This weekends headspace and writing time was superseded by a last minute trip to London to sort out a few life admin tasks. I was a little sad to step out of this lovely Ballymaloe bubble, but the sun shone in London and it was so great to see my sis, little niece and nephew and a few other pals.
A quick summary in numbers to round off the week:
- Number of piglets captured on camera – 0 (In my defence, mama pig is being VERY protective of them)
- Turnings of cheese – 7 (daily for the first week after making)
- Thoughts about the delightful simplicity of potatoes and cabbage – 10 (at least 2 a day, minimum)
- Guinness’s drunk – 0 (I seem to be still in that wine phase. I won’t mention the amount of prosecco consumed over the weekend a Londres)
- Varieties of fresh garden herbs memorised – 2 (still room for improvement Fi)
- Number of days until our exam – 11
- Amount of study I need to do – increasing on a daily basis
- Almond and Orange florentines tasted as part of quality control – 3 (possibly 4)
- Blue plasters – 0 (long may this continue)
- Burns – 1 (those griddle plates are hot)
- Number of pheasants in a brace – 2 (A cock and a hen)
- Varieties of beetroot used in our cooking – 3 (A Golden Detroit which is yellow and stripey, a Chioggia which is pink and white striped and a Boltardy, the classic dark red one we all know)
- Kumquats in compote (as stipulated in recipe, 225gms)
- Kumquats eaten by me (probably similar)
- Desserts on the daily dessert trolley at Ballymaloe House – 5 (at least)
- Spoonfuls of softly whipped cream going on my plate – multiple, daily (There is not much a spoon of this does not improve)
- % of sugar reduced from all Ballymaloe recipes in the last few years – approximately 20% (Darina thinks (although is trying to it proved) that the sugar we eat has gotten sweeter over the past few years)
- Average time beef is hung at Ballymaloe – 4 to 6 weeks before cooking
- Length of time Darina has had some the Le Creuset casserole dishes we’re cooking in – 45 years
- Inferior cuts of meat from a cow or lamb – 0 (Just inferior ways of cooking them)
- Amount of salt to water when cooking seafood – 1 (rounded) Tablespoon for every 1.2 litres (and this is always measured precisely!)
- Possible career types one could have using skills gained at Ballymaloe – thousands (at least I’d say)
- Discussions with Darina about life after Ballymaloe – 1
- Daily ideas and inspiration – countless!
Can we really be a quarter of the way though already!?
x
the sweet salt 