A Magic Meal at the Magic Garden...

We are very fortunate to have some lovely neighbours who bring us some goodies from their gardens in Nicosia.  Yesterday evening Charalambous phoned to say he had left a bag of dates for us outside the gate.  These dates make a very good sticky toffee pudding if nothing else!!!  What we have to do is put them in the freezer for a number of days - Charalambous said at least 5-6 and then you can just take out a handful as and when you need them.  Most people I know have only ever seen dates when they arrive in an oval bamboo box with a long plastic fork at Christmas Time.  I need to investigate more recipes in which I can use them.

Today I was relieved of cooking duties again this Sunday and we were taking JJ&S to somewhere that was on their 'must visit' list - the Magic Garden in Mesa Chorio which is one of our favourite places.  Some time ago we had thought that the owner Michael had looked quite unwell but more recently we have seen him and he is looking pretty good again.

Eating here is such a unique experience.  You are sitting in a beautiful courtyard garden of someone's house and being cooked restaurant quality food, beautifully presented from nothing more than a small domestic kitchen.  Amazingly he seems to stock just about every drink you could wish for so Stan was happy to be able to have a cider with his meal.

We had a lovely afternoon and a lovely meal.  We were kept company by the resident three-legged cat called Hope. She lost her leg when it got caught in concrete - I don't know quite how gruesome the story is and I don't want to know but she has been rescued and is loved and is beautiful and is one very lucky cat - her lack of a limb doesn't seem to stop her at all as she whizzes around.  Michael did not want her fed by us because I am guessing that (a) she is fed very well by them and (b) he probably doesn't want her to become a nuisance to diners who are not cat lovers.  Hope took a massive shine to Mum and we struggled to stop her crawling up her legs!!

I had baby calamari today which was absolutely beautiful - not at all greasy and super tender - I have to say it was an a par with what I have at the Souli.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their food.  Stan opted for the steak and kidney pie on John's recommendation and loved it, he had loved the carrot and orange soup as his started and he loved the creme brulee as his pud - in fact I reckon he would agree that it was 'bootiful'!!

There were superb flowers in the garden - being sheltered and South facing it has a little micro-climate all of its own.  There were some absolutely stunning hibiscus - this is something I have struggled to grown here as it seems to be too cold in the winter - having said that Savvas at 1b has a whole hibiscus hedge which produces massive red blooms.

Another successful meal with the family all together.  John delivered everyone back home and we retired to watch the final episodes of Chernobyl.  It was a brilliant series, very thought provoking and definitely not something to watch if you are feeling in the slightest bit down.