Ratatouille and the passing of Time

In the lives of my neigbours, a retired couple with two loveable grandchildren, the classic French dish Ratatouille, has literally marked the passing of each happy year of their almost-forty-year union. It was the dish he cooked for his wife on their first date. Apparently he was a specialist, having based his nutritional intake as a student on this economic, yet satisfying dish.

And  since that day,  he has faithfully brought home the two key ingredients in his version of the dish from the local grocery store.  One plump aubergine, generous enough to support the dish single-handedly, and two red peppers, to give it that sweet zing.  He doesn't bother with baby marrows. Just the aubergine and peppers. Every week. For close-on 40 years.

On hearing this remarkable story, I found the thought of it very endearing. Imagine that! Having eaten a bowl of ratatouille together, every week for forty years. That's 2000 onions peeled and gently sautéed, just for starters.

So it was that I was lucky enough to sample a little helping of the remarkable Ratatouille, brought over in an oval pyrex serving bowl with lid, earlier this week, just after lunch time. I liked the look of it immediately. Rustic tones of brown interspersed with a wholesome splash of red seen through the gentle film of  condensation clinging the to the lid.  It was still warm.

"The aubergines are cooked in the microwave, she said, otherwise they absorb too much oil." I silently resolved to always cook my aubergines in some form of an oven.

" Don't bother sprinkling them with salt. Not necessary, I never do" she added. I'm never going to either, I thought.  She explained: " All I add to the pan of sautéed onions and peppers is the brinjal, a tin of tomatoes, garlic and herbs. Sometimes we buy a few smoked sausages, but that's generally it" .

I genuinely thanked her, grateful that she took the time to bring me some over.

 Back inside, on my kitchen counter, stood the beginnings of our own lunch. Cous-cous swelling up in a covered bowl. Rinsed Rocket leaves in a colander in the basin. Sliced courgettes, browning in the grill pan. The remarkable Ratatouille had just literally rescued this lot.

We sat down at the counter to have our impromptu pot-luck lunch - a bed of rocket leaves covered with  cous-cous, grilled red onion and courgettes,  finished off with Ratatouille and topped off pan-fried feta cheese. It was as I thought it could be. Delicious!

The washed pyrex bowl stood on my counter for a few days after the pot luck, as I struggled to find a way to reciprocate this kind gesture. Inspiration came last night in the form of another current obsession, Red Velvet Cupcakes.

So it was that today, just after lunch, I took two red velvet cupcakes, nestled in the pyrex bowl,  to my sweet neighbours. We chatted about them having the cupcakes with afternoon coffee - a frequent daily ritual - much the same as having a daily glass of wine with lunch and falling asleep in an arm chair, doing the daily crossword. Without a care in the world.

And I understood the soundness of daily rituals and how they form the bones of a body of time passing. I would like to measure a  successful life with bowls of Ratatouille.

Its been more than a year since I posted on the blog. More than 300 cups of coffee ago. I simply had nothing to say until today.

Sorting seeds

Normally around the Equinox in March, I tackle the job of sowing the seeds of a couple of summer flowering annuals in my garden. I've been doing this now for about 5 years - sowing, growing and collecting the seeds in late summer. Some of the seeds were given to me all those years ago: the white Rose Mallow (Lavatera) comes from my mom-in-law and the Corn Cockle seed from the gardens of the Remhoogte Nursery in Somerset-West. The Nigella (Persian Jewel) also called " Love-in-the-mist" was bought in England in 2008 and 'smuggled' in, and quite a variety of Shirley Poppy seed comes in packets from my local nursery. 

I love looking at the delicate cream coloured textures of the seed heads, casings and dried petals and other debris that end up in the Consol glass jars that I collect the seeds in.

I use my watercolour mixing plate for sorting them in the beginning, but after a while I get lazy and end up piling the seed into one jar and just sowing the whole lot - all at once!

Shirley Poppy seed heads are so delicate. When the seeds are ready for collection, the tiny 'windows' under the 'roof' of the seed head open up to scatter the fine and miniature seeds all over the show.  Every year the crop of annuals differs, and I still can't understand it? This year there was an abundance of Shirley Poppies and Nigellas - and very little else.  Some years, some seed fails to produce plants, altogether! Its like a lucky packet - you never sure what you'll get?

The jewel-like pastel shades of  the "Love in the Mist" flowers  in summer ( the seeds pods are shown below) are so beautiful that I marvel at them every year. The seed pods are like tiny baby rattles filled with medium-sized black seeds that are almost a show on their own after the beautiful summer petals have faded. They give the plant its other name, " Devil-in-a-bush" .

    The tiny sand-like grains of the Shirley Poppy will be blown off the table if the back door stood open - that's how tiny they are! Fortunately each seed head provides ample supply..

Behind the little black "wheel" of the Rose Mallow seed head you'll find tiny grey seeds, gently stuck together. The wafer-thin casing probably acts like a tiny parachute making sure the seeds fall gently to ground.

Creativity is..

Gotta love photoshop! 

"Manual" made this!

I'm still amazed every time I step out of my comfort zone and select the M for manual
feature on my camera - the only setting that can make this shot possible. The way light handles itself in a photograph is becoming my favorite topic for photos. 

4000 people having a picnic under the stars listening to beautiful classical music.

The manor house of the historical Vergelegen Estate with its 300-year-old Camphor Trees in the background, beautifully lit. More than 4000 people set up picnics on the huge lawns to enjoy the sounds of the classics, under starry skies.
www.vergelegen.co.za

 The stage (below) looks like a  giant blue net catching flying ribbons!

30 day photographic challenge: Day 30: in motion..

The tail of our beagle, FUDGE, has a life of its own. It can thump when she lies against the cupboard, it acts as her antenna on a walk in the bush, and is a like copper piping it conducts her inner hapiness.

30 day photographic challenge: Day 29: purchased..

 For this topic, purchase, i wanted to photograph the eggs I bought and this image idea came to me while i was unpacking them into my egg holder. The message board has had the word, 'consider' written on it for a while now, but with this new photo the whole thing took on a new id. Consider what you eat, where you buy, what you buy - and with eggs that is all the more poignant: free range or battery??