Warm days will never cease, for Summer has o’er-brimmed

Having ended my last post saying I was looking forward to Autumn’s larder, Summer has been clinging on for dear life! Although the mornings and evenings are definitely cooler and darker, and the odd rainy day has snuck up on us, the bulk of September was absolutely beautiful, even if it didn’t have the soaring temperatures of the previous few months.

So, do I make light summery meals or something more hearty? That is the question that has presented itself most weekends when I’m doing my weekly meal plan. To be honest though, I haven’t really stuck to the meal plans much the last week or so, because I tend to be in the mood for heartwarming stodge one day, followed by something lighter the next. I have found that southern Europe has been the answer to my question recently. If you think about it, there are many areas such as northern Spain and northern Italy that can be cooler than their more southerly sun-drenched seaside cousins; both having hearty regional dishes of cured meats, bread and cheese in comparison to the lighter seafood specialities found further south. For my next eat-together though, I went to Greece. Not to the tourist-filled beach resorts in high summer though.

My last post/recent inactivity will also have led you to believe that eat-togethers at mine have been thin-on-the-ground. Well, like buses, you wait ages for one to come and then two come along at once! The weekend following my frenchified girlie night in, Ben’s parents came to stay. The mornings and evenings were, as I said, cooler and darker, but the Saturday was especially beautiful day. After a leisurely stroll along the beautiful old-fashioned New Walk area of the city, and a visit to the dinosaurs and the Magic Worlds exhibitions at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, we went home for an early dinner in our airy, sunshine-filled dining room with the window and back door flung open. Considering I usually have to force myself not to turn the heating on until at least October 1st, this made us all fell very lucky indeed. And adorning the dining table there was:

Main

Lemon and oregano roast lamb

On the side

πράσινα φασόλια στιφάδο
(Green Bean Stew*)

*I found this recipe on cottagegrovehouse.com; it is sublime (the blog as well as the recipe)!

Dessert

Greek-style honey and pistachio drizzle cake
served with fresh strawberries and strawberries and clotted cream ice cream

The strawberries, ice cream, green beans, lemons and oregano encapsulated the last few drops of summer; whilst the roast lamb and potatoes were a definite nod to autumn. The balance of the meal perfectly mirrored the balance of the period that is the changing of seasons.

After our lovely meal and sunshiney day out it was time to say goodbye to the folks, just in time to realise how suddenly the temperature had dropped, and scurry around closing the windows and doors. Next time we see them Autumn will be in full swing, which I’m kind of pleased about because I have so many ideas; not to mention my much-loved seasonal staples that I’m looking forward to dusting off now that October has arrived.

I can bake a cherry pie as quick as a cat can wink its eye

Hello again!

I can’t believe it has been over a month since my last post; sorry about that. I have been umming and arring about whether or not to post something, because the original point of eight potatoes was that I could share the themed eat-togethers that mine and my sister’s families had together. Well, unfortunately, she has moved back to our home-town where the rest of our family lives, so we’re not close enough to have regular eat-togethers anymore. I miss having her round the corner, and I miss our eat-togethers, but I’m certainly not going to let it stop me blogging. If I have learnt anything in the short time that I’ve been blogging it is that I quite like telling stories, and that every time someone leaves me a nice comment or I ‘meet’ someone in ‘blog-land’, it makes me happy. I am going to at least try to keep themed eat-togethers at the core of eight potatoes though; there are, at the end of the day, plenty of other people I can have eat-togethers with, albeit not so regularly.

A couple of weekends ago proved one such example. Ben went to Wales to climb Mount Snowdon to raise money for the charity The Mango Tree, so I decided it was a good opportunity for a girlie night in with my friend Soph, and her Mum and sister who are equally as entertaining and lovely as she is. Long story short, I knew Soph would want to try my almond ice cream now that it had set (it was liquid last time she tried it), and I also know that she loves bakewell tarts. Warm cherry pie with almond ice cream was therefore a must for dessert. People who actually know me won’t be at all surprised that pudding was at the top of the list of priorities when planning the meal. The title may be a slight exaggeration on the part of the pirate in Puff the Magic Dragon, but, if you use shop bought pastry, cherry pie really is incredibly quick and easy; so a good pud for an eat-together.

The most delicious almond ice cream in the world!

