It had been some time since we’d eaten healthy over the weekend. So I decided to go grocery shopping, and brought my assistant with me. On the way out, he said, “Daddy, I need to shee shee.” He walked over to the side of the driveway, pulled down his pants, and watered the drain.” I was amazed by the spontaneity.

I could not decide whether to drive to Carre Four or to Cold Storage. So after strapping Oliver in I asked him, “Should we go to the store nearby, or the one that is far away?” This was his reply –>

At the store
Many people at the store looked at me, utterly amused. In my shopping cart was this three-year old, rattling off his impressive kitchen knowledge. “Daddy, there’s a spatula over here. Are we going to get some wine? They have so many kinds of cheese. Daddy, I just saw a jambu. You better look at your shopping list so you don’t forget something. Nana always has a shopping list.”

One question caught me off guard.

“Daddy, why is the fish not moving?”

“Urmmm!”

“Is it asleep?”

This one drew a chuckle from the woman next to us.

“Daddy, are you going to buy some celery?”

“No, I don’t really like celery.”

“Me either.” (I’m still working on teaching him when to use either and when to use neither)

It was my plan to make spinach fettucini, so I scoured the produce department for spinach. For five whole minutes I searched for the elusive vegetable, pushing my cart around in circles. Like a siren on a police car, Ollie called out repeatedly in the cutest voice, “Spinach, where are you, spinach?”

After paying for our stuff, we left the store. He was asleep by the time we got home.

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Recipes
Someone was asking me for some recipes the other day. So I thought I’d just post it here and send her the link. Tonight, the plan was to have an Oriental Salad and Alfredo Tuna Pasta. The pasta dish carries some additional ingredients (mussels and mushroom), purely because Oliver insisted we buy it at the store. Oh, one other item I ended up getting was purple basil. I never knew such a thing existed, and couldn’t help myself.

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Oriental Salad
Leafy lettuce
(green and purple)
Green, Red and Yellow Peppers
(Cut really thin and length wise so you can get it stringy)
Roasted pine nuts
Grilled Chicken
(Seasoned with soy sauce, pepper, worcestershire sauce, honey)
Sesame Dressing
(Get them Japanese ones… it’s so good you can eat it on toast)

Pasta
My rule of thumb is 100g of flour per person. And one egg per 100g. Sieve the flour, make a well in the center, break the eggs in, and have a good go at it, as if you are angry. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and stash it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Pasta Sauce
Mix about 150 ml of cream, 2 eggs, and 100g of shredded cheddar cheese into a bowl, and set aside. Fry one chopped onion, add some salt, tip in half a glass of white wine, wait for it to reduce and then turn off the fire. Toss in a can of tuna and the clams, put a lid on the pan, and let the residual heat do the cooking.

When the pasta is boiled, drain it, put it back in the pot and then mix in the creamy liquid. The hot pasta will help cook the raw egg. Stir in the onions and the seafood. You’re done.