Courgette and Basil Frittata

Take new potatoes from Sunday evening,
half a yellow pepper from the fridge,
summer courgettes and left-over cheese.

Whisk eggs with fork in your favourite bowl
add to frying pan and cook gently,
inhaling fragrance of basil.

All you need now are
sun warmed tomatoes, a pinch of salt
and bright green salad onions.

Also a glass of chilled white wine.

I'm taking it seriously,
this slow-cooking, easy-living thing.

No Mango

MrsM
Did you have fruit salad for breakfast, MrM?

MrM
Yes! It was delicious!

MrsM
Why did you scoop all of the
mango, grapes and blueberries from the top
and leave the kiwi fruit at the bottom?

MrM
It was an accident, honestly.
I didn't mean to do it.
I thought I had stirred it up.
I had no idea there was kiwi fruit at the bottom.

MasterM
I am very disappointed in you.
There is such a thing as Fruit Salad Etiquette.

The Bowl from Marvão

in which MrsM demonstrates to MrM
that she was not exaggerating
when she stated that this bowl
would be an essential part
of her batterie de cuisine

lemon storage

peach and tomato salad

smoked mackerel and potato salad
in a horseradish cream dressing

lamb and red pepper casserole

cherry clafoutis

to be honest, after only a week
even MrsM is wondering
how she managed without it

*****

We had such a lovely time in Portugal
and I have some photos to show you.

Same time, same place tomorrow?

Raspberry Ripple cake

Have I mentioned the Examiners' cakes yet?

Today I made Raspberry Ripple cake
which was like an inside out trifle.
(I thought of you, Gina!)

The Assistant Registrar attending the meeting
was astonished at the concept of a cake break.
I explained that it was a tradition.
He didn't complain.

I've been making cakes for the Examiners for five years now.
That's long enough to be a tradition.
(And they're worth it.)

GeogSoc Brownies

MrsM wakes to the sun streaming through the gaps in her bedroom curtains. "Today is the day!" she thinks "Today is the day to make the famous GeogSoc Brownies."  She leaps out of bed and is in her kitchen in the twinkling of an eye. Dark chocolate! White chocolate! A tray of raspberries! Everything is present and correct and she is ready to start.

There is much melting of chocolate, beating of eggs and sifting of flour - it is all very satisfying.  Soon the kitchen is filled with delicious chocolatey smells and MrsM wonders why she does not bake before breakfast more often. The brownies take slightly longer to cook than the recipe states but they are out of the oven in plenty of time to take to work.

MrsM looks at the tray of chocolatey goodness and realises that if she gives them all to the Exams officers they will probably both have heart attacks before the exam period is finished. For their own wellbeing and to ensure that the exam process is unaffected she sends an email out to the Department announcing the opportunity to sample the famous GeogSoc brownies. After five minutes MrsM remembers that she has not taken a photograph of the brownies. Alas, it is too late - they are all gone - only a few crumbs remain

*****

This recipe was given to me by Ally, a finalist who is a very talented baker. Can you see that she customised the recipe card? Isn't that lovely!

The GeogSoc brownies feature in this post and are particularly delicious because the raspberries cut the sweetness of the chocolate. Next time I make this recipe I will use a larger, shallower tin and I estimate that the cooking in my oven will be 40 mins at 160 fan. If you use a 20cm by 20cm tin as in the recipe you will need to cook for up to an hour. Use a cocktail stick and test a corner section because this is most likely to be baked  first and the stick should come out clean - this will give you an idea what the centre should look and feel like when you test with the stick.

the fish in the sea

After we had left the British Museum we walked to MrM's favourite tapas bar. It was a delight to step out of the cold into the friendly and noisy restaurant. We ate hot broad bean and garlic puree with a rough rosemary bread. Next, a selection of tapas: squid in a tempura batter, grilled pimentos, spicy potatoes, pan fried duck with toasted almonds and roast beetroot with red onion. It was all delicious.

The young waitress looked worried when MrM ordered the homemade cheescake and explained it was an experimental flavour: rice pudding cheesecake. It was an acquired taste, she said, and she recommended the almond tart. I had flan.

Such a wonderful evening.

Luncheon

I love our weekend lunches
of soup and good bread,
cheese and fresh fruit
when we have time to sit and chat.

Weekdays are quite a different story
and I had an unpleasant experience on Friday.
I went into one of the catering outlets for lunch,
looked at the limited choice of baguettes and ciabattas,
and felt overwhelmingly nauseous.

It was quite unexpected and I had to leave quickly.
I got my lunch off campus and as I ate it
I knew that I wouldn't be buying sandwiches again.
After seven years my body has rebelled.

I know that the solution is obvious:
to make my own lunches
but I'm fighting it.
I truly hate preparing packed lunches.

If you have any recommendations
for recipe books or websites
which will give me a kickstart
I would be very grateful.

So...
watch out for my forthcoming post on Bento boxes...
sigh.

Fruit Salad cake

Today, Mary, I am going to bake
a Fruit Salad cake.

That would be because
I made fruit salad for breakfast
and we didn't eat it all.

Please enjoy my use
of "classic" baking equipment.
Or as MasterM says...
"museum pieces"

Yes...you have guessed correctly...
lining cake tins is
my secret superpower.

I could have used
the magic of Photoshop
to protect you from
the post-Christmas state of my oven.
But I didn't.
We are all adults here.

