Even when they're teenagers, school holidays are surprisingly disruptive (In a good way, sweetie! Love you! xxoxx) and there are people in and out of the house at all times. Meals need to be flexible, and easily adapted to include unexpected extra mouths to feed. I try and keep the cake tin full, and enough ready-made pastry in the freezer to knock together extra food in a hurry. A sheet of pastry, smear it generously with some pesto or tomato sauce, sprinkle on some cheese and pop it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes and you have a 'pastry pizza' starter.Dishes such as spag bol are easily bulked out with extra tomatoes and pasta. Pasta salads are quick and easy, as well as filling, so the protein part of the meal (meat/fish/whatever) can be divided into smaller portions. I finally got my hands on some crunchy peanut butter (not so easy to do here), so my white chili is back on the menu. I usually accompany this with rice and flatbreads which are, again, a good way to bulk a meal out to accomodate last-minute guests.
It's easy to slip into the habit of repeating the same exact recipes time after time so on Sunday, with a new guest to lunch, I decided to go for a lighter, mousse-ier topping for chocolate tartjust to change it up a little. Wild and crazy, I know. The good thing (apart from the chocolatey deliciousness) about this tart is that it is frozen, so it can be prepared in advance and whipped out of the freezer to soften whilst you are eating the main course.
Mmmmm......chocolate.......
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