A Change of Seasons

I can't believe how busy I've suddenly become. Winter is gone and the days are getting longer, but it seems that there is more and more going on to fill them up. I barely even have time to blog anymore! Gone are those cold winter nights when it was OK to sit at the table with the fire roaring and waffle on about sustainable gardening and the guilt of eating bad food. Work is going nuts and since I published Urban Driftwood, that has been keeping me busy as well. It was meant to be a job off my plate, not create more work! Oh well, its good we've been generating interest. We even sold a copy!

Daylight Savings didn't help. It took more like two weeks rather than the usual one to get over the inevitable jetlag, but now that it's normal we're loving the extra sunshiney hour. It means that Isaac is staying up later too, just enough to chew into our sanity time in the evening and deny us time to get important things - like blogging - done. Mind you, I seem to have had an awful lot of television to catch up on lately, mainly because I was ignoring it all while I completed the third draft of my novel. Now I'm at a bit of a loose end in that regard. I have this hankering to start on my next one, but Dessert Chef has rapped me over the knuckles and told me to bl*@dy well DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT first. For that I must turn to my good friend Morgue, he of the sly wit and the golden wink, who knows all about this getting-a-book-published business. So alas, there will be no mad launch into a wild new adventure with all my favourite characters just yet. Patience, my friends.

I spent all day today out in the sun. Went to the Hutt Riverbank Market this morning, and it was packed. Heaps of people out in the gorgeous spring air hunting for new season asparagus and other delicious goodies among the cacophony of greengrocers and fishmongers. I doled out my coins very carefully, and was rewarded with enough change at the end of the circuit to afford some more of my favourite lamb. I got the sausages this time, and I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. Then I went up to Aunty L's where I spent another afternoon with Uncle B building playhouses for their kids and Isaac. What amazed us was that when we came to put all the bits together, it actually looked like a little house. There's something to be said for measuring before you cut, then. Who would've guessed?

Tomorrow we have to bring the frames we built at Aunty L's for Isaac's one home and assemble them into his playhouse. Going to be another long day in the sun. So much for getting any gardening done. Oh well, it's Labour Weekend next weekend, so we can do it all then. Fingers crossed for sunshine.

And I hear that people come here because I write about food sometimes. OK, lets see what I can pull out of my chef's hat today.

Cheese Hash (with Leftover Roast Veges)

This is a great way to use up those pesky leftover veges that seem to hang around the kitchen after a big roast dinner, and aren't quite enough to make into soup.
Grate up as many leftover veges as you need to feed the hungry mouths present. I used potato and kumera, about 8 pieces in total. If you have a some roast onion, chop that up raggedly and add all this to a bowl. Grate in a hunk of Cheddar cheese and a generous shaving of parmesan cheese, add freshly ground salt and pepper, and break in 2-3 eggs, or as many as you need to avoid open revolution.

Fry in hot ricebran oil (no cholesterol!) turning once or twice to prevent burning. Slice up a tomato or two and fry at the same time. When the hash is cooked, serve with sour cream and a sprinkle of paprika, along with the obligatory hot coffee.
Not only is that a brilliant way to start a weekend morning, its also making the most of the food in your pantry and therefore the money in your wallet. Nyummy.