Vegetarian Week

For the past few weeks I've been so inspired by Courtney's A Life Sustained CSA posts and her amazing cooking skills that I decided to make vegetables the star of the show for a few days.  We always have veg with our meals but this week it has been the main attraction, so to speak.
Rémi chose the menu mainly from River Cottage Veg Everyday
and it went something like this...

Chick Pea Pasta with Mint and Almond Pesto

I have tons of mint in the garden so this was a much cheaper alternative to using basil - which I will never have lots of as it wilts and dies when I go near it!

Green Beans & New Potatoes in Spicy Coconut Milk and Dhal

No close up here as I managed to overcook the green beans thus giving them that pale green canned veg look, very un-appetizing!  Then to add insult to injury I carbonized the caramelized onions in the Dhal!!

Pizza

No particular theme, just using up bits from the fridge - red pepper, spinach, chestnuts, feta, parmesan...

Leek and Chestnut Risotto

Sweet Potatoe & Peanut Butter Gratin with Couscous Salad

This was a big hit!! yummy and colourful, with enough left over for lunch the next day!

Friday evening, after no comment all week from Richard, I asked him what he thought of this weeks dinner menu- 

"no meat, I need meat!"

AHH!!

So armed with my 'savings' (I spent less on groceries this week!) off I went to market to buy a BIG chicken.

"Farm chicken or chicken?" asked the vendor

"Farm chicken or what"!

No, I'm not that naïve.  I know perfectly well that the 'or what' was a battery hen.  But am I the only one who finds it a sorry state of affairs when you have to specify that you want a bird that actually has had a farm life - you know, eating bugs, walking in the grass etc etc? 

I also popped into the supermarket for some chipolatas as Richard wanted to have a BBQ, but resisted the urge to ask the butcher guy details of the former living conditions of the pigs, as I knew I wouldn't like the answer.  Richard did a fairly good job of semi burning the meat but despite this,with every mouthful made 'yum yum um this is so good' noises.   Ok I get it, no more completely vegetarian weeks!

Oh and this was much appreciated by everyone, even if it was meat free

Pumpkin Teabread & Cheese

Hide and Seek

Linking up with Soulemama today for

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Getting to the church on time!

Linking up with Ginny today for a Yarn Along...

It was a close call, but I finished and blocked my Aestlight Shawl Friday night for the wedding on Saturday.

Not that I really needed it as it was a boiling hot day.  Lots of lovely ladies looking pretty in strappy summer dresses while the men folk all trussed-up suits and ties got a little 'hot under their collars', (but at least they got to wear flats!!)
I accesorized with my beautiful mothers day gifts of a hand painted bag & bracelet and a few roses from my mother-in-laws garden, and made a mental note to myself to remember that when putting flowers in your hair it's a good idea to have put your dress on first!

Whilst I'm waiting for my copy of Taproot to arrive, I'm re-re-reading a collection of short stories by John Steinbeck (Tortilla Flat, Of Mice & Men, The Moon is Down, The Red Pony, The Pearl, Cannery Row), and will probably read it again in the future. I've had this book since I was about 18 and never tire of it!
So to finish here is a picture of Emline, who made a most beautiful bride

and my two little monkeys, clean (ish, someone gave Tino a chocolate chip cookie 5 minutes before we left for church), with freshly cut hair and wearing ties!!

Slowly but shawl-ey

Slowly it goes! my shawl is taking rather longer than I anticipated it would, but I was AM intending to wear it to a wedding in 10 days time!  The garden and another milo for Tino is taking up shawl knitting time but the growing season here is so short that it can't really wait.

Owl motif

Just after taking this picture I accorded myself a little knitting time and in all the excitement of taking part in a Yarn Along, (first time in weeks) ended up making a 'tiny error' which went unnoticed until the next row back didn't work out and  then it became a 'big mistake'!! lots of taking back 'yarn overs' and 'k2 tog' slowed up my shawls progression somewhat.
I also recently made myself this wrist cuff after finding this lovely coconut shell button.

Currently reading The Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey), fairly interesting, but just common sense if you really think about it, approach to managing money; paying cash whenever possible, only buying things when you have the money to pay for them and avoiding all kinds of credit apart from mortgages - the payment of which shouldn't be more than 25% of your monthly income.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to on the yarn front!  Off now to make peanut butter
and plant some beans.

The wheels on the bikes go round and round, round and round and round.....

The penny dropped, or should  I say the peddle turned - Saturday afternoon, with no prior warning, Tino abandoned his 'Like a bike' (two wheeled wooden training bike without peddles or breaks) and progressed onto a 'real mountain bike'!!  Ever since he's only had one thing on his mind...

New skate park in Chamonix - also open to small people on bikes!

Big bro showing him how it's done!

'pump' track and NOT 'bump' track as un-cool me calls it!

Very handy having a mountain bike instructor for a dad don't you think!  www.montblanc-loisirs.com

So I guess I'll be spending my summer running/cycling behind these guys, with a supply of snacks, arnica and sticky plasters!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Linking up with SouleMama today, first time ever!

...with a stick or two...

...a 'house' is built and it won't fall through!  Not even the 180 km wind that whipped through here last weekend  hurt this baby.

It was with some apprehension that I snuck out last sunday morning to inspect the damage to the 'boys' new construction, but to my great relief their efforts were built to last.  Only the wee bird house had blown down from the roof.
So this week we got to decorating it; a coat of white wash, some hanging bits and bobs, some plants and just to satisfy my yarn habit - some crochet bunting!

et voila!!!

I rescued this pretty shaped log from the wood pile and it now serves as an excellent afternoon tea table.

This project was meant to be a sun-shade but the boys have discovered  that it also works great as an umbrella and so insist on staying out playing even when its pouring down, and who am I to argue!!