Lamb pilaf; rhubarb and custard cake

So tired. So, so tired. It doesn’t seem to matter how much sleep I get atm, I’m still tired. I think it’s at least partly because every day brings a new long list of things that need doing: as fast as I tick off one thing, two more turn up.

Today’s “thing” was a visit from a member of staff from the DWP, coming to confirm my identity by way of my driving licence and a letter from the NHS. I have heard many horror stories about the DWP, but everyone I have spoken to so far has been lovely. I think maybe it’s the small island effect: when everyone knows everyone else, or at least knows someone who knows everyone else, being unpleasant isn’t a good strategy.

We also had a delivery of groceries, revealing that I was right when I said yesterday I was sure I had forgotten something, and that something was milk. Luckily a family friend was in the area and was kind enough to get some for us on her way home.

Today’s two new things to do, btw, are working out where we can get rid of our ever-growing pile of plastic bags from shopping deliveries, as the shop in question no longer takes them back for recycling, and sorting out the cancellation of mum’s car insurance and breakdown cover, and disposal of her car, now she doesn’t drive anymore. And yes, I know that’s three things – story of my life atm.

Dinner was Yemeni-style rice pilaf, another spice box from Simply Cook. It was tagged on their website as medium heat, and it just about was with only half of the pilaf spice paste to twice the recommended quantity of rice: with the quantities in the recipe I think even I would have agreed it fell firmly into the “hot” category. As it was, mum found it too spicy and didn’t finish her portion. It didn’t help that the lamb (leg steaks from Tesco) were quite stringy and chewy, although with a good flavour.

I quite enjoyed the pilaf – under the chilli heat there were some very pleasant aromatics of (I think) cumin and clove, and the (slightly over-toasted) almonds on top were nicely crunchy. The lamb was cooked medium rare, just the way I like it, and something I rarely manage as I tend to overcook no matter how hard I try.

Afterwards we had a slice each of rhubarb and custard cake from Iceland, which came frozen and just needed to be defrosted. It was nice enough, with a dense sponge topped with a thin layer of fruity jam and a much thicker layer of vanilla mousse. As long as you don’t expect it to taste of rhubarb or custard, and just want something sweet, it’s perfectly fine, particularly as part of a multibuy offer which meant it cost barely anything.

And now I have coffee (still decaff), and maybe a sneaky ginger biccy or two, and The Repair Shop on tv, which no-one can convince me isn’t staffed by witches and wizards hiding in plain sight: it’s the only possible answer to how they do the things they do.

See you tomorrow, everyone.