Read My River Basil

Random Pumpkin Soup

2009-04-26T00:12:00.002+10:00

So my friend Glee was asking about a Pumpkin Soup I whipped up the other day. I've never blogged in my various online locations any form of recipe ever before, but I guess there's a first for everything.

I'm never one to traditionally follow a recipe myself, but just use whatever ingredients I happen to find and make to taste. For those uninitiated, I am also a vegetarian.

PUMPKIN SOUP (vegetarian)

- 1/2 or whole pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut
- Vegetable Stock
- coriander
- minced garlic
- rosemary
- coconut cream (preferably a light variety)
- Satay Sauce (that you'd put on Satay Chicken)

I love pumpkin as an ingredient, it's so versatile! Mash it, bake it, grill it, fry it, boil it... soup it.

1) Place all of the chopped up pumpkin into a pot on the stove and cover with vegetable stock about a centimeter or two over the height of the pumpkin within the pot.

2) Bring to the boil then gently simmer for about half an hour on a low heat. Add minced garlic, coriander & rosemary

3) Add 3/4 to a cup of coconut cream to the pot. This is to thicken the soup and make it more creamy - hence using cream, who would have thought?!

4) Add 1/2 a cup of Satay Sauce. This adds a bit of interesting flavour to the soup, a peanutty tang. If you wanted you could even substitute by putting in a desert spoon scoop of peanut butter into the pot (I'm not sure how this would taste).

5) Using a potato masher slowly mash the soft pumpkin and mix it around in the pot. At first it may look like a watery consistency but persevere and mash everything until there are no lumps.

6) Continue to simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. Depending on how it tastes, you may wish to add salt, or even other herbs and spices you may fancy.

More or less this is a very versatile recipe and can be made to taste by the individual.
Enjoy =]

SCORPIO?

2009-03-22T18:14:00.001+11:00

Well congratulations to Queensland's newly elected Premier Anna Bligh, Australia's first elected female Premier.

What is interesting to note however is the man to her right...
SCORPIO?!

Am I suggesting that Bligh's right hand man is some sort of evil, criminal mastermind with lasers and such? Yes, yes I am.

i thought i killed you

2009-03-20T11:12:00.000+11:00

A few days before going to Sydney around 2-3 weeks ago for the weekend, I was playing with the neighbourhood cat, a delightful ginger feline I'd named Cosmic Kitten. I gave it this name as I had come to the conclusion that he traveled through space and time, appearing at random times, in different places. Cosmic Kitten usually sunbaked on our front courtyard and driveway, I would sometimes give him some water in a dish on hot days. This time I was particularly bored and took him around to he back yard where Cosmic Kitten roamed and explored, nibbling on grass and saying hello to my tomato plant named Regis. He was meowing more than usual this day so I suspected he was hungry and fetched him some left over meat from the fridge which he gobbled down.

The next week once I'd returned from Sydney, I was strolling through the neighbourhood and discovered a piece of paper taped to a bus seat.

MISSING

The poster described a particularly friendly ginger cat named Bob from the street adjacent to mine who had not come home for four days. The poster also said "PLEASE DO NOT FEED HIM".

OH CRAP, I KILLED COSMIC KITTEN!!!

So I've spent weeks feeling guilty about possibly poisoning this adorable cat, then suddenly this morning I hear a purring at my window. I raced outside to see who it was...

COSMIC KITTEN HAD RETURNED!!!

The moral of this story is all cats are deceptive - they eat your food, piss off and leave you feeling guilty. Cosmic Kitten, I love you, but you're a bitch!!!