Wednesday

Lunch was a favourite (OK, every day it's a favourite).
Jan makes her own pesto which is really good, (approx measures and all to taste, it takes five minutes, 2 handfuls of basil leaves, a handful of pine nuts, a handful of grated parmesan, half clove of garlic, salt to taste, all wizzed together in a small blender as you add olive oil). Sometimes we just sit and eat the pesto with a teaspoon. Yummy.
However a bowl of pasta with nothing but a pesto sauce can be a little bit boring so what she does is add a few tomatoes, usually her semi-dried oven ones. This adds an occasional change of texture and bursts of sweetness and, in my opinion, 'lifts' the dish. She used a mixture of two different pastas which look largely the same but the main one was capunti pugliesi.
My favourite pasta shape is orecchiette, from the south of Italy, which I used to watch my grandmother making as she hollered about the price of fish, but with this shape you would usually use a tomato sauce. There are definite rules about what sauce goes with what pasta shape. Jan and I used to shoot quick fire questions at my Italian aunt who always knew the answer. Funny and interesting.

The evening snack is not one of my favourites, but Jan likes it and I know it's 'good for you'. Smoked mackerel and beetroot (no vinegar) sitting on a green salad with a sweetish oriental dressing. Can't dwell on this one, it's a dish I have to be in the mood for.

There, that's it, a week of food chez nous.