10:00
I'm not too horrified by the man who found, killed and then ate the six legged octopus, I'm more concerned that (from the little that I've read, not a serious journalist I don't feel the need to do deep research) he found it on a beach and decided it was still okay to eat. It's a bit like not-quite-dead road kill, surely?
My octopus is defrosting nicely on top of an ice pack in the kitchen and I'm looking forward to putting it in the oven - it will go in for about 2 hours, with 100ml of olive oil, at a temperature of 150'c (or whatever the oven decides it should heat to). I might add a few garlic cloves as well to see what happens. I really like roasted garlic, so slow roasted garlic might be equally nice; I may also be able to use it to flavour the garlic mayo to go with the octopus.
Husband#1 has just made pastrami sandwiches, which were quite delicious with a few pretzels, gherkins, tomatoes and (homegrown) cucumbers. Even Booboo ate hers, and really quickly.
Biggie has become a fussy eater. Everything she sees me cook, she looks at, turns up her nose and says "I don't like that" or "Oh, I don't really like rice with that." She has grown a massive hatred for cucumber - a vegetable she ate constantly before. And there isn't a fruit I can tempt her with apart from grapes. What is a Working Mum to do? In fairness to her, she is a big fan of baked beans, but the toast has to be on a side plate - as do any fishfingers - in case it goes soggy. Her saving grace is that she loves crab, smoked mackerel, white fish of any kind, prawns, whelks, lobster, fishfingers and is devastated that we're having octopus tonight without her. I've promised that the next octopus to be cooked Chez Working Mum will be for all four of us and with chips.
And Booboo has eaten as quickly as I've ever seen - polishing off her pastrami sandwiches without a word today (and the gherkins were gone in seconds).
19:43
Since writing the above, the octopus has gone into the oven and has been in for about an hour. It is smelling delicious. Husband#1 (who from here-on-in has requested to be called Handsome Husband#1 - request denied) has just furnished me with a bowl of nuts - I can tell they won't be the first :-)
21:28
And the octopus has gone. Eaten in about five minutes, it was deliciously tender, chopped and sprinkled with a little cayenne pepper and went perfectly with the patatas bravas* and makeshift aioli really well. I squashed the roasted garlic (three whole cloves, not peeled) into the patatas bravas sauce, BTW. Even Biggie managed her first try of octopus as she came out and attempted (even though Booboo was actually asleep, unknown before 11pm at the caravan!) to get into our bed. We got her back to the own with half a tentacle and didn't she just love it. Tomatoes? Yuk. Cucumber? Bleurgh, Octopus? More please.
And that goes for us all!
*Patatas bravas recipe from the Guardian online - third or fourth search result down, How To Make Perfect Patatas Bravas - the one I use is the ultimate recipe and I usually go with the homemade Aioli as well.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Monday, 12 August 2013
Holidays (Part II)
And the holidays continue, this week we're at the coast and that brings in the exciting plans for seafood of all kinds. When we were here a few weeks ago, we bought and froze some octopus (a family holiday herm*, so we have that opportunity) and I'm pretty sure that this will become a meal at some point - probably cooked until tender and then covered in cayenne and smoked paprika and served with some kind of patatas bravas. There will also be lobster mac and cheese, courtesy of Ina Garten, a great inspiration for Husband#1.
Lunch today proved a hit with all - smoked mackerel paté with bagels and homegrown cucumber (a few weeks down the line we'll be able to have homegrown tomatoes as well, but for now shop bought will have to do). The paté is really easy - I get a pack of smoked mackerel (one fillet per person?), cut out the central part with the bones and chop in a bowl with a pot of (lowest fat) cream cheese, the juice of a lemon and, if I have them, chopped chives. Sometimes I deviate and buy a pack of smoked salmon, especially when it's on special offer and chop that in instead. I love the fact that my gals love fish. What would I do in an alternative life? Just conjuring up pictures of the Malcolm in the Middle where Lois and Hal ponder life with girls...not worth thinking about!
