Well Its still on the chilly side here but everything is coming into bud ,the oaktrees are looking wonderful and the syringas are in all their glory and fill the evenings with their exotic fragrence........Oh well back to reality I,ve a meating tonight with my eldest son at his school in order to chose his subjects for *Matric* should be an *Entertaining*evening!!!!!!!
Here is what we had for Supper last night........Still in Soup mode!

Creamy Mushroom Soup
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Serves:6 2 Tbls butter
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 Lbs button mushrooms
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbls flour
1/2 tsp dried origanum
1 bay leaf
3 Tbls dry white wine
pinch of garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 cup fresh cream
freshly chopped parsley
Heat the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until soft. Wash the mushrooms and slice off the stalks. Put the stalks and a few caps together with the chicken stock and flour into a food processor and blend until smooth.Add to onion. Slice the mushroom caps and add.Add origanum, bay leaf, wine, garlic salt and paprika and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in the cream. Reheat, but do not boil. Garnish with chopped parsley.

With it we had some.........Potato and Rosemary Bread
*****************************110g (4oz) boiled potatoes (mashed) reserve 125ml (4fl oz) of the water
125ml (4fl oz) warm milk
2 tsp dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
450g (1lb) plain flour
3-4 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Dissolve the yeast in the milk for 15 minutes. Mix the potato, oil, salt, rosemary and yeast mixture. Stir in the reserved cooking liquid and then the flour to form a stiff dough.

Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Place in a greased loaf tin and leave until the dough has risen above the rim of the tin.

Bake at 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5 for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Then we had a favourite of mine...

African Vegetable Stew
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Serves:6-8 portions 2 Tbls olive oil
2 medium onions, cut into sixths and separated into leaves
1 whole chilli, green or red, finely sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch spinach, ribs separated from green leaf
1 cup chickpeas, or red kidney beans, cooked
1 cup raisins
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
medium tin whole tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
tabasco, to taste
Warm the oil gently and sauté the onion, chilli, garlic and the sliced white stems of the spinach for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped spinach leaves and sauté a further 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas or beans, the raisins, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the rice. Pat it down until it becomes moistened adding 30 ml water if necessary. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over a very low heat until the rice is tender (± 45 minutes). Check the mixture regularly, ensuring it does not stick. Add a little water if necessary (the mixture should be fairly dry). Season the rice and serve with Tabasco sauce.

Husband had some grilled pork chops as hes not keen on a veggie based meal!!!!!

For dessert there was fresh fruit

I wish you all a wonderful Teusday I must take my Younest one out this pm Its his birthday tomorrow!!!!12 I can,t believe my *Baby* is that old!!
love Julie