January 2017 - Week 3

Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd January 2017

Monday it rained quite hard on and off all day with occasional thunder and lightning thrown in. So, apart from our Monday supermarket run we stayed in. Sam was on a low calorie day so had vegetable soup, leaves and chicken for dinner. I had a mushroom stroganoff which was yummy, if a bit rich.

Tuesday I did a good walk, still dodging rain showers. For dinner I made a pinto bean chilli which was delicious.

Wednesday I went for a walk around Mellieha, taking in the amazing views from the hilltop church across the water to Comino and Gozo. Our regular coffee stop in Mellieha is being refurbished so I stopped instead at Debbie’s for a just-about-hot-enough cappuccino. I went for another walk around Bugibba in the afternoon. It’s still very cold here so lots of short walks work better than fewer long ones. Despite the cold I stopped at Sotto Zero for nocciola and chocolate ice creams, both excellent. For dinner I made a lasagne using left over pinto bean chilli. It was yum didily dum dum, yum yum!

Thursday we went for a walk around Mdina and Rabat which were both quiet and peaceful; it seems the tourists have gone home. We had a revolting club sandwich at a café in Rabat; raw bacon with bones in it, dried up chicken, chewy fake cheese and soggy toast! The weather is gorgeous again and I did another walk locally in the afternoon and a long walk after dinner. For dinner we had left over pinto bean chilli lasagne.

Friday I wandered around the local shops searching for a 3 volt battery. We have something like half a dozen electrical shops locally all selling much the same things – phones, tablets, laptops and accessories. Go figure! I stopped at the Donut Factory for a very good cappuccino. I realised on my walk that I was automatically seeking out the shade; there’s a sign of how much things have warmed up.

In the evening we had a drink at The 1930s Carpentry than had an excellent dinner again at La Buona Trattoria Del Nonna. Sam had spaghetti baked with all manner of shellfish – razor clams, mussels, vongole, shrimps, tiger prawns and Dublin Bay prawns to name but a few. She loved it and brought half of it home to have for her lunch tomorrow. I had a pepperoni and blue cheese pizza, very tasty with a slightly blackened crust, albeit the centre was a bit soggy as they invariably are.

Saturday we visited the Farmers’ market. The stallholders can see we’re not Maltese and some try to rip off visitors. One tried to charge us €4.50 for 4 courgettes, twice the going rate, another €1.50 for a cauliflower instead of €1. Fortunately we are savvy enough not to fall for that. We bought some marigolds which are now flowering; they paint roundabouts and roadsides bright orange. Following our usual routine we went to the adjacent Craft Village café for cappuccini.

For dinner I made an Indian spiced pilau with cashew nuts which was delicious. I made a spice paste of cumin, coriander, cayenne, garam masala, cardamoms, black pepper and salt and briefly stir-fried it in lots of butter. I added long grain rice then water, bought it to a simmer, covered it and put it in the oven for half an hour to finish cooking and dry out. Meanwhile I sautéed finely chopped onion, carrot and celery in a little oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper and mixed it into the cooked rice. I served it with pan-fried cashew nuts.

Sunday rain stopped play! We had pizzas for dinner.