For tea, the gals have had (Sir) Rick Stein's chicken (with chorizo) and leeks and carrots in a cider sauce - a great freezer meal and, reminded how much I like it, I'll be making another large pot full for the freezer in the next few weeks. It's a healthy meal as well, especially if you miss out the chorizo, as I've done for the gals and for a midweek tea - surely one only eats a spicy sausage at the weekend?!
Husband#1 and I had a trio of lovely salads. First of all, a (homegrown) cucumber salsa, the recipe idea I pinched from the Taste of Home website. I chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, green pepper, garlic, coriander, half of a chilli and added a tablespoon of lime juice. It was so fresh - I left it for an hour in the fridge to marinate. Then we had crab with tomato and basil in a balsamic dressing - so simple. I took a whole crab (already dressed by Arthur's of Flamborough) and mixed with chopped tomatoes, basil, half a white onion, chopped finely, and then added a dessert spoon of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. It tastes so much more decadent than it is. And finally, hand-squashed guacamole - two avocados chopped up by Husband#1 and mixed with lemon juice. All served with toasted pitta. It felt really luxurious but was actually reasonably cheap for a holiday/weekend tea but also healthy. These delights followed a nutty starter - we recently discovered wasabi and soy covered almonds, and have become a little addicted. Can't be too bad for you?
On a serious note, I must stop drinking so much on a night. Not one to drink midweek when I'm working, I can easily down four glasses of red on a Friday in the time it takes to eat half a pizza and Saturday is similar. I like wine with food. If I drink, I like to eat. If the food stops, I'm not much bothered for more booze. Unfortunately during the holidays there's always time to eat, hence my glass is always at least half full!
And completely off topic, though there is a tenuous food link if you want to find one...I came away with no swimming costume this week. I have two very nice ones at home, both with hidden tummy control, but like the idiot I am, everyone else had at least two in their bin liners (had bed bugs once, suitcases will never be attractive to me) and I had none. A comfortable size 16, didn't we all have a good laugh about how to fashion some thing from bra and big pants, a pair of Husband#1's 'underwears' as Biggie likes to call them, or even a well pinned blanket. All in the name of covering Mummy's 'jelly'. So we toddled into the nearest town, tried all of the decent-enough shops - well, I chickened out of going into Bon Marché, having seen a swimming costume on sale that looked like it was still alive. There were only two (2) swimming costumes in the whole of the place, one, from M&S, which was sized for the bosom rather than the ass. What about those with small breasts and large asses or vice versa? I couldn't risk it so took the Kelly Brook branded size 14 from New Look and hope I could squeeze. Pretty little thing and a very flattering cut - but, Kelly, you've forgotten that most of us curvy ladies need tummy control...Anyway, whilst trying to cook tea and stop the gals battering each other as Husband#1 has introduced them to wrestling (just what they need), didn't I notice my swimming costume was also made for someone a good deal younger and slimmer than me. I'll look a great sight at the swimming pool. Maybe I should become a Working Mum Cuts (Salad, Fruit and Vegetables)?
Never!
Lunch today proved a hit with all - smoked mackerel paté with bagels and homegrown cucumber (a few weeks down the line we'll be able to have homegrown tomatoes as well, but for now shop bought will have to do). The paté is really easy - I get a pack of smoked mackerel (one fillet per person?), cut out the central part with the bones and chop in a bowl with a pot of (lowest fat) cream cheese, the juice of a lemon and, if I have them, chopped chives. Sometimes I deviate and buy a pack of smoked salmon, especially when it's on special offer and chop that in instead. I love the fact that my gals love fish. What would I do in an alternative life? Just conjuring up pictures of the Malcolm in the Middle where Lois and Hal ponder life with girls...not worth thinking about!
For tea, the gals have had (Sir) Rick Stein's chicken (with chorizo) and leeks and carrots in a cider sauce - a great freezer meal and, reminded how much I like it, I'll be making another large pot full for the freezer in the next few weeks. It's a healthy meal as well, especially if you miss out the chorizo, as I've done for the gals and for a midweek tea - surely one only eats a spicy sausage at the weekend?!
