Thursday 24 February 2011

Just be normal....

When things are looking a bit wobbly then just think and do normal things....

Today has not been a 'normal' day in the way that most of us think of the day as normal however little things make it feel okay...actually better than okay...

Fran came back from being away for two days and after chemo on Friday, being without Fran is a little strange...so when she came back I told her so...I then preceded to tell her that we had run out of tea-bags which gave the impression that I was glad she was home just so she could get tea-bags...I put her straight on that one!

We had dinner which was a lovely Macaroni, Cauliflower Cheese made with Creme Freche etc (one of Jamie's) and cheese of course...

Then I watched as Fran tried to put up a hat and coat stand...it is in the style of those mahogany Victorian stands, came from ebay in loads of bits....however we worked together and made a good job of it...coats finally hanging on a coat hook rather than  on the backs of dining room chairs!

Things are not 'normal' but just sometimes there are little snippets of 'normal' that we should treasure...

Night! :-)

4 comments:

  1. Awesome! My wife read your post before I did and she wants the recipe. I had to come in and read this to even know what she was talking about. Can we get that recipe? It would be a great little snippet of 'normal' for us.

    Thanks for leaving us salivating... :-)

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  2. Steve, great to hear from you....

    The recipe is real easy:

    CAULIFLOWER MACARONI

    8 rashers pancetta
    1 large head of cauliflower
    500g dried macaroni
    250g mature cheddar cheese
    4 thick slices of country bread
    a few sprigs of rosemary
    2 cloves garlic
    1 x 250g tub creme fraiche
    Parmesan cheese, to serve

    1. Cook Pasta as per instructions and add the chopped cauliflower 3 minutes near the end.

    2. Drain the Pasta and Cauli remembering to keep at least 1/2 pint of the cooking water.

    3. Place the pasta and cauli mix in a big dish...mash gently down on the cauli to flatten it a bit.

    4. Add the Creme Fraiche, Chedder and some of the cooking water, give it a stir.

    5. Add crushed garlic and topping, not sure where the pancetta comes in as Fran is a vegetarian so we didn't have that part...maybe lightly fried and mixed in with the sauce...

    Some have said that it is not cheesy enough so have added extra parmesan to the topping etc but that is to taste :-)

    T x

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  3. Yum! I LOVE cauliflower cheese - so this sounds delish. Reckon I'll be making this sometime next week - WITH the pancetta.

    Tony - the 'normal' things in our lives are usually the most wonderful. Just being with the ones we love, even if it is just building hat and coat stands, is a very special thing indeed, and you're absolutely right to treasure these moments.

    Much love to you both

    Shents xx

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  4. I've been wanting to get back to you about our Cauliflower Macaroni adventure. The first night we gathered the whole family around the table to try the new dish. It was a huge success. Very little left in the casserole dish what with 7 of us going back for more. Carla scraped out the last of it and sent it with me to work the next day. Yummy.

    So a week later we all want it again. Off she goes to get a head of cauliflower. My daughter starts cooking the macaroni and another child starts grating cheeses. Mom cooks the cauliflower a bit longer this time making for tiny soft flowerettes that melt on you tongue. Big hit again. This is definitely on the family favorite list.

    Thanks so much for sharing it with us. We never did user any meat with it. Good stuff. Great discovery.

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