I am so not a foodie! Don't get me wrong I love food and I love to cook and bake, but I hate the label of foodie. I find that most self-professed foodies are bloody pretentious!
I prefer to be a little haphazard and care-free in the kitchen, so I do apologise if the recipes you might find in this blog are messy and imprecise. Like most things in life you have to feel it, go with your gut instinct when you find yourself hunched over a bowl armed with a whisk. Have fun cooking and enjoy the act of making something from scratch. Be proud of yourself and don't be afraid to make a mess, it's just dinner after all.
I love that Spring in here and all the veggies are so lovely and fresh. So, today I had a Spring feast of homemade split pea soup with homemade crusty bread for dipping. I spent the morning in the sun-filled kitchen with my mother-in-law and together we made the best ever pea soup. I have to admit I had never had pea soup before today and I always thought that I hated peas! But, I have to say it was amazing. I've had two bowls today.
And for afters I ate a large portion of rhubarb and apple crumble drizzled in cream. YUM!
So, if you wanna try these lovely treats here are the recipes.
Jax and Helen's Split Pea Soup
250 g dried green split peas
2 small white onions
3 rashers of smokey bacon
2 sticks of celery
2 medium carrots
6 or so baby new potatoes
8 c vegetable stock (pr enough to cover the vegetables)
1 bouqet garni (3 sprigs of thyme and a bunch of curly parsley and 1 bay leaf)
What you need
1 good chopping knife
1 saucepan to soak the peas in
1 large saucepan to make the soup in
1 wooden spoon to stir
1 hand blender
1 ladle
Directions
* Soak the dried peas overnight or for at least 8 hours, then rinse and set aside to add to the soup later
In a large saucepan fry up the bacon and the onions on a medium to high heat until the onions go translucent (fry in a combo of butter and olive oil)
Next add the celery and the carrots and fry until a bit soft
Add in the potatoes and the peas
Then cover in the veg stock and boil for a few minutes
Season to taste (remember that the bacon has loads of salt, I only added fresh cracker pepper)
Reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 1 hour
Take the soup off the heat and hit it with a few pulses from a hand blender until the soup is a nice thick consistency
To serve
Ladle 2 scoops into a bowls and drizzle fresh cream over the top
Best with fresh baked crusty bread (recipe to follow)
Crusty Bread
This is a cheat as we have a Panasonic Bread Maker in the house and all you have to do is bung everything into the machine and press a button.
1 tsp yeast
400 g strong flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
50 g oats
350 mls water
Bakes in the machine for 4 house and this included that mixing and proving
Jax and Hel's Fab Rhubarb Crumble
Ingredients
6 stocks of fresh rhubarb
1 small sweet eating apple
1/4 c water
1/3 c sugar for the filling
3 oz cold butter
6 oz self raising flour
2 oz oats
6 oz caster sugar
What you'll need
1 good chopping knife
1 medium pyres baking dish
measuring scales
1 bowl to combine crumble mixture
Directions
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 or about 375 degrees
Wash and cut the rhubarb and apple (leave the skin on) into cubes
Place the fruit in the pyrex dish and cover in the 1/3 c of sugar (I used a mixture of caster, preserving and brown sugar) and add the water
Next make the crumble mis by using the tips of your fingers to combine the flour and butter together until you have a light, sand like mixture
Then add in the oats and use fingers to mix
Next add the caster sugar to the mix
And pour over the rhubarb and apple
Pat the mix into the fruit
Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until golden brown on the top with fruit syrup bubbling over the crust
To serve
Best with cold cream poured over the top
Next time I promise to take better pics and not to eat almost all the crumble.
Enjoy! x
I am going to be totally honest here, I have no idea what to write on this first post. I have never posted a blog and I am finding it incredibly intimidating. I am sure that this feeling will subside the more I post and the more I write. I feel I need to do this, I have to put some of my thoughts out there in the world, no matter how scary it might seem.
So, hello internet people. I guess I should give you some basic information about myself. My name is Jacqueline (but all friends call me Jax). I have just recently quit my stupid, awful, ultra-boring admin job in London and moved out to the Welsh countryside. I am not English, although the UK has been my home for nearly six years now. I first came to London as an exchange student in 2005. I fell madly in love with the musician who lived two floors above me in the halls of residence. The musician and I got engaged after three months and wed in a proper castle after being together for nine months. So, in the span of a few months my life completely changed. I fell in love (this was my first real relationship as well), graduated from university, and moved half way across the world.
I packed my whole life up into six cardboard boxes and sent them on a cargo boat to London. (Said boxes were held hostage for weeks on end at Tilbury port and after rescuing them I never wore any of the clothes as they stunk of wet cardboard and pirate wee, lesson learned never ship anything!) At times I felt like I gave up everything, I felt like I didn't know who I was anymore. At times it felt like it was a mistake. I didn't know anyone, I didn't have a job, I didn't have a life here. For the first month I didn't want to leave our flat, I was afraid of people. I didn't think anyone here would like me or want to be my friend. And that was hard for me as I had always loved being around people and I was always the centre of attention, entertaining people. I felt like I was forced to grow up too fast. I had to take on responsibilities that I didn't want, like paying water bills and hoovering.
But, together we made it work. Don't ask me how we did it, but we managed to pull it off. We've been through a lot. Through thick and thin for better or worse. Life has been up and down over the past couple of years and I am finally ready to make a big change. I am going to figure out what to be when I grow up (maybe without the growing up part). I have always been one of those girls who is good at a lot of different and varied things. Like a Jax of all trades but master of none. So now is the perfect time to master a craft. Maybe this blog will be the first step in the right direction.
I need to free up my thoughts and not be so impacted by what people say or think about me. I am a naturally care-free and happy person. Most days of the year I feel like a kid that never grew up. I love to play and run around like a little girl scout high on hawaiian punch and sugar cookies. I love to create and inspire people. But, above all I love to make people laugh.
This ability to make people laugh has been my defining characteristic for most all my life. I feel alive when I make a funny. I feel like the world actually makes sense when I get get a little smile out of someone. But, lately I feel I have lost this ability. I am confused and no longer feel in touch with my inner child. I need to reconnect and build a new sense of purpose and build a life for myself. Basically, I am trying to find a way to function in this world.
I don't want to become some uptight adult. Sometimes I can feel my sense of play and curiosity slipping away. And I am going to do whatever it takes to stop this. Throughout my blog I am going to explore new improv games, share cupcake recipes, and talk about things that make me happy and hopefully this will pump some good energy into the world.
Let's go! x