Husband#1 and I had a trio of lovely salads. First of all, a (homegrown) cucumber salsa, the recipe idea I pinched from the Taste of Home website. I chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, green pepper, garlic, coriander, half of a chilli and added a tablespoon of lime juice. It was so fresh - I left it for an hour in the fridge to marinate. Then we had crab with tomato and basil in a balsamic dressing - so simple. I took a whole crab (already dressed by Arthur's of Flamborough) and mixed with chopped tomatoes, basil, half a white onion, chopped finely, and then added a dessert spoon of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. It tastes so much more decadent than it is. And finally, hand-squashed guacamole - two avocados chopped up by Husband#1 and mixed with lemon juice. All served with toasted pitta. It felt really luxurious but was actually reasonably cheap for a holiday/weekend tea but also healthy. These delights followed a nutty starter - we recently discovered wasabi and soy covered almonds, and have become a little addicted. Can't be too bad for you?
 |
| The Lovely Trio |
On a serious note, I must stop drinking so much on a night. Not one to drink midweek when I'm working, I can easily down four glasses of red on a Friday in the time it takes to eat half a pizza and Saturday is similar. I like wine with food. If I drink, I like to eat. If the food stops, I'm not much bothered for more booze. Unfortunately during the holidays there's always time to eat, hence my glass is always at least half full!
And completely off topic, though there is a tenuous food link if you want to find one...I came away with no swimming costume this week. I have two very nice ones at home, both with hidden tummy control, but like the idiot I am, everyone else had at least two in their bin liners (had bed bugs once, suitcases will never be attractive to me) and I had none. A comfortable size 16, didn't we all have a good laugh about how to fashion some thing from bra and big pants, a pair of Husband#1's 'underwears' as Biggie likes to call them, or even a well pinned blanket. All in the name of covering Mummy's 'jelly'. So we toddled into the nearest town, tried all of the decent-enough shops - well, I chickened out of going into Bon Marché, having seen a swimming costume on sale that looked like it was still alive. There were only two (2) swimming costumes in the whole of the place, one, from M&S, which was sized for the bosom rather than the ass. What about those with small breasts and large asses or vice versa? I couldn't risk it so took the Kelly Brook branded size 14 from New Look and hope I could squeeze. Pretty little thing and a very flattering cut - but, Kelly, you've forgotten that most of us curvy ladies need tummy control...Anyway, whilst trying to cook tea and stop the gals battering each other as Husband#1 has introduced them to wrestling (just what they need), didn't I notice my swimming costume was also made for someone a good deal younger and slimmer than me. I'll look a great sight at the swimming pool. Maybe I should become a Working Mum Cuts (Salad, Fruit and Vegetables)?
Never!
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Vegetarian Tonight? Not if I'm a Working Mum Who Cooks!
It's Saturday and, even though for the last and the next three weeks every day is a Saturday, it's special. For that reason, there was no way that battered courgette (you know courgettes, the big green things, long or round) with homemade chilli sauce would do. So, I took Baby Big Gal (at her request henceforth to be called Booboo Big Gal) to her first party and sent Husband#1 to swimming lessons with Biggie and then to Sainos. Half way through I sent a text message suggesting certain treats, but also healthy options thus letting him choose - a guilt passed on is a guilt not felt etc.
Predictable as always, Husband#1 returned with treats galore.
So we ate scallops in a garlic butter, cooked by the man himself, which were very tasty...
These delights were followed by the courgettes, which weren't made totally panic free as I'd forgotten to make the sweet chilli sauce (a doddle, boiling chillies, garlic, rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, due to shortage of rice wine vinegar, sugar and water for about 20 minutes - I blended then, but no need). Once done, I made a batter from plain flour, iced water, salt, white pepper and one egg and then dipped in 1cm thick pieces of courgette before frying at about 180' - other words, quite high!
Finally we went back to a bad old friend: chocolate bark. How bad can that be? At least one portion of fruit each :-)
Predictable as always, Husband#1 returned with treats galore.
So we ate scallops in a garlic butter, cooked by the man himself, which were very tasty...
These delights were followed by the courgettes, which weren't made totally panic free as I'd forgotten to make the sweet chilli sauce (a doddle, boiling chillies, garlic, rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, due to shortage of rice wine vinegar, sugar and water for about 20 minutes - I blended then, but no need). Once done, I made a batter from plain flour, iced water, salt, white pepper and one egg and then dipped in 1cm thick pieces of courgette before frying at about 180' - other words, quite high!
