Dutch Mustard Soup (kind of)

I got up early (for me) as Shona and I had intended to walk to Sue’s for book group so I’d have needed to be walking by 8.45 to arrive up the valley for 10. However she WhatsApped to say she’d drive as it was a miserable wet and dank day. It barely got light.

I was delighted when we walked into Sue’s old farmhouse as a log burner was throwing out lots of warmth. However she led us along a passage into a room with an unlit log burner. My seat was in front of single-glazed windows. As Marian said the other day as we left Ros’s cold house “Old means cold”. (In the last few years I find I don’t process extreme heat or cold well though I’m reluctant to consider myself old!). We discussed “The Premonition” by Banana someone, a Japanese writer. This led to a discussion on Japanese culture, paedophilia, incest - you get the gist of the book.

On my return I had to crack on with cooking as Andrea, Pete and Chris are coming to eat. Veggie food does require a lot of prep and it all took longer than I thought. We’ll be having the Dutch Mustard Soup followed by Papoutsakia, a Greek dish I came across when we lived in Cyprus. It means slippers and is the hollowed out aubergines filled with cooked onion, mushrooms and the chopped aubergine flesh. Soft cheese is stirred in before filling the shells. Again it is quite beige! We’ll have salads with it and for pudding I’m again clearing out the freezer of gooseberries and gooseberry ice cream.

Mr C has meanwhile been investigating a 2 week trip in November to Malaysia. I’m a bit apprehensive about the humidity and climbing over 200 steps to a temple in a cave but at least they have aircon in the hotels. I’m interested in seeing all the places I read about in Somerset Maugham, Neville Shute and Tan Twan Eng. Anyone have other reading recommendations for that area?