The Fundraising: Crisis in the kitchen

A bit late, I know, but it's taken me a while to get a handle on the technicalities of the blogosphere.

Had a bit of a problem with the soup thing this week. The first 2  were fine - butternut squash, parsnip and ginger (Rachel Demuth recipe), and roast tomato and garlic (Ursula Ferrugina), and all very well received, raising about £40 in total.

This week was to be Venetian pea soup - a take on a recipe from a book (I won't say whose - seems unfair to brand them with my disaster).

So, heated up the onion, stock, peas and the rice (seemed like a lot, but according to my reading of the recipe, not actually enough), mashed  it all up with the blending stick (didn't say that in the recipe either, but I can't cope with soup that has lumps), and went upstairs to do battle with a bit of internet shopping (another story, but all in all it wasn't a good night).

A mere 1 hour later, and am faced with 5 litres of a greenish brown glutinous substance that bears more resemblance to the stuff Gerry Builder uses to fill the gaps between the window and the wall than soup.

What to do? Have used up all my onions and rice, so can't start again. Fall on the floor weeping seems an attractive option, but I have a responsibility to my customers. Still have a sackful of peas in the fridge, so spoon out a small amount  of the greenish (tasteless) goo, add water and peas, and try again. A few branches of mint (not too much - don't want it to taste of toothpaste) and we have something  which seems edible and the right colour.

We also have 3 2-litre ice cream tubs of glutinous goo in the freezer (I am congenitally incapable of throwing food - any food - away) waiting for inspiration - I was thinking it could be a basis for Cornish pasty innards (sorry Cornwall), and colleagues have suggested the goo itself could be made into a gluten free quiche base. Every cloud ...

Anyway - soup very well received the next day (I didn't give the full details until late afternoon), and raised £28.

I had originally chosen soup as a fundraiser rather than cakes because you can't go wrong with soup. Trust me dear  reader, you so can.