Autumn Whispers

On a recent trip to our local green grocer, I discovered a crate of beautiful Kent Pumpkins on sale. The days have been cooling considerably in the late afternoons as we transition from Summer to Autumn and so I decided on the spot that I would prepare a quick pumpkin soup for dinner. I squeezed a whole pumpkin into my red shopping basket and proceeded to the checkout, feeling the pleasing warmth that comes from the early whispers of a new season.

Pumpkin Soup

Serves 4

500g kent pumpkin (peeled, deseeded and chopped roughly)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups (approx 500ml) vegetable or chicken stock
nutmeg seed (1/8 to 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg)
sea salt and cracked black pepper to season
parsley to garnish

Place the chopped pumpkin, garlic, finely grated nutmeg and stock into a large saucepan and boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Once pumpkin is soft (test with a fork), blend the soup until thick and smooth, season to taste. Serve immediately with a dollop of cream or natural yoghurt and a sprig of fresh parsley, sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper.

I've previously added a small brown onion to this recipe and it tasted warm, savoury and delicious, however it is not necessary and cuts down on preparation time. I also used a ThermoChef, instead of a saucepan. All I did was place the pumpkin, garlic and enough stock to cover the pumpkin (approximately 3 cups) into the ThermoChef, set the temperature to 100 degrees Celsius (210 degrees Fahrenheit) and set the timer to 20 minutes. I then went for a jog on the beach with the puppy in the late afternoon.

When I returned, the soup was cooked so I showered, then poured off some of the excess stock into a bowl and blended the soup in the ThermoChef (less washing up equals more time to relax). You can always add more of the hot liquid stock to the soup later to make it less viscous, this is how I achieve the consistency that I want. I add the excess stock sparingly as I love my soup thick!

I poured the soup directly into a large soup mug and in my pictures I have dolloped natural yoghurt on the top and garnished the soup with Italian parsley from my herb garden. I then toasted two slices of gluten free bread and slathered a tiny amount of unsalted butter onto each hot, crunchy piece to plunge into my soup.

The soup was warm and inviting, the perfect pick-me-up after a gentle run across the wet sand. As the sun dipped low in the sky, I slowly savoured each spoonful whilst the puppy lay at my feet, sleeping soundly.

I would have to say that kent pumpkins are my favourite to use in pumpkin soup, unless I'm roasting the pumpkin beforehand, in which case I sometimes like to use the sweet, nutty flesh of butternut squash. If you choose to roast your vegetables beforehand, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and on a baking tray, coat the chopped pumpkin, crushed whole garlic cloves and roughly chopped brown onion in one tablespoon of olive oil. Roast the vegetables until golden, approximately 15 minutes, then combine in a heavy based pot with enough vegetable stock to cover the pumpkin. Finely grate 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg into the pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer until the vegetables are tender, then blend the vegetables and half of the stock until smooth. Pour in the remaining stock sparingly to achieve the consistency you desire. I prefer a thick soup, as pictured. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper to serve.

No matter what kind of pumpkin you decide to use, the end result will be healthy and filling and if you're lucky, you'll have enough pumpkin infused stock left over to flavour a lovely pumpkin risotto. The options are only as limited as your imagination.

Sitting in an old favourite chair on a broad verandah opposite the sea, my pumpkin soup in a large mug warming my fingers. Simplicity in all it's beauty.

You may have noticed that the soup mug I used is the same as the one featured in our giveaway. When I stood in a brightly lit store all those weeks ago searching for the ideal gifts to include in my giveaway, it was pumpkin soup that I imagined ladling into the teal coloured mug. I purchased an extra one for myself because I love the deep blue-green colour, especially when partnered with the glossy orange of this soup.

A gentle reminder that the giveaway will finish at the end of February. To enter, visit here and follow the instructions. Entry is free and you can enter up to seven times. Good luck dear fiends!

In other giveaway news, the lovely Jodi over at Che and Fidel is sharing details for yet another giveaway on her blog. The handmade items for the home and nursery have been generously donated by Melbourne based artist Madeleine Sargent of Made by Mosey and the link for that giveaway can be found by visiting here.

Let the sharing continue in our wonderful online community!

Thanks for popping in for dinner, as always I love to share it with you.

Bella xx

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First Day of Winter... Sweet Pumpkin Pie & Chilli Hot Chocolate

I have been fighting a bug for the past few weeks but after pushing myself to the limit in recent times, my body finally succumbed to illness.

My health is gradually improving and on my better days I have developed an appetite. The good news? I have started baking again.

I had purchased half a pumpkin for 78 cents/kilo two days earlier when I had decided to make pumpkin soup but something changed my mind.. I remembered a chilly morning in Armidale not quite a year ago when I baked my very first pumpkin pie.

And so it was on the first day of Winter I baked another sweet pumpkin pie.

Byron kindly chopped and cubed the pumpkin before baking it with honey at his home. We then drove back to my house and he left for the evening, whilst I dozed. After waking feeling more refreshed I commenced the pâte brisée and mashed the pumpkin with an ordinary old potato masher (Julia Child eat your heart out, I have gadgets for doing things by hand too!).