When eaten fresh out of the fryer, these were crispy and yet soft inside. Just right, we thought! The chilli sauce was just that...
Finally we went back to a bad old friend: chocolate bark. How bad can that be? At least one portion of fruit each :-)
On a side note, it's always a delight to give pizza to my beauties, tonight more so as I'm told that tomato purée does indeed constitute one of your five-a-day, useful as I had no jarred roasted peppers to add in as I usually do.
So it's back to the caravan tomorrow and, after pizza for tea tomorrow, I then have the following to use for meals:
Squid
Octopus
Two cucumbers
Am looking forward to the challenge!
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Courgettes, Courgettes, More Courgettes and Two Cucumbers!
Well Jack the Greengrocer (or just the friendly neighbour who has an allotment) dropped off two gigantic cucumbers, of which I have a photo if I can get Drop Box to download them in the next few months - it is very slow tonight. Last year, Jack kept bringing us tomatoes, as he had a much better crop than us, but his best treat of all were the globe courgettes that he dropped off every couple of nights - they were delicious, and inspired us to grow our own this year.
Not having had much luck with normal courgettes (everyone can grow courgettes, not sure what our problem is) we went for the globes this year and have now picked two of the biggest for teas this week:
In Sainos, they are charging 75p for these at half the size as well - manky looking things as well. These, lovingly cared for by husband#1, who is VERY proud, are very firm, heavy and (having now cut one up) fleshy.
So, having caught up with an old friend this afternoon (five years is just too long between coffees!), I rushed home to make fritters with pistou. For the pistou, I took basil - the recipe said 15g, but I used more - Parmesan (75g), lemon rind and four crushed cloves of garlic and blended them to a nice smooth sauce by adding olive oil - again, the recipe said 150ml, but I just did it until it got to a consistency I liked.
For the fritters, first I grated the courgettes (it said salt and drain for 1 hour, I just wrapped in kitchen roll and squeezed - seemed to work for me!) and put to one side. There was about 600g. Then, I took about 125g of plain flour, 1 egg and two egg yolks, a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and about 100ml of cold water and made a batter. I then took the remaining egg whites and whipped them up to stiff peaks. Finally I mixed the courgettes and batter together and folded in the egg whites and then fried ice cream scoop sized portions in vegetable oil.
Biggie looked at them and said, "Oh, I don't like those." and "You know that white stuff that Daddy was making? I tasted that and I don't like it." That was the garlic mayonnaise we made as we didn't think they'd like the pistou. So, with a heavy heart I called all to the table and threw a courgette fritter at everyone with a little pistou, a dollop of mayo (apart from for Biggie) and considered how long I'd push my very carnivorous gals to eat the fritters (they are vegetables, you know!) before resorting to ketchup.
Well, to my surprise they devoured the pistou (they are fans of pesto - BIG FANS) and a few fritters each. Biggie was wondering just how the football sized courgette could possibly have hidden itself so well inside a fritter but she still ate them. Baby Big Gal got fed up after the first but, after spooning in the rest of her pistou, ate the chopped up pieces one at a time with the promise of a Babybel to finish.
A success? Yes - definitely!
On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to add this picture of my fresh berry and pistachio white chocolate bark, as I was looking through some photos from last week and I'd forgotten how pretty it was - and tasty. Just melt the chocolate (I now do it in 15 second bursts in a glass dish in the microwave, stirring at each interval - nothing bad happens, I promise!), pour onto greaseproof paper and throw on your favourite berries, fruit or dried fruit and nuts. Leave in the fridge to set (or if you are keen to get to it, like husband#1 and I, put it in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes and then serve in great chunks. A winner any day!
Not having had much luck with normal courgettes (everyone can grow courgettes, not sure what our problem is) we went for the globes this year and have now picked two of the biggest for teas this week:
In Sainos, they are charging 75p for these at half the size as well - manky looking things as well. These, lovingly cared for by husband#1, who is VERY proud, are very firm, heavy and (having now cut one up) fleshy.
