Fruit Party

 

I had taken the fruit out of the box and sorted it out so I could see what there actually was. There were also half a dozen apples, but they didn't go in the fridge. I mixed them with some apple sauce from the pantry and some rhubarb from the garden and made a crumble with them.

Then I invited Stella, Lindsey and Ian to Sunday lunch. 

I also brought Jim, for his first visit to Tani since he moved into Mount Clear. I hadn't brought him previously in case it unsettled him but it seemed to go ok. He was pleased to see the cats, remembered where the toilet was and enjoyed his lunch and his beer. We had to keep the roast potatoes out of his reach, but otherwise all was good.

In an experiment, I halved some of the peaches and put them in a muffin tray. I topped them with cheese scone, or dumpling mix (I make them in much the same way, using SR flour, cheese and Greek style yoghurt, with suet, if I happen to have it, for dumplings). I baked them in the oven and we had them as a starter. Next time, I'll add more cheese, plus some parmesan and use much more thyme (I had only put in a little). I might also put a little garlic or lemon infused olive oil in the peach cavity. It was effectively a savoury peach cobbler, which everyone seemed to enjoy. I'll definitely do it again, the next time I happen to have a surfeit of peaches. Or nectarines.

(I do happen to have a surfeit of nectarines in the fridge. Must contemplate them.)

For the main course I used a River Cottage recipe for chicken, plums and soy sauce, to which I added ginger and garlic. It needed more garlic! I didn't give that to Stella. I made her a chicken parma instead. We had roast potatoes and a medley of green and red/orange vegetables on the side.

We didn't eat the crumble. No one was hungry after the first two courses. I'm sure Jim will oblige over the next few times I visit Mount Clear!

So I have now used all the apples, about half of the plums, not quite half of the peaches and none of the nectarines. Back to the recipe books!

If anyone has any interesting suggestions?

Lindsey and I were at work on Saturday. It was a funny day. Lindsey wasn't particularly busy. Normally, you might not notice that because of all the people who were waiting for pathology. On Saturday, however, pathology wasn't there. I was busy first thing, explaining to people that pathology was closed for the day, but even that tapered off. I think that the word had spread around the community so people didn't bother to come in. The only people who complained were a woman who was waiting when Lindsey and I arrived (about 40 minutes before we were due to open!!) and the courier who collects the samples, who didn't seem to believe me.

We went to the flat after work and collected Lindsey's blue car, which had been parked there for a couple of weeks. I drove it back to Mount Helen. That too was a funny trip. The Sat Nav didn't take me any of the ways I usually go. Instead it took me to the M1, heading towards the Monash Freeway and thence to Mount Martha, if I happened to be going to Mount Martha from East Melbourne. Then it took me off a couple of exits later to do what was effectively a U-turn onto the other side of the M1, heading to the West Gate. THEN, a bit later, instead of taking the exit left onto the M80, which the Sat Nav wanted me to do, the road signs said to keep right. So I did. It was very confusing, but took me over a brand new bridge onto the freeway to Ballarat.

I wish they would stop moving the roads around 😂

In fact, Gillie had mentioned it at lunch last Sunday and had said it was very confusing. I had been confused by what she was saying! Fortunately, when I got to that intersection, Gillie's words came back to me and it all made a bit more sense