Soup

Last week my good friend Blossom, who lives in Melbourne, sent me a little soup recipe book, with a note asking after Lib. Many a winter's day in past years have Bloss and I enjoyed the comfort of her wonderful homemade soup. I rarely get to see Blossom these days, but I regularly make a big pot of soup.

Last Saturday it was pea and ham and the week before minestrone, and before that a leek soup recipe I got from Wilma when Huit pulled some leeks for me. The variety in soup making is part the beauty of it.

Pandora's book cafe opened in Gembrook recently, in the old garage building that also houses 'The Motorist' museum. Four Saturday's back during a cold snap, the signs outside, 'Book Sale', and 'Hot soup', lured me in. I browsed the books, selecting 'Iberia' by James Michener and sat by the woodfire to read while waiting for the cauliflower and blue cheese soup of the day. The lady in the shop added a potato puff no charge to the crusty bread roll and it was a superp lunch for $6. Walking out with 'Iberia' under my arm for another $6, I told her if the cauliflower and blue cheese soup was on next week I'd be back. She said it would be, it was, and so was I.

Ditto the next week, when the lady told me about a quick and easy chic pea and barley soup, for which she said she'd type up the recipe if I was in next week. Last Saturday, while my own pea and ham was cooking away slowly on the stove, the choice at Pandora's was pumpkin or lentil. I went with the lentil which was excellent and bought a book on Turkey, the country, again for $6. She gave me the Chic pea recipe, named Persian barley soup, and one for cannelonni bean soup, both of which are refreshing in summer.

I can't wait till summer, I'm a chic pea freak, I'll be giving it a go soon. Imagine, chickpeas, garlic, onion, barley, parsley. AHH!

What a drudge life would be without soup!