June can be one very sunny month but, certainly here on the north east coast, the first half has been something of a chilly, dismal washout. Whilst it's no secret I'm a big fan of winter (ah, nothing like a slap in the face from a biting wind to wake you up), I can appreciate a bright warm day as much as the next person and have to say I do prefer my cold weather at the appropriate time of year.
It's been difficult to know what to cook and eat with such unseasonally low temperatures, though I've been making an effort to be more organised (a bit sick of the daily 'What on earth can I rustle up today?' quandary, to be honest) and, with the help of several recipe books and stickers, have menu planned for the whole month, which has also made food shopping (ordered online recently) so much easier (though I do tend to forget the everyday stuff, so annoying when there's no flour to make the fancy sauce).
Porridge has made a welcome return to the table (I've eaten a comforting breakfast for dinner a couple of times so far this month), topped with a summer berry mix, seeds and a squirt of rosehip syrup. Paul Hollywood's barm cakes (flattish bread rolls, more commonly called fadges or fadgies in these parts) were baked and proved to be perfect (not too thick, not too crusty) as bean burger buns. We don't often eat puddings as such but the Boy produced another batch of cupcakes (ganache filling, peanut butter frosting with a peanut butter crumb and chocolate chips to finish, so I'm told) which seemed to satisfyingly scratch the need.something.sweet.now. itch.
The garden, that bane of my life, is looking bedraggled though the new additions appear to be surviving. I managed to plant some of the pots with annuals on one rain-free afternoon after a trip to a garden centre or three. But the little summerhouse is still awaiting it's annual sprucing with a coat of paint and we've yet to use the new Ikea garden table and chairs (though the cats are usually to be found sheltering underneath so not a complete waste of space). The peonies are almost in flower whilst the buds on the roses are a long way from bursting into bloom. At least the bird bath hasn't required much, if any, topping up.
There was pond related drama one morning as we noticed the water level had significantly reduced overnight, exposing the plant shelving and alarming the fish. Fortunately, it was easily sorted (not by me and something to do with the float valve, whatever that is) though one of the smaller fish didn't survive the ordeal.
We've been keeping an eye on the residents of the community pond and, unlike previous broods, all six of this year's ducklings appear to be thriving and are now almost as big as their parents.
Throwing the meal plan into disarray (do I just scratch out the recipe for that day or do I move it on to the next?), we decided one night to try a new-to-us Indian restaurant in town. The food was so delicious and someone just couldn't contain their delight when the dosas appeared.
