Back in the comfort zone - this week's menu plan

For all that I'm always very glad to get into salad weather, I will admit to finding it difficult to ring sufficient changes where salad is concerned.  We do tend to get pretty darned bored with it.  I've tried warm salads, fruity salads, green salads, mayonnaise salads (such as pasta or potato), but it seems as though when the weather starts to take a turn for the autumnal I breathe a sigh of relief as I start thinking casserole and stew.

Autumn always has been my favourite time of year.  When I still had the horses, I loved those mornings when the sun came up across the dew-laden field and the horses, still bare-backed and rugless but just starting to grow their thick winter coat, would leave trails as they brushed through the grass on their way in to breakfast.  The spiders webs would be jewelled with dew and everything smelled freshly washed.  Such a relief from the baked and parched dustiness of the mid-summer field.

Just this morning, son & heir commented on a spider's web that we passed on the way to school.  On any other morning you would never notice it, but the sun had caught its threads and turned them silver and there it was, in all its complex and fragile beauty.

Sounds a bit like me, "complex and fragile" - especially in the morning.

So Autumn is ordinarily a time of bounty.  A time when the plants and trees are putting out their best seeds and fruits.  However, I wonder how much damage has been done by the weird summer we had, as I've already noticed a Blue Tit checking out our seed feeder on several occasions.  I'd have thought that, ordinarily, there'd be plenty of natural feed for the likes of him - but perhaps not, if he's already looking to augment his diet.  Perhaps a hint of food shortages to come for all of us!

Anyway, for this week's menus, I've taken a large step away from the salads and into more robust - but hopefully still fairly healthy (on the whole) - foods.  Here's what's on the list :

Tues : Smoked Haddock Chowder and crusty rolls

Weds : Chipotle meatballs in tomato sauce, with pasta

Thurs : Steak pie with broccoli, parsnips & carrots

Fri : Pulled pork rolls with BBQ sauce and curly fries

Sat : Minced Beef Wellington with savoy cabbage, turnip and carrots

Sun : Slow cooker beef cobbler, with roast parsnips, broad beans, savoy cabbage and celeriac

Mon : Sausage casserole, with mashed potato and peas.

I doubt that there's anything on that list that would stop the culinary world in its tracks (is there ever?), but its all food that we'll enjoy eating and I have no doubts about.

Tonight's Smoked Haddock Chowder is a family favourite that we haven't had since the winter.  I've refined the recipe a little over the years, to make it suitable for hubby's dislike of potato (I used Canellini beans instead) and dislike of thin soups (I make sure it is considerably thicker than most Chowders appear to be, from their pictures).  The soup is now a perfect candidate for a main course soup, as by the time you've eaten an entire bowlful you definitely are warm from the inside out - and certainly aren't hungry any more!

Tomorrow's Chipotle meatballs and pasta are an opportunity to use some of the Sainsbury's Speciality Ingredients' chipotle paste.  Son & heir loves his meatballs in tomato sauce and we haven't had those for ages, so he'll be happy and I'll get to try out the chipotle paste.  Seems like a done deal, to me!

Me, by the time I get home  :)

Thursday's Steak Pie will be a shop-bought pie, as there is every possibility that we'll be taking a drive to Southampton to visit the Apple Store there (think computers, not fruit).  We'll need something that doesn't involve lots of cooking processes after that sort of drive.  It's not a difficult drive, but I certainly know I've done it by the end of it!

I'm looking forward to Friday's Pulled pork rolls, as I've seen so many recipes go by for pulled pork and they have - to a man - made my mouth water.  I just need to find a roll that is robust enough to cope with the pork without dissolving.  I'll be serving them with some of Mic's Chilli's El Loco BBQ sauce and have a yen for some apple sauce, too.  Of course there'll be curly fries served alongside, it just wouldn't be right without them!

Om nom nom!  No wonder we like it!

There's another blast from the past scheduled for Saturday - Jamie Oliver's Minced Beef Wellington.  I've made this on a couple of occasions and it always went down very well with the family throng.  It's a good hearty meal that contains lots of "hidden" veggies - not to mention the veggies that I'll be serving alongside - and is a good excuse for some more gravy made with Knorr's extra beefy stock pots.

