Pasta carbonara

And so I find myself at the end of the first day of another week, facing up to the fact that it’s Easter this weekend, and how exactly is it Easter (and a late Easter at that) already? On the positive side, I get to try my first Easter egg since I was a fairly small child, even if I have to buy it for myself. (One of my most hurtful memories of young adulthood was my parents going through Portsmouth, where I lived until just over a year ago, on their way to see my sister and her then-partner in south London for Easter: the car was loaded with chocolate eggs for my sister, but there was nothing for me because I didn’t like chocolate. It wasn’t the lack of egg that hurt so much as the fact it hadn’t occurred to mum or dad that I might appreciate more than a flying visit (they stopped for less than 10 minutes, as I recall) and a “sorry, we didn’t get you anything”. At least now I can make my own decision re chocolate eggs, and that decision is yes, although I’m not yet sure what kind.)

That aside, today hasn’t been egg-ceptional (sorry): my endless to do list hasn’t seen much crossed off it, although I have placed a grocery order as we’re on to our final bottle of milk and mum’s starting to worry even though a 2 pint bottle lasts us three or four days. (Living with mum has showed me clearly where my nesting / hoarding tendencies come from.)

Dinner was pasta carbonara: not a purists version, as I used smoked bacon rather than pancetta (or, even more authentically, guanciole (I think that’s how you spell it), and even put in a splash of cream,purely because we had it and I didn’t want to waste it. Mum took only a small portion but ate it all and scraped the bowl clean, before doing the same with some pineapple sponge and ice cream.

That was something of a relief as mum, although better than yesterday, has at times been confused and hasn’t wanted to eat much, even throwing away half of her favourite sandwich at lunchtime rather than eating it. (Ham, emmental, and lemon curd, if you’re wondering. I certainly do, but mum swears it’s delicious.)

Tomorrow, if she’s well enough, mum will be going out for lunch with a friend, leaving me with the peace and space to do all sorts of things, although I suspect it will be a couple of phone calls and a bit of reading rather than any of the many other things I need to do.

I’ll catch up with y’all then, with or without (definitely without) any strange sandwich flavours. Please feel free to share any odd combinations you like, either in the comments or over on Facebook: I’m not promising I’ll try any of them, but it might be an interesting conversation.