A culinary day...

The weather overnight had been somewhat wild - very very windy.  It had calmed by the time I got up to feed the cats this morning but there was a haze in the atmosphere which made the rising sun look like it had a halo.  Any residual damp or cloud was burned off by the sun and we ended up with a very warm day.

We were still on gardening first thing when it was cool as I realised I had forgotten to cut back the solanum which Eileen had given us.  Like the other one it got severe treatment.  It will be back but it is going to take a little while.  We have left a bit more green on this one so it doesn't look quite so Chernobyl like.

Whilst I am fairly ok with all the bugs and iggies that there are on the island I don't like things which fly at me and the bush next to this solanum seems to be providing the nursery for emerging Cicada.  

As I was snipping away I disturbed this one which flew up into my face before settling on the paving around the pool.  This must be nearly three inches long with sticky out eyes set wide apart.

I left it on the path - I got as close to it as possible to get a photograph but I didn't wan't it coming near my face again.

When I had finished my gardening we took a look around George and Pam's to have a look at the paving now that it is settling down - you can already see that the yellow slabs on the drive are mellowing to match the ones which had been put down on the front previously.

Today Argy was preparing Koliva for her Mum's memorial tomorrow.  I had asked her to let me know when she was making it because her mum had made it for us previously and I like it.  Koliva is a dish based on boiled wheat which is prepared for commemorations of the dead.  It is blessed during funerals as well as at the memorial services which are performed at various intervals after a person's passing and on special occasions like the Saturday of Souls.  There are similar dishes prepared throughout the Middle East on similar occasions.   Argy had cleaned the wheat and then boiled it in a bay leaf stock, separately she boiled the sesame seeds.  The pomegranates were cleaned and the almonds soaked in cold water before being cleaned of their outer skin. To this she added sultanas.  On the top she placed the ingredients (minus the wheat) in sections.  Kindly she gave us a box to take home and I shall serve some of this at our barbeque tomorrow in memory of Kia and all the other people we have lost.

For our meal this evening I wanted to use some of the mince which Dip had brought with him the other day.  I had found a recipe on line for Crispy Asian Chilli Beef which I wanted to try - John was unconvinced.  I planned to serve it on a bed of noodles.  The recipe itself was just meat but I added some fried onion and red pepper for added colour and texture and some green chilli, spring onions and coriander on top.  I took the advice of the person who posted the recipe to add a little additional sauce at the end as I am not a lover of dry meals.  It was delicious - we could have had it spicier but I wanted to follow the recipe so that I could adapt it in the future.

There was some party going on nearby last night - it lasted until the early hours and was punctuated by loud fireworks - it didn't make for a good night's sleep.