So, having caught up with an old friend this afternoon (five years is just too long between coffees!), I rushed home to make fritters with pistou. For the pistou, I took basil - the recipe said 15g, but I used more - Parmesan (75g), lemon rind and four crushed cloves of garlic and blended them to a nice smooth sauce by adding olive oil - again, the recipe said 150ml, but I just did it until it got to a consistency I liked.
For the fritters, first I grated the courgettes (it said salt and drain for 1 hour, I just wrapped in kitchen roll and squeezed - seemed to work for me!) and put to one side. There was about 600g. Then, I took about 125g of plain flour, 1 egg and two egg yolks, a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and about 100ml of cold water and made a batter. I then took the remaining egg whites and whipped them up to stiff peaks. Finally I mixed the courgettes and batter together and folded in the egg whites and then fried ice cream scoop sized portions in vegetable oil.
Biggie looked at them and said, "Oh, I don't like those." and "You know that white stuff that Daddy was making? I tasted that and I don't like it." That was the garlic mayonnaise we made as we didn't think they'd like the pistou. So, with a heavy heart I called all to the table and threw a courgette fritter at everyone with a little pistou, a dollop of mayo (apart from for Biggie) and considered how long I'd push my very carnivorous gals to eat the fritters (they are vegetables, you know!) before resorting to ketchup.
Well, to my surprise they devoured the pistou (they are fans of pesto - BIG FANS) and a few fritters each. Biggie was wondering just how the football sized courgette could possibly have hidden itself so well inside a fritter but she still ate them. Baby Big Gal got fed up after the first but, after spooning in the rest of her pistou, ate the chopped up pieces one at a time with the promise of a Babybel to finish.
A success? Yes - definitely!
On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to add this picture of my fresh berry and pistachio white chocolate bark, as I was looking through some photos from last week and I'd forgotten how pretty it was - and tasty. Just melt the chocolate (I now do it in 15 second bursts in a glass dish in the microwave, stirring at each interval - nothing bad happens, I promise!), pour onto greaseproof paper and throw on your favourite berries, fruit or dried fruit and nuts. Leave in the fridge to set (or if you are keen to get to it, like husband#1 and I, put it in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes and then serve in great chunks. A winner any day!
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
101 Emails and Counting
Since I finished work for a well-earned holiday, I have received over 100 emails - blooming ridiculous and quite stressful as someone has to reply to them and deal with them - who is it? Me. Oh well. One day all of my hard work will pay off.
In the meantime, I try to relax and enjoy my gals, husband#1, bloggery and most of all, cooking.
Trying to cook on something of a budget hasn't really worked so far, but I'm trying. Yesterday I popped into the butchers (Allum's in Normanton) and bought a few bits and pieces:
Firstly I saw the fillet steak, which I haven't made in ages, and decided to introduce my gals to rare meat. Planned for the weekend, it got no further than 6pm when we all had it, coated in olive oil, Maldon Sea Salt, browned on all sides and oven roasted for about 8 minutes. I let it rest for 10 minutes under foil before it was given the sending off it deserved with homemade chips (which bizarrely turned out half white and half brown) and garlic and lemon mayo. This was all preceded by corn on the cob for the gals and asparagus with more garlic and lemon mayo for us. I'll think about what we'll eat on Saturday later.
Secondly there was some stewing lamb, so I bought it and made a lovely tagine in the slow cooker today. In a sauce of two tins of tomatoes, enough stock to cover and some Ras el Hanout (I added extra cumin, paprika and a cinnamon stick), I cooked the lamb, carrots, courgettes, onions and peppers on a medium heat - when we got home from a lovely trip out it was all beautifully cooked. Served with couscous made simply with water, salt and extra virgin olive oil, it was healthy and quite tasty good job as there is plenty for the freezer :-).
Anyway, lunch today was at Friends of Ham in Leeds - we had the meat and cheese sharing platters and they were so good, with salami with fennel seeds and cured pork belly with rosemary and then a beautiful goat's cheese and a brie, they just had to be accompanied by a large glass (or two in my case) of Malbec. Wow.
So tomorrow we'll be cutting the first of the globe courgettes so I may have more to say then...
