Sunday, June 15, 2014

Getting My Nigella On

I woke up Saturday with an overwhelming urge to cook. At first I wondered if I'd had a personality transplant overnight because mostly I cook for function not for fun. Since the urge didn't go away while I drank my usual morning coffee(s) I decided to roll with it to see how far I'd get before I got bored and wandered away leaving Mr. P to clean up the kitchen.

Everything I touched was pure gold (if I do say so myself) How often does that happen? I started with a triple batch of beef rendang,and 45 minutes later had a spaghetti sauce,a lasagne sauce and a double batch of beef and red wine casserole on the go too.Then I decided to add a double batch of butter chicken because its one of Mr. P's favourite things to eat.  Actually food is one of Mr. P's favourite things to eat. Fullstop. Anything. Except beetroot, brussel sprouts, or anything with bits of citrus fruit peel in it.


I also decided to make some jam because Patty Pie sent me home with strawberries last week. I obviously had some inkling with the jam idea because Little P facetimed me about 10 minutes after I started it to let me know there had been an unfortunate accident with his personal jar of Bella Jam where the jar met the floor and the resulting mess looked like a crime scene. He decided to swing on by to help make the jam, probably to ensure he got another jar, because he was afraid Grandpa would eat it all before he got here if he didn't come over immediately. 


I fed three hungry men vegetable soup for lunch along with vegemite cheese pastry twists, made by my own little hands. Ok - the soup was out of a can because I was too busy cooking other stuff to be bothered making soup from scratch. Nobody complained. And nobody called me out on canned soup (except Mr. P later in private) so it was all good. 

And while all this was going on I was making ciabatta dough for bread which seriously turned out to be the best ciabatta bread I've ever had in my life. Definitely doing that again. 


A brief break ensued while Mr. P and Little P played with boys toys and Little P gussied me up by putting flowers in my hair (They are actually weeds but I didn't have the heart to tell him) 

Apparently I couldn't find my hair brush yesterday either...

My golden run ended with some free form mince tarts because they were shit...I took that as a sign that my period of channeling Nigella was at an end and thanked the cooking gods for their generosity. Looks like dinners for the next week are sorted. Little P and I celebrated with a second attempt at s'mores and called it a day. I packed him off back to his Dad's full of sugar and collapsed on the lounge. 


That's my idea of a perfect Saturday. Let's hope today involves a visit from the same motivational place for my sewing efforts. At this stage it's not looking likely since I've been up four hours and have only managed to drink coffee and scoff more ciabatta bread... 



28 comments:

Tamie said...

Okay, I need to know what butter chicken is or I guess how to make it- since it is a favorite. You had a very productive day.

Sooli said...

Good grief you must have looked like a whirling dervish in the kitchen. How did you pack so much into one day? I would kill to eat any of those goodies (even the freeform mince tarts and tinned soup) as I've been on a special research study for 8 weeks and have eaten exactly the same food each week the whole time. Great results but lookout Wednesday when I'm finished as it will be takeaways for tea!

Jennifer said...

Well done, you! It must have been the weather because yesterday I made a huge pot of chicken and mushrooms in pinot noir sauce (not at all bad if I do say so meself) and an apple teacake (also rather nice), and today's effort is a huge pot - my slow cooker is large - of pumpkin soup with green Thai curry paste and coconut milk, great for clearing out the sinuses.

Deb said...

Bloody hell Shay, I get moments like that when I have urges to cook but nothing ever happens to those degrees. You're a machine.

Helsie said...

What a woman ! the reward will be an easy week where you only have a little heating up or a bit of work on accompanying dishes and you'll be free to get into your sewing room much earlier. the jam looks pretty good.

Dianne Neale said...

OK, so who are you? You have clearly come into Shay's home, done something with her, and taken over her life. Please bring her back - the real shay makes me look like a half decent cook!

Sue SA said...

Ha ha I made soup and lasagna on Saturday and thought that was a good effort, nope your cooking efforts put me to deep deep shame! You made bread...really? I am so impressed. Any fool can make soup, but bread is impressive! Go butter chicken! Its one of my fav's also, so feel free to post the recipe link! Seriously who does like brussel sprouts?

