a donna hay day

my new years resolution may have been for more craft but I have had a constant calling for all things creative in the kitchen of late. This weekend saw the creation of split pea, barley, lentil and ham soup which was ready for consumption today, and at the same time the fruition of lemon cordial.

I have not made either before, the soup was the inspiration of the ham bone from Christmas and a packet of McKenzies Soup Mix that had been sitting in the pantry for quite some time that it was nearing its use by date. The soup was actually intended for Friday night's dinner however, I hadn't anticipated the lengthy soaking the soup mix required, which is why this became a weekend long creation. The end result was great though not quite the same as pea and ham which was also the original idea, I guess this was more like a minestrone. I also hadn't expected that we would have so much soup - we will be eating this all week. Before I attempt this again I will be purchasing some suitable tupperware for freezing leftover soup.

Our super productive lemon tree inspired the lemon cordial- we have had so many lemons, bagful after bagful in the last few weeks that we have been giving them away by the bagful to anyone who so much as glanced in the trees direction when they came for a visit. The lemon cordial was so easy to make and really delicious that I think it will become a burntofferings kitchen staple.

lemon cordial in the making

lemon cordial made