Lasagne and Lemons for a ten year old

Can it really be true? March 8th was the last time I posted?
How is it that it is the 21st already? Am I getting slacker or is life moving a little to fast for me these days? It couldn't possible be the fact that I have my fingers in to many pots?.....no, that is not possible!

Well between the 8th and the 21st my eldest managed to turn 10. Yep, I can hardly believe I am now the proud owner of a ten year old. I am thankful that he doesn't yet smell of boy germs, he still knows how to smile and laugh on occasion and will have a conversation with me that doesn't involve grunting or starting the sentence with "Oh come ON mum!" or "What the......?"

No, I am happy to report I catch him grooving away on his headphones to the latest tunes (thank god for headphones) and he manages to hold a conversation at the dinner table that doesn't revolve around Pokemons!

Just like every other year Max chose his birthday meal. I thought I could of been in for a new selection of foods, alas, beef lasagne won hands down and I think it will be on the menu for a few more years to come, especially if he keep on growing the way he is.

 Max's cake was another story!
Thankfully my copy of Saveur arrived the week before his birthday and it was the issue FULL of awesome Southern cakes. Max's favourite cake is lemon cake. I usually make him a regular pound cake and then fill it with lemon curd, and then Nic does a cool design on the top. This year was a little different. When I showed Max the four tiered layered lemon cake in Saveur he was sold on it and so was I.
I'm not sure if this is the year when we stop doing novelty cakes for him but there was no way I was carving up this one and dousing it in hideous food colouring so it can look like a football!

Now I totally admit that my photos do not do this cake any justice and for that I am annoyed but let me just tell you it tastes unbelievably good. I'm not sure you noticed the picture up top, but I only made half a cake. After reading 10 egg yolks and mega mounds of butter I decided the four of us really didn't need to stuff ourselves on cake for the next week. It may not look normal but let me tell you, we would of demolished the whole thing if it was there and my hips can only hold so much!

 If your up for a bit of layering, baking and whipping then go to Saveur on line and give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

Aaron's kitchen

One of my favourite places in Evanston would have to be right here......Aaron and Susan's kitchen.

Not only do I love standing is such a beautiful kitchen with my favourite colour splashed all over their back wall, but I haven't yet had a bad meal come out of this kitchen....and trust me, I've had a few meals here.

When I first walked into their kitchen years ago, I was gob smacked at the beauty and simplicity of the space not to mention the functionality of it. 

It is the central part of the house where friends and family gather in the comfort and warmth of the kitchen while sipping vino and picking at the offerings of cheese and salmon, chatting to whoever is cooking (and that would be Aaron!)

We sat down to a wonderful salad of grapefruit and a new Irish blue cheese the lovely Roisin snapped up from Kerrygold. I wasn't sure it would be a good match but I have to say it worked beautifully and the drizzle of balsamic tied it together beautifully. It was probably a good thing we started with a salad because in pure Aaron style we visited the classic cooking methods of New Orleans and had a fantastic shrimp pasta tossed in cream, spices and some Kerrygold herb and garlic butter (you just can't get in Australia).

I am looking forward to my next visit and will be popping on an apron and helping out instead of just eating and talking like I did this trip, hence the extra kilos hanging on around the waist!

For an extra peek at beautiful kitchens and Italian furnishings check out their website, you never know you might be drooling over your own dream kitchen!

20 minute pasta....again!

I'd love to tell you I just finished roasting a delicious pork belly and served it with the beautiful Jerusalem artichokes I saw in the fruit shop the other day but, I am really here to serve up yet another delicious, quick and speedy pasta dish.
 Can you eat to much pasta?
I have asked myself this question a few times and my final answer always comes down to- no.
I know no other dish that can be prepared in such a short time, using a variety of fresh ingredients and able to fill ravenous tummies of all ages and sizes in under 15 minutes ( that is when I am feeling super quick!).
With our weeks whizzing by at an alarming rate these days, I know I don't always have time to make the meals I use to. One lesson I have learnt though is to have an array of ingredients on hand, just in case I have a creative urge and time to kill.
This nights meal was one I put together because I was a) craving bacon b) needed to use up the feta I bought for another meal that didn't get used (creative urge was foiled!) and c) randomly bought some fresh thyme because I thought I needed to stop buying basil and coriander for a change.