There's another excuse for rich beefy gravy on Sunday, too!  Yay!  I remembered a recipe that I'd seen in Clarissa Dickson-Wright's "Potty" (a cook book of one-pot dishes) for a Beef Cobbler made with ale and walnuts.  I'll be cooking the beef in the slow cooker, only adding the cobbler scones for the last couple of hours - so it should be absolutely gorgeous.  We'll have roast parsnips, savoy cabbage and celeriac with it - and some broad beans if I think it needs them.  The cobbler will have lovely slow cooked carrots in it, so it's very definitely a good autumnal warmer.

Next one up on the schedule is a good old Sausage casserole, which is just perfect for soaking up all the little bits of leftover vegetables and clearing your fridge out.  Being on Monday, if we're a bit light on bits of leftover vegetables, a quick stop at the supermarket will soon furnish us with a few to bolster the numbers.  I don't think that there is a definitive "Sausage Casserole" recipe, it seems to me to be a "brown the sausages, cook onion, add in chunks of whatever you like, add gravy, cook in oven until tender" job.  Add to the plate some lovely fluffy white mashed potato and a few peas and the job's done.  Perfect!

I should open a "British Comfort Food" restaurant.  I bet it'd do well as there has to be more than just me out there who loves this type of food!

Now, a couple of little points of interest for you - or I hope they'll be points of interest for you!  Firstly, Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger has just passed its second birthday!  It happened on the 22nd August, while I was busy thinking about other things.  So happy belated birthday, blog - here's to many more!

Secondly, another bit of good news is that I looked on the Alldishes rankings this morning, to see whether things had improved since getting back in the blogging saddle after my illness - and we're up to number 10!  Yay!  So thank you all for sticking with me while I was being extremely slow in updating - here's to next year, when hopefully I won't be struck down by some nasty August virus!

"Meals on Wheels" week 1 - menu planning for four!

My dear old Dad, who has just passed his 80th birthday, is due to go into hospital at the end of this month, for heart surgery.

Well, you can imagine how we all feel about that - but however we feel, it isn't half as bad as how my Mum feels about it all.  My brother has volunteered his car and his chauffeuring skills to take her to and from the hospital each day to visit, but I was wondering what we could do to ease the burden a little bit for her too - which in turn, will make it easier for my Dad to recuperate.  Oh, it's all wheels within wheels!

Now obviously, cooking comes to mind.  However, I didn't want to suggest that I cook some single-person meals for her and so remove a pleasant occupation that might keep her brain involved and slow down the worry a little.  But then, it occurred to me that there are bound to be days when either she will have had a stressful day, or alternatively she won't get back home until late - and she won't feel like breaking out the chopping board and getting on with some cooking.  So, I suggested it to her and she (amazingly - because my Mum is a great cook) accepted.

Which is why this menu plan blog post is entitled "Meals on Wheels" week 1 - as we're including several meals where we're cooking for one person extra and stashing that portion away in the freezer, for onward transmission to my Mum when we go to see them both on Sunday - Father's Day, don'tcha know!

Just in case you wonder whether I've forgotten my Dad in all this, far from it - I'm lending him my Kindle for his hospital stay and have loaded up the current tome on Arnhem that he's reading, plus several books that deal with his old Army regiment - the Royal Engineers - and their work in the Far East, plus some humour, some thrillers and a few books that I thought might be outside of his own choice but that might be interesting to read when you've got nothing else to do!  I've also dug out a couple of CD's that he might like to listen to on his Sony Walkman.

So, Operation Hospital has swung into action!

Here's how it's looking at the moment (although it could be subject to change!) :

Tues : Pepperoni & Mozzarella Millefeuille with salad

Weds : Sausage Casserole with mashed potatoes

Thurs : Spaghetti Bolognese

Fri : Tave Me Presh with mashed potato and peas

Sat : Rose Veal with mushrooms & cider, new potatoes, carrots & broccoli

Sun : anybody's guess!

Mon : Beef curry & mushroom rice.

It's not a dazzling array of meals, but looking at the weather, it's unlikely that we'll be breaking out the barbecue any time soon, or feeling much like salad!

As for the Meals on Wheels project, well I think the Sausage Casserole, Spaghetti Bolognese, Tave Me Presh and Rose Veal are all definites.

