Day 164 & 165 - Roadworks, roadworks, roadworks!

Well, I decided last week that I would not post every day if I didn't have much to say. I haven't posted for a couple of days as not a lot has happened, but I thought I'd better let you know that I'm still here!

Work was a complete disaster yesterday. One of the quietest days I can EVER remember. I think this has probably got a lot to do with it...

Let's be serious, would you want to eat here...?


It really annoys me when I think about the situation, so I'm gonna shut up for a few minutes!

I'll talk about the goings on at home... The pool was still not right yesterday - it would appear that we have a filtration problem - but our landlord has been out today and has assured us that it will be ok by tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I haven't swum for 4 days now, so I'm in desperate need of some exercise.

Mindful of my impending weigh in on Saturday, I decided that as I was not doing any exercise, I would need to eat less calories and make sure it was healthy. The inspiration for last nights dinner came from my son, Harrison, who asked me to make Minestrone soup! I love it when he tells me what he wants, as normally when I ask him he just says 'I dont know'! Its so nice to know that he has asked for something specific, as a) you know he likes it, and b) you know he wants it. The bonus of him asking for Minestrone is that its so healthy and I love it too! I may not have had every ingredient that I would normally use, but I'm a big believer in the theory that recipes are just a guide and they should never be followed to the letter. You should adapt them to your own preferences and make them your own. I'm always nicking ideas from here, there and everywhere, but I make them personal to me. So back to the soup. I made a sofrito using the Holy trinity - onion, carrot & celery - and sweated them gently for a few minutes. Added some diced courgette, canellini beans, tinned tomatoes and chicken stock and cooked gently for a bout 20 minutes. I then increased the heat and added some vermicelli pasta. You could always substitute the vermicelli with spaghetti broken into inch long pieces. At the end of cooking, I chucked in a load of spinach, turned the heat out and covered with a lid for 5 minutes. While the spinach was wilting, I made a pistou. For those of you not familiar with it, it's a combination of basil leaves, garlic and olive oil blitzed together to make a cold 'sauce'. Its not far off a basil infused oil or even a good pesto and it works amazingly well in a soup. As I don't think I've unpacked my hand blender yet, I mushed it all up in a mortar and pestle. Here's what it looks like being made...

And then with the soup...

I like to make it quite thick, (as you can see), as it gives me the feeling that I'm eating loads of food! To be honest, its incredibly filling. I like to shave some Parmesan over the top just before serving. A little soup when making this type of soup... Never throw away the end bit of your Parmesan. Instead, save it until you make minestrone and just chuck it in. You don't eat it when you serve, but it adds a unique flavour....

On to today. We started this morning in the same way as we finished yesterday - dead. It was VERY quiet until around 11am, when all of a sudden we got busier and busier and actually ended up with a decent day's takings. We had to open the restaurant  for a while to accommodate the people we couldn't fit inside. I was mostly cooking this this morning...

Poor Laura and Kathy, running up and down the stairs all morning! It was heartening to see the cafe so busy baring in mind the goings on outside. This scenario was going on for about 2 hours, but our customers fighting spirit shone through...

I really am amazed that anyone would want to eat their food less than 6 feet away from this, but I am also very grateful to those who did. 

Got home and 'had' to spend 2 hours on the xbox with Harrison, as I was trying to help him with a really difficult level on Sonic! It reminded me of being 20 again and playing it when it first came out! We eventually finished the level. Fortunately for us both, Laura cooked dinner tonight, as if we'd been waiting for me, we would have gone very hungry! She made a Lamb Tagine with cous cous, and it was excellent. It was one of her party pieces many years ago and she fancied making it tonight. I love tasting new flavours, and although the components were not unfamiliar to me, I had not experienced the flavour before. Here it is...

That's it for today peeps, hope I haven't bored you too much! I'm guessing I'll have a fair bit to report tomorrow as the restaurant is open, so until then, nite nite

I'll be back soon :0)

Jimbo