So.

Fruit Salad cake.

Packed with vitamins.

And slathered with cream.

(It wouldn't be edible otherwise).

MissM, 21

Today MissM is celebrating her birthday
with her friends at university.

We send her our love,
this beautiful young woman
who is our daughter.
She has brought us joy
since the day she was born.

We have learned so much from MissM
but most of all she has shown us
that you can make dreams come true
with hard work and determination.

And that you can never have
too many handbags.

Friday

MrM and MissM love Eggs Benedict.

It seems a good choice to start a holiday.

*****

Thank you for your lovely messages.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tomato and Mozzarella salad

I don't use Pinterest
but many visitors to this blog
arrive via Google images,
especially for my photos of food.
You are welcome but I urge you to read
Sue's thoughtful post
and ask yourself if all of your pins
are correctly linked to the image owner.

*****

Blogger has changed the word verification
and what was a simple spam filter
has become a nuisance
so I have removed it.

I have also moved back
to the old Blogger interface
because the new interface
was reducing the image size.

Blogger, I am a loyal customer
but you are driving me crazeeee.

Comfort Food

Don't judge me...
it's Wednesday
and I've been to the gym...
I can think about
apple and walnut pie
if I want to.

And cream.
Or maybe custard.
Or possibly ice cream.

It is a shame it's Wednesday
and there is just fruit
for pudding tonight.
Roll on Sunday.

Celebration!

Did I mention that last Friday
we celebrated Cheesecake Day?
It was Jenny's birthday and she organised
a party pack of cheesecakes for us to share.

They arrived the day before
all packaged up in their frosty perfection
and I generously offered the use of my fridge.
To my surprise and disappointment
she hastily said no and locked them away
in the laboratory cold store.

The next day Jenny invited
the Operations Manager and her Crew,
the Administration Team,
and some hungry postgraduates
and we politely tried samples
of as many flavours as possible.


And all the time we were thinking

"NOM NOM NOM.
If only every day was Cheesecake Day."

English Cheesecake Company

Pic-i-nic*

On Sunday morning
MrsM looked out of the window
and decided that it was a perfect day
for an emergency picnic.

She packed up the picnic basket
with salmon salad

(don't get excited, folks,
this was M&S pre-cooked salmon...
it was an emergency picnic.)

and some rustic bread
olives, cheese, muscat grapes
and amaretti left over from Christmas...

and some chilled Peroni
and the bottle opener.

MrM carried the heritage picnic blanket
which was bought when he was a baby
and they walked across the way
to their favourite shady pic-i-nic spot.

And they lay there idly
for a whole afternoon
eating, drinking and reading their books
and life seemed pretty good.

*****

*© Miss Maisie

MissM, Domestic Goddess

MissM is so organised
that she has already baked
the chocolate caramel shortbread*
to take to university on Saturday.
No shop-bought cakes for her!
Her grandma will be so proud.

*Lucy's delicious recipe

Time Management

(1)
baked before bedtime

Strawberry cake

(2)
iced before breakfast

Chocolate cake

(3)
washed up after work

Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake Cake

Too
Much
Cake!

*****

It is a while since I have made the chocolate cake recipe - it used to be my favourite cake but it was quite dry - I think I will add sour cream next time. The lemon and blueberry cake, on the other hand, was delicious. I added blueberries to a standard Victoria sponge recipe and made a cream cheese frosting flavoured with lemon rind. It was light, moist and not too sweet. I don't eat as much sweet food as I used to and I think that my tastes might have changed. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Raspberry Cake

This is not the Raspberry cake
that was packed into a rucksack
and eaten under a tarpaulin
by hungry archaeologists on Thursday...
it is the next Raspberry cake
which was packed into a picnic basket
and eaten in a sunny meadow
by the lovely Miss Maisie on Sunday.

It is a new recipe this summer
but already it has lots of happy memories
which will make it taste sweeter.

MissM makes Blueberry Cake

MissM

So...what do I do next
sort of spread it on the top?
Smoosh it around?
Like this?

Don't look at me like that...
I know you want to do it.
This is causing you pain, isn't it?
You are such a control freak...
if you wanted to smoosh the icing
you should have made your own cake.

Where do I put the blueberries?
"scatter them casually"..
What are you talking about?
You are just being weird now.

Catching Up

Thank you for all of your messages yesterday...
every single smile reached me
and brought sunshine to my desk.

I am behind with my replies already
so no change there, I'm afraid.

Anyway, where were we?

Well...there were exams
and they finished...
and that's just about the best thing
that I can say about that.

MasterM and MissM came back home
and then went away again.

And then we went to France.

We drove all the way to Provence.
Actually, MrM drove and I sat still.
All the way there and back.
We have discussed this.
Ahem.

Moving swiftly on...

we stayed in a Normandy manor house,
a medieval coaching inn near Chablis
and a selection of chateaux:
deliciously fabulous at one end of the spectrum
and wildly eccentric at the other end.

We ate in all sorts of restaurants
but I think that this was my favourite:
a tiny place in a Provencal village
run by a charming young couple.

The menu was perfect for a hot day in summer
and every detail of the service delightful.

As we sat in the village square
drinking peach kir and talking with our friends
the holiday finally settled upon us.

Lupin Blanc at Revest-des-Brousses

*****

All of the doors in the post yesterday
can be found in Revest-des-Brousses.
It would not take you long.