Pasta galore, clams and South Indian curry

On Thursday night we had pasta yet again - papardelle with blue cheese, pinenuts and butternut squash. I would never have thought to use squash with pasta but it worked well. The recipe also uses sage which I have only ever used in casseroles but it added a punch that I liked. The meal was really good but I am feeling a bit stodged out again. Think I will have to take a pasta rain-check this week.

On Friday night I made clams with chorizo. Am enjoying a weekly outing to the market to get some fish or seafood, although this was a pricey meal for this late in January when payday is calling. The clams were plunged in ice-cold water and I chucked away any that didn't close. Sliced chorizo was fried off for a few minutes in our huge new Le Creuset pot until it gave off it's bronze oil, and then placed in a foil packet whilse the clams were steamed in sherry. I then reintroduced the chorizo, choppped in some fresh chives and clattered the results into bowls, accompanied by some crusty bread to sponge up the sauce. Lovely.

We went out on Saturday night to see some friends who were hosting an Italian meal. I immediately started planning in my head the Frangelico Tirimasu dish from 'Kitchen' but was pipped to the post by another guest who was coming who was bringing Tarte au Citron. As a starter we had delicious anti pasti followed by, yes, you have guessed it more pasta - spaghetti bolognese! It was worth it though - slow cooked all afternoon. I usually just whip up a bolognese in 20 minutes or so but as my friend V proved, it paid to cook it slowly.

After four lots of pasta last week, I was adamant about walking my 8-10000 steps a day so headed out for a half-hour brisk walk, pedometer clamped on. Thirty minutes later I had only done a measley 4000 - how on earth do normal working mums manage to do anywhere near 8000 steps a day! On top of the 4000, I did another 2200 just doing everyday stuff. The Waitrose reckons that you should do 16000 for maximum fitness - how anyone would fit in a couple of hours walking every day is beyond me!

Crying out for some vegetables, I made South Indian vegetable curry on Sunday night. I heated up some garlic oil, fried off some onions (half-moon slices), green peppers, ginger; added ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger; tamarind paste; then added broccoli and cauliflower florets to bubble for around ten minutes. More veg - fine green beans and baby corn - were then added for a further five minutes, followed by sugar snap peas. The curry was served with noodles (a nice change from rice) and sprinkled with chopped dill, instead of the usual coriander.

Looking forward to making more puddings this week as last week was a bit of a main meal-fest.

Another project for the week is a little think about starting a herb garden - reckon I spend a fortune on shop-bought stuff. I think I am going to start with mint and rosemary as they flower, so are bee-friendly too - bonus!

Goddess Mx