A quiet week with Missy B in Germany
Hope you like the new look blog – big thank you to my friend Sally for her help with filling in the massive gaps in my technical know how!
What a strange week last week was, without my little companion to entertain me. Missy B headed off to Germany on a school exchange for just over a week, leaving me with major gaps in my catering calendar. I thought about eating pretzels and wurst all week to foster a feeling of togetherness, but in the end I opted for going out a lot. I also discovered this:
Not only was it the best spatula EVER (a gift to Missy B many years ago – I don’t have a kitchen filled with pink princessy items), I have no idea which dish the missing bit ended up in…
Missy B’s request for her first dinner at home was “white pizza with lots of vegetables” – I wasn’t surprised by the pizza, but slightly taken aback to be asked to lay on a plentiful supply of vegetable matter… There was some pizza dough in the freezer – I had my doubts, but this works really well, so definitely worth making extra. The whiteness of the pizza refers to the fact that it has nothing but mozzarella on it. She loves it, I love it slightly less so I snuck some caramelised onions under half of the cheese. Missy B came back ravenous, so no pics of the pizza – eating was more pressing than photographing! I did get a picture of the “wilkommen zu Hause” cake though – her favourite, a mini red velvet cake. I discovered that the amount for 12 cupcakes is also perfect for two dinky 15cm tins (purchased specifically for those occasions when I want to make a cake for three, although it’s not really that mini at all).
Missy B’s return coincided with a visit from brother-in-law in Cardiff and Mr B squelching his way back from Glastonbury. So I made Richard Bertinet’s version of dauphinoise potatoes with his herby crusted rack of lamb. It’s frankly a bit of a pain preparing the meat – the butcher makes a start, but there is still a fair amount of trimming of fat and scraping of bones to be done, but well worth the effort.
I think I made the crust a little too dry, as it didn’t stay on the lamb quite as beautifully as I would have liked, but it was very tasty indeed. The grown ups had it with a big green salad, while Missy B opted for “lots of vegetables” again – I wasn’t going to argue with that!
We are also just back from a week in Germany, so I completely understand why Missy B would request “lots of vegetables”. This is a country where it is challenging to be a vegetarian. Many restaurants seem to have “meat-free” sections on their menus, rather than “vegetarian”.
The website is looking lovely! Hats off to Sally. Gorgeous recipes too of course. Very tempted to swing over to yours for a taste of your red velvet cake! B x
Tried the sweet potatoe salad last night, although bit too much dressing. Delicious with some simply cooked chicken. Well done with the blog – looking good x