Tuesday 19 November 2013

Prescience

I had just finished returning all the washed dishes to the cupboards and then gave thought to what I would cook for dinner.  I always think better in a clean kitchen.

I had serviced the generator in the morning, changing its oil and filters and it thanked my by giving up smoking, its exhaust was pure and clean when I restarted it.  My foot is still giving me hell but I have decided to ignore it.  If it falls off I shall deliberately not notice out of spite.

The night before last I did beef.  Last night I did a Chilli con Carne without the chilli (Dominic can't stand chilli but doesn't play with Barbie dolls so I am not overly concerned.  He'll be a man one day).

I had a root around the freezer. 

There were some joints.  They'd take far too long to defrost. 

Loads of mincemeat.  We had that last night.  I suppose I could have done a Lasagne but when I checked, I didn't have enough cheese. Besides, the weevils had got into my half kilo bag of Italian herbs so I would have to microwave the bag and sift out the corpses,  I hadn't time for that.

Chicken it was then.

I have absolutely no idea why, but I defrosted seven chicken legs.  Alex, Marcia and I only need one each.  I then peeled loads of sweet potatoes.  I hate peeling sweet potatoes.  The juice turns to sticky glue and the skin gums up the peeler so why did I sit there on the stoep peeling so many sweet potatoes?

I decided I would roast the chicken with a honey pepper glaze, par boil the sweet potatoes before crisping them off in the oven after rolling them in olive oil and dusting them with a sprinkle of sea salt, use the juices of the roasted chicken to make a smooth cream sauce and serve it all with steamed broccoli.  Sounds delicious but completely over the top for three people.

The only production I was interested in from my Filipino carpenter were the houses he was building for me.  This evening I realised that during his many years in Angola he has been productive in other ways.  For whatever reason, still unclear to me, he turned up with his four delightful children.  They will be billeted in my house.  Alex, of course, is thrilled.  So many new pals to play with.

Tired, obviously bewildered (like I say, I have no idea what's happened but there's always a spare bunk in my house if you need one), the kids were starving and in desperate need of a shower.  Nicely scrubbed up they reappeared and by the merest chance, I had enough food for all.  Well, not quite.  If you count me, that makes eight.  I only roasted seven chicken legs basting them carefully with that rich, delicious mouth-watering sauce I had been looking forward to all day.

Fuck it. I need to lose weight anyway.

Just something I spent all day knocking up and didn't get to eat.
The kids are all lined up on the sofa watching cartoons.
I am sitting here starving, writing this shit.


39 comments:

  1. Do you send food parcels to England, by any chance?

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  2. According to Sky News, you need them.

    I'll just see these four settled and work things out in the norming.

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  3. Not even a leftover leg to finish off ~ bugger. It does look and sound good. But funny how you made enough for the dinner guests without even knowing.

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    1. The dogs were decent enough to let me gnaw on a bone after they had finished with it.

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    2. You're a Sheila. Are you allowed to say Bugger?

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    3. aussie sheilas say what they want

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    4. Tell me about it. I still can't get over the Misogynist lecture Ms Gillard gave her opponent!

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    5. Are these Sheilas allowed to burp? ( I couldn't imagine Carol or Helen ever burping!) And does saying what they want include "I am going to blow up this damned plane!" after pressing the overhead cabin call button several times?

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  4. Ha ha ha... that's what always seems to happen in our house. I'll cook something and then proceed to feed the street with it, and my lovely other half will ask "so where is it?"

    What goes around comes around... xxxx

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    1. When it finally gets back to me, can it be smoked salmon on rye bread with cottage cheese, caviar and horseradish sauce?

      Sorry. I am just so very hungry!

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  5. same thing around here. i feed everyone and rarely have any for me. plus now my kids complain that i only feed the homeless shelter and not them. too bad, so sad!

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  6. A lovely meal, that's for sure.
    I wonder how soon we'll be reading about your peg leg? Actually getting fitted out for one probably will be as much trouble as having the toe looked after. Just saying...
    Anyway, a lovely meal, and you have a line of happy children enjoying it.

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    1. I am sure the toe will improve, it's just a case of being patient.

      Always nice to see happy kids.

