My kitchen shelves ...Eclectic mix plus cobwebs!

A great storm came in the night and tried to mash down the flowers...the red hawthorn tree is so bursting with blooms this year I just had to go out in the wet and bring some inside.

My Indian and African masks look down amongst the cobwebs..who has time for dusting anyway!

My shelves are full of love and light of all kinds. The Hindu goddess in red is Lakshmi...a gift from our dear friend Renu. If you rub her palm it is said she will bring you good fortune and wealth. It's never worked for me exactly but I'm not complaining at the abundance that we enjoy in our western world. So many people have such miserable and perilous existences.

My artist son made this probably ten years ago, when he was a student but I've always loved it.

A little Mexican painting on tin from Irene

Lovely fat garlic

More from my artist children

Beautiful bronze Buddha with little white porcelain hare sitting at his feet

This Christ figure was a gift from Southern Italy 

My mobile phone/camera bag from Panama

This is what my son thought horses looked like when he was about seven years old.Scary scary teeth!!

So as you can see my kitchen is rather bonkers but I enjoy it's eclectic mix that reminds me of so many friends and dear ones.

And to put it into a little context here are a few images of friends enjoying a meal..actually it's more a case of here are some images of a typical meal..I love feeding people!

 Me and Marge..before my hair went quite so bright white! I'm on the right!

And just for fun..Here's a poem I wrote called 

The Meal

Welcome all , relax, sit down.

So glad you all could come.

Have an olive, a glass of wine.

Pass the plates along.

All day I’ve picked, diced and chopped

as the puppy played round my feet.

The onions, grown with love and care

sizzle, watch the heat.

Green beans sliced and gently steamed

salt flaked potatoes

roast with thyme.

Black poppy seeds crack and dance

on tender leeks divine

Self seeding fennel, grows like weeds

their fragrance fills the air.

Bake them sliced with milk and butter,

oh but my, they’re fare.

Cucumber cool in yoghurt

Beetroot slid hot from their skins

revealed as scarlet slashes

gleaming as though full of sin.

Take some fried radiccio

artichokes crisped in tempura.

Have some, help yourselves,

I always cook too much.

Pass the salad down this end

The rockets grown too long

but those tomatoes they’re just fine

they smell of summers gone.

Hunt among the green leaves

you’ll find avocado there,

all specked with toasted pine nuts

and wet with oils desire.

It’s great to see you all

Top up your glass and

Pass the bottle round.

More water anyone?

Here’s A bowl of strawberries

with flowers of feverfew.

Pile them on with clotted cream

and roasted hazel nuts.

Coffee next or herbal tea.

Relax, don’t rush, unwind.

We’ll light the fire and all draw near

Let’s talk the night away

And if you are all too tired to drive

There’s empty beds upstairs

the kids have flown the nest long since.

For breakfast I’ll poach pears

serve them with a slice of cake,

sweet cheese from yellow quince

or toast from bread I’ll bake

the cupboards never bare

I’m so glad you all could come

Life was made to share.

Lunch with Vix and J-M featuring Butternut Squash baked with Chestnuts and other delicious stuff

Dear friends, Damian and Renu recently gave me a gift of foody fare brought from Ceglia Messapica where they have a little property. I have never cooked them before but the little bulbs left me in no doubt about how they should be prepared and what they would go well with.They are called lampaschiuoli delicious little bombs of slightly bitter delight. They are actually the bulbs of wild hyacinths (muscari) picked and bottled in Puglia in the South of Italy and look very like our familiar little spring onions but they have none of that latent sweetness that manifests when fried and caramelised. Their tinge of bitter complements the earthy softness of the thin slices of artichoke fried in garlic enriched extra virgin olive oil until just starting to turn brown. Some cooks say they should be left for a while with salt flakes to pull out their moisture but I have never found this to be necessary..I just slide them into hot oil and watch them, keeping a sharp eye to make sure they don't burn more than a little along the edges of the skin..and turning a few times to ensure golden brown all over. 

Asparagus sprinkled with flakes of sea salt and Extra Virgin Olive oil after snapping the stems so they'd fit in the dish..baked in a hot oven but not too near the top shelf, until the tips start to ever so slightly crisp and the stems are softly sagging

These fresh green beans were tossed in my big old pan in piping hot olive oil with crushed garlic and a pinch of sea salt until they just slightly start to change colour..but it's only necessary to let a few take up the streaks of brown the rest should be just past al dente and still properly green. I squeezed fresh lemon juice onto them just before serving.

Seafood pasta

Chop two lovely red onions and sweat in olive oil until soft and golden...stir in your favourite mushrooms...add a good big pinch of dried herbs or if you have them chop and dice oregano and thyme..later add basil. I also sprinkled a handsome amount of Bouillon on to the mix. Add a tin of tomatoes and some fat prawns. I sometimes make this with mussels and sliced squid. I would also put in capers . Cook all of the mix in a big frying pan and set aside until the spaghetti is cooked..then find your favourite serving bowl ..strain the pasta and stir in the mix..you can then place a few basil leaves on top to serve...

Veggie pasta

mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes with basil and spaghetti . Ridiculously easy to make. Cook pasta..stir in a bowl of little mozzarella balls that have been sitting in with oil and sliced sun dried tomatoes and a light sprinkle of herbs..Next time I would let the heat melt the mozzarella just a little bit more...in fact I'd make sure the cheese and tomato are heated through..this time I only used the heat from the freshly strained pasta.

This was really delicious and I will make again for Christmas. Cut butternut squash into skinned chunks and mingle with whole chestnuts..I used frozen. I then poured oil and salt flakes with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper. So good!! The sweetness from both ingredients merge and complement each other. It also offsets the mild bitterness of the lampaschiuoli.