And this week ... I bought

Last week we went to Venice - I've never been before and it was way more marvellous than anyone has ever described. A simply extraordinary piece of magic. Out around Murano there are barges mooed on the edge of the canal selling fresh fruit and vegetables - an interesting way to shop, no?

Back in London for the weekend and it was to landlocked Borough Market that the man went on his own Saturday morning as I had to be elsewhere. But I did give him an extensive list, much simplified from my usual mishmash of notes. I have no idea of the cost as I was not there but I do know what I was planning to do with all the goodies.

The list starts with unsmoked bacon oysters and a small chicken - it will be from Ginger Pig because we always start there and because they have the best bacon in the world, bar none and my man knows this as he is a bacon connoisseur having eaten vast quantities of it - mostly in a roll - during the course of his life. The plan for the bacon was to put some into a bolognaise sauce I was making for dinner Sunday and leftovers Tuesday - the mince was from the freezer from the lot I bought last week at Wild Beef. More of the bacon went into barley stuffing for the chicken which was roasted, with a couple more rashers draped across it's plump little breast to moisten them and slow the skin turning gold. It made a simple but elegant supper with nothing more than a green salad and some buttered swiss brown bread and was then lovely sandwiches Sunday with cucumber and a grinding of black pepper. The last of it was lunchboxes Monday with salad. Not bad for one little chicken.

Next was roast beef - from Wild Beef because the last roast from there was divine and I wanted to order some oxtail as winter is well on its way now that the ground has frost early mornings. It made a delightful dinner Monday night with decadently fabulous goose fat potatoes and was sliced cold into lunchboxes Tuesday and Wednesday.

Fruit and veg from Booths - red potatoes for roasting with beef, sweet potatoes and onions the same, sugarsnaps, cucumber, celery, peppers, lettuce and rocket for salads and lunches, carrots with roast beef and into lunchboxes for colour now the baby tomatoes are past their best, leeks and parsnips were also intended for the beef dinner but realised I may have been a little too enthusiastic on the root veg component so I steamed the leeks and need another plan for the parsnips. Having made stock recently for the freezer, decided on curried parsnip soup for supper Friday. Bunch of bananas for lunches. There was a cabbage on the list too but it must have got complicated around about then and it never made it into the (cloth) bag. Oh well.

Some russets from Chegworth Valley for lunchboxes and coffee from Monmouth to make my day start with a sip of pleasure.

Neals Yard for the usual bread, milk and yoghurt though somehow the spaghetti didn't get go

Last on my list was a tiny challenge - Saturday lunch - so the man could have something good that he picked himself - apart from the obligatory brownie obviously. His choice was a perfect dressed crab from Shellseekers which we piled onto crusty baguette to sate our hunger after going to the movies to see the fascinating, if utterly obscure, Syndromes and a Century. See it if you can.