This weekend I said enough. No more cooking or baking or kitchen. I am on strike. But...I cannot help myself. I do not want to help myself. I like my kitchen.I love baking and, on good days, I like cooking. So I made bread. A simple white loaf - nothing fancy. Just light and airy and delicious. On Saturday we ate the bread with the left over tomato lasagne and salad, dipping it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Today we ate the bread toasted with marmalade.

I also made curried parsnip soup. It's a real autumnal soup, nourishing, comforting with a slightly spicy warmth which we ate outside, despite the wind. This started as a Jane Grigson recipe which, through my own slapdashery, I've changed to really be as simple as possible.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 small to medium parsnips
1 teaspoon curry powder or paste
1 litre chicken stock
250ml milk
2 tablespoons cream

Gently fry the chopped onion in the oil without letting it brown. Peel and chop the parsnips and add to the onion. Let this sweat on a gentle heat for 5 minutes or so. Add the curry powder or paste to your taste. Mix to cover the parsnips, then pour on the chicken stock. Let this cook until the parsnips are tender. Then add the milk and cream. Finally purée until smooth. If you think the soup is too thick you can thin it down with a bit more milk.

This lovely print from Rebekka Seale arrived when we came back from France and I recently got it framed-it's in the kitchen-how gorgeous is it??