Apropos of my 10 Jan mushroom soup recipe, I've made it several times since. On one occasion I didn't have any stock so I used a stock cube. That soup was very disappointing. I've just made a batch using home-made veg stock. I had a couple of carrots and some celery threatening to go to waste, so I made stock using them, along with a few shallots, a bay leaf and fresh thyme from the garden. The soup is delicious, and it's vegetarian. Had I used olive oil instead of butter it would have been vegan! I completely forgot to add the garlic, and we didn't miss it one bit.