Pic c/o whatsgabycooking.com

Tonight's Pepperoni & Mozzarella Millefeuille is something that hubby has pulled together in his feverish imagination - but that sounds pretty darned promising.  It all started when we bought some extra pepperoni and mozzarella to go in last week's Stromboli (which didn't happen in the end).  He's built the recipe around those two ingredients, but without travelling too far in the pizza direction.  I can't say too much about it at the moment, as I really don't have much idea of where he's going with it - so you'll have to wait and see what happens!

A lentil version of a Sausage Casserole - but still yummy!

Now everyone loves a Sausage Casserole, don't they?  Yes, of course they do.  We haven't made one in ages and, because we're including my Mum in this one, are going to have to keep an eye on what we're using ingredients-wise.  She has a number of ingredients that she's sensitive to, such as peppers, sweetcorn and some spices.  However, I don't see that as a problem.  We've become quite good at thinking up alternatives and co-ordinating flavours, so I'm looking forward to this one.  It'll be lovely to have some yummy gravy, sopped up with mashed potato - a hark back to winter!  Yes, I know it's June, but you honestly wouldn't believe it, to look out the window.  Mum will have to either make some mashed potato to go with this one, or buy some already made from the supermarket - but it has to be easier than starting from scratch!

Spaghetti Bolognese was a shoe-in when we were considering what to make.  We'll box up some of the Bolognese sauce, so that all Mum has to do is cook some spaghetti - or any pasta, really - and heat up the sauce.  Easy peasy.

The Tave Me Presh (or baked mince with leeks) is one of my favourite comfort food dinners.  However, as Mum can't cope with red pepper, I'll use carrots and some asparagus instead - which will give just elevate the flavours a little.  This is another one that you can eat with mashed potato - or to ring the changes, with rice.  Again, Mum will have to make a little rice to go with it and can maybe throw in a handful of frozen peas in the last few minutes of cooking time.  Luscious!

As for the Rose Veal with mushrooms & cider, well this all depends on whether the box of rose veal arrives from the lovely people at Farmers Choice, who have offered to send me a gift box of veal with which to work.  This all originated with my blog post on Veal and I'm hugely appreciative of their kindness with regard to this offer.

I'm hoping that there will be something in the box that will be able to be made into the veal with mushrooms and cider - if not, I'll be thinking again!

Sunday, being Father's Day, is all a bit of a mystery right now.  Not because we've got any  mysterious ideas cooking in the background, but because Hubby can't think of anything in particular that he'd like to have to eat on that day - and is still thinking!

Monday brings the return of the poor old Beef Curry, which must be getting something of an inferiority complex as it's been bumped from two weeks' menus so far!  I will make it, I will!

As for extra makes or bakes, well, I don't really think we're going to have a lot of time for that this week.  Then again, I'm determined to make that Peach Cobbler some time this week as it was another victim of the alarming cuts that got made to the menu list last week!  But then, who knows what might turn up in the post that needs blogging about!

. 

It's Tuesday's run-down on the menu plan for this week!

So, "what's the recipe for today, Jim?".  I'll bet not many of you recall that little bit of Radio 2 history.

I can well remember, when I was off school and feeling poorly, the sound of Radio 2 wafting through from the kitchen where my Mum was making a pie, or baking a cake, or just doing the dishes.  The programme was the Jimmy Young Show and he had a regular recipe slot, which was announced by "Raymondo", in a chipmunk style voice.  So, what's the recipe today, Jen?

Well, they go as follows :

Tues : Sausage casserole

Wed : Tandoori Chicken, saffron rice and salad

Thur : Ham & Apple Pie, parsnip mash, carrots & peas

Fri : Drunken Spaghetti

Sat : Trinidad Prawn Curry with rice

Sun : Chicken Normandy, Tenderstem broccoli, carrots & parsnips

Mon : Chilli con carne & rice.

I'm quite looking forward to that lot!

This evening's Sausage Casserole isn't just any old Sausage Casserole, oh no.  It's from the Good Food Channel's website and is from a recipe by Tana Ramsey.

Not a bad sausage casserole ...

Now both hubby and I have been known to produce a fairly good Sausage Casserole, but this one caught my attention because of its use of fennel, redcurrant jelly and balsamic vinegar in the mix.  Also, it has an interesting little savoury finish in that you mix up some whole grain mustard and creme fraiche (or cream) and drizzle it over the top.  Sounds like it could definitely hit the spot!

I'm not sure what to serve with it just yet, although I have almost settled upon some oven baked sweet potatoes.  I've got a couple lurking in the cupboard that need using - and I do want something different to the rest of the week's rice or pasta.