The beauty of bacon is that is goes with just about everything! There isn't an ingredient that I can think of in my fridge that wouldn't compliment it (besides yogurt of course). So coming up with this combo really wasn't a biggie, I merely pulled out the leftover contents of my fridge and popped the pot of water on to boil.
I guess I'm blogging about this everyday meal just in case someone is stuck in the pasta rut and needed a little inspiration. Next time you reach for that packet of pasta and are wondering what to put with it, dive into the back of your fridge and see what is lurking, you could come up with a taste sensation or your new favourite combo.

Bacon, zucchini and feta pasta
1 tablespoon butter
2 rashers of bacon, thinly sliced
1-2 medium zucchinis, grated
juice and rind of one lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup crumbled feta
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
chili flakes (optional)

While pasta is boiling, heat a medium frying pan on medium heat and add butter. Once melted add bacon and saute for a few minutes.
When bacon in browning add zucchini, salt and pepper and half the lemon juice- once you have squeezed in the juice, place the whole half in with your zucchini and stir to combine.
When zucchini has wilted (about 3-4 minutes) at garlic and thyme.
Drain off pasta but keep about 1/3 cup of pasta water and add to your zucchini and bacon.
Remove lemon half from dish, add pasta, feta and lemon zest.
Stir to combine then serve

Vegetable lasagne

I have just come from the kitchen and thought I'd better get this down now while it is still fresh in my mind.  I haven't had vegetarian lasagne in a long, long time. I think I have been put off it for two main reasons-
1) It takes hours to prepare
2) The boys will hate it

If I get one out of two then that is OK. I am as surprised as you are when I tell you that I was 100% correct- the boys hated it!
 Actually that is not really a fair statement because Max didn't even taste it. I picked him up from a late birthday party at a rock climbing centre and on the way home he asked what was for dinner "lasagne" I said. I got the face wiggle and the air pump, all good!

We get up stairs, I start cooking and about half way into the prep Max and his brother are sitting in the loungeroom playing when my little foodista asks "does the lasagne have any meat? (long pause and crashing of pots), mum.....mum DOES IT HAVE ANY MEAT????"
To this I simply lift my head and shake 'no' hoping not to attract Alex's attention, but thanks to Max's dispeasure he adds...

"Oh that is it, I am NOT having any dinner" (yeah, well I also know that you just polished off four slices of pizza and a massive piece of chocolate cake so thank your lucky stars my boy!).

In a way I was happy not to see him sit at the table with his usual dark cloud over his head whenever I serve a vego meal. So Max sat on the couch (with a full belly) and read the adventures of Astrix while Alex graced us with his presence. Don't worry my bubble soon burst when Alex found the eggpalnt under his beloved mozzeralla cheese.
Nic and I managed to polish off two delicious pieces of lasagna while master Alex picked out all the pasta coated in pesto and crunchy cheese, ate those and then told me it really isn't a good idea to make that ever again.
Sorry boys but I am hear to tell you I will be making it again, for two reasons-
1) It was so yummy
2) It was really quick and easy to make
 Of course it isn't as quick as a pasta cabonnara but from start to scratch we were were sitting down eating dinner in just over an hour and that is pretty good for a lasagne (cooking time included).

I was suppose to bring home some parmesan cheese from work (I've been saying that for about a month now much to Nic's disgust), so I had to make the pesto without cheese and I have to tell you it was totally fine.
To spice up the dish a little I popped in a teaspoon of leftover Ethiopian chicken spice mix we had in the cupboard and it was a fantastic idea. The cinnamon and chilli flavours complimented the vegetables really well and blended beautifully with the pesto (minus the cheese). I highly recommend you make the Chicken dish- get the leftover spice mix and then make the lasagne- two meals for the week!

(On a side note the Ethiopian chicken is another Saveur recipe we revisit often).

Vegetable lasagne

Pesto sauce

2 garlic cloves

2 cups basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

good pinch salt and pepper

Place garlic cloves into a food processor and turn on until chopped.

Turn off, place in basil leaves and process again until leaves are roughly chopped.

While motor is running slowly add oil followed by pine nuts and seasoning.

Once all blended and combined remove to a small bowl and place to one side.

Tomato sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon spices (if you want to try this mix one part paprika, 1 part cumin, 1/2 part cinnamon & 1part chilli powder for a quick alternative)

1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup tomato puree (or tomato passata)

1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

Heat a medium sauce pan on medium high and add oil.

Once oil is warm add spices and onion, saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring.

