Greek sunshine food souvlaki with delicious lemon potatoes
The recent week of glorious sunshine was an absolute tonic. I was working very close to East Midlands Airport in a lovely small town called Melbourne, where I hosted a baking event in someone’s home as part of a hen party celebration.
It was the first time I had done an ‘at home’ and I was not sure of the protocol but it was a total joy.
All the hens, 12 of them and myself, had loads of fun making millionaire’s shortbread.
As the weather was so glorious, the drive there and back was fabulous too.
The following day we went to The Carding Shed for lunch to celebrate my mum’s birthday, joined by our youngest daughter Vanessa and her partner Charles.
They drove up from their home near Oxford as Vanessa was attending her graduation ceremony at the University of Leeds on the Monday.
Vanessa has a BA Honours in French, Masters from Oxford in Medieval Studies and now PhD from Leeds.
She gained her doctorate during the first lockdown but the actual ceremony was postponed until now.
Once again, the sun had its hat on, as did Vanessa!
Hers was a floppy affair with gold tassels and her gown was green and orange.
She looked triumphant and we were incredibly proud.
I also got my sun lounger out of hibernation! I really loved being still for a little while.
People often remark that I am very busy and always buzzing off here and there. They are correct, of course.
So, when I spot a patch in my diary with nothing much in it, I use the time to relax.
My body at least, my mind uses the time to plot and plan!
Lastly, the sun inspired me to cook some sunshine food souvlaki.
It is simply lamb steak cut into chunks and marinaded in lemon juice and olive oil, then threaded onto skewers and cooked under a hot grill or even on the barbecue.
I served it with Greek lemon potatoes. These are just ordinary roast potatoes with the juice and zest of a lemon added to the oil, plus oregano and garlic.
I roasted carrots and served them with crumbled feta and then made some tiny flatbreads.
Scrumptious!