I Am Being Unfriendly

I wrote this post about a month ago…and for some reason forgot to publish it. The situation has eased up a bit now. I think he finally realized he was never going to get anywhere.

Have you ever found yourself in a relationship (friendship) with someone who was a bit on the pushy side?

I don’t want to be unkind about this guy because I don’t know him well enough. But we came into contact through a mutual friend who wanted our support on a charity project he has been working on. Anyway, the three of us exchanged emails and files as we were working remotely on this project (yes besides working for the NHS, I am still keeping busy with work for charities).

Well…our work came to an end, and the guy who was a stranger to me carried on sending me messages. We would chat about different things…France, gardening, baking, books, wine. But then he began throwing compliments into the mix. I sensed he might be getting his hopes up so I made it clear that I have a boyfriend.

Anyway…he seemed a bit disappointed, but he asked if he could keep in touch because he was enjoying our chats. He said he is bored and really struggling with social distancing and I had helped cheer him up. So, we carried on occasional chats. I have explained to him how busy I am because he was sending messages everyday…and I did not want to send a reply everyday (I did not think it wise).

So…it’s been several weeks that we have been in contact since the project ended…and he has started asking for my phone number. I am very careful about who I give my number to. My phone number is for a select few. Anyone else can contact me via email. I instantly sent a message to my friend (the one who needed our help on the project) to say “if anyone asks for my number please don’t give it out”. He replied back that he knows not to give my number out without asking me.

I asked the guy (remember he is a complete stranger to me and I only came into contact with him due to working online on a project) why he needs my number. He said he is longing to hear my voice. That was not a good answer.

He and I never spoke on the phone. We originally exchanged three way emails with our mutual friend, and then once the project ended, we have chatted privately online. He has sent me lots of personal photos besides all the graphic he contributed to the project. That’s his field – graphic design. So I know what he looks like. But I have not sent him any photos of myself. I did send him a photo of the wisteria here in April.

Now I have resorted to ignoring his messages for long periods before sending a short reply. I am hoping he will get bored. I don’t want to be unkind to him as a human, but him saying he was longing to hear my voice and asking repeatedly for my number. It discombobulated me.

Oh Jack! You better hurry up and come back here. Jack has to sort out his visa….that is another story entirely!!!

Would You Like To Come Over For Supper? (Don’t Be Fooled – This Is Not A Food Blog)

THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR BAKING OR PICNIC CREATIONS FOR THE GREAT BLOGGER’S BAKE-OFF! HERE IS MORE INSPIRATION FOR YOU. THIS WAS ONE OF MY FIRST EVER POSTS!

I have been looking at lots of other blogs.  (Especially the blogs produced by everyone who has kindly decided to follow or like one of my posts.)  There are some really beautiful blogs out there.  I have to admit foodies, travellers and fashionistas are particularly amazing.  Your blog sites are stunning!  I love the phenomenal photos, the delicious details, the infectious enthusiasm.  I am so impressed by the blogs I have been scrolling through – truly inspirational!

I am not great with a camera I must admit.  Someone mentioned they thought my stories needed photos to make them look a bit more appealing.  I am trying – honestly!  I have to remind myself to take my tablet out to take photos that will relate to my stories.  I promise I will work on making my blogging site more appealing and colourful…if you have not realized by now, I am in this for the story writing.  But I am trying to apply all the lovely advice and helpful tips that readers have given me.  It has been delightful to receive feedback and encouragement.

To mark my appreciation for all of the kind and supportive words that other bloggers and readers have been sharing with me, I thought I would invite you all for supper.  I have in mind a very tasty summery dish that is vegetarian (so many vegetarian and vegan blog sites out there) and I will make some hummous, a crisp salad and a crusty loaf…plenty of lime and lemongrass pressé (wine will be available if you do like to indulge)…and if you would like, I will even make a naughty pudding for dessert.  I am going to abstain from naughty pudding myself, so I can work towards being almost perfect for my Goldfinch.

I am not a food blogger (and by the end of this post you will probably be thankful of that!)…but this is my attempt at a colourful post, full of photos and chatter.  The recipe came out of a magazine…I am sorry I do not know which, but I deserve no credit for this culinary creation.  I am going to turn these beautiful specimens into our yummy supper.

The oven is on, pre-heating to 200ºc …do you need me to find out the temperature for an oven with a gas supply?  Apparently that would be Gas Mark 6.

So, sorry for stating the obvious, but I have washed the peppers before anything else. Then I have cut them in half and scooped out the seeds and the white stringy bits.  Then as you can see I have arranged them in an oven-proof dish.

The next step is to take 100g of pistachio kernels and put them into a dry saucepan.  They need a gentle toasting.  You just begin to smell them cooking and then you need to take them away from the heat – unless you are fond of the taste of burnt nuts.

Now if you have a pestle and mortar – and you probably will if you are a food blogger – then please use this to crush the toasted pistachios.  I don’t have one, so I painstakingly chop them up with a knife.

Put them aside for now, they are going to be used later.

Now I have to get ready for the teary-eyed bit…chopping two onions.  Red, white, green – your choice.  I have used one red and one white today.  I have also chopped up four cloves of garlic.

Into the saucepan it goes with a nice lug of olive oil.  This needs to heat gently for about 8 minutes until the onions are soft and smelling delicious.  They should not be crispy, so gently does it with the heat.

I have weighed out 200g of rice.  Today I am using organic brown rice…because that is what I found in the cupboard.  I think other rice would work just as well…maybe much better.  I have added one teaspoon of dried oregano and a few twists of salt and pepper.

Oh no, you can see the reflection of my hand while I take the photo…that looks a bit creepy weird doesn’t it?

I have thrown this into the saucepan with the onions and garlic and stirred everything together thoroughly.

I have already prepared a jug with 300ml of boiling water and a vegetable stock cube and a tablespoon of tomato puree.

So the tomato-ee veggie stock goes into the saucepan with the onions and rice and everything is mixed again thoroughly.

I am going to let this mix simmer for another 10 minutes with regular stirring.

In between stirs I have prepared some of the other ingredients.

200g of feta cheese – crumbled.

A handful of flat-leaf parsley and a handful of mint leaves – chopped up roughly.

Oh and those chopped up pistachios.

So remove the saucepan from the heat and now mix in these last few ingredients…the aroma is so yummy.

Then…the nicey ricey goes into those halved peppers….

Now we need another one of these.

300ml vegetable stock and another tablespoon of tomato puree mixed together.

This should be poured over and around the stuffed peppers.

I then put a layer of foil over the top and bake the dish for a whole hour.  After an hour, I remove the foil and allow it to continue baking for another 15 minutes so that the top is a tiny bit crispy.

And voila!!!

Bon appetite!

This might not look the most appealing recipe you have seen this month (and I am sure my photography does not make it look more enticing) but I will say this…people love it!  Everyone I have made this for raves on about it…I love supermarket magazines for the recipes they contain…not too many ingredients, not too much skill and they often are very delicious.

I know what you are thinking…Caramel should definitely NOT start a food blog…safer to stick to the story writing.

All the same…thank you again for a very warm welcome to blogging.  Keep the tips and advice and comments coming.  It makes it so much fun to come home from work and see what might be waiting for me.

Now…who would like to help me with all the washing up?