the weekend looms, big and empty

It's a long weekend - Friday through to Monday - and I seriously have nothing planned, apart from two appointments on Saturday morning and church on Sunday night.

This is almost unprecedented.

Of course, I have things to do.

Quilting things, writing things...

I'd like to go see Wonder Woman again.

I need to get out in the garden and pull up the last tomatoes, harvest the last basil, clear the pumpkin vines, and put in all the seedlings I planted a couple of months ago which seem otherwise to not be growing any larger.

Mulch and spray all the fruit trees.

Trim the rose, mulch around it, build compost for raspberry canes to be planted in late winter.

Also, order in all the fruit and nut trees for the coming summer and the fencelines.

Of course, it's going to be a cool and rainy weekend according to forecast. Which can be considered a good thing when we're talking about transplanting seedlings.

Friday Five

From thefridayfive community on DW (spotted through ringsandcoffee).

1) What was the first recipe or food you learned how to cook?

This is actually pretty difficult, because I can imagine the kitchen of my childhood house - old brown-tiled floor with brown cement grout between (a bitch to clean), the lime green laminated benchtop and cupboards (holy 70s decor, Batman!), the black wire grill over the gas stove...

I remember learning to cook there, I just don't remember what...

Mostly, I think, it was cookies and biscuits. Cakes - chilled cheesecakes that my mother excelled at. She's an amazing entertainer, and the dinners with her and my stepdad are spectacular.

2) What recipe or food did you cook most recently?

Chicken pasta bake on Wednesday night. I made a big dish for a friend's family (she's recovering from day-surgery that turned into a three-day stay at the hospital) and a smaller dish for my sister and I.

3) What recipe or food do you cook most often?

Spaghetti bolognaise sauce (mince, onion, garlic, tins of tomato puree, sugar), or roast chicken (lemon, rosemary, garlic).

4) What is your favorite recipe?

Isn't that like proverbially asking a parent which one is their favourite child?

5) What is the recipe you make that impresses other people the most?

I don't know. Either the pavlova or the port wine cheesecake? (Honestly, it's just packet jelly with a jelly glaze; if you decorate it fancy, then it looks amazing and tastes excellent!)