#sublimesunday - just had to quickly run out to get a guinness: March 17 2019

I think this was taken last Sunday but different week same weather. Only today it read "hail showers and strong breezes". It was true: hail, rain, strong winds and every variation interspersed with brilliant sunshine but not for long.

It had dried up by the evening and I went for my constitutional around the Botsnic Garden to see what damage had been wreaked. Everything did look a bit watery and battered. As I was gloating over the 7k+ steps I'd racked up, I realised it was St Patrick's Day and I decided to quickly run out for some Foreign Extra Guinness.

Three years ago I'd never drunk Guinness and certainly not Foreign Extra, but I found I liked it and usually we have some in the house, but today, St Pat's Day, we were without. The chocolate chips are for some brioche.

Source Luckily we had already had dinner. I found this new recipe for cooking winter cabbage - usually I like it boiled or steamed a fresh green with just tender ribs, with lots of butter and black pepper.

Another Rachel Roddy recipe, this time for winter meatballs with cabbage. The cabbage is braised in olive oil and then, when tender, slivered garlic and tomatoes and the previously prepared meatballs are added.

I made vegetarian meatballs, using Merchant Gourmet Puy lentils instead of minced beef and adding some smoked paprika in place of the pancetta. My sauce was more saucy and tomato-y than in the picture. Another time, I would try some chestnuts and porcini with the lentils. It was a tasty way to cook January King cabbage, and would be good with Savoy cabbages, too.

The other big job today was planning the next stage for these little fellahs. This was taken on 3 March and now the little shoots have grown enough for the potato to be planted.

I've decided to go down to my local diy and garden store (much wider range and cheaper than Homebase or B&Q) tomorrow. I'm thinking 10l pots for these babies - they're intended as earlies producing new potatoes. Meanwhile, the half that I stored in the fridge have come out and been placed in a cool room to start chitting (producing sprouts). I'm thinking these will go into potato containers, three to a bag, as they are intended as main crop potatoes for storage and using over winter.

It's a bit of a problem thinking where to put the first lot once they are planted. There's too big a risk of frost to put them outside, so it will probably be the back porch where they will get some protection.

The other choice is the front porch, which gets more light, but that needs some organising ... I'm not sure I'm ready for that ;)

Walking