Sunday Curry (by Jo Girl)

Despite some of my apprehensions, on Sunday morning Joe did drag himself to Stockport to do the 10 mile run.  Fuelled on my best porridge and battling the elements, Joe managed the run in a very respectable 1 hour and 17 minutes - under 8 minutes per mile!  I still struggle comprehending how he runs that fast, it would take me about 2 hours, but ho hum...  He returned home a little tired, very damp, but pleased. 

And what better way to warm up than a yummy Southern Indian fish curry with tamarind and chick peas.  It might have taken a few hours to make, but it was all good - hot, slightly sweet and sour, with brown rice and chapattis.  Given we had supported Judd Trump through his semi final at the Crucible last Spring, it was an awesome Sunday night dinner followed by Judd triumphing in the Snooker finals - what could be better?!

Haddock, chick pea and tamarind curry

The finished product

Saturday - Local Delights and Pasta Power!

Yesterday was a fun day.....after a slightly too lengthy laze in bed we headed out for a whistle stop walking tour through Chapel Allerton and back to Roundhay via Moortown Corner. First stop was Crust and Crumb Bakery where we had a really good lunch.....

Flat white

We both had the chicken & chorizo - 10/10. Coleslaw was a little watery for us

All the bread is made on site - Wow!

It was then to have a quick nose around the Hummingbird Kitchen & Bar and the New Year menus looks seriously awesome. I am unsure if our Wirral to Edinburgh festive period logistics will allow us the time to go but it is highly recommended by us! Next was what was hopefully the last of our Christmas shopping in the lovely shops in Chapel Allerton (it wasn't!) followed by a dart into the retro fayre at St Gemmas Hospice. It was surprisingly brilliant! We bought 2 more Christmas gifts plus a really cook 1970's Thermos Wine Cooler - see below.

Next on the hit list was Haley & Clifford who really helped us out with the final piece of festive jigsaw....thanks alot!!

Across the road from Haley & Clifford is The Deer Park where we spend a decent amount of time at the weekend. We had a quick refreshment stop (me a Black Sheep and Jo a large glass of red) before heading back to the ranch for gift wrapping and dinner which was pasta with prawns as I had entered myself into a 10 mile run in Stockport on Sunday morning and needed the carbs - Idiot!!

Top drawer prawn and vegetables to go with the pasta below!

Friday Night Pizza (by Jo Girl)

It's been a long week, with lots of things going on from working away to debating competitions to cheese tastings.  Our quality time together has been fairly rushed of late, which is unlikely to change as we head into Christmas.  This means that when we get a Friday evening in together, we just want to relax and have fun, rather than get obliterated.  We certainly are getting old!

So Friday night this week was a chicken and chorizo pizza with chips and home made remoulade, followed by mince pies with blue cheese and a viewing of Up!

Starting with the food, who wouldn't want to have chicken and chorizo pizza, with peppers mushrooms and jalapenos?! We also received a celeriac in our veg box last week.  It went pretty well in soup, but whenever we go to France I have to have remoulade, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try a homemade version.  Made with mayo, Dijon mustard, lemon and capers, it was pretty good but a little heavy on the moutarde!  However, Joe usually doesn't like remoulade and I have won him over so it was a win!

Joe was also on mince pie duty, having been disappointed in his effort last week.  This time he used the homage 2 fromage night so inspire some blue cheese mince pies, which were really good - that salty cheese brings out the flavour of the mince meat really well!

Post dinner entertainment was a viewing of Up, which I had never seen before.  It was highly recommended by Wolf and Gelt last week, and I must admit I absolutely loved it (even if it made me a little teary - don't tell anyone!).  If you have not seen this film, I can only suggest you find a copy and settle down to watch it, it's brilliant.

Remoulade

Chicken and chorizo pizza

A close up - chicken, chorizo, peppers and jalapenos.  Yum.

Joe's plate - complete with slightly burned chips.  Oops.

Blue cheese mince pies

And the finished mince pies.  Very tasty too.