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Cabbage, Tomato & Meatball Soup and extras

Cabbage and tomato soup with meatballs

This weekend's soup is cabbage and tomato with meatballs. The meatballs contain garlic, onion, paprika (the recipe called for smoked paprika, which I don't think I've ever come across), ground cumin, dried thyme, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, fresh breadcrumbs, minced meat and egg. The soup itself calls for onion, garlic, tomatoes, Savoy cabbage (my favourite kind) and beef stock.

I prepared the meatballs on Friday night, helped by my younger son. Although reluctant to sniff the herbs and spices, he was very willing to put his hands into the raw mixture and make the meatballs. This afternoon we brought a friend of his into town and then back to our house. Having been warned by the friend's mother that her son didn't like cabbage, I was wondering what alternative I could offer him. I needn't have worried. The soup was delicious and our guest ate two bowlfuls. The spouse is away so he's missed out! I'll have to make it again. It's a little bit fiddly and involves two lots of cooking and preparation - the meatballs and the soup itself (the meatballs are cooked separately then added into the cabbage soup), but is definitely worth it.


Royal Jelly


Does anyone remember Roald Dahl's short story Royal Jelly? It was first published in 1960 in the collection Kiss, Kiss. I remember reading many of Dahl's stories as a teenager and watching them in the television series Tales of the Unexpected.



The Humble Bee



The Humble Bee is a three-part series shown on RTÉ in November 2009, which focuses on how keeping bees is helping some people in Kenya and Uganda to have greater access to income and food. Here's the link - http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1124/beesholding.html.

Asides

This remark particularly amused me today. Although collecting my new glasses from the local optician's today, another pair on display in the window caught my eye. I tried them on, thinking they were quite fetching, only to be told by the assistant that they were a bit "too Harry Potter-ish" for me! I could go to the famous chain of opticians ("Should have gone to ...") and pay less for my glasses, but I'm happy to pay extra for the banter.
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