(I made this soup and sewing project last Saturday, but didn’t get around to posting it. As I’m off to Geneva tomorrow, I thought I’d post it now in my absence… Have a great weekend!)

Edinburgh has been so blustery and stormy the past few days, that I knew I had to make up a big pot of warming soup to fuel all our weekend adventures. So, I went to our fridge, grabbed all the veggies we had and threw them in my much loved pot and started sauteing. While I was busy stirring I happened to look over and spy a pumpkin I’d bought several weeks ago to and a little autumn flair to our flat. I decided it would be the perfect addition, and quickly chopped it in half and popped it in the oven to roast. This is a really simple soup that is perfect for using up less-than-perfect produce. This version had a pumpkin, half a winter squash, a carrot, a parsnip, one onion, four garlic cloves, and a handful of cauliflower left over from earlier in the week. Truly, any vegetable would do. Once everything was nice and soft, I added 1/2 tsp thyme, a little salt and about 4 cups vegetable broth and then simmered for a good 45 minutes or so. To finish things off I gave the whole batch a whirl with my hand blender and then added some creaminess with about 1/4 cup creme fresh. I also roasted the pumpkin seeds in a little olive oil, salt and paprika and they added a pretty garnish and gave some good crunch to the soup. So easy, so nutritious, and seriously good.

I love having good bread to serve with soup, and as I also had some cheese and green onions to use up, I decided to make some Cheese and Green Onion biscuits. Yum. I created these by combining several different recipes, and thought I’d share the finished result with you here. Hope you enjoy it!

Cheese and Green Onion Biscuits

makes about 8 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup (1 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used Manchego)

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and paprika. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixtrure resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese and green onions. Pour in the buttermilk, and stir with a fork until mixture just comes together to form a sticky dough. On a lightly floured work surface, with lightly floured hands, pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round.
2. Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out the biscuits as close together as possible. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
3. Bake, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Travel Wallet

This weekend I’m off with my dear friend Ashli for a fun getaway to the lovely Geneva, Switzerland! J and I normally carry an Eagle Creek travel case with us to keep all our papers, tickets and passports neat and tidy. But, as J is off at a conference in Atlanta with our trusty travel case this week, I decided it was time to make one of my own. I used this tutorial, which was great. The only trouble I had was sorting out the zippers. I just couldn’t seem to figure out how they were attached from the tutorial, so I ended up making that portion up on my own. I think it worked out great, and my travel wallet is now all filled up and ready for its first big adventure. Hurrah!