Add tomato paste and cook out for another 3-4 minutes, stirring.

Add tomato puree, cherry tomatoes and seasoning, bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and place to on side until needed.

Other ingredients needed

1 eggplant, sliced and chargrilled

2 zucchini's, sliced and chargrilled

2 capsicums oven roasted and peeled

1 pkt lasagne noodles

4-6 mozzerella balls, sliced

(I chargrilled my vegetables while the sauce was simmering to cut down on time)

Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 200.

Grease a 8x8 inch pyrex dish with butter or cooking spray.
Place a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of dish then lay down two sheets of lasagne, covering the bottom of the dish.
Cover with slices of cooked eggplant and then smooth 1/2 the pesto sauce over eggplant.
Add two more lasagne sheets, side by side.
Layer on grilled zucchini slices, cover with more tomato sauce then another two sheets of lasagne.
Cover with strips of roasted capsicums, add the rest of the pesto and smooth over peppers.
Place the last two lasagne sheets side by side, add extra eggplant slices and remaining tomato sauce.
Once tomato sauce covers lasagna sheets and eggplant, place on a layer of sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese.
Pop dish on your middle rack of your oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let rest for 5-10 minutes then slice and serve.

This will always taste better the day after but we loved it on the night.

Zucchini, lemon & basil pasta for them; detox day 2 for me

To be truthful, I woke up on day 2 of detox a bit foggy, and I'm not sure if it's from the recent stints of 5.30am wake up calls for work or if this is a side effect from the purifying process--maybe it is coffee separation anxiety? Whatever it is, I bee-lined for my green leap frog juice, just after I did my first delivery of breakfast to the city.

I was reading the info they give you regarding the detox and it bought up all the symptoms you could be feeling--I was feeling none of them, was I abnormal? I put it down to just to busy to notice...that was until about 1pm and then the slight headache kicked in and the 'woopsy' feeling kept dropping in and out.
"DO drink 2 litres of water" it said. Hmmm when was the last time I drank water? I think that was yesterday, I even got a loofah to remove dead skin and rejuvenate the body, salts to soak in, tea to drink as a pick-me-up and do you think I have done any of it?
Ohh to have 5 minutes in the day for ME!
 Ok so I haven't loofahed, no salt soaking or taking quiet strolls by myself (like they tell me to) but I HAVE started drinking the water!!
I AM still enjoying the juices, not really missing food, have noticed I smell everything from the dirty oil in the takeaway shop fryer two blocks away to the sweet smell of chocolate up to a kilometre away but that is OK, I am doing just fine while out and about. The hardest part is when the family sits down to eat but so far I have managed to miss another family dinner. While I left Nic to make delicious zucchini and lemon pasta, I headed off to pilates to work out my days stress and bad energy (that is what my very calm and low stress yoga/pilates teacher told me anyway).

I do love this pasta. I grate the zucchini as my kids really dislike the vegetable--what is there to dislike I ask? I think it has something to do with the colour green??? Anyway when you grate it and slowly cook it down with some butter and garlic, it turns into the yummiest sauce; especially if you add a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a slurp of pasta water (you need the starch from the water to help thicken your sauce), further simmer and then add a handful of basil leaves when adding the drained pasta. With lashings of finely grated parmesan cheese on top the kids eat it up in seconds...as do I when I get the chance.

So with Day 2 at an end I only have one more day to go before I am cleansed and ready for another year of debauchery. I am happy to say I can do it. I WILL remember to drink water before my head feels like it is going to fall off and I will also try to avoid yet another supper, although that is going to be tricky in the final hours of my last day seeing as I am teaching a class on fajitas!!! It is going to take all of my determination for this one.....missing dumplings and pasta will be a walk in the park compared to fajitas.

Broccoli, pine nut and sultana linguini

When ideas started kicking around about the cookbook, Jessie and I were admit there would not be any pasta recipes "there every where", "who wants yet another recipe for pasta?".
 Now I am reshaping the cookbook I am being realistic, and in real life we eat pasta, actually before I started on this venture we use to eat a lot of pasta. With this in mind and knowing I need a really fast and easy meal for Tuesday nights due to sport commitments (namely my yoga class to de-stress!) I had to have a quick and easy meal we could whip up in no time at all.
This big bowl of linguini is a rip off version from a meal we had in Sicily many moons ago. Using currants, sultanas etc with pine nuts and anchovies is a very Sicilian dish and one that stuck with me years after my first mouthful in a roofless restaurant in Syracuse.

