What we ate in 2012
Condensed milk and chocolate cookie squares
My dinner lists began midway through 2012. Clara was coming up to two years old and Felix was only two months. I don’t remember the moment that I decided to become more organised, but I must have got through those difficult first couple of months of having a newborn, a toddler and barely any sleep, getting by on a wing and a prayer, and then made the decision that I needed to take control again!
We had (crazily) decided to renovate the kitchen when Felix was still really very tiny, and although the cupboards stayed in place, the breakfast bar was removed, the floor lifted, patio doors fitted and of course there was dust everywhere. I remember having to go down to the dismantled kitchen in the middle of the night to sterilise baby bottles and feeling absolutely sick with tiredness. But we were creating a lovely family space, and perhaps I was inspired by that to start thinking of all the delicious dinners we would enjoy there together.
At this time Felix wasn’t eating solids, and Clara favoured plainer food. So although sometimes we would eat together, most often I would cook an early tea for Clara and then Nigel and I would eat together later. It’s because of this that various curries were dinner time staples during this time. Prawn saag; Thai pad kra pow; a very hot and spicy pork and cashew stir fry; and there were several instances of making a quick and easy curry using sauce from a jar. If I was making one of these dishes then Clara would have an alternative tea of fish fingers and mashed potato, beans on toast, omelette or soup. But at all other times she would have a small portion of whichever main meal I had prepared.
We were eating quite a lot of meat back then, and I have many lists which include what I needed to buy from the butchers written on the same page as the recipe ideas. I was making moussaka, chicken and mustard pie, meatloaf, stews and shepherds pies. Eggs, ham and potato pie comes up quite a few times: a simple supper that everybody enjoyed. We were also eating fishcakes, fish pie, mackerel with boiled potatoes and salad, lots of variations of pasta, baked potatoes, Spanish omelettes, and – particularly in the summer – salads including a favourite Greek salad with halloumi and chips, and a steak and mango salad with a Thai style dressing which I made for visitors and special occasions.
Sweets and treats that came up time and again that year were cheesecake, ginger cake and a pear upside down cake served with custard. I also experimented with making Portuguese custard tarts (pastel de nata) with some success, and brownies that became a go-to recipe for a speedy bake to offer friends with a cup of tea when they came round for baby and toddler play dates. I also regularly made chocolate chip cookies with a condensed milk dough. Super sweet, we must have liked them for the huge hit of sugar that boosted flagging energy levels!