I wanted...I bought...I made

Fish cakes with mint & coriander chutney

Given that it is properly winter and that I am out a lot next week I am thinking beef stew one with mushrooms - an enormous pot of daube perhaps - to keep body and soul together in a most delightful fashion. If I make it on the weekend the man can be on veg duty to peel potatoes for mash and carrots and sprouts ready to go when I walk in the door. It will be luvverley. And Tuesday and Wednesday dinner will be sorted. I'd like to try some Indian fish cakes Saturday night and possibly a spiced roast chicken we had spiced but it was pork that we had Sunday. And then it will be Thursday - and I'd definitely like chinese, noodles and peppers and possibly tofu we had cold collation with hot padron peppers and it was fab. Friday we're out - came home to fresh pasta with sage butter, ready in minutes - so how easy was that?!

Managed to spend a lot of money this week - even with a list I stuck to it's easy to do. Started at the Ginger Pig where Charlie was wrapped like a michelin man against the cold and cheerful with it. As he served me he wondered if I was the Bron who writes a blog about Borough - I've been outed! We had a nice chat about it and his vague plan to do one about meat which I think is a great idea. I asked him for a piece of pork leg on the bone for Sunday roast and lunchboxes for the week about 2.5 to 3 kilos in weight - he weighed the piece he cut and it was absolutely dead centre at 2.75. Deeply impressed! Also bought a kilo of stewing beef for beef and mushroom stew Tuesday/Wednesday for a total of £30.15, enough to get me a stamp on my Ginger Pig loyalty card.

Then to Booths for lots of veg - yukon gold potatoes for mash with stew, carrots, sprouts with stew, leeks with fishcakes Saturday night, swede in cream with the roast, sugarsnaps lunches and mushrooms for stew for £9 exactly


Then to Brindisa for chorizo and chickpeas meant for tapas Thursday night but didn't happen so a couple of treats in hand - £7.20

Lizzie had wisely opted to stay home sitting on the Aga so Richard sold us eggs scrambled Monday and sausages freezer for £5.30

At Gastronomica I bought some napoli for lunch and some of their fabulous stuffed pasta for dinner post theater Friday night - £5.40

Then to Monmouth for coffee - £8.50

I bought a tub of french salt crystals - an indulgence really but I wanted some to sprinkle over my padron peppers for the tapas feast planned for Thursday - and it's one of the enduring joys of the market to be able to try new things even after all these years these are so good I am planning to always have some to sprinkle across the top of salads and hot peppers and such like, as I am a big fan of salt - £4

Back at the Ginger Pig for a steak and kidney pie for the man for dinner Monday - £5.50

Bread, milk, yoghurt and cream at Neals Yard for £11.20

Then more bread and brownies at Flour Power - £4

So a big total - £90.25 - might need to budget a little more frugally!

Also bought mint, coriander, ginger, onions and pollack at Brixton Market Saturday afternoon, and rocket, speck, braesola, baguette and butter through the week