You may have seen that we recently attended our little grandson’s second birthday, which was a wonderful day. The party was hosted by Cooper’s parents, Chris and Cin, at Cin’s parents’, Mike and Chris, home. While we were there, Mike showed, and told us about some smallgoods he had been making at classes in Melbourne, and was very generous, giving us a pack, with four salamis in it, as we left.
I couldn’t wait to taste them – they were delicious, so started to think of ways I could use them in my cooking. I have made three dishes, one was just a Braised Cabbage with Shallot and Salami, then a Antipasto Tart to share with my sisters and cousin, and finally, for me was a great combination – a dish of Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Scallops with Salami and Pea Puree.
It is always so rewarding to share your own produce with family and friends. It is also so exciting to receive wonderful homemade produce to play with in the kitchen as well, isn’t it?
Unfortunately my sisters, cousin and I had to travel to our hometown of Navarre to attend the funeral of an elderly friend and neighbour. However, it did give us the opportunity to visit our lovely mum who hasn’t been so well of late. We also had some “girl” time together, sharing meals around the family table, as well as a lot of reminiscing and catching up. Jan had cooked lamb with lots of veg, including silverbeet from the garden, for our dinner, Sonnie had brought along a garlic pide which they used to mop up the sauce from the Green Beans Braised in Tomato that I had added to the table, and for dessert I had made a Cherry Clafoutis. The next morning, again, Jan had things all organized with some beautiful local produce, so we had bacon and poached eggs.
It is a little sad that funerals also become reunions of sorts. A gathering of people with a common link – a special person who brings them all together for one last time as they bid their cherished family member or friend good bye. While a sad occasion, it is also time to renew old aquaintances, try to work out who that person is that looks so familiar, but you just can’t put a name to the face. Time to reminisce and catch up on old times and new.
Finally we said our good-byes and began the long drive home. My sister, Sonya and I had a mission, we needed manure for our garden. The weather was very wet, the rivers, creeks and gutters were all running quite high, but very early on in the trip we managed to load 5 large bags of sheep manure and 4 of horse manure into the back of Sonnie’s wagon (unfortunately there was not enough room for any more). You can imagine that aroma was not exactly roses in the car for the rest of the journey – sorry, Sandra… At Sonnies, we transferred my share of the manure to my car, together with the asparagus, rhubarb and the rest of my belongings, and I continued the journey back to Maffra. Six hours after we left Navarre, I arrived home to an open fire and a glass of wine, thank you to my wonderful husband.
(Unfortunately there is an issue with my site with regard to iPad viewing, we are currently working on this and hope to have it resolved very soon.)
Until next time
Bon appétit!
Links:
Braised Cabbage with Shallot and Salami
As we unpacked and set up, Sonnie, Cath and Aussie prepared the pizza toppings, and when I got our Esky out I sent down the food that I had bought to add to the evening. Everyone got to make their own pizzas selecting from the toppings available, and Dave was in charge of cooking them in the pizza oven – What a treat… What an eye opener for Fabien, a friend and chef from Paris who was visiting with us for six weeks. With the sausages cooked at the camp fire, we all sat around enjoying some laughs and catching up on recent happenings. The night was freezing, everyone was tired, so we all decided to head off to bed for the night.
night had been a very cold one, and the campfire was inviting, as was a nice hot cup of tea. Brekky for our family was bacon and egg sandwiches. The fun was beginning. There were quad bikes and motor bikes to ride, a drone to fly, the camp fire to keep burning, the pizza oven to get fired up, wood to cut, more people arriving etc. etc. While the men, or should I say, boys, hooned around on the bikes, and cut wood, Cin learned how to ride the quad bike and she and Chris took our grandson Cooper to see the bah bahs (AKA sheep). For the rest of the day that is all he wanted to do – go see the bah bahs…
