Recipe and The German Lady

If you want a full proof recipe for a heart winter soup here’s mine for Broad Bean & Chorizo Soup 

 Chorizo and broad bean soup

Three large tins of broad beans

Vegetable stock

1 large onion.

2 cloves garlic

1 small chorizo ring

Large tablespoon low fat Creme Fresh.

Black pepper

This is the best of homemade winter soups!

Gently fry off the onion with chopped chorizo, 

The oil will ooze out of the sausage and stain the onions .

Add garlic and fry off.

Add beans with their tinned juice and stock and bring to boil

Then simmer gently for at least an hour

Liquidise, add creme fresh and season 

Bloody lovely

I’ve turned into fucking Nigella ....

After making soup I took the dogs for a walk and as usual bumped into Uber Couple and after them German Lady. 

I like German Lady

We only say hello, but I like her genuine smile, her jaunty terrier who is always ready for a row with Mary and her flared jeans .

Her hello is friendly and almost overwhelmed by her thick German accent 

Today she said Hello, then added “ Your old Bulldog? Has she died?” as she stopped.

I told her that she had and the woman nodded sympathetically 

“ She alvays made me laff” she said “ You must ave many good memories of her” 

I liked the fact that the woman immediately went for the positives of the situation.

Further down the lane my best memory came back to me and I almost turned to look for German Lady in order to tell her about it. 

It was just over two years ago.

Christmas day late morning 

I was sat on an empty Promenade by the sea

It was a grey cold day and I was newly separated from the Prof and grieving not only him but William, who had died in his sleep a couple of weeks before. I remember George and Mary were sat on my left pressed hard against the cold and Winnie sat on my right sulking.

Winnie was annoyed in a way only bulldogs get annoyed , 

She was livid .

I had not only brought her out for a cold walk on the beach and not her usual sheltered railway walkway, but I had made her walk, far too long along cold concrete , then made her sit with her fat face facing the wind. 

She wanted to go home and she “ Harumphed “ loudly when I started to play with my phone, in order to get the best of Christmas selfies 

Twenty minutes later she finally lost it

And grabbing my shoulders with her massive paws she heaved herself up and looked me square in the face.

Eyeball to eyeball

Her expression said it all

“Now Fuck off ...Im Cold.....I want to go home”

I snapped the “ look” in a selfie

I miss those knowing looks and those quietly authoritative temper tantrums of hers.