Valentine's Day...

The day started out dry, clear and sunny and the cats ventured out to take in a bit of early sunshine.  They were wise because as the day wore on the weather deteriorated and it became grey and chilly.  It is Valentine's Day here but we have nothing much planned because tomorrow we have John and Susan and Di and Rob coming for a meal so today was prep prep prep and a quick trip down to Polis for John to pick up fresh veg and things that I was missing!

We are not great card people - John thinks it is money for old rope because (a) they generally end up in the bin and (b) I can make cards and have a box full of 'stuff' to do so.  I had made a whole batch of Valentine's cards for the Blue Olive a couple of years' ago but when Rebecca and Derrick left I took back any that were unsold and so we had a couple knocking about that we could use - these will probably get put back in the cupboard and then dusted off and brought back out again year on year!

The menu for Thursday is home-made Korean Crab Jeon (fritter) served on a bed of rocket with home-made sweet chilli sauce.  This is to be followed by Mum's recipe for Horseradish Beef served with hasselback potatoes and fresh veg and then the eggless lemon cake I made the other day, although correctly using Bicarbonate of Soda instead of baking powder which will have a much more positive effect on the texture!!  This will be served with homemade lemon icecream!

Whilst preparing the Jeon I realised that I had a load of ginger in the veg basket.  Why is it that the raw ingredient is cheap as chips but when in a jar preserved it costs an arm and a leg?  I normally have a jar in the house for things like pear and ginger crumble but the price for a small one has shot up over 4 euros.

Googlaretta to the rescue - I found a recipe to do my own and as I had a suitable jar I decided to give it a go - basically you peel, chop and boil the ginger until it is soft and then with the juice from the boiling you make a sugary syrup and bottle wait and then eat - worth giving it a go as it asked for nothing I didn't have in the cupboard - I will let you know how my foray into preserving stem ginger has gone.

With things pretty much under control John thought we should go for a wander into the village and have a drink in the hotel rather than let the day slip by uncelebrated.  By the time we were ready it really was chilly and threatening to rain so we walked directly to the Hotel rather than take the longer route around the village to see what is occurring.

The hotel was in full flow getting ready for a full house for this evening and they apologised that we would have to sit in the bar area as they were laying up all the tables.  We didn't mind and settled in the corner with a carafe of Kolios Red and a beautiful platter of fresh fruit on the house!!!  Into my second glass I realised I should have had more than a cheese sandwich for my lunch as it was going straight to my head and once out into the cold fresh air it could all get a bit bit messy!!!

Well I managed to make it home in one piece and between us we produced a lovely supper of brie and chorizo on ciabatta with caramelised onion and red pepper with a rocket garnish - and more wine...

...I think we watched an episode of Britannia - John did for sure but I concentrated on the inside of my eyelids and was thankful that I had done all my meal prep this morning so tomorrow would be reasonably stress-free

It was an early night for me and lesson learned - eat a bigger lunch before celebrating Valentine's Day!!!

My lovely warm cosy bed was calling me, me and the cats - we woke this morning with all four of them snuggled up on the bed stretched out and happy, John was pinned and had cramp in his legs because he wasn't able to move all night still we much prefer to know where they are and to know they are safe - it is a small price to pay particularly as we have seen a new kit on the block and he looks mean and nasty.