Skip to main content

Lots of cooking

This week, I have mostly been creating enormous piles of washing up.

I thought you'd prefer to see the clean stuff.

Occasionally something edible escaped from the mounds of mess and made it to the table.

I don't know why it turned into such a cooking week; we haven't been entertaining, and I didn't think I'd added too many new dishes to my weekly menu.  The main problem was that I made several things in advance, which spread out the cooking - and hence the washing up - across a much greater time and area.

The star of the menu was undoubtedly the barbeque ribs.  I don't believe I've ever cooked ribs before, but I followed the recipe from Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie, and they turned out - well, just like ribs should!  Soft and tender, and coated generously with a sweet and tangy glaze.  It's not in any way a difficult recipe - but like I said, it kind of spreeeaaads, until you feel like you've been dealing with these ribs for a very long time.  Worth it though.  And the best thing?  I now have enough marinade for two more goes, stashed in the freezer.



My other problem is that I turn the oven on for two hours, for a dish like that, and start thinking, "Right!  What else can I put in it?"  So I made a boiled fruit cake, which also appreciates long slow baking (the fruit is boiled, not the cake, despite how it sounds!)



Then I thought I might as well roast the vegetables for our dinner the next night, and while I'm at it the other half of the butternut squash might as well go in, with plans to make it into squash fritters at some point (another Jamie recipe).  And I had to stop myself roasting the butternut squash seeds as well, on the basis that dirtying one more pan might just cause myself and the kitchen to actually explode.

Pasta with roasted veg and walnut pesto

Oh, and earlier in the week I rustled up a dozen chocolate cupcakes, which were entirely necessary, I assure you.  They used up the remains of some chocolate buttercream just perfectly, and I took them to a friend's house for tea.  And they went in the oven while I was roasting carrots for a rather tasty carrot and chickpea salad.  You can tell it's been rainy and dismal here all week, can't you?



Have a cake, it'll make you feel better.  And next week is July - it will be sunny.  No it will.  Won't it?  Surely?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Enthusiasm and cynicism

Some while ago I heard a sermon on the story of Zacchaeus. I forget what the point of the sermon was - usually for this Bible passage it's something about Jesus saving everyone, even the unlikely people. But I remember wondering, did Zacchaeus really give all that money away? Image by Alexa from Pixabay You may remember the tale: Zacchaeus is a corrupt government official who is rather short. When Jesus arrives in town, Zacchaeus wants to get a look at him. So he climbs a tree to see over other people's heads. However, Jesus spots him and tells him to get out of the tree and go cook Jesus some dinner. I assume Jesus phrased it a little more nicely than that, because Zacchaeus is delighted, and moreover, promises to change his entire lifestyle. "Half of my possessions I give to the poor," he declares with the enthusiasm of the instant convert, "and anyone I've defrauded, I'll pay back four times over." The surrounding crowd are the cynics: Jesus, th...

The winter walker's guide to spirituality

You may be familiar with Paul's illustration of the Armour of God in his letter to the Ephesians. He lists such items as the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, and exhorts his readers to "stand firm" against the enemy's attacks, wearing the whole armour of God. For those original readers in Ephesus, a Roman soldier was probably an everyday sight. They would be familiar with swords and shields, and may well have owned some themselves. However, I don't come across any Roman soldiers very often. It takes me an extra imaginative leap to be able to visualise the armour, and then associate it with technical religious jargon like righteousness and faith. Also, I've never really got on board with this spiritual warfare business. I'm sure it's down to my circumstances or temperament or spiritual immaturity or something - I don't discount the whole concept, but I can't say I've ever had a moment where I felt like I was crossing...

Limestone Way: The Three B's

This walk on the Limestone Way takes me to three villages starting with B: Ballidon, Brassington, and Bradbourne.   Parwich to Brassington The weather forecast says it's fine, but as I walk out of Parwich some light rain starts, which persists for most of the walk. It's not enough to make me properly wet. Parwich sits in a large bowl; the kind of landscape where you can see where you're heading, where you came from, and the next hill you are going to have to climb. The area has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years .  A short climb up a field takes me to Highway Lane, which I follow down again, and then bear left across the fields to Ballidon. I can see the chimney of Ballidon Quarry, and a building which looks like an old chapel. I assume it must now be a private house, but when I get there, I discover that this is All Saints church, now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. What a nice surprise! I'm intrigued by the Creed and Ten Com...