Slowly resuming normal programming

This is the first "proper" meal I cooked (not that there was much cooking!) - four days after we got home from our breakaway. We both came home with the nastiest tummy bug either of us have had for years. It's also the first real meal we had eaten in nearly a week. When The Husband is "off his feed" and doesn't want a potato...my world is all wrong.

In between

That was Thursday, and as usual, pasta was on the menu for Wednesday, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Remember the aforementioned tummy bug? Well, getting home on Sunday in pouring rain was one thing, after a late night (because of a wonderful wedding) and having to be back at the desk and day job on Monday, turned into a tall order. I managed Monday morning but slumped waking slept my way through the afternoon and approached supper and kitchen duty with neither inspiration nor enthusiasm.

Neither Monday, nor Tuesday's meals are anything to write home about, and had I not had to make sure someone else was fed, I don't think I'd have cooked. I'd have survived on cup of soup (tomato) and toast. I also know that if you're feeling poorly, you're not hungry until it's put in front of you. And, with a tummy bug, food choices are quite limited. The Husband, the carnivore, was feeling so poorly that he comfortably (and happily) ate no meat for five straight days.

Tuesday challenge

By the end of Monday, I was exhausted although I had managed to beat the "stuff" that had arrived in the preceding week. In my sleep I was beginning to plan the rest of the week when, late in the afternoon we received notification of a power outage (for planned maintenance) for 12 hours the next day (Tuesday), starting at 6am. Initially I thought that I might find a spot to work in Robertson. But the ongoing loadshedding made me question the sensibility of this. Also, when I checked, I discovered that the substation they were working on, wasn't local or small. Rather it was a major one, about 100km away raising the spectre of the entire region being powerless.

I decided to stay put. On the couch. With my feet up and with a book. And another. I figured if the lights came on at 4pm - as has happened most times we've had a long, planned stint like this, I'd still get two or three hours' work in.

That didn't happen. When the lights hadn't come back by 6.30pm, I happily cooked another invalid supper (with gas - that's the happy part) by candlelight before another, necessary early night. We were about to blow out the candles when the lights came on at 9.15pm.

Had I not had the stuffing knocked out of me, I'd have been very freaked out at having lost another day out of the office. I simply didn't have the energy for that. I figured, that all I could do was what I could do, and that Wednesday as a new day. I was grateful for no deadlines having been set - yet.

Back to that pasta

Wednesday arrived and we were both feeling a bit better, but certainly not the proverbial 100%. I had a hankering for pasta but if the preceding three days were anything to go buy, I'd most definitely not be up to making and rolling my own. For the first time in about ten years, pasta went on the shopping list.

In the fridge, I found a bunch of capsicums - still in excellent health condition. I roasted them. Before we left, I'd made some coriander pesto. For the first time in a while, I had a basic plan for a meal. Even though neither of us felt like eating.

That evening was the first meal since Sunday, that we ate and enjoyed. The Husband, though, was not enamoured with the pasta, itself. I didcouldn't argue...

A "proper" meal

If you're a regular-ish reader you'll know that Thursday meals for us are eggy - and more to the point - easy. My market preparation begins with making the dough for the rolls and which must ferment overnight. It's two different doughs for a dozen of each. I was only partly feeling it. I liked the familiarity of getting back into a routine. I wasn't sure about my energy levels, so I was glad for our simple supper which needed me to cook just two things: a potato for him. Eggs for us.

Not much energy or concentration required. Just attention.

So, the "first" supper was a salad supper. I got the eggs perfect this time. It's simple: on a bed of gem lettuce with tomato and cucumber with a herb mayo (made on holiday) on the side. I topped the salad with slivers of the peppers I had roasted the previous evening.

You notice the theme of minimal effort...

Oh, and how lucky am I?

While we were away, we caught up with Selma and Andre (more of that to come). As usual, they had collected jars and brought them along. Selma knows my penchant for pretty jars and saved this one just for me? "Because it's pretty and I am sure you'll use it!"

How right she was: it's the perfect vessel for storing those roasted peppers in olive oil. That oil will be gloriously infused with that flavour, and I'll used that for pasta and salad dressings...

So, it seems that with my brain thinking about flavours, my tummy and the world is returning to some sense of normality.

Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa

Photo: Selma
Post script

If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm doing two things:

• re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I am adding them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
• and "re-capturing" nearly two years' worth of posts.

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Original artwork: @artywink

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