23 March 2014

Just Making a Cuppa


I was up early this morning. Old habits die hard and after a gazillion (or so it feels) years of getting up at 6am I still wake, even on weekends, when  we aren't rushing to get anywhere.

Actually getting up early is one of my joys in life. I love the peace and quiet of the house when everyone else is still asleep, the stillness is almost tangible. I settled down to do some work and before I knew it Wayne wandered in to say good morning and it was 9am!

Then I was sidetracked again, and became absorbed in planning upcoming newsletters and Journals until I decided it must be time for a cuppa, and low and behold it was 11am!

That's well and truly cuppa time and I couldn't get into the kitchen quick enough to get that coffee going.

I made it as far as getting a mug out of the cupboard. Then I realised the dishwasher could be emptied, so I started. It takes all of two minutes to empty the dishwasher, and I don't need to concentrate so while I was carefully stacking plates and bowls and putting cutlery away I decided to do a slow cooked leg of lamb for tea, with garlic and rosemary vegetables.

Out came potato, onion, sweet potato, zucchini and carrot. I figured I may as well prep them and let them marinate in olive oil, rosemary and garlic until it was time to cook them - I'm usually exhausted by tea time on a Sunday so best get them done early.



While I was peeling the veggies I decided I may as well do the vegetables for a vegetable moussaka and it could go into the oven with the lamb, seeing the oven was going to be on for hours.  I diced onion, capsicum, zucchini, celery and tomatoes and put it in the pan with a drizzle of olive oil, some crushed garlic and a good pinch of oregano to sweat and cook down to a nice, thick sauce. While that was cooking I sliced the egg plant and some potatoes.

As I picked the egg plant out of the basket I picked up the pumpkin too. Today is a cold day (well compared to the weather we've had so far) so I thought pumpkin soup would be in order.


I put the vegetables for the moussaka on to cook and started cutting up the pumpkin.

And that reminded me I wanted to put the lamb on to slow cook. Out came the roasting pan, some garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs and a couple of lemons. I studded the leg of lamb with garlic slivers, shredded the leaves off the rosemary springs over the lamb and then squeezed the lemons over all  of it. And into the oven it went.

By now the sauce for the moussaka had thickened and smelled amazing. Spreading it over the bottom of my lasagne dish I couldn't resist a taste - oh my it is good! Next was the layer of egg plant, then the potato. I quickly made a cheese sauce to spread over the top and covered the dish with foil. It went into the oven with the lamb and I set the timer for an hour.


Back to the pumpkin. It was roughly chopped, along with a couple of onions and dumped into my biggest saucepan. I had some chicken stock in the fridge, and it was added to the pot, just enough to cover the vegetables. Setting the pot on a medium flame I left it to bubble and simmer away while I started to clean up.


It was about this time that Hannah wandered out and asked what I was doing.

I looked at the clock, at the stove and the oven, and at the dishes in the sink and told her

"Just making a cuppa".

Here it is, 3:06pm and I still haven't made it either!

Do you get up to make a cuppa and end up completely sidetracked, cooking, baking and cleaning in the kitchen?

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5 comments:

  1. NO!!! Nothing comes between me and coffee. Then your day sounds like one of my weekend days but always with coffee (make that several).

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    1. I'm so glad someone else has days like mine :) I did finally get my coffee, with a couple of rather nice chocolates to enjoy with it. And the roast was perfect, the soup is in the fridge and freezer for lunches and we've just enjoyed the moussaka as the vegetable with our dinner, leftovers portioned into freezer containers for future freezer meals, so it was all worth it. But I really was ready for that cuppa when I finally got it!

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  2. I had to laugh when I read this post. It sounds just like me...I get so sidetracked that sometimes I forget what I was going to do in the first place. Although I don't think I'd I'd forget my cuppa. I just seem do it somewhere between all the other bits and bobs. Sue

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  3. I have often had a cold coffee an hour or two after making it.

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    Replies
    1. I've become so used to cold coffee over the years I've decided I quite like it :) The last couple of weeks I've been deliberatly drinking it cold - making a pot of expresso in the morning and keeping it in the fridge, just adding milk when I feel like a cuppa - perfect for the hot weather we've been having.

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