Watercress & Rocket Soup With Garlic, Ham & Feta Welsh Rarebit

I’ve had an odd craving for green leaves recently. There’s something about green food that’s ridiculously appetising to me, I love a good salad but even though it’s spring, most days it feels way too cold for salad. Soup is kind of like a hug in a bowl and you have no idea how happy it makes me to have a bowl of green food in front of me and I get the added bonus of sort of stomping on those leafy cravings.

I like soup but honestly I tend not to eat it that frequently, I always find a bowl is too much because it makes me feel all sloshy; you know like when you’re really thirsty and you down a glass of water and then it feels like there’s a river in your belly, it’s kind of like that but a little more ...swampy. I probably shouldn’t say stuff like that, I think I’ve really perfected the art of saying things that potentially put people off eating, never mind, this is obviously called waffle and whisk for a reason! This soup is delicious though and you know it's good when I still eat two bowls regardless of the potential stomach sloshing.
Also, I can’t sing the praises of this Welsh rarebit enough; I’m all but drooling thinking about it. Do you know what Welsh rarebit is? No? Well we’re on the same page then! I Googled it about a week ago when I decided to make this and apparently it’s sort of like cheese sauce on toast.

I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m going on about seeing as I made it but this is another one of those “how my mother makes it” kind of things where that’s all I ever knew Welsh rarebit to be. Turns out, not that much like Welsh rarebit at all, although I only briefly looked it up and it seems relatively open to interpretation.

I’m not sure why I’ve never thought it switch it up before and add garlic and different types of cheeses but I just opened myself up to a world of possibilities, next stop anything I can find in the fridge! For now though this is the best Welsh rarebit I’ve had and I’ll still stand by that fact you can’t really go wrong with cheese and garlic, add in a little ham and I’m about ready to get back in the kitchen and make more of this.

Tomato & Basil Soup with Garlic & Cheese Croutons and Bacon & Sautéed Onions - Bakemas Day 4

My day has been filled with sewing, harry potter, a lot of hot chocolate and a trip to the local garden centre to look at the Christmas decorations. I also popped down to Dickensian evening which basically means the town turns into a Charles dickens novel. Okay, so not quite, but they shut off the road there’s stools with tombola’s, crafts, cakes, candyfloss, sausage butties, mulled wine, lots of mulled wine and everyone’s dressed like they’re from the 1800’s. I will say I found it a lot more exciting when I was younger whether that’s because it was better back then or I was just more amused as a child I’ll never know. But on to the food, what we're really here for. I could talk about these croutons all day, so I’d probably be repeating myself a lot but I think I’m officially in love. Cheesy bite sized garlic bread croutons, why have I never thought of this before and I never thought I’d be a “soggy croutons in my soup” kind of person but I was so wrong. I did just give myself more work though, because every time I eat soup I will need these croutons. on the bright side, they're pretty quick to whip up. Did I just stomp all over the soup by bigging up the croutons too much? because this soup is delicious I just can’t stop thinking about those darn croutons. If you ever thought tomato and basil soup was bland make this, then add sautéed onions and bacon, as much bacon as you want...and did I mention croutons? But seriously, homemade soup is so yummy, tomato and basil is hands down my favourite and definitely worth the little effort it takes to make.
This soup is also the perfect thing to eat after being out in the cold and even though it’s not freezing cold tonight it’s still ridiculously yummy, especially with a bowl full of croutons. Okay, I'll shut up about the croutons!