Thursday 15th August 2019

Another day working from home.

As I tie up more loose ends from the project, there is less for me to do day on day.

Which is nice.

I am able to sit, poised, ready to react to each new mail or call that comes in. Heck, not only did I submit all my travel expense reports, but they got accepted too.

Bloody hell.

So, I set aside some time during the day for cooking.

And baking.

Last week I watched an edition of Jamie's (OLiver) 30 minute meals, and his quick pasta ragu seemed a good idea, as a ragu can take the best part of a day to make. This was due to using pork sausages as the meat, it could all be done in 30 minutes.

But I knew better, in that the base of a good ragu, the tomato sauce, takes real preparation. But it not hard. So, I made that during the day, then left simmering for a couple of hours, topping up with red wine to deepen the flavour.

Yummy.

That left the preparation and baking of the king amongst tarts: Limoncello and Grappa Tart. A recipe I got from The Times 15 years ago, and I make once a year when raspberries are cheap and plentiful. I make sweet pastry, then leave it in the fridge to harden. I roll it out, pour in two huge punnets of raspberries, then prepare the filling. 12 egg yolks(!), sugar, lemon juice and zest, ground almonds as booze.

Cook in a low oven until set, then leave to cool.

It smells wonderful.

We will eat it over the weekend.

An inbetween I do work. Check on the garden for birds and butterflies.

The day passes.

At four, I hear the chimes of an ice cream van. Do I need one? No. Do I want one? Heck, yes.

So I go out to buy one, then eat it in front of Mulder who thought it was dinner time.

Silly boy, its ice cream time, I scream.

After feeding him, I put the stuffed focaccia I had also made, into the oven. Soon the house was full of glorious smells. Even more so once I make the base of the ragu, I fry some blended vegetables, add the blended sausages, brown off, then add the sauce. Cooking pasta at the same time.

It was just about ready when Jools came home. She poured a cider for herslef, and a glass of red wine for me.

I dish up.

Man, that was good pasta. And enough ragu left over for another meal!

Cheap, good eatin'.

We relax the rest of the evening. Listen to music and let the food settle.

A quiet day, but a good 'un.