Salad Daze

There are two sets of starlings nesting in our boxes this year. 
Not quite tawny owls but its a start.

Oh yes.  Our salad days.  Fleeting, precious and easily bruised.
Youthful exuberance and embarrassingly bad judgement. 
I may be a little old to be enjoying my salad days but really, what was to enjoy?
I'm not wilting like a lettuce anymore.  There should be a term for grounded middle-age. 
Something more robust and durable and possibly carbohydrate based.
"I see she is enjoying her dauphinoise days" Nice.

And on the subject of durable salad:




Pasta Salads

When cooking pasta I always and without fail, do too much.
That is why I have been forced in to liking pasta salad.
The key is to use lots of mayonnaise or salad dressing and liven it up with more interesting ingredients.  Here are a few combos to try:


Penne, spring onion, red pepper pesto, torn up olives and mayo.

Elegantly paired with green leaves

Macaroni, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes,
mixed olives, spring onion,
mayo, pesto and tabasco

Spaghetti, dijon mustard, mayo, balsamic vinegar,
olive oil and chilli flakes.
Chop up the spaghetti as you mix it in.

                               Nice with ham






Now.  Man cannot live on cold pasta alone. Here is something really nice we had this week:


Sweet and Sour Chicken.

2 large chicken breasts
(to serve 4. Prawns and pork also work)
1 red pepper
1 onion
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
1 clove of garlic
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of crushed pineapple
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp golden syrup

Cube the chicken and coat lightly with seasoned flour.
Fry until browned then remove from the pan.
Chop the veg to resemble your local takeaway and fry gently for a few minutes until just softened.
Now add the tomatoes, pineapple with its juice, syrup and vinegar.
Bring up to a simmer and then return the chicken.
Don't overcook the chicken.   It will only take ten or fifteen minutes.
You can check by cutting a piece in half.

Serve on boiled rice with a sprinkling of cashew nuts.



Top Tip of the Week:

When you set out to paint a room.  Buy a match pot of the paint too.  Label it with the name of the room and put it away in your cupboard.  This way, when damage occurs to your lovely clean, fresh, haven- you can easily repair your disappointment.  There is no point in saving the remains of the big tin as it will just dry up in the garage.

A really well prepared woman also has polyfiller on hand at all times - failing this, blu tac and tippex.

Funny of the Week

Another Case of Milton Jones

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/rbnmk/