My
mother says “You never miss the water
until the well runs dry”; more to the point, I would now say, you never
miss the water until someone busts a pipe and leaves the whole neighbourhood
without water - on the hottest day of the year, too! Not joking. From getting
up early in the morning (about 7ish) until almost 7pm, there wasn’t a drop of
water to be got from the tap. Hard to believe considering I live in a seaside area
in a county that has the Atlantic Ocean as its next door neighbour – well, on
one side anyway. Not good when there are also two young children in the house
and one that starts off her day with a ‘bobo’. So, in between running to the
play park, beach, shops etc., time had to be factored into the day for
transporting very large 5 litre drums of water home. That was as good as a workout in the gym, I think!
When
it comes to meal times though, I’m sure our house is no different to anyone else's – I mess
the kitchen, we then eat the food and then it's clean-up time. That strategy works fine as long as
there’s mains water coming into the house and, therefore, the dishwasher is
able to work. Not so good though when there’s a notable absence of water. And, I’m
sorry, but I am not wasting my time washing dishes on what could be the last
remaining day of summer. Therefore, it went to the line, the dishes that I used
that is. By the time it was evening tea, I was down to using the Christmas
plates and cups and next on my list was the good delf. Thankfully though, normal
life resumed with the return of running cold water. Sometimes I think that my mother's generation (who is now in her 60s) were a hardier lot than my generation when it comes to domestic duties. When I think of her telling me about rinsing Terry nappies, handwashing clothes etc. I think to myself "Thank God in heaven that I missed that era!". I really wouldn't be cut out for that. I love my time-saving appliances and gadgets. Thank the Heavens for technology!
With
the absolutely glorious day in Donegal that it was, with temperatures well over
their 20s, I needed to make something befitting of our good weather. The recipe
I decided on said “best served outside on
a warm summer’s day” so that’s exactly what I did with the Fusilli with courgettes and lemon.
I
started off my putting on the fusilli pasta to cook and then moved on to the
courgettes. I halved them, sliced them at an angle and then sautéed them in
olive oil for a few minutes on a high heat. I then set them aside while I mixed
a tiny bit of the pasta water, mascarpone, lemon zest and lemon juice. Once the
pasta was ready, I drained it and added it into the pan of courgettes and the mascarpone
mix. I mixed everything together and then served it up with shavings of
parmesan cheese.
The
verdict…
A
very respectable 6 marks out of 10 from me. Without the inclusion of the parmesan,
it would’ve been a five but the parmesan was absolutely perfect for this dish.
I really loved the sautéed courgettes too. The lemon juice gave it a bit of summer
zing. When I was eating it, I also thought I’d be perfect to take to the beach
for a picnic as long as it wasn’t made to far in advance so that it would still
have a wee bit of warmth in it. The ultimate question though – has it made The
List? The answer is yes but definitely a dish for milder days so I couldn’t see
me making this one in the depths of winter.
Overall,
the recipe was extremely easy and quick to make. The only vegetable needed was
a courgette so it’s a good recipe for not needing a lot of ingredients so
definitely one that wouldn’t take you a long time to source in a supermarket.
Supermarkets yes, that reminds me of something but I’ll leave that topic until
another day. Until next time, I hope you’re enjoying your summer wherever you
are…
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