September 2015 Blog

 

Monday 28th to Wednesday 30th September 2015

 

Monday we worked, did a big supermarket shop and worked some more.  I bulk cooked a tomato sauce to stock our freezer and also cooked a cauldron of chilli con carne.  For dinner Sam had a spiced chicken breast with salad and I had spaghetti Siciliana.  That’s what the tomato sauce is all about!  We started to watch the final series of Downton Abbey.  It was very pleasant but you get the feeling they have made it because they can rather than because they should.

 

Tuesday I went for a good walk taking the scenic route to Xemxija and back.  It’s just about cool enough for that now with the temperature hovering around 30°.  Superb chill con carne with rice for dinner.

 

Wednesday we went for a swim at Ghadira Bay.  I found the water cold so didn’t stay in long (apparently I’m a wimp!).  Sam stayed in for ages; these North-eastern girls are pretty hardy.  We dried off and had excellent cappuccinos at Munchies.  I had a two hours guitar lesson.  Sam is on a two/five diet again so twice each week we have different dinners.  I had a baked pork chop; Sam had griddled chicken.

 

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Monday 21st to Sunday 27th September 2015

 

Monday we rose after a somewhat disturbed night.  Noisy gales have arrived in Malta and are forecast to stay for a couple of days.  The wind howls around the buildings and up the lift shaft.  The boats at anchor are tossed around like some mad fairground ride.  It looks gorgeous though!  We have bright sunshine, clear blue skies and turquoise sea speckled with whitecaps.  Today is a public holiday here so it is very quiet out and about.  Despite the holiday, we worked.  I made a big pot of vegetable and chorizo soup in my excellent new large saucepan for dinner.

 

Tuesday was business as usual.  For dinner we had pizzas!

 

Wednesday I made a spiced lentil salad, cooking the sauce in my excellent new frying pan.  We went to the Atrium and Homemate to do a bit of shopping.  Had roasted chicken with our lentils for dinner, a real protein overload.

 

Thursday we got loads of work done then went to Naxxar late afternoon for Sam to have physio.  We went a little early to give us time to wander around the Palazzo Parisio gardens, peaceful and relaxing as always.  For dinner we had left over chicken with spiced lentils and baked potatoes.

 

Friday we drove to Pretty Bay so that Sam could see it for the first time.  After that we drove on to Marsaxlokk to meet Ian and Robin at a seafood restaurant that had been recommended to them, La Capanna.  It was disappointing and we won’t be rushing back.  I have reviewed it on my food blog.  What were good were the cappuccinos we had at restaurant called Terrone in Marsaxlokk before lunch.  We wish we had had lunch there as it looks like a great place.  We will try it some other day.  We weren’t hungry that evening, so we simply snacked on crisps and wedges.  As a post script though, Ian and Robin had cruised around to Marsaxlokk and anchored in the bay.  They came ashore in Ian’s tender, tying up at one end of the promenade.  When they got back to it after lunch they discovered that some idiot had untied it and it was floating loose in the middle of the bay, so Ian had to swim out to rescue it!

 

Saturday we did the work we should have done yesterday!  The temperature is down to the early 30s so I went for a stroll after lunch, stopping at Sotto Zero for rum and raisin ice cream (missing raisins for some reason) and cherry ice cream.  It’s noticeably quieter out and about now.  The schools are back and tourists are thinner on the ground.  I walked out onto the breakwater, passing bored-looking fishermen and empty boats along the way.  Cars and trucks with empty trailers were lined up by the slipway, waiting their turn to haul their motor boats out of the water, presumably to tuck them up in bed for the winter.  The people who run the main water sports business seem to have called it a day too.  For some, this could be a sad time, seeing things winding down after a busy season.  But for me it’s great; I see this as a new beginning, the advent of the, “Getting outside and doing things” season.

 

By the way, I stopped at our little corner shop and an English couple were just finishing up at the counter and they each had a large cardboard box packed with cartons of cigarettes.  The shop owner told me that is quite a common thing and that English visitors come to him to buy 3,200 cigarettes each to take home.  Apparently that is the limit you are allowed to take into the UK for personal consumption.  He went on to say that he takes between €15,000 and €20,000 every week just from cigarette sales.  Cigarettes in Malta are far cheaper than airport duty free prices, less than £3 for a big brand packet of 20.  So, buying 3,200 saves about £800, more than enough to pay for a holiday here.  The moral of the story is, become a smoker and get a free holiday!  (Or open a corner shop and take €1 million a year just selling fags.)

