Living on next to nought - is that the key?

little_sweetie

Hi GP,
Thanks for the thoughts on the burgers, I think next time I'll add salt and a bit more cumin to see if that helps. Last night's curry looks wonderful (and so does the photo!) and very well done on the naan. I bet it's just as cheap as making your own but much less effort, of course....always a bonus in my book

Hope your day is going well. OH is working so I am making... shhh...Christmas cards....I have Elaine Paige on the radio, the kettle's on and it is so peaceful...sigh. Off now to make some tea. Pop in if you have time, the house is clean & tidy....

Tata for now x

Greying_Pilgrim

lobbyludd wrote: »

as usual - looks delicious GP - puts my bacon sarnies for brunch to shame.

My parsley's been very understated this year too, usually I'm hacking it back with a machete as it does it's best to outgrow the mint, but not this. Hopefully it's just having a pause year.

lobbyludd - I know a fair few folk that would take a bacon butty over Huevos Rotos anyday of the week

Thanks for the parsley info. Mine is growing in pots, so I thought maybe that was the problem, but maybe not.... thanks for putting my mind at ease

little_sweetie - you put me to shame - I can't remember when this house was last 'tidy' we seem to have been diy-ing for years - so i'll willing accept a cuppa, and a sit down in a comfy chair if you could spare it...... #sogonnaacheinthemorning:(

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Just a quick update from me tonight - coz I ache :rotfl:I'm away to Bedfordshire I think, once I've posted

Still, a productive day. Teamwork reigned supreme and we got quite a lot done, although at one point we both wondered what on earth we'd let ourselves in for, as progress was painstakingly slow

However, we've done 2/3rds of the first bit of the first project that we're on, so progress definitely made

We finally finished up at 6.20pm. I had taken some time out to start to make dinner, but went back to help DP, so we've worked roughly the same amount of time today DP managed to last until 3pm before requesting nourishment! And he provided it himself - we had a cuppa and a bag of crisps :rotfl:

I did get a NSD though (added to siggie figgie) on the basis neither of us left the homestead!

Dinner this evening was a 'first time make' of Bessara, which has many incarnations - both as a soup and as a dip. But my interpretation is that it is a broad bean and garlic soup (but it can also be made as a dip, and can also be made from split green peas.....). Anyway, I was following Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe out of her book Medina. It really is a simple soup, and so nice! DP has never eaten it before, and I thought it was good, but (unprompted) DP raved about it! I used frozen broad beans (dried are more commonly stipulated in recipes, but I had freshly frozen) and no, I did not 'peel' them - I never do, where do people think fibre comes from in recipes????

Picture of my efforts here;



I made 'roasted' (actually fried, but roasted sounds better.... :rotfl:) onion flatbreads to accompany. The flatbreads had ras-el-hanout spice mix, nigella seeds and sesame seeds incorporated in them too. Usual piadina base mix, although these didn't rise too much

Fuchsia's recipe doesn't appear to be on the web - not even on her own blog So this is a 'similar' version that I found. The recipe is HERE Fuchsia's recipe differs in that 4 cloves of garlic actually go into the soup, not as a 'sprinkle', 1tsp of paprika goes in alongside the cumin and she puts in the juice of half a lemon - I used the zest too.

For such simple ingredients, this soup packs a punch. It is really tasty, and reasonably inexpensive to make. If you grow your own broad beans, you could eat for pennies, literally Of course, I'm now wondering why I have never made it before! Silly me

little_sweetie - when I was making the soup, I thought of a couple of queries for you regarding Jack's burgers. The first is, were you shy with the cumin? It does really pep food up, so although I am useless with measurements and 'eyeball' quantities, I would have thought you would need to add at least what was specified in the recipe (which you probably did already ) And the other thing is, how recent have you purchased your cumin? The powdered version doesn't keep too long. I tend to go through it quickly, so it doesn't go out of date, but I was just wondering if it was still packing its punch Again, apologies if you bought a new pot, last week, specifically for these burgers! I was just minded on how much the cumin 'made' this soup, along with the lemon

Today I am grateful for these 3 things;

for Team Greying - we are each other's cheerleaders and supporters

for information on the internet - definitely helped our endeavours with this DIY task

that we have a roof over our head and food in our stomachs - we're pretty 'rich' really

Thank you for popping by, reading and commenting. I greatly appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

little_sweetie

Aw you poor thing, it will all be worth it in the end. I just don't have the energy for major projects any more which is why we bought this tiny place. It was brand new so easy to keep clean. Just think of the satisfaction you will feel once it's all finished, GP. Hope you don't ache too much tomorrow
Re the burgers: it was a freshly opened pot of cumin but I might have been a bit sparse with my measurement. I'll try a bit more next time, thanks for your thoughts on the matter.
The soup looks really tasty mmm....

Sleep tight dear friend x

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Well, I'm hear in the land of the living and able to move...... Not too sure that the same can be said of DP though..... :rotfl: Still, he has managed to *rescue* me from a HUGE spider *MYHERO* :kisses3: :rotfl:

Well, to completely misquote Mr Grayson, 'What a grey day...'

