Today is the day I travel to Scotland to begin rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast – eek! I’m excited, nervous and also more than a little sad and unnerved to be leaving my new home and of course my wonderful Husband. To top it all off our stuff finally arrived from Chicago and we’ve spent the entire weekend shifting it all into our flat, which is four floors up and there ain’t no lift! It’s been totally bizarre having our things around us again – can you believe it’s been nearly four months? I’m overwhelmed by the amount of clothes I have, all of which have been lovingly collected over the years (have I mentioned my penchant for vintage clothes before?). My walk-in closet is fit to bursting, which has just highlighted the issue and my poor Hubbie has been rolling his eyes every time we open another box just to discover yet more clothes – oh dear!

Packing certainly hasn’t been aided by my newly reaquired wardrobe but I’ve tried my best to be ruthless. It’s going to get bitterly cold up north so my main priority has been thermals, layers, socks, hats and scarves. It’s actually made me feel rather festive because the weather has been so great in Cornwall you’d think it was late summer not autumn – man, I really am going to miss it here.

Leaving home, even if it is a new home, is tough. It’s times likes these that I really need something soothing and for me that invariably comes in the form of a steaming bowl of  hot soup. Cauliflower had been on my mind for some time now and when Hubbie brought home the most gorgeous looking little fella from the local green grocers I knew it was meant to be.

Here it is then. My super soothing, comforting cauliflower soup, a sure fire way to ease the pain of leaving home or simply warm those cockles on a blustery autumn evening. Enjoy x

comforting cauliflower soup

1 onion

1 large carrot

3 garlic cloves

1 caulifower

1 organic vegan vegetable stock cube

olive oil

soy butter

salt and pepper

chives

Dice the onion and carrot. Heat a little oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan and add the onion and carrot. Season, cover and allow to soften for several minutes. Do not allow to colour.

Mince the garlic cloves and add to the pan, giving it a thorough stir and adding a little more oil if needs be. Season and cover. Allow to sweat for a further 5-10minutes.

Cut the cauliflower into florets and add to pan. Mix thoroughly and then add the stock cube and top with cold water – until it just covers the veg.

Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for 20-30minutes.

Transfer to a blender and blitz until completely smooth. Pour back into pan and simmer gently. Taste and season if necessary.

Serve with some freshly chopped chives and either a twice baked potato or a slice of chunky fresh bread.

Hugs xxx