Monday Morning Jiggery Poachery

I've never poached an egg before. There, I've said it. Maybe that's why it's my favourite way to have eggs; because I can't just have poachers on demand, and because there still exists an air of mystery around how the hell you crack an egg into a pot of boiling water and it re-emerges a silken blob of misshapen beauty.

Until yesterday morning, that was. I'm conscious that most people abhor Monday mornings. I, however, have the approach to it that I do the month of January - a brand new clean slate lying ahead, full of opportunity and better-ness. Just in case my optimism isn't enough to perk up the morning, I like to give it a lift with a slightly indulgent breakfast, one that would be considered worthy of a lazy Sunday. With some eggs in the fridge leftover from the baking efforts of last week, I thought I would give Sopie Dahl's poached eggs on mushrooms a go. Now, Sophie Dahl's TV show was utterly irritating, I found; all of that sighing and self-conscious stirring and gazing into the distance - very affected indeed, and not entirely convincing. The book, however, is a delight - Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, in fact. Again, I find the title very affected, but there are some (very simple) gems of recipes in there. One of these is the poached eggs on portobello mushrooms with goat's cheese. Very straightforward and speedy, perfect for a Monday morning. I also, however, had to stretch my fuzzy little morning brain to the making of lunch, so there were a couple of operations on the go in the kitchen at the one time. Nothing too taxing, mind you, all very pleasant and undemanding.

While the kettle was boiling and the lovely roundy flat mushies were under the grill, I set about making some hummus for a sandwich. Hang on - did I use singular there? Yeah, sorry - sandwiches. Because I'm never quite full and happy with just the one. Anyhow, I haven't been able to get my hands on tahini of late, for some reason (answers on a postcard), so I thought that I'd attempt to make my own by whizzing up some sesame seeds, and then adding a little water. It didn't quite work to be honest; maybe there weren't enough seeds in the little plastic blender bowl thingy (I do like to dazzle with my terminology), and maybe I should have used olive oil, but I just didn't get that thick gunky oilyness that you expect from tahini.

J'aime bien le bibliotheque

I have a weakness for books in general, but cookbooks are my kryptonite. I try, though admittedly not particularly hard, to restrain myself, but fail repeatedly. It's a very happy sort of failure, I must hasten to add, one that results in some very contented downtime with the guilty purchase, a cup of coffee and lots of tabs to mark the pages of recipes I plan to try out. The Redundancy, however, put paid to many of my spending habits, and this was one of them. Feeling more than a little sorry for myself, I sought refuge in my local library, which brought a very satisfying compromise; the wealth of cookbooks on offer there is an absolute joy, and I find, as with regular books, the fact that I can borrow anything at all at a cost of absolutely nothing means that I am more likely to experiment a little and go for things that I wouldn't choose if I were buying from a bookshop. I disappear into the central library in the Ilac, and even if I have only popped in to return some books, I find myself drawn in and re-emerge an hour later with a heavy bag full of books to indulge in, guilt-free, at home. It reminds me of my weekly visit to the local library in Longford when I was small. It was always on a Monday after school, and it was without doubt the highlight of my nerdy little week. I remember, in particular, when new books would come in and if you were the first person to borrow it you felt as though you were the first person in the world ever to read this book.

And so it was with the Dorling Kindersley book Curry that I first borrowed from the library a couple of months ago and have renewed repeatedly online since.

Sugar Fixin'

They say you should listen to your body, so when my body demands a good dose of sugar far be it for me to ignore it. No, I'd never respond negatively to a request for something sweet and tasty, particularly if I have been for a good big long run. Though this was not the case today, today my cravings seemed to be leaning instinctively towards cultivating layers of fat to insulate against the cold. When I was trying to figure out how to feed my greed this afternoon, I was in the mood for something soft and springy with a lump of butter melting on it...kinda like banana bread, only more interesting. So I raided my bible du jour, Nigella's 'Kitchen', and decided to give the coconut and cherry banana bread a go.

The good old butter wrappers came into their own for this one; I love using butter wrappers to line a loaf tin, no cutting or greasing, you just pop them right in, and they make a lovely homemadey packagey thingy for it when it's done.

Love, thy name is leftovers

A good twenty minutes after eating a sambo made from Tuesday's meatloaf and I am still in a state of slightly dazed overjoyed-ness by how amazing it was. A huge chunk of, admittedly not-entirely-healthy, protein between two slices of toasted white batch bread slathered with a generous layer of dijon. I'd make the entire meatloaf again just for the sandwich.

Before:

Cookie Monster

Given that I'm a pretty massive fan of biccies, it's funny that I've never really made them before. I've baked tons of cakes, but I've never given biscuits a go. Maybe it's my subconscious mind protecting my blood sugar levels from my insatiable greed.

Until a couple of days ago, that is, when I decided that we needed to try out the old oven in work, which has been lying dormant for a long time. We're breathing life back into an old community centre, so I figured that the smell and warmth of a batch of cookies baking in the oven would perk it up a little.

Snowy Soup

Let there be no doubt about it, this is serious soup weather. When I was daydreaming in work earlier about how to warm myself from within, I remembered that these beauties were patiently hanging out in the garden, keeping their elegant green necks held high in the snow.

Dinner with the Newlywed Neighbours

Being a wee culchie who doesn't drive, when I was buying my house I wanted to be around people I know and love, so I moved into a great neighbourhood right beside my big bro and two friends who had also bought houses in the area. One of these is the lovely Niamhy Mac, who just got married recently. I am a tad behind on my wedding pressies, but since they are my neighbours they got bumped up on the list, so I had them over for dins last night to give them their pres. Since I was working and going to physio that afternoon I wasn't going to be home too early, so I prepped on Monday night. I've been Nigella-ing it up a lot since I bought her new book, and this time I thought I'd try the meatloaf, with lemon polenta cake for dessert.