September 2nd and 4th – Sarah’s
Moroccan Cous Cous, Pappa Nank’s Pasta Salad
After
realising I had no friends on Tuesday, I thought it was best if I tagged along
with Sian and her friends on Wednesday and we headed out to Bingo. It was a
really fun night. The prize at Bingo was a meat tray, so Sian and I were
determined to win. We didn’t... but something even better happened! One of the
girls at our table won three rounds (in a row which was weird) and therefore
got three meat trays – did I mention she’s a vegetarian? I could not have been
happier when we ended up with TWO meat trays in our fridge!
To celebrate
our win, we decided to have a BBQ on Friday night and I thought this was the
perfect opportunity to cook Sarah’s Moroccan
Cous Cous. It didn’t look too hard and buying all the ingredients
didn’t cost much so I was pretty happy. I’d never cooked Cous Cous and wasn’t
exactly sure what it even was (I’m still not sure if I’m honest) but I followed
the directions and it all went to plan. Sian and I amused ourselves by making
jokes about the fact that when Sian tried to write Cous Cous in her phone, it
came up as Anus Anus. There were only four of us in total, but I felt sick and was tired so had to firmly assert that
“if you are all going to talk at once I can’t hear any of you and therefore
won’t listen to anyone” – Mum much?
Everything
went to plan. I only put in about half the amount of oil and half the amount of
butter because the amount in the recipe seemed a bit excessive. It was still be the right consistency so I might leave even more out next time.
Peta, being
the enthusiastic guest she is, oohed and aahed and loved my salad sick!
Everyone else liked it too (just not as audibly) and we had a delicious BBQ
dinner.
On the weekend, we all
headed home for Fathers’ Day and I decided to cook another
salad to contribute to lunch. (This is partly because I felt bad about what
happened with Grandad’s present. I made him Rocky Road and had so much I gave
the leftovers away to The Pig saying “Sian and I don’t eat this
kind of stuff so take it”. As it turns out, I do eat that kind of stuff so ate a
number of pieces out of the jar I’d prepared for Grandad and then had to
rearrange it so it still looked full! A contribution to the family gathering was definitely needed to clear my
conscience!) I decided on Pappa Nank’s
Pasta Salad.
I had made
this once before to take down the coast, but was running so hideously late that
I had to get Sian to cook the pasta and the bacon and I did it all wrong
anyway! So, I decided to try again in the hope that I could nail it! It was all
pretty easy and I indulged my family’s requests by singing Opera for them while
I cooked.
I left out parsley
because I couldn’t be bothered to buy it but I don’t think that mattered. I
used an extra two rashers of bacon because I love it and as much as I was tempted
to buy spiral pasta instead of shells, I forced myself to fork out the extra 40
cents in order to follow the recipe.
Dad picked
me some chives out of the garden and told me to just fold them up and cut them
with the scissors. About five minutes later he came in and started laughing at
me because in my obsessive compulsive way I was trying to line them all up at
one end and make sure they’re all facing the right direction. I knew it wasn’t
necessary, but once I started I couldn’t stop!
Anyway, it
all went to plan and I served it up and got some nice compliments. I thought it
was a bit too rich. I don’t think it was like that last time, but it was still
nice. I think there was just too much of the sauce for the stuff that was in
it. Still ate a fair bit of it though so it can’t have been too bad!
All in all, I think both salads were a success and I’m sure
I’ll make them again over the summer as BBQ season officially begins!
Tips: Halve the
amount of oil and butter in the Cous Cous.
Music: I think
Amy Winehouse was on for the Cous Cous and I sang Opera while making the Pasta
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