More blobbing in Brum

Well it's happened again. Chatting with guys in Brum, ended up explaining my blog. Met with disdain and bewilderment. Had a nice meal though, at Ask Restaurant plc (Sutton Coldfield). Crayfish, crab, salmon and prawn ravioli with a mild lemon sauce. Sounds a bit like Gordon Ramsays' dish...?

Vegetarian black puddings

My father-in-law has been taken by the idea of vege black puddings. He says that they are from Burnley and taste like the real thing. I've never tried the real thing, but I'll report back when I've tried them.

We had spaghetti with the yellow squash, courgette, and spinach, with butter and some crumbly Lancashire cheese. We also had lettuce, tomatoes and radish.

Next box

We got radish, a yellow gourd/squash, spinach, courgettes, brocolli, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes. A veritable feast.

N's dinners

N made dinner last night.  It was really nice - lasagne with butterbeans.  Kids liked it too.  We got the idea from Wil & Em while on holiday.  There is something very satisfying about past with a baked cheese sauce.  I had already frozen a tomato sauce so I hope it wasn’t too much work and too many pans.

Hilarity

There was much hilarity from in-laws when they found out about this blog. First of all there was a look of incomprehension ("what's a blob?"), followed by humorous (?) criticism. I did detect, finally, some understanding ("I'm writing this so I can record the seasonal food we eat, so that next year I can remember what we had and how we cooked it."). Anyway, I enjoy writing this, and I enjoy the idea of building up a record of thoughts and events. I guess, like most bloggers (?blobbers).

Purple cauliflower

Got the weirdest looking thing



After cooking: tastes like cauliflower, goes a bluish purple (not a nice colour at all) and cooked the same as white califlower. I don't think I would buy this.

Question: are there any foods that are blue?
Answer: 1. blue cheese, ?

Back to the veg box

After missing two weeks (being away) we're back to the Thursday delivery. This week we got potatoes (new looking), carrots, courgettes, cucumber, a purple (!!!) cauliflower, a pointed cabbage (I think) and a bag of chard (bot sure of brand).

Cooking beetroot

I've always thought beetroot was OK. But, I've started to serve it as a vegetable in it's own right. Moro suggested washing the skins, cooking them whole (skins on) for 45-60 minutes, and then the skins just fall off. And it was true. Moro serves with yoghurt. Not tried that yet...

Jollies

Been away for nine days to Devon, Bath and for Sister's wedding at Thornbury Castle. Food was mixed. The hotel's bistro in Devon was really nice (highlight- mushroom soup), but other restaurants were not so good (totally microwaved meals at cinema cafe).

I bought Wil and Em a massive crab, which I then dressed and Wil served with spaghetti and chilli.

Thornbury Castle has a good reputation. Nigel Slater mentions it in his book 'Toast'. But I was not overly impressed. The starter (salmon tartar) was nice, but not particulalry unusual. I had a vegetable risotto, which was nice. Apparently the best part was the Creme Brullee served as a small triangular cake. It did look good.

Anyway, we are now back to the house and back on with home food.

One blog created 'every second'

There is one blog created 'every second'. I guess you could add this to that! Self-fulfilling though - think of all the Blogs pointing to this story.

Boring but nice

Have to be the discovery of this summer - broad beans. I love them. We cooked them with their skins. Then we had a batch (from Tescos) that were really tough, and so we have decided to remove the bean skins. But, our latest batch were fantastic, and I chopped the skins and added them back to the dish. Sorry - boring but nice...

I've got to stir the compost...oh dear!