Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup
This is my own recipe, that seems to evolve a little bit every time I cook it. Originally it was a carrot soup, and I decided to add some leftover roast sweet potato in, and now it has become what it is. Generally, I always add lots of chilli, but I recently started using curry paste instead of just an extra tablespoon of chilli flakes and I think I like the flavour better.
Makes: About 6 bowls
Ingredients:
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
3cm piece of Ginger
6 Medium Carrots, diced
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes, diced
1L of Vegetable Stock
1 tbsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tbsp Hot Chilli Flakes
1 Clove of Garlic
Pepper
1 tbsp of Tikka Masala Paste (or any other red curry paste)
500ml Water
Method:
Heat the olive oil in a pot on medium heat.
Add onion, garlic, ginger, chilli flakes, pepper and ground coriander and cook for 30 seconds.
Add carrot and sweet potato and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the stock (and curry paste) and bring it to the boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
As needed, add water.
Let the soup cool slightly and blend using an immersion blender in the pot.
If you are unhappy with the consistency, add water (1/4 cup or so at a time.).
laura <3
;D TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES ;D
With the parentals out all day yesterday (and me left in charge), my little sister I decided to do some baking. We made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and milky ways on top. (Tbh, not really a chocolate fan, but my sister loved them so I couldn't really complain.) We had a lot of trouble with the cupcake recipe, as we had never made it before. I ended up tripling the amount of milk (6 tbsp instead of 2) and the cakes still came out quite dry. I triple checked we included the right amount of everything else, but perhaps our eggs were smaller than the recipe expected. In future, I would probably add a third egg (if I ever made it again). We also didn't have any chocolate (only cocoa powder) so making buttercream like that was a new experience for me. Also, having a set of smaller and less experienced hands wanting to help with everything was annoying at times, but she's so sweet I couldn't be mad.
While the cakes were cooling, my sister and I went on a very long walk to buy some cupcake decorations (and also ingredients for dinner) as there was almost nothing in the house. Coming home and realising that my key to the front door wasn't working was a fun experience. (Luckily I could unlock the backdoor as I had that key as well). In the end, she decided on Milky Ways, but chocolate covered raspberries were a close second.
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Looks delicious. Perfect for a winter meal!
Thanks, J41!
disclaimer
Hey guys,
I wrote this waiting for a train a month and a half ago and have not edited it since. Sorry for the clunkiness.
The bird has been in this cage many times before.
She knows the darkness of this place well.
The familiarity provides little comfort,
Because bars are still bars,
And locks are still locks.
The girl has been trapped in her mind many times before,
She has lost herself in a sea of her thoughts.
She has been so fixated on all that she should become,
That she forgets all that she is.
The familiarity provides little comfort.
Just because you know what your deepest darkness looks like,
Does not mean that it does not still petrify you.
Just because you have been to the edge of your soul,
Does not mean you aren’t scared of falling off the cliff..
And although thoughts are just thoughts,
They have a way of twisting themselves around you,
Inhibiting all movement and squandering every hope of growth.
If she leaves her thoughts unchecked for long enough,
They will become the bars and locks that use to bind her.
There are other ways of making people into ghosts.
The girl has learnt to free herself before.
She has learnt to turn on the light,
In the midst of her deepest darkness.
She has learnt to cling to a lifeboat,
When the roar of her mind begins to crash like waves overhead.
She has learnt to fight with everything she has.
But she has also learnt to exist in the dark.
She has learnt to embrace the panic,
To allow the thoughts to overcome her.
She has learnt to rest and regenerate.
She has learnt to wait.
Because just when it feels like it might all become too much,
She is able to embrace it all.
She stretches herself and wraps her arms around her broken bits.
She gives her soul a hug.
She shakily rebuilds herself,
And watches the cage shatter.
Just like that,
The frantic fluttering of wings stops.
The bird soars high.
Because thoughts are just thoughts.
Hey Laura,
Freedom and hope seem to be strong themes in your writing if you're comfortable answering do you know why that is?
I don't want to be super depressing/weird/personal/triggering, so for those who want to read about it I'll stick it in a spoiler:
;D ;D
I really struggled with anxiety and an eating disorder and coupled with some abuse from a teacher at my old school, I went through a really, really rough time. Moving schools, making more friends and getting involved in lots of things helped to lift me out of a really dark place. I still have occasional blips and bad patches, but on the whole, things are a lot better now.
For ages, all I could write about was what happened and what I went through. It was super personal and very dark, so I never felt like I could share it. Recently, I started submitting some of my older writing to magazines and publications (under a pen name) and the response was really wonderful, but it didn't really feel like me anymore.
I think that I wanted my writing to uplift me and others, rather than be something that suffocated me. At the time, writing about how I was feeling liberated me. It was cathartic. But reading all of the things 12-year-old, abused and terrified me wrote is far more painful now than creating something new.
One day, I just sat and wrote like 30 poems, or phrases, or starts of stories. What I'm posting at the minute is me workshopping all of that gradually. I think it reflects what a great place I'm in now and how I overcame what happened to me. I think that coming out the other side of everything says a lot more about me than any of the stuff about who I was when it was happening.
Sorry if that was a little dark.
TL;DR: I wanted my writing to reflect who I am because of what I overcame, rather than what my experiences did to me. I think that this writing reflects where I am on my journey right now.
I've been doing some baking recently and experimenting with how many different things I can put in puff pastry. It's very easy and VERY delicious.
So far in terms of savoury toppings I have tried:
- spinach and cheese
- tomato and cheese
- spinach, tomato and cheese
- vegemite and cheese
And sweet toppings:
- nutella and/or raspberry jam with a combination of coconut and almond flakes
- stewed fruit
- stewed and sweetened fruit (apricot, pear, peaches ect.)
- jams (crab apple, strawberry)
My favourite by far are nutella and almond!
I've also been experimenting with shapes. I've made scrolls, squares, rectangles with open ends, long and thin twisted things and triangles. My friend made some with me and experimented with some loveheart and butterfly esque shapes. They were all equally delicious.
some pictures
(https://i.imgur.com/9INjcMP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FwGqYkE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fn3WZf8.png)