Mexican Bean Soup

By mere coincidence I’m posting a delightfully simple Mexican soup recipe, well loved in this house, because I’m putting it out there right now – it’s got chocolate in it. This is my take on what is still one of my very favourite cookbooks. Jack has published another book after this, which I still need to see, but I think that her first book deserves to be a classic. There is no need to write a second positive review because by now I’m sure you all know how much I like the recipes and Jack’s honest way of writing. She is a master at turning a few simple ingredients into something special, with the help of a little bit of chocolate. It does make a difference so don’t be afraid to add it.

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Peach and Chickpea Curry with Noodles

I have been meaning to post this recipe for quite a while and I guess there’s no time like the present. It was almost not going to happen, and as I’m writing this it didn’t happen yet. The people upstairs are blasting away at the wall installing their aircon, and now I’ve got Celine Dion blasting in my ears in turn. Thank goodness for noise-reducing headphones! There’s a solution for everything…well, almost. But now I’m back in the game baby and it feels good.

This morning has been rough. I woke up in a tizzy (is that expression still used today?) after taking for ever to sleep, downed some hot chocolate (not a good idea in this heat) before I changed into something other than my pyjamas to visit my mum. A few trips to the grocery store, veggie truck and other errands, and I was knackered. So if you see a typo or two today, please be kind!

Fusilli with Mandarins and Basil

Before coming across this recipe in Jack Monroe‘s book, I would never have thought of pairing pasta with mandarins. (There’s no need to tell you again how much I like Jack’s book. You can read all about it in a previous post.) I was almost about to say that I never had anything sweet with pasta. Then I remembered I actually did! I’m getting older…

Review: A Girl Called Jack

A little over six months ago J sent me a link with an interesting addendum: You will like this food blogger. He was right. Many things are being said and written about Jack Monroe, good and bad, and many were to be expected. I don’t need to defend her – one, she doesn’t need it, and two, she knows how to do that herself. After all she’s a brilliant writer in her own right, intelligent, smart, creative and political. Before going on, let me just say that this is one of the hardest short book reviews I have ever written. I can’t begin to imagine what it means to be unemployed, selling everything you own and trying to feed yourself and your child for just £10 a week. And yet there are thousands of people in this predicament.