Tuesday, April 30, 2013


Alexander posted this on Facebook. Easter was just a month ago! Now he's got not ducklings but ducks.



I finished the first Pakokku sock last night, including Kitchener’ing and minimal tidying, and cast on the second one.



Notice how the stripes change and broaden on the foot before the toe-shaping starts. What will happen next?

I also got Craftsy at last on my husband’s new Toshiba – it kept trying to say I wasn’t connected to the internet, which was absurd. Wow! It works, here on my aged desktop, but it’s slow to load and the lessons stutter a bit. There, I was sitting across the dining room table from Franklin while he showed me how to sew an edging on.

I’ve got to do something about this. Getting a new computer, I mean. As well as practising whip-stitch.

Yesterday’s post brought chilli fertilizer and mist-er and seeds. Once a week, the bottle says, for fertilizer – so Monday is Chilli Fertilizer day, henceforth. Misting is easy and fun and I can do it every day. I’ll let you know whether I think it improves pollination.

I am filled with enthusiasm for chilli-growing. Here is a plant which seems very happy on the kitchen windowsill, safe from deer and rabbits and slugs, and which produces a useful crop. I mean, it’s not kohlrabi. There would be room for one or even two more. I have ordered a chilli-growing book.

When Alexander and Ketki lived in London, they had a little conservatory on the back of the house. James used to bring back exotic Chinese chillis to order. Alexander cooked with them, and also grew chilli plants in his conservatory from the seeds.

I have never had much luck with growing vegetables in pots on the doorstep, except for herbs. I am about to try again – sorrel and Welsh onions and huauzontle. I hope to get that started today.

Today’s main problem is what to feed the young woman who is coming to lunch tomorrow. She has been delegated by the publisher to edit my husband’s work and to plug the gaps where there are questions that need to be answered. My go-to lunch for situations like this, where a certain amount of nervous tension is involved (we have not met before), is a Jamie Oliver salmon tray-bake with French beans and olives and anchovies and little tomatoes. It’s easy to cook and – very important, in the circumstances – easy to eat.

The trouble is, it’s what I fed the publisher himself when he was here six weeks ago. What if tomorrow’s woman goes back to London and says, “She gave me some very nice salmon”? And he will say, “Oh, I had that; it must be the only thing she can cook.”

But I’m damned if I can think of anything else.

14 comments:

  1. Hello Jean,
    regarding the dinner, you are "borrowing trouble". Cook whatever you like, she will be perfectly happy, I am sure.

    Wouldn't it be fun if they read your blog!

    All the best
    Dawn

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    1. You're absolutely right, Dawn. I'll stick with the salmon. Sometimes just writing a problem down makes it all come clear.

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  2. If her boss said he liked it then you can tell her, "I can't take credit for the recipe but your boss seemed to like it so much that I thought I'd let you try it too"? (I do sympathise madly though. I never know what to give people to eat.)

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  3. You've had the best advice from Dawn, but if you still want to change, how about Jamie's pork chops and pears tray bake? I can vouch for its tastiness.

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    1. Is that the recipe in "Return of the Naked Chef"? (He sometimes repeats recipes with slight variations -- I think I may have all his books.) The trouble with pork, around here, is that the modern animal has been bred for lean-ness and tastes of cardboard. Nothing to do with "organic" or "free-range" (although those qualities are also important). I need to rev myself up and get to the farmer's market for some rare-breed pork chops.

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  4. I think people remember the atmosphere and the company more than the menu, and I'll bet she will enjoy her luncheon with you! Take a deep breath and smile!

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  5. and even if it was the only dish you can cook - why would you care about other people's thoughts to that?? I think people should be grateful that they get fed - you might not be able to cook at all and order pizza for her instead:)

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  6. Gerri2:11 PM

    Go tray baked. Even if it was the only thing you could cook, when you've got something that good, who cares? If it really bothers you, figure out a way to name-drop recipes.

    Lynn Rosetta Kasper has a chicken version:http://maureenogle.com/2010/12/29/in-the-kitchen-oven-roasted-chicken-cacciatora/ When you have the book there are three variations on it. One is cumin-cinnamon scented. I usually add cauliflower to the pan and roast away.

    The world would be an easier place for all of us if we would just ease up on competition. Does it have to involve everything in life???

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    1. Thanks very much for this. I will certainly try the recipe, and may go on to buy the book -- she's not a writer I know at all.

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    2. She has a very popular radio show on NPR in the US. You might be able to pick up podcasts of it.

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    3. http://www.splendidtable.org/bio/lynne-rossetto-kasper

      The Splendid Table

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  7. hmm, you are in scotland - salmon makes sense! and really, to be given salmon for lunch! better than chinese take away or curry or pizza! hopefully she will have good manners and will be grateful for lunch at all - i imagine she has an expense account anyway for trips away from the office city? in reality she should take YOU and your husband to lunch!

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  8. JennnyS7:35 AM

    Hope it went well, Jean.

    I've been trying to mail you about possibly meeting in Edinburgh late May early June, but the server says it can't deliver......any suggestions?
    JennyS

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    1. I'd love to see you, and we should be around. I can't imagine what's wrong with the server: miles dot jean at googlemail dot com. It ought to work.

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