 

I had the most amazing pork chop for dinner.  You can check out my recipe for it on my food blog.

Sam had a rib eye steak.  Oh, and I went for a walk after dinner.  Finally it’s cool enough for that.

 

Sunday first thing I got out for a 50 minutes power walk which was brilliant.  Late morning Sam and I went for a five kilometre walk, stopping at Miracles for cappuccinos.  We paused to look at the Ferraris and vintage American cars parked in the Aquarium car park.  And we popped into a couple of shops on the way home.  The temperature is perfect for this now.  In the afternoon Sam sunbathed and I had a nap!  For dinner we went to the Gate of India which was bloody awful.  You can read my review of it if you like.  We ended on a bright note though with ice cream from Sotto Zero.

 

Monday 14th to Sunday 20th September 2015

 

Monday was dead calm; the boats at anchor sat stock still as if on dry land.  We ended an uneventful day with a flatbread for me and chicken salad for Sam.

 

Tuesday was busy!  I went shopping and got a haircut.  My hairdresser, from Liverpool, must be the only bloke in Malta with dyed blond hair and a fake suntan.  I went to the Atrium and HomeMate and finally I have found BBQ fish grills – wire frames that hold fish in place while you BBQ them.  I drove to Xemxija via Golden Bay and had an excellent cappuccino and a carrot muffin (again).  And, honest Indian, I did lots of work too!  Sam didn’t come with me as she was feeling a bit off colour.  There are more bugs about now – flies, beetles, gnats and mozzies to name a few – so we are being careful to keep our windows and doors shut or fly screens in place.  Shouldn’t be for long though.  In a couple of weeks October will be here and with it we can expect some cooler weather with a bit more rain.  For dinner we had pilau rice, roasted chicken and salad.

 

Wednesday we had a replacement dining table delivered as the existing one had been delivered new with a small mark on it.  The guys assembled the new table and left but we realised it was too narrow so they came back and put the old one back up again!

 

We went to Miracles for a pre-dinner drink then went on to the New Madras Indian restaurant, our first visit there.  It is just a short walk from Bugibba square.  It was okay, which means not great but not poor either and we will go back.  Everything was too salty, the papadams slightly singed, the Bombay potatoes tasteless (like roast potatoes with some tasteless herb and spice mix added) and the two air conditioners were hopelessly inadequate for the room.

 

But on the positive side, the onion bhaji and chicken 65 were good, if salty; chicken 65 is apparently a dish of chicken breast pieces covered in 65 spices and lemon juice and deep fried.  For my main I had chicken Jalfrezi which was nothing like any chicken jalfrezi I have had previously and didn’t have any fresh chillies in it.  However, it was a tasty, if too salty and otherwise mild, stir fried dish of chicken, green peppers and spices.  Sam had butter chicken which was good (except for the salt) and we had sides of Bombay potatoes, and naan breads (which were excellent).

 

The service was friendly and not too hurried.  The room itself was small with not many more than 20 covers.  The toilets were spotless.  Oh, and we were interrupted by a passing cockroach that skipped across the room to a spot under a table by the window.  The diners moved and the staff rushed in; I missed the denouement, but I’m guessing a certain amount of squashing under foot and scraping up was involved!  Given Malta’s climate, I suspect most restaurants could say, “There but for the grace of God go I,” so we shouldn’t judge too harshly on that score.

 

Let’s face it, the New Madras is not the Taj Mahal of Douglas or the Pavilion of London, but on balance it was worth the visit and we will return.  Our waiter did promise to rein in the salt next time.  If, however, you have a heart condition, you may wish to consult your doctor before risking the salt overload.

 

And, you may have guessed, we went to the Ice Cream Factory on the way home.  Actually, it seems to have changed its name along the way to Sotto Zero.  Sam and I shared a cup with two scoops; stratiacella and cherry.  Ooh yeah baby ooh, ooh!

