Sometimes, you just want a wodge of carbs

 It's been quite the weekend. Much of it has been really lovely - I had a much, much chirpier birthday than expected thanks to friends online and off. I have cooked-but-not-cooked tasty food at minimal effort. I have walked plenty (in company at times!) and done 3 hours of yin yoga, which is hardcore relaxation. And, well, four different champagne cocktails in two nights is quite a record.

For that record, in fact: a French 75 didn't entirely tickle my fancy, though I've been told it's one to drink fast and early and I may have let it go a bit flat. But I loved the sherry fizz, and the classic champagne cocktail. And my own damson gin with fizz is damn fine - possibly even better than a classic cassis kir (tbf I didn't have one of those this weekend - there are limits, if not to my capacity, to my open bottle). 

Anyway, it's been fun. But today crunched into some bad news of the kind you get with elderly parents, of the imminent admin and worry kind. I'm glad the champagne was all used up at this point, not to mention that my mild hangover (of the slightly-too-hot and minor headache kind, rather than anything worse) was cured by a lovely long bracing walk in the cold outside, as these things should be. 

 

Lunch was Kat's Long German Word Soup (excellent, although I effed up frying the dumplings - they are fine scraped off the pan tbh - extra crunch). The soup was a can of consomme, with a few bits of veg I had lying about (one carrot, two spring onions, some garlic because why not).

And dinner? Dinner was a large sausage roll. Sometimes, that's just the right thing.

It's veganish week at my place, though. So also not. This was delicious - not-sausage rolls from Kate Young, Little Library Christmas again. Perfect for veggies, vegans if you can sort vegan puff pastry. 

 

It's a sweated leek, a pack of mushrooms chopped fine and cooked right down till dry, some spinach (frozen in theory, not in practice), lots of breadcrumbs, and a mix of 1tbsp each mirin, soy and red miso. Mix it all up and chill it. I thought I'd over-salted it, in fact, with the end of an old bottle of dark soy and some over-enthused miso spoonage. But the chilling meant it got absorbed into the breadcrumbs more and it balanced well. I suspect this is quite forgiving.

One sheet of supermarket puff, spoon the filling along the long side, roll into one giant sausage roll. Chopped into 4 (recipe says you can do it as 16 little ones, but the filling is pretty crumbly, I wouldn't want to try). 30 mins at 200degrees, and it's huge and delicious. 

It will do 2 meals, obvs, but I can't believe I thought I'd want chips alongside. Fortunately, I didn't start them. All it needs is some salad, and a good measure of Crabbie's ginger booze. Winter picnics, and consolation.