Well, the joiner & crew never came. Next Wednesday now, apparently.
To keep my pecker up and keep a lid on my inner frustration, I've been busy engaging in displacemant therapy: I've flung myself into cottagey pursuits. I've sourced & upcycled a china cabinet; I've ordered a plate rack from ebay - also for redecoration; I've crochetted 2 cushion covers; I've been on a candle-making course with my sis; I've made pots of Latheronwheel Blackberry Jam, and Plum & Blueberry Jam, and Rhubarb & Ginger Jam, and 4-Fruit Marmalade with Cointreau - (the latter had setting issues and breakfast boozy issues but the taste is very forgiving!).
So you could say, I have kept myself busy to mask my disappointment at still having no studio to work in.
I love the cottage though. It was built in 1870. I am absolutely sure of this because 1870 is hewn into one of the facing stones! Although the cottage now has underfloor heating, I still want to retain some of the old cottagey character.
In some things I like to be traditional.
I have been idly watching the Pioneer Woman on the Food Channel most afternoons. I have been disheartened to note that a few frozen veg thrown into a pan of store-bought stock - thickened with flour - with some finely chopped bacon & cilantro (whatever that is?) constitutes SOUP!
As you may recall, I am very particular & old-fashioned about soup:
(1) It has to involve bones of some sort (chicken bones for Rice Soup; ham shank for Lentil Soup; mutton flank for Tattie Soup). Marrow is so good for you.
(2) It needs to have a natural thickener - some sort of starch like potato, rice, lentils, barley or even pasta.
(3) It needs fresh veg - carrot, swede & onion are definite basics. And fresh herbs, especially parsley.
(4) It needs to be thick.
(5) It needs to be piping HOT!
In the Olden Days - say, in my Nana's time - soup was 2 meals in one pot. The soup part was the veg and marinade part of the simmering meat. The large pan was either slow-cooked on the stove, or by the roaring open fire. The soup part was served first, after the meat had been removed, of course. As well as the extra whole tatties that had been plonked into the mix to be served with the main course - the meat & tatties. After everyone had finished their soup, the main course was served directly into the empty soup dish. Easy One-Pot Cooking, we'd call it nowadays, but this was serving two courses in one! And with less washing up!
Never would meat be added to the soup. Because it was the main element of the next course.
True comfort food. No waste, full of goodness, scalding HOT!
I suppose that's what I remember. So my soup has no meat, or bacon, added to it. I'm a purist! True to my crofter roots!
My soup has been adapted though. Today I made Mushroom Soup. My Nana would never have entertained the notion of cooking a mushroom! To her, a mushroom had nothing to do with soup and a great deal to do with rotting and decay with probably more than a touch of the devil attached to it!
And I added nutmeg to it. Nutmeg was only for Rice Pudding! But I love the taste of nutmeg with mushroom. My Mushroom Soup was made with chicken bones and thickened with potato. I made a cauldron of it. Soup is such a comfort food! All wrapped up in an aroma of memories of loved-ones!
After finishing a bowl, I am feeling more positive about next Wednesday now.
