intertext

My friends B&J came over for dinner last night, bringing with them their teenage dog, Lucy. I made a fancy version of what my mum called "cheese pudding" and the magazines call a "strata" and seem to think is only for brunch. I like eggy cheesy things at any time of day, and B&J are vegetarians, so it seemed like a nice light supper dish. I soaked bread in milk and lemon zest and tarragon, then added beaten eggs, mushrooms, (ETA gruyere cheese, of course) and chopped asparagus and baked it. I made a salad with leaves and chopped red pepper and sliced baby carrots and grapes and nutty sprinkles from Thrifties, dressed with lime infused olive oil and good balsamic vinegar. We finished off my shortbread and also had some of lidocafe's almond cookies with our coffee. It was all very good. Oh, and we also had a lovely Australian Chardonnay, the name of which I must endeavour to remember so that I can get it again.

This morning I woke with a sore throat and scratchy eyes and a bit of a headache - cold looming? I hope not. I made turkey soup which is just now simmering on the stove, and I shall have some for my lunch. While cutting up the carcass for soup I packed up two more meals of turkey in gravy for weeks to come and a bag with half the carcass so that I can make soup again in a couple of weeks.

Otherwise just puttering and doing the usual domestic things. Clearing Clio's toilette area has become more pleasant lately (this may be TMI except for cat lovers... be warned). She used to go outside mostly, but recently has decided that being an indoor cat is where the action is. This has meant heavier use of litter box, and we were having trouble finding litter that she would use. She seemed to be okay peeing in what I gave her, but she was persistently pooping on the floor, which was tiresome. I decided in the end, partly on kp's advice, to make her another litter box to poop in, and situate it (as a hint) on the patch of floor that she used to poop on, but although she always had liked the plain clay litter, you don't seem to be able to get it any more, and she didn't seem to like the clumping kind to poop in and in any case it's almost impossible to get it without scent, and it's apparently deadly for the environment. So I decided to try one of those environmentally friendly cedar ones, this made by the same company that makes the enzymatic cleaner I use. Success!! Now she's using that both for peeing and pooping: no more poop on the floor, it scoops fairly well, so works for both functions, it smells nice in a natural way, no more horrible scented environmentally unfriendly other stuff... Yay. Domestic happiness turns on such things as pleasant-to-maintain cat litter and a satisfied cat.

I've taken up soup making. Did you know I was a rabid soup fan? (I'll eat almost anything, if it's soup). I've been making a soup a week for the last few, and thought it was time I started commemorating them. This week's was really good:

Better than Gardennay Roasted Red Pepper and Black Bean

I actually rather like Campbell's Gardennay soups, but object to the sodium content and preservatives. My favourite is Red Pepper and Black Bean, so I thought I'd try making my own. I did. It was good, slighty sweet, smoky, very tomatoey. Good.

Soften a medium onion and two large cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add a chopped carrot. Add one bottle of roasted red pepper and the water it's packed in, one can of black beans (rinsed), one large can of diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato paste, a quarter of a cup of basil leaves chopped and the same of fresh parsley, and 3-4 cups of stock (chicken or veg would work). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1/2 hour or until the carrots are cooked. Blend with a hand blender or food processor. Enjoy!