time to eat

Taking a break from dealing with my supernatural ability to create *&%$#@ havoc wherever I live, I made a light supper last night for a friend. It was so easy and so delicious I’m going to put it out there. Try it yourself and tell me what you think.

Chop up some butternut and sweet potato into smallish chunks, roll them around in a bit of olive oil, plonk them onto a baking tray with some freshly chopped garlic and roast at about 150 for an hour (maybe a bit longer, need to be just cooked but not soggy). Let them cool.

Boil some brown and black lentils in salted water for about 30 mins. Medium heat. Keep checking because length of time depends on how many you chucked into the saucepan (I forgot about mine until the smell of burning wafted through from the kitchen, so there was no need to drain the water off because there wasn’t any left. Crispy lentils, anyone?)

Wash and tear up some butter lettuce – this is the first layer in your dish. Slice a Spanish onion and layer over the lettuce, then the roasty veg and burnt lentils. A little bit of salt and pepper, another splurge of olive oil and a nice lug of balsamic vinegar and you’re done.

My friend also got some cold roast chicken with the butternut surprise. I like roast chicken but only certain parts, and yesterday Pick ‘n Pay only had thighs and legs so, not for me.  A bottle of white wine was all else that was needed. Okay, two bottles. A simple meal to suit all tastes (barring the chicken). And there are leftovers for lunch today!

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knit one purl one

Got my knitting needles out this weekend, for the first time in ages. I made this bolero last year and it was almost the very first thing that got sold when Jam Tarts had its first Open Day.

It was an ex-colleague who bought it for his 10-yr old niece, and he reported that she loved it so much that she practically slept in it. He has been asked to give her another one this year, in blues, so that’s what I’m busy with. I couldn’t find a variegated yarn with the right combination of blues that I wanted, so I’m mixing two strands together. It’s turning out a lovely rich denim colour, which I think any normal pre-teen will approve of.

It’s a great pattern, actually, designed by Dawn Leeseman, and it was a free download from I-can’t-remember-which-site, but I could probably track it if anyone else is interested. For once, I’m going to tackle this task as professionally as possible and actually Make Notes about how much yarn I use, any improvisations I make to the original pattern, and how long it takes to knit. Yeah right.

In other news, Alex made us a lovely lunch on Saturday. Sometimes, when she does something that clearly I regard as hilarious/stupid/original, she glares menacingly at me and says, ‘You’d better not put this in your blog.’ And other times, she’ll say sweetly, ‘Don’t you want to blog about this, cher maman?’. And so we have the Goldberg summer special: a variety of baby letttuce leaves, fresh orange segments, a sprinkling of quinoa and rice, slivers of smoked salmon, coriander, and a perfect dressing.

Rob was going to join us for lunch but he couldn’t because he had to wait for his new bed to be delivered, but Nathan was here. Nathan has completed a year at the prestigious Silwood School of cooking, so when he says something is good, then you’d better believe it.

To be continued…