Hope it brightens later, or else we won't have a hope, in seeing what we are supposed to be painting

I'm just going to rustle up a pot of soup for lunch, so that we don't have to stop if we get on a roll. Then dinner this evening will be Anjum's Lemony Spinach hotpot. Just the thing for a rainy bank holiday - don't you think?

If we are housebound again for the day, then I should be able to snag a nsd. Can't think of anything that we need, so I'll see if I can trap one in my butterfly net

Slept wonderfully - had the most interesting dream - actually a two-parter, and I don't really see the connection, although the overall link was (wait for it..... ) 'design'. But one of the bits I do remember, was going to a conference centre, in a swish northern European city - where there was an exhibition of new 'things' that people had designed (possibly students). It was either in the 1980's, or my luddite ways seeped into the dream, as we weren't viewing anything remotely 'tech'. You'll laugh at me, we were crocodiling around the room, looking at stuff displayed on tables (sounds more like a village produce show than high-tec design exhibit to me.... Ed.) I held the queue up...... when I discovered folks had been designing....... new pasta shapes :rotfl: I was really taking in the shapes, but muttering about how they had all chosen the wrong sauce for the type of pasta.... :rotfl:It has subsequently dawned on me, all the sauces were the same, and I don't know who set the design brief, but they should get to know their pasta shapes/sauces better! :rotfl: The second bit of the dream was like a documentary. So interesting! I've no idea where all the ideas and thoughts came from - must get out more :rotfl:

Right, well, I've a coffee in hand, so off to the kitchen I go

Have a wonderful day, whatever you are up to.

Thanks for popping by and keeping me company. Mucho appreciated

See y'all later.

Greying

Igamogam

Broad beans hallucinogenic GP? Those dreams sound vivid;) Funny you should mention soup as I will be rustling up a basic but very scrummy red lentil soup today...............some manky carrots and past it celery to use up and more to the point it feels like the middle of October when I usually start on the soup repertoire :eek:

Greying_Pilgrim

Igamogam wrote: »

Broad beans hallucinogenic GP? Those dreams sound vivid;)

Ooooooooo - d'ya think?? Greying licks pencil and adds, 'more broad beans' to the shopping list :rotfl:

Mind you, perhaps my future fortune is wrapped up in those dreams, perhaps I've just discovered the next new pasta sensation????

Get me the CEO of Bew-a-Tony on the phone, pronto! :rotfl::rotfl:

Igamogam - we are acting from the same stable, I've incorporated bendy carrots and past it sweet potatoes into my 'spicy sweet potato and lentil' soup. YUM!

Right, best swap my apron for overalls.

See y'all later.

Greying

little_sweetie

What's going on here?? I have planned to make carrot & lentil soup for lunch too :eek:
Not only have those hallucinogenic broad beans been creating 'Perfect Pasta' dreams

Get me the CEO of Bew-a-Tony on the phone, pronto! :rotfl::rotfl:

:rotfl: :rotfl:Oh my aching stomach! :rotfl::rotfl:

I think we all went to sleep in Summer and woke up in Autumn. It is indeed a very grey day today. OH at work again (what makes you think he doesn't want to take me out? ...sigh)

I'm so glad you are able to move this morning, GP, this DIY lark obviously suits you I think my day will consist of pottering & crafting, pottering & crafting. Kettle will be on again around 11am if you're free :coffee: There are a few flapjacks left.....x

Karmacat

Hello GP :wave: I'm back in the land of the living - just having a potter about on the diaries threads, I see your cooking is as wondrous as ever :j I haven't done any while lurgified, of course, but when I started getting a bit better, I started taking short local walks, to get fresh air and improve health blah blah, and I found lots of forageable fruit that was all hand-level, and really easy to pick - blackberries, a plum tree, and lots of apples. So I now have a foraged jam sitting in the freezer only thanks to your example

Hope your project is going well, you sound like you and DP are working really hard.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

karmacat - lovely to see you back and posting

little-sweetie - I'm not so sure about DIY suiting us, it certainly eats staycation time Still, we're currently half way through and hopefully, from here on in, things can speed up. As ever, preparation is key

Dinner last night (I had a little time to prepare it as we finished earlier on in the afternoon, although we then hared round like headless chucks on other chores ) was Anjum Anand's Lemony Spinach hotpot. I know that I said that was Monday's meal, but I realised that I didn't have enough lemon, and I wasn't going to break a nsd on Monday for the sake of a lemon Yesterday, we spent money anyway, so lemons were bought The recipe is from Anjum's vegetarian feast book, and it's a real shame that it has not been picked up on the internet anywhere, so I can't link to a recipe. It is a tasty dish, that is not 'fiery' as people expect food with spices in to be, it is really tasty and zingy - a nice dish if you are introducing more 'non-meat' based meals into your repertoire. Whilst mine, last night, didn't have aubergine in it (looked at the aubergines in mrL and promptly walked past them!), the aubergine adds a good texture - Portobello mushrooms would do the same Anyhoo, pic of meals here;



I don't know what will be for dinner tonight, haven't consulted the planner yet this morning.

Right, better get back to the grindstone

Thanks for popping by, reading and commenting. Always appreciated

See y'all later.

Greying