ready to eat

I'm not baking cakes at the moment. All my energies are being consumed by adobe illustrator, with occasional retreats back to our bed for sustaining sex.

I am cooking, as ever, if mainly for necessity. It has not been an aesthetic week. Scrambled eggs with turmeric and grated courgette; delicious mildly curried egg with substance, nutritious and vile to contemplate on the plate. I ate looking out of the window. If you have ever changed a breast-fed baby's nappy you will understand what i am talking about. Another was a pot-roast chicken; although i roast the bird for half an hour before burying it in vegetables and stock it is never the best-looking dish, although moist flesh makes up for the lack of visual.

With the promise of summer wafting through the windows, my thoughts turn to picnics. I have a little recipe book here, from an eon ago, when i worked in the city and eat from trendy sandwich vendors. It still has the free voucher attached; the recipes worked better for me than the shop goodies. We all eat my version of Pret's Famous Tuna Pasta on sunday, a family at leisure.

I made some modifications of my own, original ingredients in brackets.

for 3/4

2 tins of tuna - I prefer mine packed in sunflower oil
1 unwaxed lemon
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
2/3 leeks
bunch of salad onions (or a red onion)
1 tsp butter or olive oil
4 tablespoons capers, rinsed
2 teaspoon fresh thyme or big pinch of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of good olive oil
500g dried pasta
4 tablespoons green pimento stuffed olives (or black)
a cucumber
fresh herb - parsley or coriander

Drain the tuna. In a big salad bowl put tuna, grated lemon zest (about half of the lemon) and most of the lemon juice, all the mayo and creme fraiche and mix gently with a fork.

Wash and slice the leek, chop the onions and stir-fry in butter or oil until soft. Add capers and thyme and leave to cool slightly.

Cook the pasta, drain and add to the salad bowl. Add the onions and leek mix, and an extra 2 tablespoons of olive oil to lubricate (more if necessary), the olives and the cucumber, peeled and chopped into small chunks, and the roughly chopped herb.

Serve hot or cold, in sunshine.