Hi, how are you doing?
If you are outside the UK you may not know we are now in our third lockdown.
Thank goodness for modern technology so we can stay in touch with friends and family. I’m taking each day as it comes; I’m lucky as I have my crafts to keep me occupied, (nothing different there). I like to get out into the countryside, nature is very important to my wellbeing. There are some lovely walks on my doorstep so I can get my daily exercise. I have especially enjoyed walking in the snow, it’s a winter wonderland out there.


The weather has been cold, I don’t think the frost has entirely given since Boxing Day so I’m making lots of heart warming comfort food.
Yesterday I made sourdough rolls and a fruit and nut bread, also rye bread but somehow I mixed up the rye and fruit loaf dough so the fruit one became a loaf and I’ve made rye rolls for the first time 🙂
They were left to prove overnight by the log burner so they were ready for the oven this morning. I wish you could smell them.

We look forward to our cold wintery walk each day, with soup and bread to come home to. The great thing about the soup maker is that you can come home to a lovely bowl of heart warming soup.
The soup of the day today is my quick cock-a-leekie. If I have some leftover chicken I make it with that, and boil the bones to make stock. Today I don’t have any so I chopped up half a chicken breast and microwaved it for a few minutes to cook it off.
Here’s my version, it’s maybe not the recipe you find online but I don’t know anyone who puts prunes in soup.
Quick Soup Maker Cock-a-leekie
Leftover chicken meat, or some chicken cooked as above.
Chicken stock, or one chicken cube and one vegetable cube.
2 tablespoons of barley I use flaked barley in the soup maker, or alternatively I boil pearl barley in a pan of water for a few minutes while prepping the veg.
I medium carrot, 1 parsnip, 1 small onion, 1 small leek chopped small.
1 tablespoon of red lentils, not traditional but I love lentils in soup as they help thicken it.
Pepper.
Everything goes in the soup maker, fill to the line with stock or hot water, cook on chunky setting.
Then I go for a walk and come back to a steaming bowl of goodness.

Delicious 🙂