Sue SA said...

Ha ha I made soup and lasagna on Saturday and thought that was a good effort, nope your cooking efforts put me to deep deep shame! You made bread...really? I am so impressed. Any fool can make soup, but bread is impressive! Go butter chicken! Its one of my fav's also, so feel free to post the recipe link! Seriously who does like brussel sprouts?

Lorraine said...

Good God woman, you were on a roll!! I managed a pot of soup and.....well, that was about it for the cooking part of the weekend.....but I did some other stuff so was happy with my achievements.....I though am in awe of yours!

Noela said...

Wow you certainly had a Master chef moment. I could only come up with a batch of muffins. have a great week. hugs......

Mistea said...

Good move on Little P's part.
Sounds like you've got dinner sorted this week so there will be plenty of time for sewing.
Enjoy

Katy Cameron said...

Ha, I was beginning to wonder if you'd had a personality transplant too, but glad it went so well!

Denise in PA said...

I'd love to know, if you can channel Nigella again for a bit, how you make the beef rendang and the butter chicken! I am thoroughly impressed with your efforts! o:)

Jackie said...

You were certainly a busy lady!! Good for you going with the flow. Hopefully your sewing channeling works for Sunday.

God bless.

Terri said...

Boy! When you do something, Shay, you go big. Food for the week, and a bunch of jam... I've never. If I feel like baking I make cookies - that takes the bake right out of me. I remember homemade bread...vaguely. Congrats on your channeling!
Hugs

Kate said...

Looks like inspiration did indeed strike. It all looks fabulous! Maybe you'll have time and energy to sit and stitch for a bit since dinner is handled.

Did you try the microwave approach to making the smores?

Brandie said...

An Assie that doesn't like beetroot?! Won't that get him deported? Seriously, we guys use beetroot on everything! We spent 8 months in Sydney and the only decent burger (sans beetroot or any beet juice) came from Planet Hollywood. Does he like pickles? If the answer is yes, than I think you've married an American in sheepskin.
BTW, I'm coming for dinner! Yum! As long as I can have some smores. I'll even bring the marshmellow fluff and chocolate bars. But can we try then on TimTams?!

Canadian Abroad said...

Seriously good kitchen day! And your favourite boy in the house. Yay!

Rachaeldaisy said...

You'll be eating like a queen for a month with all that delicious food!! I love that Little P helped make jam. I think those smores that you make with mushy marshmallow and broken biscuits look so yummy.

audrey said...

Hope you get to eat on that the rest of the week! Yay for getting it all done in one fell swoop!

Kristie said...

Wow!! That is some serious cooking over there, you sound like a superhero!!

Cindy said...

The next time you find the urge to cook 'just for fun', please fly on over to my house. My mouth is watering. :)

Cindy said...

The next time you find the urge to cook 'just for fun', please fly on over to my house. My mouth is watering. :)

Karen said...

Wow. Nigella is a lot of pressure but you truly succeeded! Everything you made looks great as does your hair in your selfie-let it go wild :)

thea said...

Hoe did you get all that done in just one day!? Amazing. I have trouble cooking one meal. And more jam? I am so jealous. I thought strawberry season is in spring?

I love the flowers in the hair!

Larri said...

My-oh-my! Can you come cook at my place? What a glorious batch of food you made. Sounds like an ideal Saturday that will be remembered for a long time.

Paulette said...

I'm tired just reading about all you did in the kitchen. Good for you! "Mince" and "tart" are two words that don't belong anywhere in the vicinity of one another, IMHO. I didn't think there was any food I didn't like to eat either, until you mentioned mince. Yeah, there's that. Glad the rest of it was a success, though!

Kirsten's Cooking said...

Perfect Saturday - productivity and fun!!!! The strawberry jam and ciabatta look divine! You're like a squirrel planning for winter!:)
The flowers for your hair are super sweet :) that little p is a cutie!