Glossary

I thought I'd take a moment to make a record of my logic so that it makes sense to all of us, so here we are. I have split my content into three sections so I think it all makes sense. 

The Meals, the backbone of eating and how we structure our eats.  In our house the three main meals generally increase in size as the day wears on, but sometimes the larger meal is eaten around mid-day if we are feeling extravagant with time or I am in an odd mood.  Supper is not a normal meal for us, but sometimes it happens to be snack food that is too posh or joy inducing to be called a snack.  

The Extras are the things that we don't all do every day, but if we could we'd do a lot more of!  Celebration food is things that are made for special occasions - Christmas cake, Sentinel cake and good old fashioned birthday cake.  Cuppa covers anything to serve with a cuppa or an afternoon tea that replaces a shop bought biscuit or fancy.  Treats are just those, I was going to call this 'puddings' but I want them to be special, and although we don't have pudding a lot, we love a treat.  

 The features are the things that will pop up on a regular basis.  Manifesto for any essays or new intentions I have in mind, top five for my favourite things we've eaten, cooked. made, or seen and then seasonal specials, the monthly run down of what we're eating this month, what to look out for and any odd seasonal things I've found that I have no idea what to do with... And finally, hosting - what we've sat down to eat with friends, any menu ideas I've had and maybe even an invite to my fictional dinner parties.  

I solemnly swear that everything will be labelled, everything will be searchable and one day there might even be some form of index...

And that's it, I hope!

Tripoline Carbonara

Now, I've made this lunch related but this one could go in Tea, Dinner and even Supper.  I don't think I'd choose carbonara as Breakfast, but you never know!

I have always loved pasta, but spaghetti is a nightmare to eat, I am the messiest eater in the world and spag is my nemesis. My singing teacher as a teen was Italian and her Mum used to make me my tea if my parents were away and she made the only spaghetti that I could eat as it was so sticky and perfect - can I replicate this? No. So I went on a venture down the pasta isle in the supermarket and found Tripoline.  Tripoline is a ribbon pasta with one flared edge and one flat edge, it's easy to cook, easy to eat and found in your supermarket of choice (unless your local supermarket is the size of a large shoe like ours is).  Anyway... this is nothing special of a recipe, it's inspired by my singing teachers tiny little Italian Mama with a meat option borrowed from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Thanks chaps!

For two people you will need,

200ml double cream,

2 egg yolks,

150g 'long' pasta of choice,

100g grated italian hard cheese of choice,

Pepper,

Olive oil,

bacon or chorizo or similar

Cook your pasta as normal. Meanwhile separate your eggs and throw the yolks in the cream, mix this through and season with pepper.  Now cook your meat of choice, I had some fridge chorizo on hand today, so that's what went in ours (recipe coming soon as I am not 100% happy with it yet).  Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat, drain the pasta and leave a little water in the pan - then add your eggy cream mix and stir stir stir.  Once it's all come together and the cream looks less opaque and more 'sticky', the add the meat.  Put the cheese on the top, add more pepper and serve!

This can be served with salad, lovely bread, garlic bread... any number of things but today Brian and I just put it in our faces and ate it with glee and happiness.  It might not look appealing, but it's quick, it's good and it's very satisfying.

So there we go, a classic, tasty meal that I imagine a lot of people could make happen with food you already have in the fridge, it costs less than your average supermarket packet or tub of sauce and you can make it in the time it takes to cook the pasta (and meanwhile you can make the salad or convince your husband that a slice if Christmas cake is an acceptable pudding at any time of day).