Work, work, work!

I'm a bit late this week due to the demands of the British motor industry!  Have been innundated with work in the factory so I haven't had much time for anything apart from eating and sleeping and watching the football - Oh! And a round of golf on  one of the most beautiful of golf courses in the world.

Lots of the usual favourites have appeared on the table since last week - a two notable exceptions have been  a quick Caesar salad with roast chicken and bacon and Greek lamb with potatoes.  The Caesar salad was delicious but the price of Parmesan cheese knocked me sideways!  I'll have to try and find a cheaper alternative next time I think!  The Greek style lamb with potatoes was one of those easy recipes, where once you've prepared everything, you load it into the oven and sit back for 40 minutes and voila - dinner is ready!  Sliced potatoes, sliced onions, whole cloves of garlic chopped oregano and thyme, salt & pepper all mixed together and drizzled with a good glug of olive oil, roasted in the oven at 190 for 20 minutes and then  4 lamb steaks put on top of the mixture and 300ml of lamb or chicken stock  added.  Leave it for 30 - 35 minutes and Bob's your Uncle or Fanny's your Aunt!

This week I received the August edition of the BBC Good food magazine and my eyes were drawn to an article entitled Top Tips for a safer barbecue.  I was particularly interested in this as we had been to a barbecue on Saturday and Paula & Les had done half a leg a leg of lamb on the barbecue and it was cooked to absolute perfection.  The article gave several tips to avoid food poisoning but the one I laughed out loud at was the way to test whether the food is cooked on the inside or not - "so check each piece of meat with the point of a sharp knife or skewer.  Push into the meat and count to three and then hold against your wrist - the metal should be very hot." - No kidding?  Next time you go to a barbecue, suggest this method to those who are doing the cooking and see where the skewer or sharp knife ends up!  I'll be looking out for people with charred scars on their wrists, then  at least I'll know that the meat has been cooked properly.

And finally, my round of golf  this week took me to The Rolls of Monmouth course - one of the most idyllic golf courses on the planet.  It's set in a parkland estate with spectacular views of the Welsh hills and used to be the home of Charles Stewart Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce.  The club house is the old Manor House  and one time hunting lodge.   The day was fantastic - the golf not fantastic but with views to die for, who cared!