I do have to admit I haven't started adding anchovies when cooking for the family, but I love adding the pine nuts and sultanas as it entices the boys to dig a little further.  As for the broccoli well there is still a fair bit of gagging going on but nothing a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese can't help. Tonight Alex was hungry so 80% of his meal was eaten, he just tried to leave the forest of greenery behind, however when I informed him there was no ice cream for boys who leave all the greens he then began to nibble at the tops of a few before stating he really wasn't very hungry and doesn't care about the ice cream.....
 Well it's late, I have finally pulled the last batch of scones from the oven for my early morning client and  frosted the last of the cup cakes. So with a belly full of pasta, and a delicious taste in my mouth I'll eat my words and say there is never to many good pasta recipes out there in the blog-o-sphere!

4 ingredients

Last night was my turn to make dinner. It was the end of a long day, I was tired and had no thoughts on what to cook. As Nic and I sat down for our evening beer to relax and unwind I asked what he fancied thinking it would be something Asian. "Pasta, I could eat some pasta" was his reply.
With that I finished my beer and headed for the kitchen, I knew we had bacon in the fridge so I was thinking maybe a spot of carbonara, then I spotted a chilli- nice a little heat to give it a kick, then I thought maybe I'll give this '4 ingredient' idea a go. (For all of you who haven't heard of the 4 ingredients- basically two ladies got together and wrote a cookbook using a maximum of 4 ingredients per recipe. They sold millions and millions of copies and haven't looked back).
So to start with I had my pasta, chilli and bacon that left me with the addition of only one more ingredient. I had to choose between onion and parmesan. I was stuck!
After a few moments of deliberation I decided to go with the parmesan, however as I open the fridge I spot a bunch of basil. Come on I mean you can't go wrong with bacon, chilli and basil but where were my veggies? I'm always telling the kids they MUST have salad or veggies with the evening meal so how was I going to fit it all in?
I think it took me all of 5 seconds to dump the idea of 4 ingredients and go with 4 x 4 plus a few more instead. The following recipe was mighty fine, took maybe 5 minutes longer than if I'd only used the original 3 ingredients and in my families opinion tasted AWESOME!
I take my hat off to the ladies who invented the concept but I'm going to have to take a pass on the concept until maybe Friday when my cupboards will be bare and I'll be rattling through the kitchen trying to find 4 ingredients!

 4 ingredient pasta- NOT
1 pkt spaghetti
1 tablespoon butter
3 rashers of bacon, finely shredded
1 medium onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 red birds eye chilli, finely sliced
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 4 cm pieces (about 1 inch)
3/4 cup frozen baby peas
1/2 cup shredded basil leaves
1/2 cup shaved parmesan

Pop on a pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt.
Cut all ingredients and have them set out on a plate ready to go.
Melt butter in a large frying pan, once bubbles appear add bacon and stir.
Put pasta on to cook and add onion and garlic to bacon, saute on MEDIUM heat to soften onion.
Add chilli, asparagus and peas with a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper.
Saute for a few minutes then add about 1/3 cup of pasta water to make a sauce.
Drain pasta, turn off heat for sauce.
Add pasta, basil and parmesan- stir to combine then serve.

Note: the chilli really didn't have that much heat in it so the kids were fine, however if you don't want to add it, it will still taste fabulous!

Sardines and rocket

I love sardines, the fresher the better but I am not always that lucky so tinned it is for me 90% of the time. Some of the best sardines I have ever eaten were in Portugal. We were on our honeymoon eating our way through Europe. Nic and I came across this great little restaurant with a fantastic view of Porto so we asked for some fish. Out came the freshest sardines I have ever tasted. They were simply grilled on a bbq and served with raw slices of onion and green capsicum (pepper) that were warmed on the grill but still crunchy. You then added red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper to suit your taste. A very simple meal but unbelievably good!

Back to the tinned variety.....I'll let you know right now the boys do not like the taste of sardines, one of the best gagging faces I have seen is when Alex thought I was feeding them to him, he was preparing for a full on melt down, alas I saved him the trouble and only tortured him with the rocket!
This recipe also works well with salmon, trout or any fish really, you just throw it in at the last 3-4 minutes to warm it through and there you have it a delicious quick and easy pasta that will be really good for you as well as filling. If you are cooking this for a family meal then simply take the kids portions out before adding sardines and change the amount of chili you add at the beginning. I still add crushed chilies when cooking for the family, it gets them use to the flavour and I have gradually increased the amount month by month, Alex is really building up his heat tolerance which is great, I think by the time he is 6 he'll be good to go with the regular amount so until then I simply have a side portion by me to add freely once served.

