Cheesy Eggs with Asparagus

So this was a great breakfast to start a Saturday with sunshine coming in through the windows, cheesy scrambled eggs and fresh local asparagus and tropical fruit juice.  Once again we have to thank Bassam for the massive bunch of asparagus he gave us a couple of days ago which at this rate is going to last us weeks!  I have found that it keeps well in fresh water if you keep cutting the ends off so that the spears can keep drinking.

My plan for one of the meals this week is to make a pasta dish with chicken and asparagus in a lemon garlic basil sauce - I am eating it already!!!

This morning we sorted out our weekly menu and thereafter our shopping list.  I am trying to be sensible and use up stuff that we have in the cupboards, fridge and freezer rather than keep buying goods in.

Tomorrow is UK Mother's Day and we are eating at Sheila and Klaus's.  The following week is a bit of a mystery as Lakis and Argy arrive Monday and George and Pam arrive Thursday so we may do a bit of socialising.  It is still chilly in the evening - sometimes a bit too chilly to enjoy sitting in a taverna and prices are rising so actually we think it is just as nice to meet up with a drinkie or two and save going out to eat for something special.

Just as we were sorting our our shopping list we had a text and then a phonecall from the Kyriakides to tell us that their trip was being postponed by three weeks.  Every year something medical occurs which impacts on their enjoying being here in Cyprus so sensibly they are getting blood tests sorted and results confirmed before they come out.   As I said to Argy they can come knowing exactly what's what and then relax.  We aren't going anywhere so what is 3 weeks between friends?  Plus the weather should have really improved by then - hopefully the clock change tomorrow will herald some more sustained sunshine and more normal temperatures for this time of year.

We finished off our shopping list and popped down to Prodromi.  We decided we could get everything we needed at Kaites and whilst we were there we noticed that the icecream shop has reopened - woo hoo we love that icecream.

They had a new flavour - I prefer the sorbet style as I am not a great lover of icecream save for a good vanilla, certainly not anything chocolatey or super sweet.  The new flavour was Passion Fruit and it packed a right old zing to the tastebuds - nice but I still prefer the orange one.  For today the passion fruit was too sorbet-like and a bit too icy-cold.  

As we drove back to Droushia you could see a bank of cloud hanging over the village and it was considerably colder at home than down on the coast - we know that but just once in a while it would be nice for the weather-gods to prove that wrong!

John and I had planned to walk today but we just didn't get round to it and by the time we got back from town there were things I wanted to do in the kitchen which meant that John settled down to watch some lower league football and I got cracking preparing our suppeer and turning some gifted lemons into something a bit more exciting.

I used to be able to get some gin and tonic flavoured jam in Cycleband - they haven't had any for months, so I decided I would try and replicate something similar with the lemons I had in the pump house.  Cyprus lemons are really the most lemony-lemons I have ever come across and so I was hopeful that the recipe I had found for lemon and gin jelly/jam would be successful.

It took me a while to try and ascertain that the jelly/jam was cooked sufficiently to set which got a bit messy - I didn't have a jam thermometer so had to do the spoon and sample on a saucer thing and I always manage to forget to pierce the clingfilm on the jug when I am boiling up the fruit concoction and it ends up overflowing all over the turntable.  Bloody hell jam is so sticky - fortunately we had the fire lit and so plenty of hot water which meant I was able to get it cleaned up before John noticed!!!

The bits I sampled during the clean up and setting test tasted pretty good - I shall look forward to trying it properly tomorrow when hopefully it will be the right consistency.

At the same time as doing the jam I was getting our supper ready - we were having some mexican spiced belly pork slices from Shuks - it was a special the other week and a great price.  

We were shouting for Cheltenham Town this afternoon.  They were the opponents of Sheffield Wednesday - to be fair we would shout for any opponent of Sheffield Wednesday but I have met and shared a Cider with Matty Blair who plays in Cheltenham Town's midfield.  

He is a friend of my nephew Michael and I ended up sitting next to him at a party once and he shared his Cider with me!  He was such a nice guy - so not like the vast majority of professional footballers you hear about - I think at the time he was playing for Fleetwood Town when they were in League One.  Anyway all my cheering did no good as Sheffield Wednesday won 4-1.

In order to ensure that our belly pork was tender it took a bit longer to cook than I had anticipated but the recipe I followed was spot on and they turned out to be absolutely fabulous.  An hour on a lowish heat in a tin foil 'tent' and then 20 minutes at a high heat to crisp up which coincided with the time and temperature I needed for our spicy paprika wedges.  We had colourful coleslaw as I used red onion instead of white - they are sweeter anyway and it looked nice.  Simple but delicious!!!

This was washed down with a very nice, very large bottle of Aeon red wine from Vasilikon - this is not our normal red choice from the winery but this was a gift at Christmas from them to us which was really kind.  This is a different flavour and maybe a little drier than Agios Onoufrios but with food was really lovely.

We finished watching Annika this evening - we had thoroughly enjoyed that series and are now looking for a new one.  We did the round of clock changes before calling it a night - no-one will tell the cats that we are losing an hour so I anticipate being knackered tomorrow.