Guest, TIA, you should have a look at the thread I started about BS: Peanut butter & ?? sandwiches - lots of other pb afficionados here.

Favourites:

home made pumpkin soup - an Oz favourite. The best I ever had seemed to be butternut pumpkin cooked and pureed (no stock) with seasonings and either a dollop of sour cream or butter on top and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. But my favourite way of making it is to fry up some onions, use whatever fresh pumpkin (a half or a quarter of a big one) is available cut up in chunks, add some stock (I use pre-made bought variety), boil it up for about 10 minutes till the pumpkin is softand then blend it up. Adjust seasonings. Eat. If you want to be fancy add the extra stuff -sour cream herbs etc, but just as it is with chunks of fresh bread is heaven. Sometimes I swirl a bit of milk through it, too.

Also:

cauliflower, onion & bacon - has to be home made
pea & ham - has to be home made
tomato - from a can works for me because I have never figured out the trick to make it myself. It's always too acidic when I make it from fresh tomatoes
minestrone - - has to be home made, or from an Italian cafe


Once, years ago, a group of people I knew put on an evening which we called a Winter's Revel. Everyone had to bring some soup or bread and we had pots of all different types. It was cold outside and warm in the hall with lots of talking, laughing and eating, and afterwards we had some music and had a dance. It stands out in my memory as one of the best nights of my life.

It's the only time I have had real borscht too. One of the women whose family included Russian heritage, made her family's recipe and it was brilliant. Hot, sour, chunky with beetroot strips, and with a big dollop of sour cream on top.

John, just ignore the spelling Nazis. Real people look for the real meanings. Spelling Nazis look for something to whinge about.

Helen