on the menu tonight

I realise I blog little about food. Particularly food I have prepared. I generally don't think to take photos of what I have made as I'm not the best of cooks. Some dishes modestly pass the standard of being edible. Some surprise me and I find myself secretly craving the taste of them at times. Others are plain booboos but provide me with a good laugh. Fab, thankfully, eats and praises everything. He's such a keeper, isn't he?

Anyway,  I have decided to share more on this topic seeing as how I love eating. I get cranky when I am hungry and don't function well. If I seem down and disagreeable, it is often linked to one of two things. Either I am hungry or I am tired. So here begins my journey of blogging more about food.

Tonight, I shall be using lamb shanks for the first time. I must thank God for the series of comical events that led to me finally opening the carefully sealed box with a Sunbeam Slow Cooker within it. A gift from Fab's colleagues for our wedding close to two years ago. If not for our ruined thermal cooker (another story), the suggestion of lamb shanks and the fact that we have nothing else in the freezer, I would not have discovered the little white envelope of money attached to the lid of this chic element. What a wonderful way to have our day brightened considering I am now unemployed.

But back to the lamb shanks. I am thinking to keep it simple so I will be braising it with similar ingredients I use to make beef stew. It is a recipe I threw together but it is probably a common basic way of stewing.  I sometimes vary the recipe according to what vegetables and herbs I have. For the lamb shanks there will be onions, garlic, peeled chopped tomatoes, carrots, cannellini beans. red wine, bay leaves and rosemary.  I could add barley too I suppose. This will be served on a bed of mashed potatoes. Maybe I should leave the garlic out of the stew and make a garlic mash instead. That sounds good. We have green beans as a side. If it looks alright, I shall post a photo.

Speaking of photos, here are a few taken over the past six months. I must get the photo of my first successful chocolate cake from Fab's phone.