Stocking up?

The world has gone completely mad! I cannot understand why people are emptying supermarket shelves of toilet paper because of the threat of a respiratory virus. If someone can explain the phenomenon, I'd appreciate that. Currently, I can only put it down to herd mentality.

I believe the run on toilet paper has spread to other countries. This pandemic could end up being worse than coronavirus!

I won't lie; it took me a while to cotton on to what was happening. I was at Aldi late last Saturday afternoon and was surprised there was so little pasta, canned lentils and tomatoes - very not like Aldi. I wasn't after those things so didn't give it much thought. The woman in front of me at the checkout did a dash back to the bean aisle before starting to check out, arms laden with tinned chickpeas. "The beans have been restocked', she gasped, clearly relieved. I had no idea why she was saying this to me, so just smiled vacantly (as I sometimes do).

On to Woolworths where bays had been cleared of god-knows-what because there was nothing there to identify the normal inhabitants and I had no interest in investigating.

Now, of course, social media is awash with memes and comments on the doomsdayers, like 'Haven't they heard of wine??'

In the last day, a man in Tamworth was tasered for grabbing a fellow shopper by the throat in an altercation involving toilet paper. Seriously - I am not making this up - here's the news link

Even in the unlikely event that supermarket supplies run low, I'll reckon we'll be okay. We live within walking distance of seven cafes, a pub, a wine bar, a few restaurants (Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and Italian) and a couple of bottle shops - we're so fine!!!

Ironically, with the kids both temporarily out of town, I did think this might be an opportune time to eat our way through the freezer. It's overflowing. There are vegan burgers, prawns, gozleme, pizza bases, pasta sauce, jars of rocket pesto, chicken stock, turkey gravy, boa buns and goodness knows what's underneath those things. It'll require a reconnaissance.

And if we end up in lockdown, we'll be the ones living off the stash of Man Shakes (protein powder) and wine! I could afford to lose a few kg and that seems like a fairly appealing way to do it!!

Asian Salad

I made this salad last week. I think it would have looked better in a black bowl, but if you can get past the fact it doesn't look amazing, it did taste sooooo good, it could happily be a lunch on its own. I think mint is herb de jour at the moment but does make everything taste summery and what's not to love about that?

Here's what's in it:

• Asian cabbage - slice as finely as you can
• Chopped honey-roasted peanuts (I used honey roasted because they were on the bench, but as it so happened, they were a great)
• Fresh peas - raw
• Celery - diced to about same size as the peas
• Grated carrot - to save it being complete anemic - you could add red pepper too if you like
• Loads of chopped mint
• Spring onions, skinny slices
• Lots of sesame seeds

For the dressing, in a jar:

• A good slug of sesame oil
• A small splash of tamari (or soy)
• A drizzle of fish sauce
• A big squeeze of lime juice
• As much chili as you care for - or not
• Some crushed garlic
• Some minced ginger - again, if you like it

Optional extras:

• Some like the crunchy bite of a packet of noodles
• Fresh chopped coriander
• Vietnamese mint (kinda tastes like mint and coriander to me!)
• A squirt of honey in the dressing if you don't use honey-roasted peanuts

And if you can't be bothered making dressing, buy the Thai dressing at the supermarket in the Asian section - it's not bad! But I'd still recommend some sesame oil as well.

Just in whatever portions you like to your tastes. Give it a good shake and pour on.

We had it with grilled pork steaks but it's also be yum with chicken. Works for the 'no carbs after 3pm' kick Geoff and I are currently enduring.

The school holidays

Thank god the school holidays are over! Not that I didn’t enjoy the break as much as the kids – possibly more.  A holiday from getting up at 5.45am five gruelling mornings in a row, week after week, packing lunches, despatching kids to where they’re supposed to be and getting to working looking like – well, let’s just say looking like I’ve put in the required amount a effort!

It’s been quite pleasant really. I even had two day ‘working from home’ when I couldn’t get child care, which I’d so been looking forward to, but between the cleaners mopping around my feet and kids constant fighting or telling me they were bored as I hid in their room and emailed, it was actually somewhat of a relief to get back to the office. Yet another reminder of why I work!

No, the reason I’m glad they’re over is I’ve put on about two kilos. It’s not just the holiday mode and the popcorn at the pictures, but the extraordinary cooking talent of the kids. One in particular is quite the Master Chef.

So my parents came for lunch on the first weekend and she started with grissini, wrapped with proscutto and blue cheese, baked in the oven until the proscutto  is crispy and the cheese is gooey. Yum! That was followed by roast pork with apple glaze and mash. She then threw a dinner party for the relatives-who-aren’t-related. We started with zucchini fritters on a bed of rocket, parmesan and smoked salmon, followed by parsley crumbed fish with garlic mash and wilted bok choy and finished with jellied champagne (non-alcoholic!) ice cream and berries.

A friend came for lunch and she threw together a chicken and mushroom pasta. There's been pumpkin soup for the cousins, meringues for her brother, banana bread for me, chocolate ganache in warmed croissants, brown sugar cream to accompany the desserts. And it's all soooo gooood!

Last Friday night we went to friend for pizza and she whipped up individual rhubarb and berry tarts that were so delicious I ate a second one for lunch the next day. And that’s not to mention the Oreo cookie pudding-slash-slice (her words, not mine). A recipe she made up and I’m sure accounted for a kilo all on it’s own!

Here's an example of one of her creations:

 And here are my shoes (yes, on my desk!!) trying to account for said kilos....sadly, I can't find anything higher.