So I worked backwards to figure out what we’d have for the rest of the meal, and I decided to go along a French route; which, let me tell you, was a bit of a surprise …

When I first started blogging my mother-in-law bought me the book and DVD of Julie & Julia, which are great, although they have confirmed for me that French food tends to be at least daunting, even if not as complicated as it can initially seem to be. That said, rich, flavourful food is my kind of thing, and having just finished the book of Julie & Julia, I realised I have quite a few books about France and French food: by Joanne Harris I have Blackberry Wine, Chocolat and Five Quarters of the Orange and The French Kitchen, and my favourites, by Peter Mayle: A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence. They are all good; but the latter two are the sort of books that, if you’re reading them in public, will make you look daft as you won’t be able to stop yourself from completely creasing up in fits of giggles! Anyway, I pondered and decided upon a recipe from The French Kitchen: Crunchy Roast Duck with turnips (and a very nice cider sauce) served with steamed tenderstem broccoli.
Unfortunately, between the hilarity that was my toddler Harry trying to entertain us, putting him to bed, chatting and making dinner I forgot to take photos, so you’re going to have to trust me on all this; sorry! Pictures or not though, the meal was really really delicious, and I will definitely be pulling it out for future special occasions. The duck was rich, yet the accompaniments somehow seemed refreshing in comparison despite having their own luxurious qualities; and the cherry pie for pud had just enough tartness coming from the fruit, which melted as the warm, sweet, buttery pastry crumbled in your mouth. The two dishes worked very well together too.

Having seen the duck in the fridge before he left for Snowdon, Ben was more than a tad jealous; but realistic, because he knew there wouldn’t be any left when he got back. I did have half a bottle of cider left though, and he did reach Snowdon’s summit in a much better time that I was expecting, so I thought he deserved a nice dinner incorporating cider sauce as a reward. A lack of duck led to pairing the sauce with pork chops instead, and these too worked really well along with some buttered cabbage and tiny crunchy roast potatoes.

Game, root veg and apples; it won’t take me long to start missing the summer sunshine, but I do love autumn and I’m really looking forward to some of the delights the season has to offer.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Having felt wretched for the last couple of weeks due to a cough, cold and chest infection I have (some people I know might want to sit down for this bit) not fancied coke or chocolate (my main vices), and have been more interested in salads (probably thanks to my last post) fruit and even yoghurt (again something that might surprise those who know me)! It’s not that I don’t like these good-for-you delights; it’s just that I have an exceptionally sweet tooth whose cravings for sugary atrocities such as coke and chocolate are usually just too strong to ignore, and far too frequent to allow fruit to get a word in edgeways!

For the last fortnight though, as well as the orange supermarkets new range of west country yoghurts (my favourite flavours are Glen Ample Raspberry, Timperley Rhubarb and Alphonso Mango, Papaya and Passion Fruit)  my shopping lists have included Royal Gala apples to take to work as my mid-morning snack, fruit to make my beautifully refreshing fruit salad with orange blossom and pistachios and freshly squeezed, not from concentrate, fruit juice (also from the orange supermarket); some of my  favourite flavours of which are English Apple and William Pear, Orange, Mango and Passionfruit and Ruby Breakfast containing Orange, Grapefruit and Blood Orange. And, (yes, I know one shouldn’t start a sentence with a conjunction, but nevermind) in case I crave the not-so-good kind of sugar, then I have been buying all kinds of plump summer berries whose juice, as it literally bursts out, blends perfectly with vanilla cornish clotted cream ice cream. In fact, sweet-toothed individuals such as myself will probably always be able to find an excuse for some sugar and, in this instance, I think one could very tenuously argue that ice cream is a health food in that it soothes sore throats very well indeed. Tee hee hee; I can see my Mum (who has no sweet tooth whatsoever) laughing and shaking her head in dismay at my ability to find excuses to eat ice cream!

I have needed antibiotics and inhalers in order to get over my body’s illness of choice (I get a lot of chest infections, and before you all start wondering, no I don’t smoke), the latter of which I now have to have for the foreseeable future because I still have a horrendous cough which is driving me insane (apologies to all those who have to be around me; I really am trying to get rid). Consequently, I don’t really believe in ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’, but considering the previous two chest infections I have had have sent me straight to hospital with pneumonia, maybe my recent attempt at a health kick and additional portions of fruit may be to thank for not having got that sick this time. More likely it is because the weather has been dire later into the year and, although rubbish enough to give me a chest infection in June, it isn’t as bad as having one in December (I usually manage to get them just before Christmas), but the fruit may at least be a contributing factor to my body’s new get-well-soon attitude.

I haven’t really felt like I have been denying myself delicious food though, so what exactly have I been eating that I have enjoyed, felt full up on and feel healthy inside as result of? As I said before, I can’t go raw, but I have eaten a lot of raw food as an accompaniment to other yummy things recently, and that seems to have included a lot of apples too! The following are my current top three, and are all great on their own as a snack or lunch, or as part of a main meal:

• Jamie Oliver’s Moorish Crunch salad (beautiful with Tahini baked chicken)
• Smoked mackerel and apple salad (the quickest dinner I have ever made, with or without a mustard dressing)
• Finocchi insalata di arance e rucola (fennel and orange salad; the epitome of a refreshing main course when served with citrusy devilled chicken).

My Dad is getting married next month and, a week into June, summer finally seems to be making an appearance; so, I hope my tastebuds will continue to fancy these light summery dishes, and make me look good in his wedding photos as well as cure me of chest infections!