Recipe No. 7 - Cabbage and Tagliatelle

I had all three of my boys over for lunch today, which was absolutely wonderful.  For a long time I was a single mum and it was just me and the boys.  We became quite a close knit family unit, luckily when Pete came along he fitted in nicely.  The boys still look after their old mum and it was nice just to sit and chat.  I served recipe no. 7:

 Cabbage with Tagliatelle


Put some tagliatelle on to boil. Shred a cabbage and steam for ten minutes until just cooked. In a large frying pan, gently fry some spring onions until soft and then add some Quorn bacon bits and fry for another minute. Add the cooked cabbage to the pan and gently stir in 200g of cream cheese (eg Philadelphia). Add cooked and drained tagliatelle along with 25g of grated Parmesan. Mix well and serve with some lovely crusty bread.

And we all agreed, it was very tasty indeed.

Happy Birthday!!!

Here is my favourite eldest son and his lovely girlfriend Lucie.  Today is Phil's 28th Birthday.  Unfortunately he has to work, but he is coming over tomorrow to spend the afternoon with his mum, before I'm sure he goes out and has a 'proper' celebration.  I am very proud of the wonderful, kind considerate man that he is and I wish him a very Happy Birthday and every happiness with Lucie xxx

The Saloon and Alfie (for Eek)

Here is the starboard side of the saloon and Alfie making himself at home!  The post in the foreground is a grab rail.  One thing Pete insisted on when he built the yacht, was lots of grab rails to prevent any nasty falls.  He has this thing about modern plastic boats never having enough grab rails inside.

Here is the port side.  As you can see, all mod cons (ie TV and radio!)  This is where I tend to relax, all tucked up behind the table.  It is a great place to be when you are at sea in choppy conditions, as there is no way you can fall out the bunk.  We can sit eight comfortably in the saloon, but have been known to have more.  The inside of the yacht is all wood, which is wonderful as it keeps the boat warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  As it is real wood, when it gets scratched, we just rub it down and revarnish, which is one of my jobs when the weather improves.  Coming next, heads and forepeak.......

The Galley

The galley.  Double sink, mixer tap, hot and cold running water, lots of storage space.  Hand made Italian tiles (beautiful, yet a so and so to clean!), more pictures to follow.

To Answer Bill K

Here is your answer Bill.  We took a rope from the top of the mast, pulled hard and tied it off on the other side of the quay.  Simples!  (Well Pete did at high tide at 3 o'clock in the morning, love him) The boat now seems to be staying upright and carving herself a nice hole to sit in.
I have discovered that trying to upload photos for the blog using the dongle is a real pain and better to do one at a time.  So later I will post pictures of the interior of the boat as promised and a picture of Alfie for Eek.

Greenhouse and Beds

Here is my lovely Dad finishing my greenhouse for me.  It certainly was not an easy job and, although I have never heard my Dad swear, I am sure there were a few choice words said under his breath!!!  Pete is going to do the base on Friday and then I can start to use it.  I also now have eight new raised beds, lined out with newspaper, then cardboard and manure.  I have asked the boys to get me two tonne of top soil and barrow it down to the allotment for me for Mother's Day.  They think I am round the bend, but I would rather have that than some pretty flowers that will die! 
The yacht is now upright and seems to be okay.  I have been staying on it with Alfie and we are having a great time.  Only thing is, he has become very protective and will not let anyone onto the boat when I am here without Pete.  Still it is nice to feel so protected.  When I go to work, he goes to the house and stays with Emily who doesn't start work until the afternoon.  He has certainly taken a shine to her.  At the weekend, when there is a bit more light, I will take some pictures of the inside of the yacht, so that you can see how cosy it is.

Life on the Wonk!!!

We moved on to Carpe Diem at the weekend.  For weeks she has been upright and we thought that she had settled down nicely.  However, by Tuesday she had gone a bit wonky and now she is at quite an angle.  It makes life a little disconcerting being almost permanently on a slant.  Pete has now got to bring her back upright and get her to stay that way.  Alfie is having great fun though.  He has discovered that if he puts a ball up at one side of the boat, it rolls down to the other side!

Moroccan Style Vegetable Tagine

New recipe No. 6.  This blog really isn't going to turn in to a recipe book!  I am taking advantage of the proper cooker whilst I can and also trying to teach the kids about cheap and nutritious food.  All three of my boys can cook and have been able to do so since they were little.  I was a single, working mum for many years and we had a rota system for whose turn it was to cook.  Even the youngest, Rob, was able to do scrambled egg in the microwave from about five years old.  As they grew older it became a competition to see who could produce the tastiest meal of the week.  All good life skills and now they can all cook better than the girls in their lives (lucky girls, I think they should be thanking me!).

Moroccan Style Vegetable Tagine

Gently fry two chopped onions, 2 cloves garlic, 500g butternut squash, 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped potatoes with 1tsp each of ground cumin, ginger and cinnamon and half teaspoon of chilli powder for about 10 mins.  Add tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of chick peas and 1.2 litres of veg stock, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 mins.  Add juice of half a lemon and serve.  This was a lovely warming meal and I served it with brown rice, but you could obviously use cous cous or bulgar wheat.  Again it was one of the recipes that you could play around with.  Next time I might add celery or sweet potato or even do it in the slow cooker, ready for when I walk in the door from work.