Recipes that don't really require any measuring.

It's been soup and boots weather here. You know what I mean -- when you start craving chili and digging out your red cowboy boots. I've become quite the domestic diva lately, seeing as I spend my days writing (and running errands, but chasing down the cable guy isn't quite so romantic, is it?) and David is at school twelve hours a day. While I'm busy trying not to spend money, I have been souping.

Some recipes that we live by, done without any real measuring because 1) I don't have patience for that and 2) we only have one measuring device and it's in millilitres, which is only useful for measuring liquids, and only then after doing a lot of math.

Potato & Leek Soup
5-6 potatoes, peeled if you're ambitious.
1-1.5 leeks, depending how long your arthritic fingers can chop.
1 spoonful of salt
A few shakes of pepper.
2 quarts of water (a little less than 2 litres, so either imagine a coke 2-litre, or eyeball it based on how large your pot is)
A few pats of butter (optional).

Cut everything up fairly small (sliced or cubed) and throw it all in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes or so. Mash it up and adjust seasoning.

Carrot Coriander Soup
1 spoonful of vegetable oil
1 onion (sliced)
7-8 medium sized carrots
1 small spoonful of ground coriander
2 pints vegetable stock (a little over a litre, or use an empty ben & jerry's container to measure)
a large bunch of coriander, chopped. (For you Americans, coriander is a fancy word for cilantro)
salt & pepper to taste.

Heat up the oil and cook the onions and carrots for about 3 minutes. If you cook it longer, the soup will be sweeter, which maybe you like, but I don't really.
Stir in the ground coriander and throw a bit of salt and pepper just because. Be dramatic.
Add vegetable stock and bring to boil. Then simmer until the carrots are tender.
Mash it down a bit (or use a fancy hand blender).
Stir in the fresh cilantro and serve.

I like to make sure there's a fresh baguette on hand. Soup is always better with crusty bread.

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