Mrs Beeton's Beetroot Soup (not) and My Own Beautiful Dust

This bit's for you, Sarah.

I've been mourning the loss of poor old Doris the Dead Dyson for a good few weeks now. I've missed her lightweight chassis, her lovely long hose, I've missed the way she used to glide around the house, but mostly I've missed the sheer power of her suck. You see, after she went to vacuum cleaner Valhalla (Doris was great, but I'm not sure she was Christian), we economised and bought a terrible, heavy, lumbering beast of a Morphy Richards thing. This vacuum cleaner was such a duffer, I think it has been entirely responsible for my bad back of late. I try to feel sorry for this machine, it's not his fault he's not Doris, but really enough is enough, so I contacted a firm which sold reconditioned Dysons and low and behold, and £30 later, Dino the Dyson arrived on my doorstep. Now, Dino is called Dino because he's such an ancient make of Dyson I'm sure they quarried him out of a rock face in Arizona (or perhaps the Isle of White), he's a dinosaur, a fossil, but he is a Dyson, and just to prove it this is what he sucked up the other day AFTER the Morphy Richards back-breaker had finished doing it's job. Dust, ladies, beautiful dust!

Next up a couple of recipes. First, Nigella Lawson's Potato Bread, a great bread, crisp and chewy, but not too dense and it doesn't taste a bit potato-y. It rises like a dream, so well in fact that when it rises I can imagine it died green and chasing a young Steve McQueen out of the cinema, just like "The Blob". Anyway, if you want this venerable receipt please email me, as it's a bit long to put on the blog.
Now, for Mrs Beeton's Beetroot Soup (not). Now, when it comes to beetroot, my cup runneth over. It's that time of year, isn't it, when we all get a bit sick of root vegetables, especially,if, like me, you grow your own or get an organic box. So I decided to soup the glut. I also hit upon the idea of looking for a beetroot soup recipe in Mrs Beeton (combination of assonance and alliteration in a recipe title appeals to something deep within my soul) however, when I looked, no such recipe could be found: there were recipes for sprout top soups; carrot soups; turnip soups,: cow's cheek soup; and a charmingly named, benevolent soup; but no beetroot soup. So, I made up my own. Here it is, oh, I'll leave quantities up to you, but I've put in brackets what I used, just to guide you.

Mrs Beeton's Beetroot Soup (not)

A quantity of onion (1)

A quantity of leek (1)

A quantity of potato(3)

A quantity of beetroot(5)

Butter, cream, milk and stock.

Peel and chop the veg, sweat for a good while in the butter, as ten minutes of sweating will ensure a good soup. Pour hot stock over veg , just enough to cover. Simmer for 40 minutes or so, or until your beetroot is tender. Thin down with cream and milk and season to taste.

Serve to poorly little girls with a mania for pink.

Enjoy, gentle reader, and anon!