Saturday 27 September 2008

Maybe a bit of castor oil would help

cloudy, mild, temps 17

Rained for most of last night. Refreshing and I think the garden liked it. I did my editing pages yesterday then went to bed. Feeling a bit under-the-weather. Had a bath too. It was actually wonderful. Very relaxing. Can't remember the last time I spent much of the day in bed.

But, as a result, I didn't blog. However, I did make a curried lamb stew with the leftovers from an earlier dinner. I thought I owed Michael that. The night before I tried a new recipe. In our organic vegetable basket this week we got a head of cabbage. So I looked up recipes and found what was billed as an old Finnish recipe.

Why I thought this would taste good is a mystery. I'd like to blame my fever, except I didn't have one.

It was, basically, cabbage and ground meat poached in milk.

It tasted as yummy as it sounds. it was pretty disgusting. Poor Michael ate his meal, but without comment. Or gagging. The rest is sitting in the fridge. Not sure what to do with it. I hope, for the sake of all Finnish people, this wasn't a national dish.

Today I did more pages - up to about 150 in a 265 page manuscript. Hope to be finished by the middle of next week. Tomorrow I need to write the october newsletter too. This is a big one since we launch THE MURDER STONE next month. Very exciting!

Feeling much better today...recovering from the cold and the Finnish celebrations.

Hope you're well.

5 comments:

Hilary MacLeod said...

I thought the cabbage with ground meat in milk sounded yummy. But then I went to a British school. Later, at private school in Canada, we ate lunches on site, and you could see the imprint of the bucket on the jello dessert. No wonder I enjoy hearing what you eat at your little cafes in the townships and on your trips abroad. Cream teas -- yummy. Cabbage in milk -- yukky. Write out 100 times.

humble_pie said...

it's not surprising that michael's virus would go on to lurk somewhere and then leap out and attack you just when you were feeling a bit tired from all the glamorous gadding about.

there is a nurturing herb called motherwort, perhaps some year i'll be able to give you a plant or some seeds for the shore of your pond, or to plant beside your mother's elderberry.

but as you know the plant's energies alone can help, so i'll just whiff some over to you around 10 am this morning.

it'd be perfectly fine if you took a few days off the blog to rest up ...

(signed) hum
ps (after looking at date stamp on the preview) think there's something wrong with date stamp it's 8:11 est here.

Louise Penny Author said...

Dear Hilary,

Cream teas - yummy. Cabbage in milk - yukky.

Got it! I think it's imprinted forever. Michael now shudders when I reach for the milk. He also reels away from tapioca - which I adore! Like you, he went to boarding school. Also imprinted.

Louise Penny Author said...

Dear Hum,

Love your comment - thank you. And thanks for the motherwort energy. I think it's helping. Feel much better. My friend Cheryl works in a homeopathy place and we're having lunch later this week - she mentioned something too. Probably not motherwort, though, if my tenuous crasp of homeopathy is any good.

Thank you for the thought, and the energy - and I'm sure my mother would love the company one day.

Hilary MacLeod said...

But I love tapioca. Really, truly. Almost cream tea yummy.