Hands up who likes food? Well, I do and so does
Steve. At the moment, we have our dear friends James and ML staying with us –
they also like food. Between us, we have become E Le Clerc and Lidl’s best
customers! We buy food in quantities usually only witnessed in times of siege. Water is stockpiled and even our fruit bowl is ridiculous by normal standards!
I mean, seriously, how much water do 4 people need?
Our OTT fruit bowl
As we are lucky enough to be living in the Tarn Et
Garonne region of France, there is an abundance of good food to be had. We have
regular sorties to the local towns and villages to sample the local delights,
along with enjoying an obligatory cup of coffee.
Steve, James, ML and I out waiting for coffee and pastries
Wherever we go, we're usually eating!
James with one of his little picnics "just to keep him going"
When at home, we do a lot of cooking and baking, and
the “kitchen dance” has become part of our routine as ML and I work around each
other, often making different things at the same time. Sometimes James is in
the kitchen too foraging. Steve is never in the kitchen. I doubt he knows where
it is J
OK, I admit I didn't bake these, but never mind, they were yummy
Inevitably, there are left overs. Steve does not
like left overs. Steve does not eat left overs. James and ML do. Herein lies somewhat
of a problem.
Like many people, we save little tubs and use them
as storage for said left overs. As we seem to get through a ridiculous amount
of butter, it is unsurprising that we have a fair number of empty butter tubs,
which are employed as keepers of these left overs.
Tubs of butter, right?
Wrong! Here we have buttercream, courgettes, potatoes and carrots
The problem arises when we open the fridge and are
faced with up to half a dozen butter tubs, only one of which will actually
contain butter. We have tried saying things like, “Okay, THIS is where the real
butter will live, here on THIS shelf”, but then we forget, put it elsewhere,
and have to go through the same routine of hunt the butter.
Often our left overs are just about enough to feed a hobbit, and I wonder why we bother keeping them at all!
Creme Fraiche and Marscapone, right?
Of course not! It's 2 different kinds of left over soup - hobbit portions!
A few days ago I made some butterfly buns, and
filled them with butter cream and jam – once I had managed to locate the butter
that is. I had overestimated the buttercream and so, as tradition demands I had
duly scraped what was left into yet another butter tub.
There were 2 dozen, but by the time I got the camera .......
Our regular visitor Grolsch is just as bad - gimme one Steve
Yesterday, we made a Sunday lunch, complete with
roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, veg, Yorkshire puddings and beef with gravy.
Naturally, we raise our cholesterol levels by adding generous amounts of butter
to the veg ……………… I think you know what’s coming here J
We all sat down to eat and after tasting the
cabbage (on which we like a LOT of butter) I commented as to its unusual, but
pleasant sweetness. Everyone else agreed, and I made a note to buy this lovely
sweet cabbage again. Dinner over, washing up finished, we sat down later on to
watch Downton Abbey. Feeling a bit peckish, I went and buttered 2 cream
crackers; hang on, something’s not quite right here, the crackers taste sweet
as well.
Yes, you guessed, it was buttercream. Sigh
So, what's the answer? Well probably a more organised fridge for a start. Steve, of course, with his sense of order, suggested a numbered white board with corresponding stickers on the tubs. Hmmm, maybe if I drew him a map of how to get to the kitchen, he'd be able to set that up.
For now, I may use buttercream again on cabbage, but
definitely NOT on the cream crackers, that’s just silly!
Food glorious food
Other jams are available, but not for me, Bonne Maman is the ONLY one for me mmmm
Happy eating everyone
Freya