That's what I'm aiming for!

Wednesday's evening meal will be Tandoori Chicken from The Curry Guy.  I do have a lot of trust in The Curry Guy's recipes - and if he says that this is the closest he's come to creating a genuine Tandoori Chicken, then I'm up there for having a go.

I'll be so pleased if the rest of the family like this recipe, as we've been searching for a good reproducible home cooked version of the restaurant standard for a long, long time.

Now, Thursday's Ham & Apple Pie is one that I'm especially looking forward to.  It's an Arthur Potts Dawson recipe, from lovefood.com and I really like the idea of the layers of bechamel, ham, cheese and apple that the pie comprises.  The recipe isn't very far removed from our Kentish Pie, so I know that the flavours are sound - it's just the knack of the cook and the seasoning that counts.  This is another recipe for Bramley Apple Week - it's been a lot of fun, sourcing interesting apple recipes - and there's another one to come, in the shape of the Chicken Normany, before the week is up!

Not "the" recipe - but gives you an idea of how it should look!

I've got my fingers crossed for Friday.  Whether I make the Drunken Spaghetti or not on that day depends entirely on whether the powers that be get the wine to me in time.  I was contacted by a P.R. company for Barefoot Wines, who enquired whether I would like to receive a sample of a few of their wines to cook with.  Now as you know, I've been using wine quite regularly in my recipes so this was too good an opportunity to miss.  Hence the crossed fingers - as I was intending on using the Drunken Spaghetti recipe as a Valentine's Day possibility.  Aaah, cute, eh?  Get him drunk on spaghetti - nothing wrong with that picture, is there?

It seems like ages since we had a decent "proper" curry - and when I found Gary Rhodes' recipe for the Trinidad Prawn Curry, it sounded so light and tasty that it really got my mouth watering.  It's a different type of curry to the Indian style and although it uses curry powder instead of separating out each type of spice, the method of dealing with the curry powder is very different to what I'm used to - so I'm interested to see how that will work.

A random "Chicken Normandy" picture.

Sunday's Chicken Normandy takes me back to childhood again, when I am sure my Mum used to make a version of it.  I'm breaking out the good old Bramley apples again - I don't think I've ever used them so often - and with cider in the sauce, I'm hoping it measures up to my memories of the dish.

The observant amongst you may have noticed the appearance of the Chilli con Carne (or Chilli con Healthy) again.  For some reason, we keep dodging the appearance of this one.  I'm starting to wonder if it's the name that's putting hubby off - anything marked "healthy" is very definitely the cause of much suspicion - so have decided to re-name it plain old Chilli con Carne.  I will make this dish, I will!

So there you are.  A bit of an apple theme going on, but it's forgiveable I hope!

Oh, now speaking of apples - I forgot about the Dorset Apple Cake and the Cherry Shortbread Cookies I've got planned.

I'll be making the Dorset Apple Cake somewhere around Friday (for consumption over the weekend - helps to feed hungry teenagers!).  It's a recipe that the blog's old friend Willie gave to me absolutely ages ago and I have never got around to making.  So I'm going to be remedying that.  It looks incredibly simple to make and is the kind of cake that is capable of being a dessert with the addition of some whipped cream.

The Cherry Shortbread Cookies are really just an excuse to use my new cookie cutters - which are in the shapes of hearts and lips.  Valentines Day on the way?  Really? 

.

You get your Menu Plan all organised - and suddenly, it's Christmas!

Here's the state of this week's menu plan :

That is how much we've had to double-back on what we had planned to do (which was all very nice, but will now have to wait) in favour of working our way through a Foreman & Field Seasonal Gift box, which was very kindly supplied by Knorr.

Stuffed full of goodies!

For all that I was expecting to receive the gift box on Wednesday, I wasn't expecting it to weigh the same as a ten year old boy - nor be bigger than my available worktop!  That white, paper-wrapped lump on the right hand side was a Kelly Bronze Turkey.  The box basically contained everything for a Christmas dinner, plus everything for a Turkey curry on Boxing Day - following a recipe from Marco Pierre White, who is currently working on the "Best of British" campaign with Knorr.

I have been privileged to receive the box in return for cooking with the ingredients and blogging copiously about it.

Incredibly exciting, absolutely amazing and so much fun!