In the meantime, I try to relax and enjoy my gals, husband#1, bloggery and most of all, cooking.
Trying to cook on something of a budget hasn't really worked so far, but I'm trying. Yesterday I popped into the butchers (Allum's in Normanton) and bought a few bits and pieces:
Firstly I saw the fillet steak, which I haven't made in ages, and decided to introduce my gals to rare meat. Planned for the weekend, it got no further than 6pm when we all had it, coated in olive oil, Maldon Sea Salt, browned on all sides and oven roasted for about 8 minutes. I let it rest for 10 minutes under foil before it was given the sending off it deserved with homemade chips (which bizarrely turned out half white and half brown) and garlic and lemon mayo. This was all preceded by corn on the cob for the gals and asparagus with more garlic and lemon mayo for us. I'll think about what we'll eat on Saturday later.
Secondly there was some stewing lamb, so I bought it and made a lovely tagine in the slow cooker today. In a sauce of two tins of tomatoes, enough stock to cover and some Ras el Hanout (I added extra cumin, paprika and a cinnamon stick), I cooked the lamb, carrots, courgettes, onions and peppers on a medium heat - when we got home from a lovely trip out it was all beautifully cooked. Served with couscous made simply with water, salt and extra virgin olive oil, it was healthy and quite tasty good job as there is plenty for the freezer :-).
Anyway, lunch today was at Friends of Ham in Leeds - we had the meat and cheese sharing platters and they were so good, with salami with fennel seeds and cured pork belly with rosemary and then a beautiful goat's cheese and a brie, they just had to be accompanied by a large glass (or two in my case) of Malbec. Wow.
So tomorrow we'll be cutting the first of the globe courgettes so I may have more to say then...
Friday, 2 August 2013
Funny Old Day
We went to Scarborough for the afternoon yesterday, having breakfasted on banana and blueberry porridge. Well, I have a couple of bananas that are going off and the kids refuse to eat so I thought I'd try and mix one in after it was cooked - it worked quite nicely, actually although I'm still waiting for the blueberries to work their magic. I had a conversation last night with my mum and can't remember any of what was discussed this morning.
So a quick lunch of tinned sardine wraps (a triumph) and off we went to the beach, where a great time plus a 99 ice cream was had by all. Lovely.
Then disaster struck. Looking forward to the seafood risotto that Husband#1 was planning on cooking that evening, we cruised out of Scarborough following signs to Bridlington which promptly disappeared. An hour later we found another one and got back to the right track only to be stopped by a policeman telling us there was a diversion in place due to an accident. It was already bedtime and the gals hadn't even had tea (fishfingers and beans were planned).
So we changed the plan to fish and chips for the gals and a late night shopping trip to buy the star anise, parmesan and other lovelinesses to go in the risotto, dropped Husband#1 at the chipper and waited...for two minutes. At that point, both gals decided they needed desperate wees so I had to drive them back to the caravan to drive back out again. Disaster struck and I couldn't undo Baby Big Girl's car seat and I had to manipulate her out of it (there were tears) before we could do the necessary ablutions. Then, to get back to optimum safety in the car, four cushions were fashioned into a makeshift booster for Biggie, whilst Baby Big Girl sat in the high-backed booster (there were more tears, she doesn't like change).
We picked up Husband#1 who was carrying three boxes - how do two child portions of fish and chips make three boxes, you ask? God only knows, but there had been rows in the chipper about whether or not it was his order (he said not) or the other customer's order (he also said not). Once opened, we found we were the (not very proud) owners of two extra large fish and chips with a battered sausage and chips to boot - and it tasted like a bloody old boot at that. Too much food to waste so we all had F&C for tea (R.I.P seafood risotto) - how disappointing is that?
So a quick lunch of tinned sardine wraps (a triumph) and off we went to the beach, where a great time plus a 99 ice cream was had by all. Lovely.
Then disaster struck. Looking forward to the seafood risotto that Husband#1 was planning on cooking that evening, we cruised out of Scarborough following signs to Bridlington which promptly disappeared. An hour later we found another one and got back to the right track only to be stopped by a policeman telling us there was a diversion in place due to an accident. It was already bedtime and the gals hadn't even had tea (fishfingers and beans were planned).