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  7. We made lemon risotto from the Domestic Godess's book, and it was supposed to be for two, but there's plenty left over. Apart from the fact that it looks like a cup of cold sick, it was delicious. I'll have DHL do their stuff, and it should arrive by breakfast. There's nothing like a cup of...for breakfast.

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    1. That's jolly kind of you! Given your experience with DHL I admire your continued faith in the!

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  8. Oh, dear, i was hoping you'd at least get some of the sweet potatoes and sauce. Sounds really yummy.

    It's gotten chilly here, so i made a pot of lentil soup. I'd teleport you some but it's not nearly as nice as the meal you prepared.

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    1. I have not had lentil soup for donkey's years. I really like it.

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  9. Well done for feeding the masses with great sounding food. Perhaps a day in the kitchen cooking and freezing some emergency supplies ( say spaghetti sauce) in smallish containers might ensure you don't go hungry again while everyone else is looked after.

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    1. Good idea. I have just received a new supply of bags for the vacuum packing machine so I might just do that!

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  10. Occasionally (not TOO often) it's the creativity that satisfies, and I could as easily just sit back and watch the others enjoy. And yes; I did notice the Chippendale chairs!!!

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    1. Oddly enough, when I spend a lot of time preparing a meal, I lose my appetite. Just as well, I am really piling on the weight especially these last two months confined to barracks.

      I bought those chairs in Cape Town in 1997. They are hand carved reproductions made by a local artisan. They have stood the test of time and constant abuse very well!

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  11. Luckily I had eaten before reading this. I always seem to feel hungry after reading about your latest food offerings. Maybe a cook book with Angolan based recipes is called for.

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    1. I should do a cook book, really. I tried with my other blog, Cooking on the Front Line, but whereas a blog like this is something that only requires a sudden thought and the time to write about it, putting recipes to paper, along with photographs, is actually quite hard work!

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  12. Replies
    1. Everyone pitching up to my place unexpectedly gets a good feed and somewhere to bunk down if necessary. Unless, of course, they are a burglar. I shoot them. Which reminds me, I need to make up the security signs for the new place: 'Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again'

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  13. Mmmm....That meal looks brilliant! You are indeed the new Keith Floyd sir! ..."And now on BBC 1, The Galloping Gowans"
    cue theme music - "Food Glorious Food" (Oliver)
    Camera pans to Gowans slurping a tumbler full of whisky as he stirs a pot of bubbling offal.
    "Welcome to my home here in the African bush (grins at camera). You know folks, after a hard day as a gung-ho mercenary soldier, there's nothing I like better than to chow down on a plateful of custard kisses so stay awhile and I'll show you how..."

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    1. Better than Keith Floyd eh? Wait til they see me open a bottle of red wine at ten paces...

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    2. Another use for your sword (would be less than 10 paces of course)

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  14. As a new follower, I didn't know you were such a sweetheart.

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    1. I'm not a sweetheart, I am a grumpy old bastard

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    2. On
      Only on Wednesdays and saturdays

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    3. Har Har Mr Gray. Good job it's Thursday...

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  15. is that honey and black pepper? or honey and chilli pepper? looks yummy what ever

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    1. If it was just for me, it would be honey and chilli peppers. We have a local variety here that is dynamite but Alex can't cope with it so I used ordinary ground black pepper and a bit of salt. Either way, it really is delicious. Just roast it slow. If the oven is too hot it will char the outside before the inside is ready.

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  16. Darn you need to eat too.....all those liquid lunches cannot be good for you....but how satisfying and lovely of you to feed the masses....and now I am hungry....

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    1. You are absolutely right, I need to cut out the liquid lunches. From now on it is only liquid breakfasts and dinners.

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  17. Hiya you grumpy old git (pokes tongue out)
    Hearts of gold are always rewarded... :o) xxxx

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  18. Ah your heart is bigger then your stomach - who would have known?


    Okay this honey pepper glaze thing - do you brush on honey, then sprinkle with pepper? or is it pepper first on the flesh and then the honey???

    wait - that sounds inappropriate... nevermind.

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Please feel free to comment, good or bad. I will allow anything that isn't truly offensive to any other commentator. Me? You can slag me without mercy but try and be witty while you are about it.