March 2016 - Week 1

Malta is in safe hands

Monday 29th February to Sunday 6th March 2016

Monday we went to the Atrium and Homemate; haven’t been there for ages. We are on the lookout for a slow cooker but no luck so far. I did a small walk in the afternoon but it was windy and felt cold for a change so I cut it short. For dinner we had roasted lamb shoulder, a pork chop and cauliflower cheese. Yum, yum, yum!

Tuesday I went to buy fruit & veg at our favourite fruit and veg shop in Qawra. There is a hardware store next door to it and I dropped in to ask about safes. They seem to have what we need and we will speak to our landlady about getting it fitted.

I went for a walk around Armier Bay, Little Armier Bay and the headland around Magdalena’s Chapel. The views from there are amazing on the best of days. Today the sea was busy with container ships sheltering from the strong winds hitting the other side of the island. I stopped at Mambo’s for a cappuccino and a chocolate muffin. Only it turned out not to be a chocolate muffin but a chocolate fondant and they served it with ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was very good but not really what I wanted at 11 in the morning!

For dinner I made a rich lentil and vegetable soup flavoured with paprika, smoked paprika and chilli which was delicious and the recipe for it is on my food blog.

Wednesday we went to Sliema in the afternoon. I had an appointment at St James’ Hospital and Sam met a friend for coffee at Georgio’s. For dinner we had left over soup.

Thursday Sam went to art class. I went to a kitchen shop in Naxxar still on the lookout for a slow cooker. I’m getting there. I also went to Smart supermarket for the first time. It is a bit awkward for us to get to from home due to the bi-passes and one-way systems which is why I haven’t been until now. First impressions were good though, so I will take Sam there soon.

For dinner we went to Dine @ 33 which was a lucky choice as it is just across the road from us and a gale had blown up. They have a mid-week promotion on at the moment; three courses from their full menu for only €25, which is great value. It was our second visit there and it was good again albeit quiet; there were only two other diners there. I had slow cooked beef rissoles with dips, belly pork and a sticky toffee pudding. Sam had rabbit ravioli with rabbit livers, roasted lamb fillet and a raspberry sorbet.

Friday Sam’s friend Pauline came around for coffee and Sam baked cheese scones. I popped out to the bank but other than that stayed in as there was a gale blowing. We even had a few showers for a change. Pizzas for dinner.

Saturday we went for a stroll around Mellieha, did some shopping – and window shopping - and dropped in to see our friends Steve and Jan. We had lunch at Puzzu; great cappuccinos, a pretty good club sandwich and an okay chicken salad. Sam’s tummy wasn’t so good afterwards though, so she didn’t fancy the spaghetti arabiata I made for dinner. Instead she had mixed Indian starters!

Sunday we went to Acquatica for cappuccinos, sitting outside in the warm sunshine. Along the way we threw a bag of stale peanuts into the sea to feed the fish. They just ignored them; maybe they are allergic. We shopped for lunch and dinner – a loaf of bread, a chicken and a bottle of wine.

Sam spent the rest of the day gardening and pottering and sunbathing; I went for a walk following my usual route around St Paul’s Bay, Qawra and Bugibba. Everywhere was packed with local families out for Sunday lunch to celebrate Mother’s Day. People were swimming, others parading in their sports and vintage cars, and the motorcycle club roared past, but mostly people just strolled along the promenade, a nation of dawdlers. I still don’t understand how people can walk so slowly and not lose the use of their legs.