You can jump to the recipe if you don’t want to read the introduction. 

Introduction 

Dear Reader, 

I hope you are well and feeling 💯 

I wasn’t sure if I’d post anything this weekend. There hasn’t been much food inspiration. 

The weather in Canberra continues to decline in temperature, with the mornings regularly descending below zero degrees Celsius. I regularly eye the weather in places like Adelaide, Brisbane, and Darwin wistfully. I did see that Adelaide suffered badly this week with heavy rain. The local state emergency service responders were kept busy helping residents who experienced damage to their homes and property. Darwin is peak dry season at 32 °C and about 50% relative humidity. 

QUEENSLANDER!!! 

Heehee, guess what? The Queensland Maroons (pronounced “ma-rones”) defeated the NSW Blues on Wednesday night. It was a specular game played at Lang Park in Brisbane. I wish I could have been there. It was good to be home and watching the game after missing the first game in Adelaide because I was in Alexandria, Virginia. 

The series’ third game is in Sydney in a few weeks. While Queensland has won the series this year, it would be magnificent if they could win all three games. 

The following night, the Queensland Maroons Women’s team iced the cake and won the 2023 series in a game they lost to NSW. Aggregated points across two games decide the series winner.  I hope the women will play three games like the men next year. In an ideal world, the men and women would play on the same night. 

“12 Rules for Life” 

Last week, I mentioned the “12 Rules for Life“. I’ve almost finished listening to this book. It’s dense, and I think I’ll try to listen to it again soon. Some “rules” resonate with me, while others do not. I need time to consider the lessons from the “rules” which do not resonate with me. 

• “Stand up straight with your shoulders back.” 
• “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.” 
• “Make friends with people who want the best for you.” 
• “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.” 
• “Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.” 
• “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.” 
• “Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).” 
• “Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie.”
• “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.” 
• “Be precise in your speech.” 
• “Do not bother children while they are skateboarding.” 
• “Pet a cat when you encounter one in the street.” 

I’m not sure what I will read next. It may be some science fiction or the sequel to “12 Rules for Life” titled “Beyond Order”, which has twelve more rules to consider.  

Recipe 

Equipment 

• Saucepan 
• Stick blender 

Ingredients 

• Cauliflower 
• Leek 
• Brown onion 
• Garlic 
• Potato 
• Black peppercorns 
• Vegetable stock 
• Coconut cream (low fat) 
• Curry powder 

Instructions 

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets. 
2. Dice the potato. 
3. Slice the leek and onion. 
4. Sweat the leek and onion in the bottom of the saucepan with olive oil. 
5. Add a tablespoon of curry powder and some whole black peppercorns. 
6. Add the cauliflower and potato and enough stock without covering the vegetables. 
7. Put a lid on the saucepan and allow it to simmer until the potato and cauliflower are soft. 
8. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. 
9. Bring back to a simmer and slowly add some coconut cream to slightly thicken the soup. 
10. Serve the soup in a bowl. 
11. Give thanks to the Lord. 
12. Eat with a spoon while watching the footy. 
13. Enjoy the work of your microbiota fermenting carbohydrates and producing hydrocarbon gases. I won’t be lighting any matches tonight. 😆

Thoughts on the meal 

This soup is on par with the pumpkin soup I make with laksa paste. It’s hot and spicy and amazing.

This version is meat-free, and unless there are animal products in the curry powder, it’s vegan because the vegetable stock I used is vegan. 

You could add some bacon or a ham hock if you want a meaty mouthfeel and flavour. 

Final thoughts 

• Do any of the rules resonate with you? 
• Do you like cauliflower soup? 
• What is your favourite soup? 

Photographs 

Here is a gallery of photographs.