Beautiful soup

I am, I think, quite well-known as a Soup Queen. I love making soup - I love eating soup! It's mostly pretty healthy, and economical and time saving and all sorts of useful things. For years, I have chugged along with my stock pots and food processor and latterly a little hand held gizmo to use if I wanted a really smooth and velvety end product.

So, a couple of years ago now, I saw an advert for a Cuisinart soup maker. Now, I am not a huge fan of kitchen gadgets, aprt from my beloved and trusty Magimix. At times I am tempted and I fall - the stashed away smoothie maker and juicer are testament to that, not to mention the pasta maker. (That one I would really love to learn how to use - all attempts so far have failed dismally. Any advice gratefully received!) But I digress.

I ruminated upon the soup maker, not wanting to rush in to an expensive purchase that would prove less than wise. I ruminated for these past two years. And then - I succumbed. Having looked at them on line, I stuck with the original and twice as expensive as the rest Cuisinart as I reckoned that it would be sturdier, certainly a bit larger, and the brand had a good track record.

The verdict? I have used it three times since Christmas, and I (and others) are impressed. It is basically a heavy duty blender with a pretty powerful heating element. The controls are simple - it is very easy to use (once you have twigged that it heats up very quickly and that you really do need to have all the ingredients prepared before switching on, otherwise you incinerate your garlic or onion.....) It makes a quantity that is plenty for three and ok for four as a starter, or with biscuits and cheese. I like it!

I shall still use the stock pots &etc for the chunky soups - this comes in to its own for lunches. The DSM is somewhat wedded to his old routine of sturdy, worthy sandwiches which these days (sigh) I find a bit much. Problem solved, no?

In fibre news - I have still not finished the damned Einstein jacket. I have been too clever for my own good, and have had to pull out the first sleeve a few times. Why did I not realise that there was a reason for not knitting the sleeve in the round, eh? So the first attempt was frogged when it dawned on me that knitting garter stitch in the round gives one stocking stitch; the second when I realised that knitting purl in the round gives one reverse stocking stitch; the DSM then kindly pointed out to me that alternating knit and purl would work - which indeed it does, but I then eventully realised that the decreasing wasn't working out well, and so.....but I am now making progress.

And I am still spinning quite a bit.

The weather is filthy. Disgusting. A trip to Bettys in Ilkley for essential supplies today (ahem - you didn't know that "essential" could be applied thusly, did you?) driving over the moor in the torrential rain and blustering gale was only just compensated for by the lovely lunch.

Mulligatawny soup!