The First Soup of Autumn

If a gun was held to my head and I had to pick my favourite season, I would plump for Autumn. It is like starting a new chapter, as summer fades away. I love all that Autumn promises, especially the food - a feast of seasonal offerings, many of which are on our own doorstep from English apples with real flavour and plump juicy blackberries to versatile squashes and earthy mushrooms - it's gonna be a rollercoaster ride for our taste buds over the coming weeks! As for meals, I crave soups, stews, bakes and roasts and hearty puddings as the nights begin to slowly draw in. Soup is something I'm am going to prepare on a regular basis with whatever produce I have to hand. It's quick to prepare and will usually stretch out for a couple of days worth of lunches. Lily will eat any soup by the bucket load which is great way to ensure she has at least one good hit of vitamins a day, essential as she is about to start school next week. Today Lily requested a tomato soup for lunch. We whizzed this up in just under 20mins with a bag of ripe tomatoes we picked up from the greengrocers for a pound. To the tomatoes we added a limp carrot destined for the compost bin, a couple of small red onions, garlic, a small potato and some dried oregano. A splash of milk at the end gave it a creamy decadence. Pure comfort in a bowl!