Sardines and Rocket Pasta
1 pkt long pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 green capsicum (approx. 3/4 cup)- diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2-1 teaspoon crushed chili
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
2 cups rocket leaves (well packed)
1 tin sardines or fresh is you have them
salt and pepper
Method
Boil water for pasta
Saute onion and capsicum in olive oil on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, the onions will become transparent and capsicum darker in colour.
Add chilli flakes, a good pinch of salt and saute for 1-2 minutes, stirring.
Cook pasta
Add rocket and lemon juice to capsicums and cook until rocket is bright green and wilted
Once pasta is boiling add 1/4 cup of pasta water to your sauce and reduce for a minute or so.
When pasta is cooked, drain then add lemon zest and sardines to your sauce followed with your pasta.
Combine ingredients, check seasoning, add freshly cracked pepper if needed then serve.

Pasta salad & bike riding

What an exciting day it is today. The sun is shining bright with actual heat in the rays, Max is off at school after two weeks holidays and Alex and I are home alone. I knew I wasn't going to get much done in the way of work today due to the gorgeous day, so to make the most of it I promised Alex a day in the park. He was very excited with my decision and decided today was also going to be the day he road his bike without training wheels!

"I'm 4 now mum so no more training wheels, Max didn't ride with training wheels when he was 4"

With that said who was I to argue? Right near my (and Nic's) work there is a fantastic park with a very big oval and running all the way around the oval is a bike track so I thought that would be the best place to get Alex on two wheels. Within minutes of us making this decision I got a phone call from Nic saying his lunch date fell through and what were we up to? Well this never happens so I decided to pack a quick picnic (quick because time was ticking on and Nic only had half and hour to spare if we were at the park in the next 20 minutes). Time running against me I popped on a pot of water and boiled pasta for a quick pasta salad. Alex is always on at me for something different for lunch BUT when I tell him we were bike riding then having a picnic in the park with dad he enquires what is for lunch and I pull out all his favorites; pasta salad with cheese, ham and cucumber etc, he looks at me then pulls a face and tells me he does not want pasta salad and why couldn't we just have a sandwich? Seriously people I can't keep up with the whims my kids go on!

Anyway back to my salad- time was ticking and the pasta was boiling so I didn't have time to pander to Alex's needs, I caved and made him a wrap just to keep me smiling.

The pasta was going to be hot and I hate running pasta under water to cool it down, I think it totally changes the flavour of the pasta and does nothing for a salad, so with that said I used a couple tablespoons of mayo to give the salad some body and dressing, then I ripped up shaved ham, chopped some cucumber into chunks, roughly chopped some coriander and tossed it all through. The smell was really tasty and because the pasta was still warm it opened up the flavour of the coriander (cilantro). I hesitated a little then thought well Alex isn't going to be eating it so I might as well throw in some pickled jalapenos to boot! Ohhh what a treat, something was missing but I couldn't concentrate, I had to leave the house right then, Alex was asking me if he could take the training wheels off NOW and I still hadn't put his bike into the car....time is always ticking. Just as I leave the kitchen I see the tomato sitting on the window ledge bursting with colour and ripeness and thought that would be perfect but no time so I had to go with what I had and I have to tell you......

a) as you can see from above Alex is now the proud rider of a two wheeler bike

b) I got to the park on time and without a speeding ticket

c) salad was really tasty, especially with the jalapenos.

Of course when Alex saw us eating the salad he wanted some which was fine, I just didn't give him any green bits and he didn't seem to notice the hot pickled flavour- perhaps excitement took over!

A fantastic day all in all and a salad I will come back to even when I have more than 7 minutes to make it.

Carbonara

I'm devastated, absolutely guttered.

Last night I was sitting on the couch with Nic talking about something......he'd just finished making a beef lasagne and it smelled fabulous (he really does make a yummy lasagna right down to rolling out the pasta sheets), we were talking about food and I casually commented that the carbonara I made the night before was pretty yummy; to which he replied

"Yeah but mine is better"

My mouth fell open and I of course said "What!" Nic looked at me with a devilish grin and a twinkle in his eye and said it again. What is a girl to do? Of course I took the obvious path and took it all out of proportion. I told him I was guttered, how could he say such a thing, blah, blah. I must of put on a great performance because when I looked over at Max he was sitting staring at us, grinning like a madman and wondering where this was going to go, hand twitching at his face in anticipation.

