Rachel Roddy

Marinated olives

6 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /

The girls have broken up from school and seven weeks of freedom stretches ahead of them. What halcyon days… I remember them well, the sheer loveliness of being able to roam and suit myself and the sun always seemed to be blazing. But I might remember it differently from the actual reality.

What this means for me, of course, is that I will be here less often probably. We will be baking and cooking, I just won’t have the time to tell you about it.

Before the school term ended a few of us mums took the chance to have a sneaky afternoon of eating in my garden. It was really lovely. It was a friend’s birthday, so the perfect excuse for all of us to indulge. Everyone bought something along to share and a proper feast was set before us. I made the birthday cake, a lemon one, as requested, and I dipped into Rachel’s book and made her marinated olives. I am not going to give you the recipe because you really, really should buy the book as it is wonderful and full to the seams with things you will want to cook. I served the olives with manchego cheese, which paired perfectly.

Marinated olivesMay the sun shine for the next six weeks or so…

 

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Five Quarters

10 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /
Rachel Roddy Five Quarters
Five Quarters, Recipes and Notes from a Kitchen in Rome, Rachel Roddy

Look what I have!

I have been waiting for this book for six years. I found Rachel’s blog when I first started digging round in this world of food blogging. I happened to click on a link from somewhere and I was captivated. I sat there and just read and read. Rachel’s writing is beautiful, inspiring and grabs you. I don’t think she has ever written a post that I have just scrolled down to get to the recipe. You feel the need to read every word. She makes you smile, laugh and very occasionally want to cry. She makes you feel as if you are sitting right there, at her kitchen table, listening to her and watching her as she assembles yet another delicious plateful of food. If not at the kitchen table, then on the chair that used to prop open the door.

The more I read, the more I want to read. I kept asking when she was going to write all of this in a book… and here it is.

So tonight, the tea might not get cooked and the husband might get ignored. I will be reading.

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