¶ Paul Hollywood’s celery soup has become an item in the repertoire. I made a batch of it this afternoon. Cooking the vegetables (celery, potato, and leek) is a snap, and so is the puréeing, although as I get older I like the racket that the Cuisinart makes less and less, not to mention the cleanup. The hard work with the soup comes at the end, when the purée gets pushed through a fine sieve. It seemed to take longer today, but eventually, the little that remained in the strainer began to look — well, hairy. It’s the celery ribs, losing their cover. This is the sign that work will soon be done; another five minutes, and I’m down to a slightly enlarged ping-pong ball. I toss it! 

When I last made the bacon-and-stilton rolls that Hollywood pairs with the celery soup, I froze half of the dough, in two pieces. I shaped four rolls from one of these blocks when it thawed, but was then surprised to find how long it took the rolls to rise. I’m a novice at working with frozen dough — my idea, not Hollywood’s — but after four hours I slid the pan into the oven. Now the rolls took their time browning, although they did blow up a bit. Even after half an hour — half again as much time as prescribed by the recipe — they were still a bit pale, and, in the eating, not completely baked. But they were still tasty. More to learn…

I thought about making a small house salad, but Kathleen’s tummy had been a bit off, so I didn’t. I doubt that we could have eaten very much. Even without the rolls the soup would be a filling meal. 

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