Dinner!

Well …. This blog is increasingly popular in the Far East (see image above for statistics). It’s getting about four hundred hits a day. Thank God most people in Ukraine and Russia can’t read English and learn that this philocalist’s life is so horribly mundane.

•

Fridays dog walk was dry. Hooray! Thursday was so, so wet, it was lovely to see blue sky and to enjoy the intermittent sunshine. Then it was home to chop, measure, sear, sauté, melt, mix, pour and plate.

I baked flatbread, cut it into strips, oiled them and then salted and peppered them. That was a job in itself and it was for a single component of my salad. The dressing was another time consumer. But the real pain was opening a lot of pistachios to get ¾ of a cup of unsalted nuts that I then roasted.

I had four complicated recipes to do yesterday and it kept me busy; my cooking was interspersed with dog walks, fire tending and tidying up. I was barely ready when my guests started arriving (and I hate that; I always like half-an-hour of chilling time).

Matthew cancelled. He is sick. And Jay spent the day at an estate sale on Vancouver Island and couldn’t make it back on time. So there were just three women, Judith, Patsy and Regina, and yours truly for dinner. I have lots of left-overs!

They arrived at six and I immediately we immediately opened the wines; I was beat. But I have to say, everything was delicious—and that’s not bragging (about me) because all I did was faithfully follow the genius recipes of others. The Brussel sprouts and corn dishes were absolutely fabulous, as was the risotto. And everyone left at eight-thirty. What an early evening! 

This morning, I did a lot of dishes, tidied up, did laundry, fed the birds and pets, put all the clean dishes away, walked Her Highness and vacuumed! Then I had a long furious spa in the privilege of (almost) absolute silence. All I could hear was one bird faintly chirping; I heard nothing else the entire time I was in the tub.

Next I go to the recycling centre, the post office, the pet store and the market. After that, the rest of the day will be soft and gentle; today is for relaxing. I have lots of risotto, some sprouts and enough Pavlova for lunch and dinner. Hooray!