Winter warmers

I am shocked to see that it has been over 3 weeks’ since I last posted. Obviously I have been eating in this time though not always taking pictures. As the weather has been cooler it’s been time for filling stews which last a couple of days (I don’t mean they’re that filling that you can’t eat for a few days’, I mean I always make loads!) and curries. My quick and easy curry which I’ve been making for more years’ than I care to remember is ‘hot touch curry’ which turned out rather more hot than usual in the latest batch as I had a minor slip with the curry powder.

The bluriness of the picture is due to the steam rising off it. I love it and it tastes even better the next day when it’s had time to ‘curry up’ a bit more. Stews also seem to taste better the next day, in fact the last veggie stew I did was so good the next day that I ate it cold so I could really taste the flavours. You’ll just have to take my word for it as I forgot to take a picture. I’ve always enjoyed bunging loads of veg in a pan and letting them all cook together although I have to say that the veggies here on Skopelos leave a lot to be desired. In England we used to get an organic veggie box delivered every fortnight and it was really good trying all the stuff that I maybe would not have bought otherwise. Here however, the shops seem to get the dregs of the vegetable world. I don’t know what this is due to – transportation from the mainland being too slow, poor shipping conditions, lack of local availability – whatever it is, it makes the prospect of vegetable buying a chore rather than a pleasure. I know that growing our own would be the ideal solution but until we have a place of our own, that is not a possibility. Sean is in Volos on the mainland and he says the choice and quality of the veg over there is really good, so I’m getting him to bring me a care parcel back!