A robin lands on the first ceramic head Robin ever made...
she sits under the bird table and catches all the scatterings from
the feeders above her.
On my footpath walk the blackberries are still going strong....
but the wheat is long harvested...and I'm not sure what is now planted in this field.
Sheep and waterlilies ...
sharing the fishing lake which I can see through the trees at the end of my garden.
A pair of sparrows camouflaged in
hawthorn bushes....with such an abundance of berries to feast on.
Today my sister treats me to a fabulous Middle Eastern lunch at the Baobab Cafe in Crediton.( The Baobab Tree is also know as the Tree of Life.....and the source of cream of tartar. The long hanging pods of the baobabs and their great towering girth were a familiar sight when I was growing up in Africa.)
The main courses and big bowls of salads on the counter look delicious but quite reliant on chickpeas and lentils. My gut is rather tender at the moment so when we ask if there is anything else, the delightful chef who is very experienced and trained in Israel says" leave it with me."
A few minutes later he invites us into the kitchen where he is tossing and stirring a small frying pan of a type of haricot beans, pink field mushrooms and Swiss chard stalks.We watch him magic up our lunch.... adding in slices of preserved lemon, fresh chopped herbs and a dollop of his homemade spiced tomato sauce.... talking all the while and giving us little things to taste, including the sweetest bronze cherry tomatoes grown by the aquaponic system - he is a great supporter of all small local growers.
The end result, served with a beetroot and parsley tabouleh, is warming, delicately spiced and fragrant.
We have hot chai to start with and another rich Arabic drink - frothy milk spiked with cinnamon and clove, topped with coconut and raisins - a perfect accompaniment to our shared cakes - chocolate with rosewater icing and polenta and blueberry.
We are totally inspired by this big hearted and generous chef...and his attitude to life and family and food. And totally stuffed.
Needless to say I don't eat supper....but I'm determined to start being more adventurous with my cooking....once my gut calms down....gently does it for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment