Friday, March 04, 2011

Food For Thought.

Or should that be thoughts about food?

I know several of you have been making recipes from Annabel's, "The Free Range Cook, " book. Yesterday I made Lavosh from page 30. They turned out well. I will experiment with other flavours as I thought the sesame taste was fairly dominant. I was sad to hear from you Leanee ( but not totally surprised ) that Annabel doesn't do all the gardening herself.  I aspire to be one of those who both grow it and cook it.

Most times when I come to the computer to blog or read blogs - if it is in the morning I will have with me one of my favourite things - a single shot long black that I make myself. It is my daily treat. I have 4 cups and saucers in this set; each depicts a city of the world. Sydney, London, Paris and New York. So far I have only visited Sydney, but hope by the middle of this year to also be able to tick London and Paris on that list. The planning is progressing and I thank those of you who have already answered questions for me. Any others of you who have a favourite place they would recommend I visit in UK, Paris or Singapore please feel free to comment - I'd love to hear from you. ( as I have only ever visited NSW in Australia and all parts of NZ I have  a lot of the world yet to see - I guess it's never too late to start! )
    Last evening we went to the Birthday party of the packhouse we send our Kiwifruit to, to be packed and cool stored.  It was held ( as usual ) in the hangar at Classic Flyers, which always pleases R as planes are one of his favourite things.

You can see there are old planes and machines of all sort hanging around the building.( and overhead )

The evening started with drinks and chat as people talked to those they knew for the first hour. We were then seated in 6 or 7 or 8s at tables with growers we didn't know so well. We had a really pleasant time. The meat was roast fillet beef ( succulently tender )  and spicy apricot chicken which was carved onto our plates. We then helped ourselves to new potatoes, salad and a very tasty pasta dish. That was followed by a piece of very rich cake if one wished. ( choice of 4 different )The only thing not nice was the instant coffee as someone had filled the urn with highly chlorinated water. Luckily the cold water was pleasant so I was able to intersperse that with a very pleasant red wine  ( 0r 2 ). A friend and fellow grower came by and picked us up so we had a driver as well.( that's why I could have some wine ) It was a good time to catch up with many people I have known for a long time but hardly ever see. ( Well done MPAC. ) I love it when others cook me a tasty meal.
Every night lately we have had rain so my progress though the kiwifruit block 2B is going rather slowly. Quilting equals nil today ; having an outing instead.
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The official earthquake death toll has reached 163 this morning...they are now working on the Recovery stage rather than the Rescue stage. 

5 comments:

Deb said...

Oh I love Annabel's book too. I always make her roast potatoes now. In fact, just made some last night. Haven't tried the Lavosh yet, but was pleased to see you found them easy.

I have done loads of travelling throughout Asia and Europe, but it was 20 years ago, so I am sure things have changed hugely since then. No matter where you go, I am sure you will have fun absorbing the culture and scenery each place has to offer. Colour me green already!

Thimbleanna said...

Oh, I'm so excited for your trip Ali. You'll LOVE Europe! I hope you have a WONDERFUL time!

molly said...

One of my biggest regrets is that I did not go to Giverny, just north of Paris, to visit Monet's gardens when we lived in Belgium! Even though we lived a little over an hour's drive north of Giverny, I was up to my eyeballs in children at that time and it just didn't happen.....Think of all the quilt inspiration you'd get from a trip there!

Bubble said...

When are you coming to the UK Ali? The Yorkshire Dales are lovely and well worth a visit. Hugs <3

Meggie said...

Lovely for you to be able to have some 'down time' with the party.
We are devastated at the wreckage of Chch, but are so glad no one we know or love has lost life.