The weekend saw more wild and windy weather here in Wellington, with gale force winds and lots of rain. I have to say I didn’t even leave the house on Sunday, just stayed in and did some housework, read and cooked. Today, Tuesday, has been much better with blue skies and some sun – hoorah!
Our terrace/garden has been totally neglected these past weeks. The coriander I planted has been totally flattened, and goodness knows what happened to the basil. Anyway in a few weeks it will be spring, and I will think about what to do since we will be in this house for another year at least. The bulbs are at least poking their heads above the soil and today I spotted a wee yellow rose on a rather straggly rose bush.
Straggly picture of a a straggly rose
As part of my ‘practice pastry’ period, on Sunday I made a classic Quiche Lorraine, full of cheese, bacon, eggs and cream (well, low-fat cream). I decided to use cream even though with my slight dairy intolerance I shouldn’t have, but it does make a difference to the finished article (and I didn’t suffer any ill effects). It is just as well I did not document the pastry making, as I have to say it looked pretty awful, but once baked and full of goodness, it came out really well. I quite often wrap the quiche tin in foil, as I have an old one that always leaks, but this new one was quite solid, and the foil was not really necessary.
Quiche Lorraine and Sauvignon Blanc
To use up some cabbage, I made a giant bowl of coleslaw that was enough for 10. I make mine with finely shredded cabbage, grated carrot, a couple of handfuls of sultanas and a little finely chopped apple, mixed with mayo.
A giant bowl of coleslaw
I have read two blogs recently about making risotto, which is perfect for this weather, so I got some arborio rice and will see if that forms part of next weekend’s menu.
Teaching started again on Monday, so it’s full speed ahead with a busy few weeks here for me. Still, tomorrow night I am off to the dress rehearsal of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 60th anniversary production of ‘Swan Lake’, full report next time!
Thistles and Kiwis 