Bank Holiday

It is Bank Holiday Monday here on the island - I hadn't realised that it was when I had asked Sheila and Klaus to come and have lunch with us - not that it really mattered save for the fact that it was so busy here on the estate but I had asked our lovely neighbours if we might use their drive if it was a full house (which it was!!)

Whilst I was preparing food John shot off up the village to the people who bought Irene and Dennis's house (Jim and Linda) Jim had been in search of some velcro for a specific job and John had some.,  In return Jim gave us some freshly picked and freshly washed home grown cherry tomatoes which smelt absolutely amazing and exactly as tomatoes should smell.  It helped us to decide on a starter - as we had some mozzarella and basil in the fridge!!!

It was not quite such a nice day today - in fact it was such a grey start we thought it might rain - it didn't and actually Sheila and Klaus were glad of the cooler weather so we were able to eat outside.

It was lovely to see them both - we always have a good time with them and never find it difficult to find something to talk about.  Klaus is a great cook so he and I often discuss recipes.

After my little moan yesterday about nothing green on my plate I made up for it today.  It is nice to be able to get fresh herbs from the garden and I am almost, but not quite, tempted to try tomatoes again next year - the only trouble is that we don't really have anywhere aesthetically pleasing to put veggies unless we can grow them alongside something else.  Anyway this is a project for the future.  I haven't told John yet as he will roll his eyes because he knows that my 'plans' generally involve him having to do some work.

I wonder if I could try baby toms in hanging baskets - has anyone been successful in a climate like ours?  There's a bit of homework and then if I can find something suitable I need to be able to get the seed.

Anyway Sheila and Klaus arrived safe and sound and parked up next door (thanks Jan and Derek) and came in - Sheila was having a look around the garden for some ideas and I gave her some seeds I had collected from the Nigella and some cuttings of various succulents which will do well in their garden - I am also growing a clock vine for Sheila because when the work is finished outside their home they may have some fencing that they want to cover and a clock vine is ideal.

So this was our starter with thanks to Jim once more for the delicious tomatoes which we served with rocket and basil (mine) lettuce (Paps) and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar - it was a lovely light start to the meal.

Our main course was crispy Korean chili chicken with stir fried vegetables and some noodles.  Even if I do say so myself it was absolutely delicious and although not difficult to make a bit fiddly because each piece of chicken needed to be individually cooked to ensure it was crispy - I know it doesn't look crispy but it was coated in an egg and cornflour coating and cooked in sesame oil on a very high heat.  I think everyone enjoyed it and there is a bit left for us for our tea tomorrow!

Our sweet was baked figs.  Mum had brought some from her garden yesterday which saved John going out on an early fig hunt this morning.  It was baked with my home made feta, cinnamon, honey and basil.

It is easy - just popped in the microwave for a couple of minutes and so tasty.

I think it was fair to say we were all stuffed by the time we had finished.  I did make sure that Sheila and Klaus weren't in a hurry to go home so we could take our time together and that plan worked well.  We are going to be a bit busy in September so it may be the Autumn before we get together like this again.

We had a quiet evening - there is loads of sport on at the moment which is keeping us occupied, swimming, cycling, diving and rowing so although we keep saying we are going to get stuck into a series we rarely do - this is our Winter occupation - binge watching a good series - only trouble is we have nearly a hundred in a list and it just seems to be getting longer!