'Tis the season to go to black-tie dos...

Has been a busy week indeed gearing up towards an Awards ceremony our team has been organising at work. When Friday arrived I was eager to collapse in an undignified heap (or just have a weekend zoned out in front of the TV), but of course that cannot happen, so instead we have had an action-packed time, which was probably a good thing to take my mind off of the week ahead!


I had a big old cooking session on Friday afternoon when I whipped up a delicious Minestrone to fight off the coming snow (I served it with Parmesan which I will do more often with soup). I went on to make a cheeky Jumbo Chilli Sauce for my mother-in-law to have with a prawn salad when she stopped in to look after Little M to allow us a night-out at a lawyers' black-tie dinner. It was a really easy sauce to whip up - roasted red peppers, loads of coriander, oil and garlic and it keeps in the fridge for a week - no photo as Blogger keeps rotating it sideways so not uploading it! The do was fun and we won £160 worth of spa vouchers for Rudding Park in Harrogate - nice.



On Saturday we had Parsley Pesto for our X Factor TV dinner. I think I have said before, but pasta and pesto is one of my favourite meals so this is a nice twist. We also had a lovely time with a friend who moved out of Leeds a couple of years ago. One of those 'pick-up-where you left off' friendships. I was a bit embarassed that we were all in bed by 10pm on a Saturday night though. That's what happens when you are up after 1am on a Friday. Can't stand the pace anymore...


I also made a Venetian Carrot Cake, mostly to treat MIL who is gluten-intolerant. I am liking these flour-free cakes more than the real deal. The ground almonds mean that the cake lasts longer too so there is no pressure to eat it all day long just to avoid throwing any away (which in my view is not allowed).




Fast-forward to today, and my work event has passed, much to my relief. It was a success, and we managed to get home from London, despite snow blanketing most of the country. It is wonderful how people come together in what seems like a crisis (it's only a bit of snow for goodness sake)! Panic-buying, 'snow days' and cars abandoned all over the place.


This week I have lived almost entirely on panini, chips and the like so it is little wonder that my tummy feels somewhat neglected. I would love a detox week in Thailand but that just aint going to happen. With tummy ache, and a toddler who refuses to wear a hat, scarf and gloves in Russian-like weather, I ventured out of the house with the buggy to get some basic supplies. I had to walk backwards to our local shops, dragging the McLaren all the way! The only thing that would do to eat on our return was a cosy bowl of cous-cous (Standby Starch) - flavoured with thyme, cumin anc chicken stock. Really reassuring food.


I had dinner early with Little M and we feasted on Pancetta, Pepper and Parsley Pasta which looked so pretty (although maybe not on camera)! This meal has just the right balance of salt (pancetta), lemon and chilli to tick all of the boxes. It was also quite a fitting meal, as it looks like christmas on a plate - fantastic red and green - which brings me onto an announcement...
I am switching from Nigella's 'Kitchen' to 'Nigella Christmas' as we are now in Advent. A bit of a diversion from the original plan, but necessary methinks!

Seasons Greetings to all.

Goddess Mx

PS - I also made an appetising tomatoey Cous-Cous with Salmon dish which I had forgotten about, as follows (my brain can't keep up with the cooking):