Oct/Nov 08 chat

[mellow2]

no sushi - I cannot even at risk of offending your dear mother leave out the garlic

Makes me realise how very long it is since I cooked anything properly.

When we were in casualty and S was beginning to get a bit fidgety (at 2am!) I was trying to persuade him to shut him eyes in the hope he might dose off (ha ha!)... "shut your eyes and think of something nice DS" said eyes. Scruched up eyes and fake smile.... "what are you thinking of?"

"Mmmm, meatballs"

All this talk of food!

We do similar sauce for meat and milder ones for fish.

sfx - delia has a recipe for steak marinated in red wine, garlic and worcestershire sauce. It's foolproof and tastes like you are eating in a nice restaurant!

Mellow - my mum's school of cookery says things like "fry the ginger until it smells nice". Which makes sense only when you do it.

I just can't get on with ginger although I like it in theory - I always wonder if its because I'm a supertaster, some things just don't work for me.

Kew - I'm not a big fan too. There's only one Chinese dish with ginger that I like.

My MIL throws in a bit of ginger whenever she does anything vaguely Oriental/Asian!

LOL at gherkin's meatball comment.

lol @ meatballs comment!

I'm going to have to make a note of some of these sauces & try them. Have just made a lovely Moroccan chicken soup though, ds actually preferred that to the tea I did give him!

I love ginger. I do a ginger chicken dish with sesame oil everytime I feel a bit run down. Though lots of chinese dishes don't actually use that much ginger. I've also discovered to my surprice once, cooking a curry, that there is such a thing as too much ginger!

Now off to feed kiddies posh salmon and shiitake mushroom dinner

Yes I love ginger and garlic and don't think anything of putting 4/5 cloves in a dish. I do the soy + honey marinade, plus soy with a squeeze of lemon with grated garlic and ginger too which is nice. I also have one marinde for meat which I put a bit of this and bit of that and it always tastes yummy.

Well we both spent most of the afternoon asleep in my bed, we were both exhausted. Temp seems to have finally disappeared but DS still v. weak and lethargic and asked to go to sleep at 6pm so I put him to bed early. Will see what tonight and tomorrow brings

Moroccan soup sounds lovely - recipe please Ros!

Yes Ros - recipe please.

SJ I have a pasta recipe that uses a whole head of garlic for a meal for two, though I tend to use more ... It's yummy, and we have never been troubled by vampires, or friends.

garlic sliced with olive oil and balsamic vinegar soaked up with very fresh bread - divine!

and roasted garlic is so deliciously sweet

Sfx, I love the olive oil & vinegar with bread, would live off it if I could!

Will post the soup recipe tomorrow as its downstairs! We had a successful baking session making a marble cake. Think we will try shortbread at some point this week.

Sj, you both obviously needed the sleep. Hope ds has a restful night.

Me too Ros

Am also a fan of bread, garlic & oil combo, yum

Gosh you lot are super-cooks! Ros I lurrrve marble cake - move over Morrocan soup! dd & I made flapjacks today, pretty low rent really! But planning a mega-tastic cake marathon on Sat night as I prepare for dh's birthday tea on Sunday (need to impress the inlaws, you understand . dd doesn't really understand that a grown-up party does differ slightly to a toddler party. Oh well, we will go for it 3 yr old style and have balloons, banners etc and I guess we'll have a wee disco and play statues too lol! Have enjoyed staying in far too much today. Depending on how the various coughs and colds are tomorrow, will probably venture out to a park. Some major firework activity going on across the road from our house which negates the need to head to a display this weekend! SJ, hope the night ahead is ok for you. At this end we have been up for any time up to 3 hours during the wee small hours for the last few nights, ds only has a small cold but at his age is not very able to cope with the snuffles.

Bunyan, have you tried Karvol with ds? We used to put a capsule on a muslin and leave it near ds but out of his reach. Always seemed to help.

Have to say, was quite surprised with how easy marble cake is to do. Thought it would be some complicated thing but its not at all. And its an easy one for dcs to help with!

Bunyan, have you tried Karvol with ds? We used to put a capsule on a muslin and leave it near ds but out of his reach. Always seemed to help.

Have to say, was quite surprised with how easy marble cake is to do. Thought it would be some complicated thing but its not at all. And its an easy one for dcs to help with!

Moroccan soup sounds great

SJ I hope you two get some rest as well as all other poorly ones

bunyan nothing wrong with balloons for grown ups

looking at assorted parking recipes for fireworks Saturday, can hear some already

slng salmon is pretty much the only fish dd will east and the odd fish finger too

have film to watch with dh as soon as dd falls asleep, she is still talking to herself in the bedroom

Thanks, Ros - I had actually completely forgotten about Karvol - must get some tomorrow.

that should be Parkin no nothing about parking

Karvol Olbas Oil always have some some around love the stuff dd sniffs the air near C&C and says 'mummy it is delicious like the bed oil'

I definitely prefer parking cake.

Well, QC that chicken you had at mine had some ginger and garlic in it and I seem to recall you liked it? lol at Gherkin's meatballs comment!

mellow - well, if I have mirin I'd reduce sugar amount accordingly. Tbh, I try not to use too much sugar/mirin, don't want my food too sweet.

DF once made this amazing pasta with egg yolk, bacon (or the Italian bacony thingy) and lemon zest. Fab.

DS is ill, looks like he has a bad cold, running a high temp and looking v lethargic. Maybe similar one to mini-SJ's? Looks like I've got to cancel meetings for tomorrow.

Slng - The roti canai was a success! If you're interested, this is the website with the recipe. There are 2 other roti canai recipes on this website that you can try.

Sushi - Thanks. I use sake with sugar now after advice from Atari-ya's Sakai-san, strangely enough.

Btw, hope all the poorly LOs feel better after a good night's rest tonight.

Slng - I lurve instant noodles (YUM)

QC - WTF is a super-taster (in fact I think you told me once, but I have forgotten)

Got to Wiltshire - and drove home this evening amidst fireworks, flurries of leaves on M4 and snow storms!!!

Relaxation with family interrupted by phone call from work contact in a local authority saying they want to give us £700k to lead a project

LDA last week said we should bid for £3m project

...sounds great but all mega stress and hard work involved in bidding and delivery

....arrrrgh I want to crawl back into my bored and lazy comfort zone at work, where the only decision I have to make is whether to have tea or hot chocolate for my next drink

...on a unraleted subject --- am suffering from serious cholcolate addiction ATM