Friday March 21, 2008
To Taunton yesterday, later than planned. We’d sort of thought to be there for breakfast, instead, we arrived at lunch time. Even so, the place was not crowded, there were plenty of good things on the shelves at Marks & Spencer, and we managed to pick up a really nice roasting chicken, all free-range and organic fed, along with other good stuff to see us right for main meals through the holiday weekend. All I need do today is make a fast pass round Sainsbury’s and we’ll be set for a nice Easter at home, leaving the car to mumble away happily outside.
We lunched at Subway’s which was alive with kids from the college, and took our coffee at Starbucks afterwards.
“That’s a major shift in situation,” I said. “M&S, Subway’s, and Starbucks. Requires a flexible approach from one’s mind-set, does that.”
“Irritating old possum,” Graham said. “You seem to be better at that than I am, and that should just not happen.”
“Sorry. I shall try to do worse.”
I’ll cook the chicken good and slow on Sunday morning, having given him a good thick coat of fatty bacon rashers and placed a level tsp of mixed herbs in the cavity. I think it’ll be a good idea to do as I did at Christmas, and cover him loosely with oven foil for all but the last half-hour in the oven, to keep the flesh as moist as possible.
Other than that our weekend provender will consist of poached Dover sole, tonight, sausage casserole, tomorrow, and pot luck on Monday. I doubt the chicken is sufficient for two meals so I’ll be crafty and buy a bag of forest mushrooms and a couple of red onions to pad out the remains.
Dinner is very seldom an ideas and planning problem for us–we’re perfectly happy with a large plate of fresh vegetables lightly cooked and served with whatever sauce I can be bothered to produce. Lunches, however, are a constant bother to me. Graham’s been on an extreme low fat jag since he finished work and that rules out most of my routine lunches. Somewhere I have a book of low-fat recipes for one or two people. I’ll look that out over the weekend and if all else fails, go Googling for ideas.
Has to be said, Somerset in general and Bridgwater in particular is not truly the place for low-fat ideas.
The upside of Graham’s switch is that he’s gorn orf traditional desserts, preferring to rummage in the fruit bowl. That’s as easy to do as anything is.
And it’s all rather good for me, of course. It’d be even better for me if my evil side didn’t nag me once or twice a week for a really big all-day breakfast at some convenient eatery.
But than, where would we be without our evil sides?
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