Monday Suppers: Spag Bol

I tried something new today. Spaghetti Bolognese. Spaghetti Bolognese! The dish that even students can make and that everyone else has been serving up for over half a century. I have made it before, probably at least 480 times before but today was the first time ever I used a recipe.

And this is the book I used. It's a great favourite of mine although generally I just make desserts.  

This is the recipe. Usually, when I make spag bol I go overboard with the herbs and throw all kinds of vegetables in. That's what happens when you've been making the same dish since you were twenty. Bad ideas become a lifetime habit. This recipe just uses onion, tomatoes, garlic, carrots and celery. Not a bell pepper in sight. And the solitary herb used was oregano. I cooked everything far longer and slower than I normally would and the only variation from Penny Stephens' book was using damson and blackcurrant wine instead of red plonk.

The verdict? It was very tasty. Dave called it a 'triumph', Zoe had a small second serving and Martha and Evie cleared their plates and asked for seconds despite having already eaten spag bol for school lunch. Bert said it was nice but too many carrots. I'm having the leftovers on sourdough toast for tomorrow's breakfast. Hannah said that Thai people would be horrified by what Irish people eat for breakfast. She was referring to something she called 'slop' and I would call 'porridge'. Apparently, Thai people eat supper's savoury leftovers for brekkie and so shall I. Tomorrow anyway.

And these are the grandchildren with Hannah and Mel. They are drawing nicely with every Sharpie, colouring pencil and oil pastel in the house. Last week they had that table upside down in the middle of the yard with my blue silky cushions padding it and a small dog wearing a pink plastic tiara perched on top. I'm afraid I was cross and I regret that. I should have taken a photograph instead.

Five More Sleeps

Poor Hannah started work again at 4 am today but I got to sleep on as I was not on taxi duty. I'm on again on Thursday and Friday. Because I got the lie-in, I picked her up at 11 am and took the opportunity to do some Christmas grocery shopping. I bought one of those big square loaves that are only sold at Christmas for home made for stuffing. No ready-made for us. I even have my own sage growing in the poly tunnel.

I also bought some festive alcohol and was telling my sister this when she phoned.

I got a nice wine, some Cava and a bottle of Tia Maria.

Well - that's Christmas morning sorted then.

I thought some more about the wreath and decided where I was going to place the Christmas tree. I finished my Klimt jigsaw and thought about putting it away. I went for a walk in the woods and got rained on. Really should have worn the Drizabone.

Then I made a delicious supper of spaghetti, meatballs, and tomato sauce. There were some complaints. I was told that the meatballs tasted too much of meat. Ingrates! I made that meal from scratch too. Well, maybe not the spaghetti. It came from a packet.