So, following a bit of radical re-evaluation, the week's menus now look like this :

Tues : Son - Pizza, Adults - King Prawn Frittata

Wed : Sausage Casserole

Thur : Scotch Broth with crusty bread

Fri : Fish in batter, hash browns (baked sweet potato for me), peas & baked beans

Sat : High Tea

Sun : Roast Turkey Christmas Dinner

Mon : Turkey Curry á la Marco Pierre White.

The Turkey theme is likely to run over into next week too, as I've plans for a Turkey Leftover Pie, plus soup using the Turkey stock I'll be making.  Well, it was an enormous Turkey - and I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I'll be making it go as far as humanly possible!

Getting back to real life (well, it does seem somewhat surreal to have Christmas arrive suddenly like that!), hubby is the man responsible for Tuesday evening's King Prawn Frittata - and it was one of his truly top-knotch ideas.  Bless him, he's trying to think along the lines of "things that will be good for Jenny's Anti-inflammatory diet" (which Turkey isn't - sssshhh!) which (basically) means ruling out lots and lots of carbohydrates and odd things like raw tomatoes.  This Frittata was really - and I mean really - good.  I'll be blogging it very soon.

So difficult to make this look appetising!

Next on the list was the Sausage Casserole.  Now we've been making Sausage Casseroles for as long as we've been together, hubby and I - and probably even earlier than that.  However, this Sausage Casserole is an adaptation of a Hairy Bikers' recipe for their "Spicy Bean HotPot".  When I first saw it, I liked the spicing involved in it but wasn't keen on the hotpot top of sliced potatoes.  I figured that, if I included some sausages and some mushrooms, it might very easily pass for a spicy Sausage Casserole - and it did, quite beautifully too!  This one will be blogged very soon as well.

My version - hubby's isn't finished yet!

Now we come to tonight's Scotch Broth, which is another of hubby's ideas.  He's taken some details from my Scotch Broth recipe, but is doing his own take on the dish.  He's in the process of making it right now, as I type, so I can't give you any clues as to how it turned out just yet!

We're having fish on Friday for once, but purely co-incidentally, as we're trying feverishly to reduce the amount of things that are roosting in the freezer and make room for the Turkey!  This is the fish in batter that we should have had last Monday, but it got elbowed out of the way by something else.  Still, it'll be nice to have a plain old easy "after school" dinner for once.  I'll be making myself a baked Sweet Potato to have instead of the potato hash browns, and be having peas instead of the baked beans - which is something else that is oddly inflammatory.

From here on in, we're into the Knorr Seasonal Box!

Just how much does that Stilton make your mouth water?

Saturday's High Tea is going to be a tongue-tinglingly, tongue-tastic array of smoked salmon and salmon caviar done three ways (on blinis, as a mousse on pumpernickel and in pinwheels), along with some spectacular Colston Bassett Stilton with grapes, Fenland Celery and crackers.  We're also going to provide some tasters of other cheeses for son & heir who is still undecided as to whether he's a Stilton fan or not.

Dessert will be a lemon & raspberry tart with cream.  All of which is designed to form the type of buffet you might be lucky enough to be presented with on Christmas Day evening.

Is that a Turkey leg, I see peeping out?

Hubby has very generously offered to run the cooking of the "Christmas Day Dinner" on Sunday, which has relieved me of lots of worry as to how the heck I was going to do it.  Apparently I'll be allowed to sit and direct operations plus do whatever can be done sitting down.  It'll be a team effort - which Christmas Dinners often are, if you're lucky!

Monday's dinner will be the first after-Christmas Turkey Leftover Curry I've ever cooked.  Most leftover Turkey in my house, gets used up in copious amounts of sandwiches - so it'll be fun to see what can be done with Marco Pierre White's recipe!

I doubt very much that I'll be sticking to his recipe, as it really doesn't sound like our type of curry at all, as it contains both apple and banana.  Plus, the curry powder that has been supplied, although it smells beautifully fragrant, doesn't give the impression of having much chilli kick.  Hence, I'll be using the ingredients as a base and freestyling thereafter to try and tweak the curry towards more of a genuine curry, as opposed to a curry-flavoured Turkey stew.  Fingers crossed!

