It's been a while since I posted a new recipe...so how about a nice warming recipe to use up a few ingredients in your fridge. I had a little bit of pumpkin left over from Halloween, so I decided to whip up one of Mr Peachy's favourite soup flavours - Pumpkin and Pepper.
A lovely, spicy soup that I served up with some lovely, crusty onion bread;
Pumpkin and Pepper soup is one of the easiest recipes that uses just a few simple ingredients that you will have lying around. Soup is a great way of using up those few veggie stubs and stock that would otherwise go to waste - food waste is a huge problem faced by UK households at the moment and this is a way of making sure you are not throwing food away unnecessarily.
Ingredients (to serve 2):
400g Pumpkin - chopped
500ml Vegetable Stock
4 Shallots (chopped and halved)
1 Leek (chopped)
1 Red Pepper (halved)
1 tsp Lazy Chillies/Half Fresh Red Chilli
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Under the grill on a medium heat, place the two halves of pepper face up and cook for about 15 minutes until the edges are slightly blackened. Remove from the grill and place in a bowl to cool - covering the bowl with clingfilm will also keep the flavour ripe.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat your shallots and leak in a bit of olive oil, cover and cook on a medium heat until softened and slightly browned. Add your pumpkin, chilli and seasoning and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add your vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cover and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
Whilst the soup mixture is simmering, cut the red peppers into small pieces and, when the soup mixture is ready, using a hand blender, add the peppers and blend until the soup is smooth with a little texture.
Serve with crusty bread and butter for a cosy, winter treat!
Well, if someone would like to tell me where they hid October, I would be entirely grateful! Seriously, where has this month gone? It only seems like yesterday I was moaning about an 'official Indian Summer' and basking in the aftermath of my anniversary with Mr Peachy! Now, Halloween is fast approaching, I've got about three days to do my challenge project for #CraftBlogClub and I have been forced to accept that Christmas really is just around the corner!
My tutorials and Creative Fridays have been a little quiet of late - not intentionally, of course, I've just been so busy with EVERYTHING! I'm currently sat in bed with the laptop, enveloped in a very welcome quiet, whilst my poorly little girl sleeps her sore throat off next door - bless her! Sometimes, for everyone, things just get a little too much and you need to take stock of what you are doing and HOW you are getting it done! I spoke to one of my absolute favourite people in the world today and she said 'I don't know how you do it all.' The trouble is, neither do I!
This month has been a whirlwind of knitting up some lovely gnome orders for some lovely people and deciding on the best way to package them! These dudes are coming along nicely and, rest assured, I've been working my little behind off to finish them all - I can't wait to get them sent out to their new homes for Christmas, once they are all ready, of course!
I've also set myself the task of learning to crochet, ready for Tuesday's BIG CHALLENGE REVEAL at #CraftBlogClub - I can't wait to post the results (unless it all goes horribly wrong) as I've had this idea since I launched the challenge. I'm really excited to see everyone's finished results - judging from last month, the standard will be spectacular, I'm sure!
I've taken to the kitchen again and created a wonderfully indulgent winter recipe, which will be published in the coming days over on Yahoo - I can't wait to share it with you guys, here's a sneaky pic to whet the appetite!
I was also really lucky to spend a little bit of time back at home, with my Mum, after a short bout of illness and a little bit of teething pain with Miss Daisy. Home comforts are just what you need when you're feeling a little weak and, as my parents live all the way down in Somerset, I don't get to see them as much as I would like! But it was lovely to have a short break and I can't wait to spend Christmas down South again this year!
So What Now??
Well...I mentioned I would do my first Handmade Giveaway, when I reached 100 followers on Bloglovin'...and I've since crept up to 126 followers, so a HUGE thank you to my followers new and old. I'm currently designing a special little something to make and giveaway and this will be up on the site as soon as possible! Don't worry - I'll tweet the hell out of it so you won't miss a chance to enter!
I have also decided to sign up for November's Blog A Day challenge - where I shall be posting a blog each day!! I've decided to use some of the set prompts, but have also come up with a few of my own, with the help from a few Twitter friends! I see November as a real chance to write about a few more personal things - as well as the usual concoction of #CraftBlogClub, recipe, crafty goodness there will be a few more unusual posts thrown in. Is there anything you would like to ask me?? Go ahead...I might just write about it in November!
Things are also going great with the Frugally Fabulous Year and I'm so excited that so many people want to take part - button to follow guys (remember I'm practically a technophobe, aside from typing)! I've spent the last week thinking about posts and things I want to try and discuss - frugal is our name, sustainability and saving are our game!
I'VE DUSTED OFF MY NOVEL!
That's right, my little novel has been sat, half finished, for about two years and, after dreaming about it, I have decided now is the time to set to work finishing this piece! I am keeping it all under wraps for now - but I'm so excited to be writing it again! This book is my (other) baby - I hope to be able to share it with you all in the not-so-distant future!
And Finally...
I am very excited to reveal I have been nominated for Blogger of the Month over at the wonderful site, Vintage Shopper. I have been nominated for my post about searching for a vintage-inspired post-pregnancy wardrobe and I NEED YOUR VOTES!
I would absolutely love it, if you could pop over and VOTE HERE for me if you have a spare minute! I loved writing this post and Vintage Shopper is such a great site to be affiliated with! Thank you so much!
Well, I think that's about it from me...I'm off to plan, dream and hopefully CROCHET!
Stay Crafty! x
It's no secret, that I love whipping up quick and simple recipes, when I've got a spare five minutes. It just so happened that a few days ago, on a particularly miserable October morning, Miss D was asleep for about an hour and a half...and I created these little beauties!
I am a real sucker for peanut butter. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups definitely feature in my top five treats and I reignited my love of the buttery stuff on toast when I was pregnant. So, I thought I would try my hand at Peanut Butter Brownies! A delicious, light texture with a strong peanut butter taste. I've added Galaxy chocolate in to this recipe, which tasted lovely and smooth with the rich peanut butter, but a slightly larger quantity of dark chocolate would work really well, if you wanted to recapture that unmistakeable 'Reese's taste'!
I hope you enjoy these - as usual, if you do make them, please upload a picture to the Facebook Page as I love to see my recipes in action!
Ingredients:
150g Galaxy Chocolate (or chocolate of your choice)
75g Smooth Peanut Butter
175g Salted Butter
325g Caster Sugar
120g Self Raising Flour
3 Eggs
Method:
Preheat your oven to 160 C and line a square tin with greaseproof paper.
In a heatproof bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, melt your chocolate and butter until smooth - add your peanut butter to the mix and continue to stir for a minute or so.
Pour the chocolate mix into a bowl and add the caster sugar - mix until incorporated and then add flour. Mix flour in until incoporated and, more or less, smooth. You will find the mixture quite tough and sticky (due to the peanut butter). Lastly crack the eggs and mix with a wooden spoon, until mixture is completely smooth.
Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.
Serve and enjoy! x
