but I'm making progress which for me is awesome. I was about as flexible as a plank before I started this. Its great! Its free and I can do it in the privacy of my own home.

I've tried various work out DVDS and fitness classes in my time, but Tara Stiles has really nailed the combination of informative and effective with ease of at home use. Bonus, you don't feel like a fool when you do it.

So I have a bit of a girl crush on her buy guys I feel more flexible that I ever have! My total lack of balance is slowly and surely becoming an actual sense of balance. Even if side planks still totally defeat me I feel like eventually, some day I will manage them.

Anyone else have any newly, mildly creepy obsessions they'd like to share?

Minnie xoxo

UUUGGGHHHH ZOMBIES WANT SLEEP NOT BRAINS UGGGHH

Its been a pretty tough semester. So so busy, I miss people, I MISS GOING OUTSIDE!

The crazy eyes of some one who knows far far too much about far too long ago to have any kind of interesting chat at the hairdressers. "So what have you been up to lately?" "DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN FEMINIST HISTORY AND GENDER HISTORY and yoga.. yoga is fun."

However my hairdresser must deal with a lot of mentals because she just nodded and smiled and me and broke out the rollers, so achieve the above swishy smoothness one usually associates with the Dutchess of Cambridge. And then left me alone for a little while to ponder on my inability to make proper small talk. 

I've also been drinking a lot of tea. Tea make me feel better about life, the world and everything. I should write an ode to tea at some point. But I get so distracted at the prospect of tea to write about it for too long. Proof, I'm off to boil the kettle now. 

And on the same calming, life is awesome even if I'm super stressed out vein - I've been doing loads of yoga at home. In my running tights because I'm awesome like that.

Other random things I've been doing include colouring in these cute new trainer I got. £6 and a sharpie and you can do the same too!

See cute! And they didn't actually take all that long. couple of evening in front of the t.v.

Also it's finally almost nearly summer. Okay so it was raining today but the past few weeks have been getting nicer and nicer. 

Would you look at that blue sky? So gorgeous. 

And finally, it took a lot of searching but we found something to give to my Dad. The man who has everything. 

Powercuts are pretty frequent in the islands, he has an open fire and its got awesome long handles. WINNING!

Tomorrow I sew, do stuff and generally be awesome because it's summer and I HAVE THE FREE TIME NOW. 

Take care dudes, 

Minnie xoxo

The Sudomasque.

Oh dudes, sorry its been such a long time between posts. Uni has been busy! I'm actually ignoring a massive pile of work to write this just now. Safe to say I super stressed. Stress takes itself out on my face. I always felt bitter about that. When your a teenager they say that spots and angry skin goes away, and you'll be a clear skinned dewy faced adult who doesn't have a curfew and can drink as much coffee as you like. Ha!

Well the jokes on me because the work, coffee to stay awake, can't sleep because of the coffee, need more coffee vicious circle probably doesn't help my special snowflake skin.  So what do you do when you're strapped for cash with sensitive broken out skin? Grab the sudocrem (I'm actually even cheaper and use the Tesco own brand version which is even cheaper at £1.40 for 150ml.)Yeap, the stuff for nappy rash.

Its designed to be used on unhappy sensitive and broken skin. It deals with infection and irritation, cools and moisturises. And unlike most treatments for broken skin it doesn't dry it out at all. A little goes a long way, and it lasts what feels like forever. Be warned though, its a bitch to get out of fabrics. 

So how do you use it? Get your hair out of your face, smear some on your face making sure to keep clear of your eye area. Give your hands a good wash (if it gets on the sofa you'll have a hell of a time getting it out.) Let it sit for an hour or more. Because its so thick and sticky you don't need to worry about dripping white goo everywhere or leaving a trail of dry clay dust in your wake. When you are ready for bed or to face the world with your lovely visage and don't feel like starting a sideline in being a really rubbish mime just fill a basin with warm water and grab a face cloth and remove the cream. Pat dry and continue with your usual face regime (if you have one.)

I do this once a week when its needed. Bloke has run out of mime jokes. My skin feels amazing. I share the oddest stuff with you people.

love,
Minnie xoxo

Spicy Pear And Butternut Squash Soup

The weather has been horrendous lately. Snow, ice, wind and rain. Ick. it is the perfect weather for soup. Hot, spicy, filling soup.

Pears, roast garlic and plenty of curry powder work beautifully with the bitternut squash. Yummy!

Ingredients. 

3 Pears

1 Butternut squash

5 or 6 Cloves of garlic 

2 Large potatoes

1 Onion

3 Good sized carrots

Some stock (home made or from a packet, I personally don't have enough room in the freezer to keep fresh Stock on hand.)

Mild curry powder

Paprika

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Method

Peel, de-seed and chunk the butternut squash. Peel, de-seed and chunk the pears. Peel and crush the garlic cloves. In a deep baking dish (like a lasagne pan) toss the squash, pear and garlic in olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of paprika and 1 of curry powder. Pop in a  hot over for 30 to 45 minutes.

Chop the onion, peel and dice the carrots and potatoes. Sweat the onions in a large soup pot with some oilve oil and some more seasoning if you like (I usually add another teaspoon or two of curry powder in at this point.) Toss in the carrot and potatoes and give a good stir. Spoon in the roast squash, pears and garlic. Pour over with warm stock until 3/4 to 4/5th full. Cover. 

When the potatoes and carrots are soft take pot off the heat and blend until smooth with a stick blender. This shouldn't be too much work. Pop back on the heat for 10 or so minutes until piping hot. 

Then serve up and enjoy! 

Minnie xoxo