I find the time goes more quickly between customers in the shop if I browse recipes. More often than not this makes me extremely hungry so I dash home and open a tin of mackerel, which is a bit of a waste of good hunger but there you are. Sometimes something new to me and intriguing pops up; this week it was black garlic. It is fermented garlic and promises to be both delicious and very nutritious having far more anti-oxidants than the fresh stuff. I've ordered some so shall report back.

Probably everyone else in the world has already eaten it but - new to me remember!

Culinary delights are showering on me this week. J sent me some orta. I've been looking for this ants-egg shaped pasta for about thirty years since eating it in Greece with Youvetsi, a rich lamb stew. If I lived further south I would have found it by now but it hasn't made it to the Highlands. It cooks fast and is soft - I do love soft food these days. I remind myself of Heidi's grandmother, for whom the thoughtful child pocketed all those nice soft white rolls....