leek and potato soup

It's a cold, grey drizzly day and thoughts have turned to the stomach. Nice warming stews, cosy cups of tea with moist, just-out-of-the-oven cake and, of course, soup.

We don't like to be deterred by the weather and often set off on a family walk regardless of the rain, just so long as the walk has some sort of purpose to keep the children happy. Normally that focus is a picnic lunch of homemade soup and homemade bread rolls 1/3 the way through, and a pub 2/3 of the way. Of course the thought of home and a roaring fire gives us momentum for the final lap.

I usually end up doing this last minute and the flavour of the soup is determined by what's in the fridge/veg basket. But I nearly always have leeks and potatoes and I use a simple recipe of my mother's:

Chop leeks and soften in oil

Add chopped potatoes about 1 cm cubes or bigger (I generally don't even bother taking off the skin)

Add vegetable (or even better) chicken stock and some salt and pepper

Let it bubble away until the potatoes soften. (The longer you can let the soup simmer for the more the potatoes disintegrate the thicker the soup becomes.)

Pour into thermos and off you go