So we changed the plan to fish and chips for the gals and a late night shopping trip to buy the star anise, parmesan and other lovelinesses to go in the risotto, dropped Husband#1 at the chipper and waited...for two minutes. At that point, both gals decided they needed desperate wees so I had to drive them back to the caravan to drive back out again. Disaster struck and I couldn't undo Baby Big Girl's car seat and I had to manipulate her out of it (there were tears) before we could do the necessary ablutions. Then, to get back to optimum safety in the car, four cushions were fashioned into a makeshift booster for Biggie, whilst Baby Big Girl sat in the high-backed booster (there were more tears, she doesn't like change).
We picked up Husband#1 who was carrying three boxes - how do two child portions of fish and chips make three boxes, you ask? God only knows, but there had been rows in the chipper about whether or not it was his order (he said not) or the other customer's order (he also said not). Once opened, we found we were the (not very proud) owners of two extra large fish and chips with a battered sausage and chips to boot - and it tasted like a bloody old boot at that. Too much food to waste so we all had F&C for tea (R.I.P seafood risotto) - how disappointing is that?
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Notes from a Holiday Herm
Work has been tough this year, but I'm still going and am still cooking (and eating) lots and lots. Husband#1 has been inspired himself to become quite the chef and my gals are getting more and more interested in what goes on in the kitchen. They've even been making me one or two delicious items in their own kitchen: Marshmallow flavoured rabbit sausages with a chocolate jus and jelly steak with an octopus vinaigrette.
One good thing is that the older the gals become, the less frozen meals I'm making for them and the more we're all sharing the same meals on an evening. I love that! They love fish and I love that even more! Lunches are including more and more eggs or smoked fish (made into patés with low fat cream cheese and other lovely things). Their favourite tea (and ours) is fish with pesto pasta and you can't short change them with small portions, either.
Husband#1's recent offerings have all been taken from The Barefoot Contessa, but he does them well. He made lobster and prawn potato salad for us all the other day; he's made lemon chicken, roasted vegetable frittata, Fish with roasted vegetables, lobster mac and cheese as well as a delicious baby octopus recipe from the internet (sorry Ina, not your recipe, but one of my favourites!)
And then there's the cocktails, again, mostly Ina inspired but both Husband#1 and I have been shaking them up at the end of a long week: Duke's Cosmopolitans, Watermelon Mojitos, Pomegranate Cosmopolitans. I even made my own: the Bernard and the Bernard Royale (pronounce in the American style, please, like brrr-nard!)
I've had a few lovely recipes to share but no time tonight. Future treats will include homemade chicken and sweetcorn soup, crab and pea risotto, fresh fruit chocolate bark, crab and coconut cakes with sweet chilli sauce and lots more.
Looking forward to getting back into my food bloggery :-)
One good thing is that the older the gals become, the less frozen meals I'm making for them and the more we're all sharing the same meals on an evening. I love that! They love fish and I love that even more! Lunches are including more and more eggs or smoked fish (made into patés with low fat cream cheese and other lovely things). Their favourite tea (and ours) is fish with pesto pasta and you can't short change them with small portions, either.
Husband#1's recent offerings have all been taken from The Barefoot Contessa, but he does them well. He made lobster and prawn potato salad for us all the other day; he's made lemon chicken, roasted vegetable frittata, Fish with roasted vegetables, lobster mac and cheese as well as a delicious baby octopus recipe from the internet (sorry Ina, not your recipe, but one of my favourites!)
And then there's the cocktails, again, mostly Ina inspired but both Husband#1 and I have been shaking them up at the end of a long week: Duke's Cosmopolitans, Watermelon Mojitos, Pomegranate Cosmopolitans. I even made my own: the Bernard and the Bernard Royale (pronounce in the American style, please, like brrr-nard!)
I've had a few lovely recipes to share but no time tonight. Future treats will include homemade chicken and sweetcorn soup, crab and pea risotto, fresh fruit chocolate bark, crab and coconut cakes with sweet chilli sauce and lots more.
Looking forward to getting back into my food bloggery :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)