LIGHT LUNCH #2, WITH ERIKA AND SYLVIA

Pretoria, South Africa

We had a light (vegetarian) lunch with my sister's neighbor Erika and Erika's sister Sylvia yesterday. I did the cooking - my last "big cook" before I leave. It was a perfect spring day, so lunch was had in the garden. I was very happy with the final result of everything I made, and so were (by all accounts) my audience.

On the menu:

* freshly baked bread

* asparagus quiche
* roly-poly (= baked jam roll) with custard

I had planned the menu (and bought the necessary ingredients) a few days in advance but changed it sometime in the early hours of the morning. I had intended making a zucchini (known over here as "baby marrow") bake and passion fruit cake, but changed the passion fruit cake to roly-poly and the zucchini bake to asparagus quiche as I realized these would be more appropriate for the intended audience. The changes meant that I needed more ingredients. My sister kindly offered to make a quick trip to the supermarket to get what I needed, setting me free to start preparations right after breakfast.

Erika asked me some time ago: how does it feel not to eat the food you cook yourself? Some background before I tell you what I told her. Even though I myself am vegan, I cook vegetarian for other people (a position strict vegans would find totally untenable). This means I don't get to taste much of what I'm cooking; I don't even lick a spoon containing non-vegan ingredients but wipe it clean. I go by smell and appearance instead, as well as honest feedback from those who consume what I produce (and yes, they are honest; some are forthright, some are not, but in the latter case I know from what is politely NOT being said what they really think). My answer to Erika's question: it feels perfectly normal not to taste the food I cook. My mom (who was an excellent cook, from whom I got my love of cooking, and who is still my role model) never tasted 99% of what she cooked or baked, for decades (no exaggeration here). She must have baked hundreds, if not thousands, of sweet and savory dishes, none of which she ever tasted. I was an omnivore at the time, so I had the pleasure and privilege of tasting all of her cooking and baking. I can attest to the fact that it was really, really good. Super tasty. All of it.

Back to yesterday's lunch. I decorated the table with some azalea flowers from my sister's garden, as well as two "new generation" candles with wax shells and LED lights. I love these candles - they're so much more practical (not to mention healthier) than conventional petroleum-based ones.

This time I remembered to take "before" photos, but the table was in the shade, and I was out in the sun when taking the photos, with considerable glare on my mobile phone screen, so I kind of guessed at what I was photographing. Some of those guesses turned out OK. The photos feature:

* My sister and Sylvia at the dining table

* Sylvia and Erika

* One of Erika's two cats. Both paid us a visit.