 

Thursday we went to the Atrium and bought a decent set of oven-proof saucepans.  The saucepans provided by the landlady are adequate but the Atrium has a 40% off sale so it made sense to get some decent ones before the winter arrives, when we will more likely be living on casseroles and soups.  Sam had physio on her back.  Other than the we worked a lot.  I cooked one of our favourite vegan meals for dinner; chickpea and grilled vegetables casserole.  I BBQ peppers and aubergines and mix them with onions, garlic, tomatoes, stock and spices and it tastes fab-u-lous!

 

Friday the temperature rose back up into the 50s.  I am pleased to be able to report that our new small saucepan is excellent at heating up baked beans.  After lunch we went for a 45 minutes swim in Ghardia Bay.  The shallows were like a warm bath – the sea temperature today was 27° - so we swam out a bit to cool off.  The sea besides us suddenly erupted with gazillions of small fish leaping frantically out of the water followed by a large fish seeking a late lunch.  Other than that it was wonderfully peaceful just to float in the clear, calm turquoise water.  On the way home we stopped at Xemxija Café for cappuccinos and cakes, and we bought fruit from the fruit and veg man who sets up his mobile shop in the car park there every day.

 

The hills around Mellieha look parched after a long summer.  The rocks and earth sit impassively waiting for the autumn rains.  They are a deep terracotta and call to mind the desolate foothills I saw in New Mexico.  Adobe buildings wouldn’t look out of place here.  And if Clint Eastwood rode by on a lathered horse we wouldn’t bat an eye.  Cicadas call incessantly, a natural soundtrack to our lives this time of year, and one I will miss in the months to come.  Perhaps it’s my imagination but I get a sense of anticipation of change, as if summer is giving us its last gasp effort to cling on but knows it must soon let go.

 

For dinner we had roasted butternut squash smothered in left over chickpea and BBQ vegetable casserole and it was delicious.

 

Saturday the humidity returned with a vengeance and that, combined with temperatures in the sun soaring into the 50s again, made going outside a punishment.  But we had to; we went to Sirens to get a partial refund of our membership fee, then on to Pash for a very nice cappuccino, then we did some shopping for dinner.  I don’t think wild horses could have dragged us outside again and we spent most of the day in the lovely air conditioning.  Dinner was fantastic.  The lampuki season has arrived.  Lampuki is the Maltese name for mahi mahi, a fish in the dolphin family that actually looks very similar to mackerel in shape.  We had them simply seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley and I BBQed them to perfection.  We ate them with potato wedges lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne.  Talk about lip smackin’ good!

 

Sunday was breezy which gave us a break from the humidity.  We went to Miracles for breakfast, a cappuccino for me and a cappuccino and bruschetta with feta cheese for Sam.  We wandered on and bought a couple of CDs and ended up at Sotto Zero.  I had peanut butter crunch and amaretti and Sam has stratiacella.  That evening we went out to celebrate – it is a year to the day since we arrived in Malta!  We went, as usual, to Miracles for a pre-dinner drink then tried a new restaurant, Venus.  I have reviewed it on my food blog, so rather than repeat that here, you can read the review on the blog itself.

 

Monday 7th to Sunday 13th September 2015

 

Monday we had a busy day working, cleaning and shopping.  Had left over chilli con carne for dinner.

 

Tuesday was a big public holiday here and we had a lovely visit to our friend Tina in a town called Bingemma.  Her husband is away so we went to keep her company.  She had arranged for a lady and her grown up son to be there; it turns out they are from the Isle of Man!  No coincidence, clever Tina!  Tina has a traditional Maltese house that has been seriously renovated and has a pool.  We swam and sunbathed and chatted and ate all sorts of salad dishes including Waldorf, coleslaw, a green salad, ratatouille, buckwheat with herbs and chickpea pasties.  The food was great and the joke is Tina had got it into her head that Sam was a vegetarian which is as unlikely as it gets, hence all the salad dishes!  We were there about six hours in all, the longest lunch we have had in a long while.  It was lively and fun and we drank virgin mojitos and I felt thoroughly cheered up after Lauren’s departure.  I took on the role of pool boy and I exaggerate not when I tell you I cleared over 200 wasps from the pool.  Apparently wasps have been a particular problem in the country this year; thank God we live by the sea!  We weren’t too hungry at night so only had crisps, 16 fish fingers and chips, and cheese and biscuits for dinner.

