Monday Makery: Pumpkin Soup

Glorious Gourds at WOWO

On the first weekend of October we were blessed with some hot, sunny days so we headed to our favourite Sussex campsite Waspbourne Manor Farm, aka Wowo.  It was a wonderful camping experience amongst the changing leaves of the trees, the days were hot but the evenings were cold and definitely required a big roaring campfire and some hot soup.

Wowo always has an abundance of fresh produce all year round and this year their crop of gourds for the autumn was truly magnificent.  Jean, the owner of Waspbourne Manor Farm, is very passionate about all the  pumpkins in different varieties and has created her own recipe book 'Gourds Galore.' The pumpkins in the pictures above are all for sale at the Wowo shop.  Even if you're not camping you can pop by to buy some glorious gourds in time for Halloween and for some wonderful autumm feasts. Much more exciting than going to the supermarket!

I got really drawn in and inspired by all the shapes and colours and chose 3 gourds to take home: a Tom Fox, which is tall with a good stalk and the perfect jack-o-lantern shape for Halloween, another one which is known as a Turks Turban which is very decorative and a long-lasting one for the larder and lastly one whose name eludes me but looks like a small Cinderella type pumpkin (pumpkin experts please inform me otherwise!)

Pumpkins are ideal for soups and stews - therefore, today's makery is a recipe for a delicious Pumpkin Soup.

• 1 Large Pumpkin (approx 1kg of scooped out pumpkin flesh)
• 40g butter
• 1 onion - chopped
• Vegetable Stock 500ml
• Milk 200ml
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• for a spicy version add a pich of cayenne and cumin along with the vegetable stock

If you'd like to use the pumpkin itself as the soup tureen you can simply slice off the lid and scoop out the inside, rather than chop up the whole pumpkin. This also means it can become a lantern too!

Melt the butter and gently cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft.  Add the pumpkin and allow to soften a little in the butter along with the onions. Add the vegetable stock and the spice if you desire.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.  Remove from heat. Once cooled a little puree in a liquidiser and return to the pan. Stir in milk to the desired thickness.  Add a pinch of nutmeg and serve in the pumpkin tureen.  So simple and satisfying!

My 3 year old son ate this with much enthusiasm. It's a soup that's freezable and pumpkin puree is a great baby food too as it's very nutritious.

Gourds are now officially my favourite vegetable and I shall be back at Wowo to get some tips from Jean on growing them.

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This is part of our Monday Makery series, where each week we bring craft and recipe ideas and inspiration.

Each week we bring new ideas to our blog through different blog series; Tuesday has previously brought the 'story behind our collections' and now brings 'tell us its tuesday' a fun interview with our favourite creators, designers, bloggers and imaginative extraordinaire's. Wednesday we woo you with new treats in the collection of our boutique. Thursday will leave you inspired through the 'art of living' and Friday we finish with 'once upon a week' where you can see what's happening in the lives of the sisters of Sisters Guild.
For more behind the scenes photos of Sisters Guild we have the gallery of the A-Z of Sisters Guild here.

If you would like to share some ideas as a guest blogger on the Monday Makery we would be very excited to hear from you. Use the contact form on our main website here.
www.sistersguild.co.uk

'Lulling' at WOWO and End of the Road festival

While there has been a bit of a lull with Sisters Guild, or rather while we still have the opportunity to retreat, the McCarthy contingent of Sisters Guild headed to the hills for some camping adventures!

For August Bank Holiday we chose Wapsbourne Manor Farm, otherwise known as WOWO. All we knew was that it was a very much talked about campsite, within 30 mins of home (Brighton), we were allowed to build real campfires and we could walk to the Bluebell Railway. Enough to please the 3 of us.  It lived up to these expectations and more. Our Bell Tent made it quite special too.

very pleasing campfire cooking

Set in stunning fields and woodland in the Sussex countryside, WOWO has a brook running through it and a moat to spark the imagination.  There's rope swings, tyre swings, rope bridges, wooden bridges, stepping stones across streams, plenty of grass to run around on - oh, and mud!  Just what childhood should be full of. So with kids leading the way and roaming free it really was a parenting lesson in letting go.

 Thank you WOWO wonderland, we'll be back.

And to continue our woodland theme...

End of the Road festival 2010 - library in the woods

2 weeks later and we're at the End of the Road Festival. The most serene and easy festival set in the beautiful Larmar Tree Gardens,  Victorian pleasure grounds with ornate buildings, majestic trees and arbours.  Enchanting.  You can have your wedding there too (not at the festival, obviously, though that would be nice).

A festival to delight the senses, with great music, visual treats and incredibly tasty food. Being at a festival with a child is so magical as you see it through their eyes and smile at the endless 'wow look at that' comments on everything -  the peacocks, the circus tents, flags, papier mache animals, a library in the woods, a decorated old car in the woods, a big red postbox in the woods, games in the woods...lot's of stuff in the woods...though it really was a 'jungle.'  It all made a very big impression as there's been non-stop chatter about it all since.

These End of the Road festival organiser people really know how to create the best festival vibe and surroundings. It's definitely an intimate festival that draws those with romantic souls, including my nearly-3-year old who enjoyed waking up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise on the campervans. And I was a bit less grumpy than usual at 6am too!

Back home and back to the business of getting the Sisters Guild online shop launched. Full of inspiration.

Some End of the Road festival reviews here, by the way, if you want to know more about the music and stuff:

• A lovingly put together event. James Smart, Guardian
• A perfect farwell to summer...where muisc can still be personal and profound.  Nick Hasted, The Independent