Lots to talk about, but where to start?

There are so many things I want to tell you - going back to 'That Birthday' I want to share with you some of my lovely pressies, and I want to tell you about Wednesday Bric-a-Brac day, but I think I will show you what I have been up to this morning. After an early start, an 8am dental appointment the morning seems to have elongated itself to almost a day. Two different events over the weekend has meant a morning in the kitchen. Now I love my kitchen, it has lovely red tiles, a Lacanche cooker (bought off ebay) and in the corner this

 Can you guess what's under it?
Ta dah, it's this

My KitchenAid, bought when I left teaching, partly a gift from all my friends at school and partly a gift to me from me. I just LOVE everything about it from the colour to the retro-ness (is that a word?) of it. However today was not a day for using it you'll have to wait another time to see it in action. No today I have had to prepare for my brother, his wife and their 18 year old twins coming over tomorrow for the day so soup was on the menu, broccoli and cream cheese to be precise. It's a recipe out of Delia's Christmas book you can find the full recipe here. I have to say it's one of our favourites. Once that was going I turned to my next soup which I was making to serve at our sailing club on Sunday when we are 'on duty' ( this means J is 'officer of the day', setting the race course for the sailors and running the race and I am in the galley providing food after the first race and cakes for after the second one) The one I chose to make is lentil with coconut - that sounds nice I hear you say well yes it is. This is what it has in

and here are the quantities
2tbs oil
1 onion peeled and chopped
1-2 garlic cloves crushed
1 and a half tsp cumin ground or seeds
4 cardamons
1 carrot peeled and chopped
1tsp turmeric
6oz lentils
1.5 litres chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 tbs coriander leaves or 1 tsp ground coriander (the fresh hadn't arrived when I took the picture)
salt and pepper
1 carton coconut cream
1 tbs tomato puree

Now these days I often put more carrots in, and today I was wanting to make a large pot so I doubled the quantities.
First heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic till soft. If you are using whole spices crush them but discard the cardamon husks

Add all the spices along with the carrots and fry for a couple of minutes before adding the lentils

Just look at those colours they certainly brighten up the day. Add the stock and bay leaves and cover and simmer till the lentils are cooked (ie soft) maybe about 30 mins but keep checking. Whizz up, I have a Braun multipractic , add the carton of coconut cream and tomato puree, season to taste and ENJOY

Soup finished and it was time to start baking Toffee brownies for the relatives

 Flapjak

and  Date and Banana cakes for the sailing club - well I will freeze the small one for another time.

I do hope you have enjoyed a look inside Number 6 today, visit me again to find out what we did  with the relatives. xx