 

Wednesday was stormy for a change – the first properly rainy day we have seen for months.  We worked all day anyway, so it really didn’t matter, except that I had to cancel my guitar lesson.  I got a lot of work done on my food blog – here is a silly story to check out - http://www.morethanapinchofsalt.com/?p=347.  I have a guest recipe section now, so feel free to send me any recipes you’d like to share.  We raided the freezer for dinner; burgers with chuck wagon beans.

 

Thursday and it was hello sunshine again.  We took a break from work to go and sit outside for a cappuccino at XemXija Café which I hadn’t been to for ages.  It was excellent as always and the carrot muffin that came with it wasn’t bad either!  We went to a huge new garden centre for the first time – Sherries – to buy compost in anticipation of murdering a load more pot plants.  In the afternoon Sam had physio on her back.  I cooked blackened chicken with roasted vegetables for dinner.

 

Friday John called to do a few maintenance jobs and we stayed in most of the day working.  It’s still too humid to do much outside but not as bad as before we went on holiday.  Each morning in July our terrace and patio furniture were soaked from the humidity; now they are dry.  We went to Miracles for a drink then on to Sun City for dinner.  Sam had fish and chips and I had curry and chips.  Good old pub grub.  We met Dave and Sue for a catch up and they entertained everyone as usual with their guitar sing song.  On the way home I had bacio and cherry ice creams but Sam abstained.

 

Saturday we went to the farmers’ market to stock up on fruit and vegetables.  We bought peppers, courgettes, onions, garlic, plums, peaches, bananas, oranges, apples, lemons, grapes and pears.  We better be hungry because they’re all ready to eat now!  For dinner I made a beef curry.

 

Sunday we lounged around on the terrace for hours watching the world go by.  The sea was dead calm and, being a Sunday, the boaters were out in force.  The schools go back over the next couple of weeks so this may be a last hurrah for many boaters.  We have noticed the number of boats at anchor in the cove below us is thinning out; by the winter the number will have dwindled from well over 100 to just a handful.  Today we watched sailboats and dinghies, ribs, motor cruisers, day boats, water bikes and kayaks.  The tourist boats were heaving with day trippers visiting Gozo and the Blue Lagoon.  Several dive boats headed out to sea, presumably to dive on the many wrecks in our waters.  We watched passing people of all colours, ages, shapes and sizes ambling up and down the promenade.  Some were dressed as if for winter with thick coats and long trousers.  Others sported nothing more than ill-fitting Speedos.  Ugh!  There was a parade of sports cars, some new, some vintage and the usual Sunday scramble for parking spaces.  One of the things we love about our apartment is the birds-eye view we get of all this entertainment.  I bought still-warm freshly baked bread, Swiss cheese and gammon from our local bakery for lunch.  I strolled out in the afternoon to stretch my legs and had lemon and coconut ice creams.  For dinner I made a roasted vegetable risotto.

 

Tuesday 1st to Sunday 6th September 2015

 

Tuesday Lauren and I went out for the day.  First to Sliema where we had very good pain au chocolates, cappuccinos and fresh orange juice at French Affaire in Sliema.  Lauren bought a hand bag in Guess.  We drove on to Birxebbuga, a rather unattractive industrial town and seaport.  We stopped off at the curiously named Pretty Bay for lunch.  Although the water is a gorgeous turquoise there, the sandy beach that is Pretty Bay overlooks the commercial port with its ugly, towering cranes and assorted higgledy-piggledy buildings and equipment, not to mention ships and gazillions of containers awaiting collection.  We chose our lunch venue badly, a big tourist place called Edesia Restaurant and Cafeteria.  Talk about down-market.  The menu was huge, the food poor and the toilets disgusting (the worst Lauren has ever seen).  The condiments were a health hazard.  The pepper pot, oil and vinegar bottles were filthy and the lid of the salt cellar rusted nearly to the point of collapse.  Lauren had a chicken wrap, just about edible and I had a tuna wrap, salty to the point of being inedible.  I dissected it to discover slimy, brown lettuce.  Yuck!  We drove on to Marsaskala for a quick look-see before heading home.  Sam cooked us pan fried prawns and sea bream fillets served with left over savoury rice – delish!  We played loads of games again; dominoes, cards and hangman.

