Store cupboard tapas

At the market on Sunday I bought a couple of duck breasts. Tonight I was going to knock up something with them, possibly featuring cabbage. Then, on Monday, I spotted a perfectly sized aubergine and realised we hadn’t had berenjenas for ages. I bought it with the idea of making it as a sort of tapas entree. Things, however, didn’t exactly turn out that way.

Something that did turn out was the Internet…eventually. First thing, after the gym, I tried calling mum, using my phone as a mobile hotspot. This absolutely refused to work no matter what I tried. I could access the Internet without any problem but as far as VOIP was concerned, it wasn’t happening. Every time I managed to ring on Skype, it just dropped out.

A photo of a fun fair sign, just to calm any reader who might be about to get a bit stressed.

Of course, the landline was also down so it’s not like I could call the old fashioned way. It was very annoying, to say the least. I’m busy every morning this week. I arranged to call mum (at least we could text) on Saturday morning rather than this morning.

Once I’d finished not talking to mum, I wanted to check the BT fault I’d created yesterday. ‘No avail’ was as close as I managed. There was no fault. Actually, that’s not entirely true. My phone app claimed there was an open fault but, when I went through the silly rigmarole to access our account online (why???), a sign of fault there was none.

I decided there was nothing for it but to call BT. I searched for a contact number. It’s surely a sign of the times that the only option was a chat facility. No problem, I thought, I’ll chat.

The only real problem with chat facilities on websites is how they want you to type out the problem you want to chat about then, as soon as they start chatting they ask you what you want to chat about. This has happened to me a lot so these days I merely cut and paste my original entry but it has to be frustrating. Why ask if the person on the other end isn’t going to look at it?

Anyway, I chatted with two people whose names indicated they were from somewhere on the subcontinent and, after explaining the problem was told:

‘I am going to look, please give me 5-7 minutes.’

About seven minutes later, the person returned to say that the fault had been fixed and cleared off the system. Obviously I was in the office while the hub is in the library so I had to walk into the house to check the lights were all blue so I wrote…

‘I am going to look, please give me 5-7 minutes.’

And, would you believe it? He was correct, all lights were blue and it was all working perfectly. There was no explanation; nothing. I told the person so, said thank you and signed off. And suddenly the day seemed just a little bit brighter.

(Yesterday I’d asked on the I Love Farnham Facebook forum if anyone was having Internet problems and someone posted that a BT van was parked next to the cabinet at the Six Bells and an engineer had been working on something most of the day. Call me suspicious; call me cynical; did someone cut the wrong wire? I’ll never know.)

Mirinda was working away on the terrace and was quickly happy and appeased after being updated on the connection situation.

The rest of the day involved me working in the garden. I planted (finally) the zinnias that Mirinda had bought last week as well as properly sinking and placing the stepping stones through the area that needs a new name but is still called the Wildflower Patch. I had to stop at one stage because it was too hot and I was melting. I sat on the terrace and waited for the sun to go behind the house.

Such blue skies

Eventually the sun dipped behind the roof and I finished the path. Then it was into the kitchen.

Actually I’d been in and out, preparing the aubergine prior to griddling but now it was time for some serious cuisine-ing. And it was about now that our dinner changed from my ‘sort of’ plan to a whole world of pot luck tapas.

The completed menu consisted of:
– sheep cheese gouda and sausage marinated in za-atar and oil
– mashed up bacon and egg
– (not quite ripe) guacomole
– mixed olives marinated in cumin and oil
– berenjenas with the barest drizzle of pomegranate molasses and griddled asparagus
– chilli avocado stuffed red peppers
– duck breast on garlic ribbon cabbage

I was quite pleased with it all given I was basically using what I had in the fridge and cupboard to make it all up…except for the berenjenas which someone else made up to the delight of the world.

Al fresco tapas

And it all tasted GREAT!

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One Response to Store cupboard tapas

  1. mum says:

    It Looks lovely but cant tell you if I would like it till I try it. Might be one or two that I woudnt but sure looks nice. Its one way to clear the fridge out of bits and peaces, Love Mum xxxxx

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