We haven't been to the allotment for months.This morning in bright sunshine we make a little tour of it. I feel dismayed, overwhelmed by the brokenness of it. My husband looks broken by the loss of his capacity to do anything about it. My sister says it's not nearly as bad as we think and lots of it is rescuable - especially the gold mine of the asparagus beds. We leave my husband there clearing out the dead sticks of the tomato plants in the green house and pulling up the tall poles of the Jerusalem artichokes....
This is my version of Yotam Ottolenghi's Red cabbage and Beetroot Slaw that I make for our lunch to share. I replace his apricots with apples and golden sultanas, his poppy seeds with sesame, and leave out the dill and cinnamon all together but add grated fresh turmeric along with the grated fresh ginger. My Pomegrante Molasses and grassy green Palestinian olive oil give it that bright Middle Eastern kick.It's the sort of recipe that'll be different every time depending what you have in the fridge....
Before lunch at our friend's house, she gives us a bread making lesson....I love standing round her kitchen table - three women with our hands in bowls of flour stirring, and mixing then kneading .....drinking tea and talking while our dough balls balloon up under their cling film wrap on the radiator.....and later, after the second kneading and proving, we tuck in to deep bowls of barley vegetable soup and crunchy salads serenaded by the aroma of six loaves of hot baking bread in the oven.
I hold out as long as possible when I get home with my two floury wholemeal loaves studded with pumpkin and sunflower seeds but the tantalising smell of warm fresh bread is too much to resist and I give in to chewy, buttery Marmite heaven....
......watching the sun go down over the hills beyond our city garden....
thinking I may not need any supper now.
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