The joy of a sunny summer day

Never underestimate the power of a sunny day off in summer, particularly when it comes as a day off work...it's amazing how much you can achieve when you have the motivation of enjoying the day once the small jobs that you've put off get done.

That being said, it is a pain in the proverbial when you can't get the lawnmower to start! 

I have to admit, it is fun walking through town with the cat wailing in his box all the way just after 9am(the vet is within walking distance of home)...getting him into the cage while he does the ninja starfish is entertaining too (you know - all limbs extended and rigid with claws at full scratch), but once he's in the cage, all he does is wail.  Poor baby.  The vet gave him a mostly clean bill of health and topped up his vaccine, which is great - just need to keep an eye on his teeth now.

Getting a hair cut and using vouchers I got for my birthday back in October was fun too - and getting the lawnmower to FINALLY start when I got home, so I could attack the lawn and get it back down to something approaching normal length was an added bonus.

Sometimes all you need is a nice sunny day, something cool to drink and the radio playing in the background to have your perfect summer day.

Sigh. Nope. No Summer After All.

Since 1 December (the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere), it has rained at least once in every 24 hours.  Horrible, horrible, horrible. So it was definitely the kind of weather that encouraged a Sunday roast on the weekend.  A really yummy leg of lamb that I had bought from Farro Fresh in Auckland was destined for the oven and the sacrifice was worth it.  The leftovers this week have made it even more worthwhile.

I roasted it on a bed of rosemary from the garden - the only real downside to it was that I had to pick sprigs of rosemary out of everything, because they aren't exactly easy to chew.  The smell however, was totally divine and the taste even better.  I think next time I would either wrap the rosemary in muslin or finely chop it, so I don't have to worry about twigs!!!

A simple dessert to finish is chopped strawberries with a couple of spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk.  Yum!

Where are the fairies?

You know, once in a while, I really wish the fairies were still around - you know, the ones that do the vacuuming, laundry, lawns, gardens and cleaning. 

At the moment I'm wondering if they are lost, stolen or strayed, because I sure haven't been able to find them!

Failing that, I guess I have to do it all myself (at least until I get another flatmate to share the load)... we have now had two consecutive days of sunshine, which is helping dry out the soggy garden...I may get another courgette or two yet, after having chopped off most of its leaves after they got powdery mildew.  There is a reason it is easier to buy things at the market (farmers or super) sometimes.

So because I couldn't be bothered cooking a full meal because of the heat, last night was leftover night and I made a version of a panzanetta, an Italian bread salad.

At the end of the day, the bakery department of one of our local supermarkets bags up leftover breadrolls at a discount, so you can get some of the nicer breadrolls (like sundried tomato and olive) cheap as chips.  I had three leftover from a bag I got the other day, so they weren't great for eating on their own, but perfect for this salad...although next time I would recommend using no more than two rolls for a bowl full of salad - otherwise it is more bread than anything else.  Stale rolls seem to work in the this much better than fresh.

Some Kind of Panzanetta

Start by cubing the breadrolls - I like mine fairly chunky, so about 2cm x 2cm cubes - and put them in a pan that you have heated up a couple of tablespoons of oil (a mild olive oil gives this a light and delicious taste), drop in the cubed bread and stir it round until it is all lightly coated and starting to brown.  Basically what you are making are giant croutons, but not as crunchy.

Put them in whatever type of salad you prefer (I added ham, lettuce from my garden, tomato and some onion that I softened in a pan with the ham) and add your preferred dressing - my favourite at the moment (which can be used as  a dip for bread if you want to try something different) is a citrus vinagrette made by a local company called Prenzel...

Enjoy the bonus of feeling virtuous from eating salad (if you have that as a resolution) and being economical by using leftovers.

What is that yellow thing?

I think it may actually have been the sun, poking out from behind a cloud (or two, or three).  At least it came out long enough to make me think that I could get the sheets washed and dried.  Fingers crossed.

So here we are in a New Year and summer is trying very hard to make itself scarce.  Strawberries are thin on the ground (literally) this season, simply because of all the rain that has fallen.  While the courgettes have been hit hard with mould because of the humidity, the yellow beans have taken off - think they'll do quite nicely with the steak I have in the fridge for dinner.

So for Christmas this year, one of the things I made was shortbread.  I used Gordon Ramsay's recipe (more or less) that I cribbed off one of the Christmas cooking shows and am still not sure what I think of it, as it was very sweet. 


Shortbread

1 tsp Vanilla essence
2 eggs

Mix eggs and vanilla

125g butter
90 g caster sugar

Cream until smooth, add eggs and pinch salt. Add 250g plain flour, mix to a dough. Roll to 1cm thickness and put on baking tray. Chill for an hour, bake medium oven 20min until just done, then sprinkle with sugar.
His recipe used vanilla seeds from a pod - I only have essence and that does the job just as well.

Enjoy...