 

Wednesday Lauren and I went to the Café del Mar to roast by, and in, the pool again.  For lunch we shared a pizza pazza, that is a pizza flavoured with pepperoni and BBQ sauce and it was good if a bit too cheesy for my taste.  In the evening we went to Cheeky Monkey for cocktails which were excellent – properly made from fresh ingredients rather than bought-in blends.  The food was mixed.  Lauren had breaded stuffed chicken which she enjoyed.  Sam and I both had steak and ale pie.  It was tasty and there was loads of meat but not nearly enough gravy so it was quite dry and cloying and I left half of it.  The toilets were awful again – the gents was flooded.  On a bright note there was live music which was pretty good; 2 guitarists and a drummer.  I had bacio and cherry ice cream for dessert on the way home.

 

Thursday Lauren went paragliding in the morning.  The speed boat had to go quite slowly as it was a windy day but the wind made the paragliding more exciting.  The guy who drives the boat has a huge tattoo of a young woman on his calf.  I asked him who it is of and he said his grandmother!  After lunch at home we went to the Red Fort.  It was shut but the views are amazing from there and Lauren took loads of photos.  We drove also to Paradise Bay, Magdalena’s Chapel and Mistra Bay just for a look-see then went on to Riviera Bay for a swim.  The waves were quite high there and we swam for about 45 minutes.  As we left we passed an English-looking couple arriving for a swim and I said loudly, “That was the biggest shark I’ve ever seen” and Lauren said, “I know, it was huge!”  The look on their faces was a picture.  For dinner we had blackened chicken with chuck wagon beans.  We watched the new film of Far From the Madding Crowd which was okay but Julie Christie is a tough act to follow.

 

Friday we had another day at Café del Mar.  The main entertainment was a woman in her late twenties who was there alone and kept taking photos of herself using a mini tripod.  She asked various swimmers to take photos of her posing with her back to the camera and bum sticking out.  She kept changing her bikinis so we reckon she was planning to make it look like she’d been there on several different days.  For dinner we went to Lovage and it was great as always!  Sam had risotto with scallops followed by ravioli stuffed with lobster and served with a prawn bisque.  Lauren had prawn and courgette patties, lamb ravioli and apple tartlet with vanilla ice cream.  I had baked goat’s cheese, lamb fillets with a pea puree and a nut tartlet with chocolate ice cream.  We also had an amuse bouche (pumpkin soup), roasted veggies and potatoes and a complimentary liqueur.  Oh, and a half bottle of prosecco and a bottle of rioja.

 

Saturday we had planned to go on a boat trip around St Paul’s Bay but it turns out the trips are only run Monday to Friday!  Instead Lauren and I went to the Aquarium (again, that’s 5 times now but still Lauren is keen as mustard to see it).  On the walk home we stopped off at Michele’s for a cappuccino and a fresh orange juice and both were excellent.  The waiter couldn’t take his eyes off Lauren and told her he remembered her visiting Malta previously.  He’s definitely smitten!  Lauren and Sam sunbathed on the terrace in the afternoon while I cooked.  We had chilli con carne for dinner with rice and tortilla chips.  I made the chilli using four different types of chilli powders – chipotle, ancho, mulato and pasilla – and it was delicious.  We played cards for a while and then watched one of our favourite movies, Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Jane Eyre.  Today was a pretty perfect day really but like a storm bubbling up on the horizon, I am tinged with sadness by the knowledge that it is Lauren’s last day with us.  She has no plans to return to Malta this year and it will likely be a long time until we see her again.

 

Sunday we dropped Lauren off at the airport.  Long faces and heavy hearts all around but we will cherish happy memories of another fantastic week together.  I count my blessings that I have had two, week-long holidays here with Lauren this year and four in the past 12 months.  I guess not many dads get to do that with their grown up daughters so I cheer myself with that thought if I am feeling blue.  Today marks the end of our holiday period after three weeks in the IOM and UK and a week off here in Malta.  Tomorrow we will crash back to the reality of work and chores!