Sweet Soup for Springtime eating

Spring is definitely in the air in Belgium! Can you feel it? I already feel the need for light lunches and al fresco dining! My mother gave me a great recipe for a sweet soup with a bit of a ginger kick to it. It's so simple and perfect for eating outdoors with some sunshine to reflect the bright orange colour!

 





sweet potato and ginger soup

Sweet potato & ginger soup:

4 sweet potatoes

1 onions

2 cm fresh ginger



1l chicken stock

1 dl milk

2 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper



Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces.

Heat the oil and sweat the onions.

Add the potatoes and the sliced ginger.

Pour the stock into the mixture and leave it to simmer for 20 minutes at a low heat.

Mix the soup, add the milk and pepper & salt to taste.

Done! Add a little sour cream if you like...

Comforting ideas for gloomy days

As much as I love Autumn, the lack of sunlight tends to make me a bit melancholic at times. I have a few comforting rituals to turn gloomy Autumn evenings into something cosy. These ideas work for me every year, if you're also in need of some cocooning, maybe they work for you to!

Uplifting aromatherapy. I love burning essential oils. My favorite scent is tangerine (which can be expensive so I often replace it by orange), orange and pine. Try mixing some tangerine or orange essential oil with a couple of drops of pine oil. It smells like christmas presents! 

Louis Prima. What about some soothing New Orleans swing jazz? Louis Prima's rocking tunes and funny lyrics always make me smile.

Roasted sweet potato with red pepper and rosemary. This simple dish makes me feel better even thinking about it. It's easy, comforting and homey. I first made it by accident, from some leftover ingredients I had lying around. I've been making it ever since. 

Preheat your oven at about 180°C. Peel and chop the sweet potato into thick chunks. Chop the red pepper into large pieces. Add a generous amount of olive oil into a baking tray. Toss in the sweet potato and pepper together with some sprigs of rosemary and some seasalt and freshly ground pepper. Leave in the oven for about 45 minutes or untill the sweet potato is cooked. Serve in a big bowl with some rice...perfect for eating in front of the TV, while watching all three Godfather movies in a row.

The Godfather. Every now and again, I'm in dire need of a godfather fix. Epic drama, cool characters, the bad guy is actually the good guy and Al Pacino looking devastatingly handsome. Need I say more? And if you know the story by heart already, you can start detecting the little details Francis Ford Coppola put in. I always try spotting the oranges and the related events that occur when an orange shows up on screen. It's fun, try it!

Well, this is how I brighten up the gloomy cold evenings. I hope this inspires you to make your own feel-good rituals.