So, there you have it.  I doubt very much that I'll be doing any other incidental bits of cooking in the meantime, as I'll be too busy cooking and blogging about it!  As it is, I've had to wade through the backlog of blogs that were waiting to be done, while hubby took care of the cooking, so as to get up to date for the approaching Knorr blogs!  Don't, for a second, think I'm complaining - far from it - it's fun to be busy.  Cooking and writing about it is, after all, what I enjoy doing.

.

Meal planning - against the odds! W/c 26.7.11

I refuse to stop meal planning!  To be honest, I wouldn't know what to get from the shops if I stopped planning our meals.  I'd be wandering around like a little lost sheep.

Since I put the meal plan together on Monday, and before I've even had a chance to talk about it here, it has changed three times.  Firstly because we didn't get the car back from the mechanic until the following day so had to move the shopping because of it, secondly, because it suddenly dawned on me that it's my birthday on Saturday and we're meeting my Parents for lunch on Sunday and thirdly, because the boys had such huge burgers for lunch on Wednesday, that we just had sandwiches for dinner!


Ah well, onwards and upwards - and fingers crossed that it stays put as a plan, now.

Oh!  I've an interesting new routine where the meal planning is concerned.  Because Son & heir is becoming increasingly difficult (for which, read picky) to cook for, hubby had a Baldrick moment and came up with a cunning plan.

Under this cunning plan, Tuesdays have been declared as "pizza day", in that Son & heir has pizza (which is the meal he asks for whenever I ask for input into the meal planning) - and hubby and I have whatever we want.  Which, of course, opens the door for us to have things which otherwise would be rejected - like the mushroom risotto and stir fries.

Did someone mention stir fry?  Picture c/o Virgin Media

So, here's how this week is looking :

Tues : Pizza & Baked Camembert with french bread, tomatoes, olives & asparagus

Weds : Sandwiches

Thurs : Sausage casserole

Fri : "Kentish Tart" & salad

Sat : Roast Lamb, roast potatoes & parsnips, peas & carrots, Yorkshire puddings

Sun : Lunch out with my parents

Mon : Tuna Pasta Bake.

As today is now Wednesday, we had the Baked Camembert last night.  I think that all there is to say, at this stage, is that I'll be blogging it right after this.  Oh, and if EVER you get the chance to either have or to do Baked Camembert, have it and do it.  This is one of those "things to do before you die" recipes.  'Nuff said.

Oh!  I must tell you - the Stromboli.  I can give it correct billing now, as I've re-discovered the website that it came from : The Keenan Cookbook.  (Thanks, Chris!).  Do go along and have a look (and sign up for the newsletter, too!) at the original Stromboli that caught my attention.   I dare say you'll be able to understand its attraction!

So anyway, Thursday sees Hubby making one of his awesome Sausage Casseroles.  He's not made one in ages and neither of us can understand why not, as they are munchy gorgeousness.  If you add into the equation the fact that he'll be using our lovely butcher's sausages, we're ready for a cracking dinner, that night!

Friday evening's dinner is an interesting one.  Hubby can remember his Mum making a "Kentish Pie" (or tart) which was egg-based like a quiche, but less custardy (so no cream).  It had bacon, cheddar cheese (surely it should have been a Kent-based cheese? ~shrug~ I guess it's not my memory we're trying to re-create here!) and diced apple.  I can't seem to find a recipe that matches that description, so I'm going to have a crack at creating one and we'll see how close it gets.  If anyone reading this recognises the description and can point me in the direction of a recipe, do let me know!

Saturday is my birthday (wheee! 21 again!) and as is our family tradition, you get to choose whatever you want for your dinner that night.  I have been lusting after a leg of lamb (I suppose that'll take care of the little lost one, above!) with vinegary mint sauce, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and onion sauce, since God was a boy.  So I'm hoping we can get a lovely leg of lamb from the butcher without having to get a mortgage and will cook it long and slow.  Dear hubby has volunteered to cook the rest of the roast, so I'm looking forward to it already.

I don't need to worry about a dinner for Sunday, as we'll be meeting my Parents for lunch at The Woolpack, Sopley.  Apparently they have been there a number of times and approve of the place and looking at the menu online it looks lovely.  So we should have a good lunch and it will be lovely to see them again, of course.

After all the good eating that seems to be on the cards for the weekend, Monday brings a return to easy-going, "normal" food with a good old Tuna Pasta Bake.  Now, if we get that far without a change to the programme, I'll be amazed.


.