Retail therapy .

sweet and sour onions

Hi, no I haven`t been stuck up an olive tree for the last week !

I have been laid low with a bad attack of flu and only just managed to crawl out of bed. Full of enthusiasm, I took a walk in the garden  to check what needed to be done. Unfortunately,  I realized that a large number of my plants and flowers had not survived  the cold winter, so to cheer myself up and give a little bit of color around the garden I went out and bought  26 plants of geraniums, 6 plants of daisies , 1 wisteria and planted them all. A good job done.

OK it`s easy to say done … but the total expense come to nearly 70 euro! Never mind,  I justify this expense as a typical sign of female depression . Shopping  is the answer or retail therapy ( as I believe its called these days.) Unfortunately Nick (my husband and photographer of this blog) is still in Libya .He is fine and is doing a great job there … … so good  the newspaper want him to stay longer . Bloody Nora.

So I will keep myself busy and  start the cultivator and prepare the soil for the vegetable garden plus…. my  nightmare….. cut the grass around the house. Seeing that the vineyard has been linked and the pruning of the olive trees has started … … ..things not bad, no bad at all !

I add a picture of my house to remind you where I am … … …

My house

A olive tree that need pruning

With regard to my cooking, what can I say …. I’ll leave you with a delicious and easy recipe … there`s only one problem , the  more than a few tears shed peeling the onions! Ciao.

servings 4:

500 grams of shallots

50 ml balsamic vinegar

2 bay leaves

30 grams of butter

30 grams of sugar

pinch of salt

Here’s how: Peel the onions , chop in half only the larger ones (they must all be more or less the same size). In a pan melt sugar and butter over low heat. Add  onions, bay leaf and balsamic vinegar, pinch of salt. Cook for 45-50 minutes over low heat with the lid on top. If necessary, add a dash of water during the cooking . Serve warm or at room temperature …. this dish is  always good served as a starter or accompaniment