Now at this point I have to tell you Nic loves ALL things Italian, and over the years he has perfected the art of Italian cuisine, especially pasta making and pasta eating and at this point I have to admit I LOVE his carbonara. It is the classic Roman version with egg, parmesan and parsley all thrown in at the last minute, just before serving.

I wasn't however going to ASK him how he does it because I just don't have that ability and I knew the process so I thought I'd give it a go. If I was to be totally honest I was going to make a tomato sauce but due to the lack of ingredients in the fridge I then decided to make the carbonara, oh well I guess the truth had to come out sooner or later. When cooking the onion, garlic and bacon I sweated it down with the lid on, keeping all the flavour and sweetness in the pot instead of doing what Nic does and cooking it down so the bacon and onion get crispy. I also didn't add two whole eggs as I thought that was to excessive, so I added one whole egg and one yolk (this Nic tells me was my downfall!).

So that is pretty much it, once the eggs were in a bowl I finely grated in some parmesan cheese, mixed in the chopped parsley and loaded up on freshly ground pepper. After the pasta was cooked I left a small amount of pasta water in the pot just to help with a sauce (I hate dry pasta), poured in the bacon, onion and garlic mixture then added the egg and cheese, gave it a good stir and was happy with the result- I didn't realize my beloved was criticising the meal and doing a comparison all though I should of known really. Even the boys devour his version in seconds! With that said, dinner WAS yummy (even better when chilli freak hear grinds on some chilli flakes) but if I had to be truthful Nic truly has mastered the art of a bloody good carbonara; giving credit where credit is due I'll say OK his is extremely good...hows that professor of all things Italian?

Nic cooks

I have had a couple days off due to my sister coming to stay for the weekend. I love the fact we now live in the same country and we can see each other more than once ever 3 years. I think Tarsh can agree that we have supplied her with some fantastic holiday destinations- Florence, Chicago, and now Sydney.

The boys get so excited when anyone comes to visit however when Tarsh arrives I end up having 3 kids and the oldest (my sister) always manages to get the boys worked up into a very loud and giggling cyclone of stupor- bring it on Tarsh!

The first night of her arrival, Saturday, I had worked a massive day at the cafe- people kept on pouring in all day wanting eggs Benedict, breakfast wraps and coffee by the gallon. Usually the crowd dies down around 2 and it gives me an hour to straighten things up for the dinner chef, also leaving me plenty of time to pick Tarsh up from the train station. But- it is always the way when you have arrangements that things don't go according to your plan- People kept pouring into the cafe at 5 to three wanting burgers, steak sandwiches etc... In the end I got out at 3.15, flew to the station to find Tarsh waiting patiently for my arrival.

Back at home Nic pops the kettle on for a cuppa, I sit down for the first time since I woke up at 6am and that is pretty much where I stayed until it was time to put the boys to bed. I was exhausted!

I always feel like I should show visitors a 'good time' however the way our life is these days I know I fall short of a standard 'good time' so I try to make up for it with food! For the next few posts I'll share our weekend delights with you from the delicious chicken, corn and potato pot pies, to the rum and raisin slice and finishing with the whole fish I smothered in garlic and pepper.

Nic knew I wasn't going to move into the kitchen and secretly I think he was quite happy about that. I have been cooking so much these days he hasn't even had a look in when it comes to dinner so he nominated himself to cook. Me being me, offered up a few suggestion where I was met with a stern look from the man and given a glass of red to keep me occupied (it really doesn't take much!).

While Tarsh and I were catching up on life events Nic was setting the bar for the food for the weekend. Inspired by a recipe in a magazine he made a fantastic ricotta and spinach pasta bake with hits of lemon thyme to tantalize our senses. It was a delicious meal and we polished off every last bit. I forgot how good he can be in the kitchen and now that he has jogged my memory I will back off and let him in more!

Nic used a smooth ricotta which worked beautifully with the spinach and acted as a wonderful binding agent for the dish- see you must always experiment with food, just because you usually use a smooth ricotta for desserts, it doesn't always mean it can't be used for anything else.

Thanks for a great weekend Tarsh and I can't wait to see what else Nic has up his sleeves!