Hello, my name's Helen and I'm a courgette-a-holic.

After a bit of browsing yesterday, I found a recipe for curried courgette soup. It was on a really beautiful blog, and I copied and pasted it, closed the web page, and it was lost forever. So if this was your recipe, I give you the credit and apologize for my clumsiness! I could happily eat courgettes every day, but I think James would get a little bored.

Curried Zucchini Soup with Coconut Milk

adapted from Great Food Fast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 1/2 pounds zucchini (I used 3 medium-sized), sliced thick

1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

4 cups stock (the original recipe just calls for water)

2/3 cup coconut milk

toasted almonds for garnish

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and curry powder and continue to cook, stirring constantly until fragrant (another minute).

2. Add the zucchini, potato and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender (15-20 minutes).

3. Add coconut milk. Puree with immersion blender or in batches in blender until very smooth and velvety. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Seasoning depends on stock and potency and freshness of curry powder (my soup needed very little seasoning).

This will be on my table tonight, as apparently courgettes can grow in one day. Amazing.

I have also found a pattern for a skirt that I'd like to make, I'm imagining it in a mossy-green thick cotton. Alas, it's an American pattern, so more searching is required for an English counterpart. I hate shipping.

One last thing, I am (as mentioned in yesterday's post) thinking about Christmas gifts already. One idea I had came from a bit of inspiration from Linen and Roses, where Fiona's sister made her a beautifully embroidered framed initial for her birthday. I thought this sort of thing would be ideal done on little purses or cloth bags, and managed to find some pretty templates for monogrammed letters, which I can embroider with flowers.

That's all for today, camera and photos coming soon I promise!