After rolling the first sheet of chilled pastry, I turned to wash the rolling pin and who should jump up on the freshly rolled pie base, planting two perfect paw prints in the middle of the pastry but Maxi cat.. He quickly inspected the flour to check it was safe to eat...


... Before allowing me to continue baking.


Luckily I had made ample pastry (though I was saving it for a rainy day as it can keep for a short time in the freezer) so I rolled another pastry base, lined my wonderful pyrex glass baking dish and pre-baked my pie crust. Meanwhile, I blended the ingredients for the pie filling. These ingredients saw me venture out to purchase double cream as I had forgotten it. I hastily blended the pumpkin mash (too lumpy to be purée) with the sugar, spices, lightly beaten eggs and cream and poured the sweet filling into the crust.




Whilst I baked the pie, I made some decorations for the top from leftover pâte brisée. I sprinkled these with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar and baked them on a separate baking dish for the last ten minutes of pie-baking time.


The smell of cinnamon really does lift the senses.

Byron arrived home surprised to find me awake (No surprises there really as I had slept almost the entire day), I heated some milk on the stove and made chilli hot chocolate, with just a hint of orange. This really is a treat to enjoy with another person.


Chilli Hot Chocolate

Heat 3 cups of full cream milk over low heat in a milk pan together with a large chunk of couverture chocolate, stirring occasionally. The amount of chocolate you use will depend on how chocolate-y you want the drink to be and if I'm being honest- Anyone who personally knows me will confess that I am a chocoholic so of course I tend to use a giant chocolate chunk, usually more than 150 grams.
Once warm, add a generous pinch or two of red chilli powder, the amount depending on how much 'kick' you want to give your hot chocolate, I used one pinch and don't screw up your nose but I also added a tiny pinch of salt to enhance the flavours.
The orange flavour came from adding two spoonfuls of Maggie Beer's Dark Chocolate and Orange Ice Cream. Once all ingredients had melted together (I don't like super-hot chocolate), remove the milk pan from the heat and strain into cups. Sip and enjoy.


After the pie was removed from the oven we simply couldn't wait!


We grabbed two spoons from the cutlery drawer and plunged them deep into the creamy hot middle of the pie.

Now this is how you eat a pie!!


Not such a shabby start to the coldest season of our year.



Bella xx

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Bella Goes Home

I had a thought that I have spent more time in the kitchen than what I have creating my art in recent months so it is with this late realisation that I have decided to turn this blog into my food blog. As I create more pieces, I may add them but for the time being I will harness my creative expression through cooking and happily share with you possibly my greatest passion in this world- cooking.

It has been a month since I left the golden Autumn hues of Armidale for a warmer climate to spend time with my mother. Upon my return I was surprised to see what was left of the leaves on the spiny trees had turned cool red. I never realised red could make the views seem colder but it that is quite fitting as Armidale has settled in for the icy Winter chill.


Officially it is Winter tomorrow, though Armidale got a racing start and I caught a cold early. Talk about typical.
Before returning home I bought two small pumpkins and two pineapples at the market stall near my mother's home. I had a wonderful fairy godmother moment when I turned the first pumpkin into a creamy pumpkin soup for Erin and a friend of hers from her hometown.


One thing that did please me was to see my flatmate, Erin again and of course Maxi and the budgies. Since my return we've been cooking together in the kitchen. Mostly crock pots as I am finally using the wonderful Christmas gift from my grandparents and can highly recommend this cookery method if you live in this chilly region or can relate. There is something almost magical about the aromas as you come inside the front door.

We had the monthly markets in town yesterday so Erin and I bought our usual honey (redgum this time) and vegetables from the man who drives up from Tamworth. It is funny he knows us by face and despite visiting him for many months, yesterday was the first day we introduced ourselves. Our fresh vegetable supplier's name is John.
He always greets everyone with a smile and packs our vegetables into a small box that quickly becomes heavy as we make our way back to Erin's car.

I did see a few familiar faces at the markets but we were in a hurry to return because we'd also just played and won a game of football (soccer) and I scored my first goal so I was on a bit of a buzz, despite the chesty cough and blocked nose. Armidale isn't a town you ought to roam around in soccer shorts and a hoody if it's Winter and take my word for it, we froze.

We came home, started the gas heater, showered, and began the second half of our Sunday in the kitchen (Read: Perfect Sunday with football win, markets and cooking).
One chicken and vegetable crock pot 5 hours later, a dessert* and some fresh orange juice to blitz this cold and I was feeling relaxed and happy to be home with great company. I've attached some pictures of the pudding below to show you how I used the banana and soaked mixed fruit. I soaked the fruit in fresh orange juice and the sherry for a bit over half and hour and result was juicy, plump fruit sprinkled over the top of our leftover breadstick-turned-mouth-watering-pudding. That's the beauty of this dish, you can use virtually any bread you have or cakes and brioche.


*I baked a bread and butter pudding with banana and cream sherry for dessert. The dates complimented the banana beautifully and I am thankful Erin had some ripe bananas to experiment with in this dish.


Cooked it a little longer and I was so chuffed that I had to post a picture of me about to eat it... I know you want to make one now...


It's good to be home.

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