All Hallows and All Saints

 Yesterday Pip had fun carving her pumpkin and I enjoyed my time in the kitchen.  For lunch we had Tomato Soup with Cheesy dumplings , courtesy of the I Newspaper weekend recipe file and it was just the thing as it is now Ben's turn to be ill!  For tea I made Sweet potato, mushroom and leek gratin from the New York Christmas Cookbook followed with Pumpkin pie from the same resource and soul cakes courtesy of The Guardian Newspaper.

Sharing the recipe here in case anyone is interested and wants to give it a go:

Tomato Soup with Cheesy Dumplings

1 tbsp olive oil

25 grammes butter

1 large onion finely chopped

1 sweet potato peeled and diced

2 large garlic cloves minced

1 heaped teaspoon of dried basil

2 x 400 gramme cans of chopped tomatoes

500ml vegetable or chicken stock

pinch of sugar (optional)

50ml single cream

For the Dumplings:

125 grammes self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

75 grammes extra strong cheddar cheese

1 egg

50 grammes cream cheese

Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and sweet potato and cook them over a gentle heat until softened.  Add the garlic and stir for another minute and then add the tomatoes, dried basil and vegetable stock.  Season with plenty of salt and black pepper.

Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat, cover the pan and simmer for twenty minutes and then blitz the soup until smooth.  Taste for seasoning and then add the sugar and cream if using.

Whilst the soup is simmering for twenty minutes make the dumplings.  Put all the ingredients in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly into a dough and then form into eight balls.  Drop the balls of dough into the soup and cover the pan and cook for 15 -20 minutes until the dumplings have swelled a little and are cooked right through.  Remove the dumplings before blitzing the soup.

(I decided to put the dumplings in a heat proof bowl, top them with extra cheese and cook under the grill, until the cheese was bubbling and melted. 

Sweet potato gratin, pure comfort food in a bowl.

Pumpkin pie and a soul cake for dessert.

Today was a bit full on with some household tasks hollering at me from the whiteboard 😂  We did however start the day 'right' and having dropped Pip off at college for the day, Dave and I headed over to Booths for one of their cooked breakfasts and a latte, it certainly hit the spot! 

 Since I was my 'future friend' yesterday and had prepped the pastry dough for tonight's meal, it wasn't too much fuss putting the whole thing together.  I also made use of the leftover pumpkin pie mix and added it to my rice pudding and it was delicious ❤️

The recipe was another Smitten Kitchen winner, 'Butternut Squash and Caramelised Onion Galette' and it can be found HERE. The dough pastry was beautifully light and fluffy and complemented the vegetable filling beautifully.  I did make some slight adaptations and decided to add a sprinkling of chilli flakes, paprika, onion salt and garlic powder to the butternut squash mix.  This dish will definitely be a regular item on the meal plan 😊

Since we had stopped sneezing and coughing Dave and I both felt well enough to attend mass this evening which counted for both All Saints and All souls.  Several candles were lit in memory of deceased family members and friends.  It was really lovely to be able to attend mass, such a precious gift x