Food & Food

Fortunately for my sanity, Julie's visit wasn't composed entirely of shopping. As well as various other fun things, we also got up to lots of eating.

Now, for a coeliac like her, eating can be quite a hassle and I thought I'd take that load off her mind this weekend and treat her a bit. That sounds lovely and selfless doesn't it? Truth is I just love cooking for people.

So, she arrived late on Friday night, so that was simple enough - just leek and potato soup. I've become completely addicted to leeks recently after impulse buying them in Sainsbury's. Must be my Welsh roots coming through.

Saturday was breakfast in bed for her (what can I say? I'm a softie) - but toast or cereal may have caused some problems, given her condition. Given that she runs a gluten-free cooking blog, it seemed a good place to look for ideas - and I tried out her banana breakfast omelette. With some honey and strawberries on the top, it was gorgeous, and being so simple but healthy - it's highly recommended.


_{Mine looked better ;)}

Lunchtime we were in Oxfordshire, on our way to Bicester when we decided to stop off for something to eat. 'The Acorn', set halfway between some motorway services and the shopping village, looked suitably appalling, so we drove aimlessly around the most obscure country roads we could find for a while before stumbling upon The Ben Jonson



This was a gorgeous gourmet pub (albeit with a lack of decent cider) which, at first glance, looked like the kind of place you'd read a review of in the Sunday Times - encouraging you to visit it on a day trip from your Home Counties manor. The food was certainly of that quality - without costing too much more than one would expect from a town centre pub (where the food is little better than ready meals, as you'll soon discover if you visit the kitchens).

Dinner was on me again - and lacking an oven (the door's still broken) I had to improvise a little. Still, I think that carrot & parsnip mash, loaded with lemon pepper and topped with butter-fried potato, leek and peppers went down beautifully. I even arranged it all nicely too...I've been getting so bored here that I've taken to garnishing the plate even when I'm eating alone. Fun eh?

Nothing too exciting after that (also I'm tired of typing) - other than the strawberry, banana, honey, sugar and milk smoothies. If there's a better bedtime drink, I'll eat my hat. Once I find a nice hat. Someone find me a nice hat.

Also, I want my chocolate back :(