LIGHT LUNCH WITH LISETTA
Pretoria, South Africa

We had a light lunch with my sister's coworker Lisetta today, in my sister's garden. It was a gorgeous spring day out. I had the pleasure of doing the cooking.

The menu featured:
1. homemade bread [baked by me] with butter and three different kinds of jams: grape, apricot and pineapple [jams homemade, but not by me]
2. quiche (spinach with three different cheeses: Cheddar, Parmesan and Feta) [quiche made by me]
3. cake with custard [both made by me]
4. coffee

Everything was freshly made. By the time the two ladies sat down to lunch, both the bread and quiche were still warm. The top of the quiche was still crispy, so was the crust of the bread.

We gave Lisetta a bouquet of fresh cut flowers, as well as a "PS" chocolate bar. In South Africa, PS is made by Cadbury's, and each  wrapper features one of several slogans/messages, such as "Thank you" or "I'm sorry". The one we gave Lisetta had "I love you" on it, but we had changed the "I" to "We".

Lisetta asked if she could have some of the left-over food to take home with her to enjoy for dinner, and I gladly obliged by packing most of it as a "hamper" (what we call a "doggie bag" over here).

Before Lisetta and my sister's arrival (both were at work this morning), and behind the scenes, I had planned out the morning meticulously: what to do in what order, which dishes could be baked at the same time etc. It included a quick run to the supermarket to get the fresh spinach, cut flowers and chocolate bar. Everything worked out very well. I was running slightly late, and Lisetta and my sister were slightly later than expected, so the timing turned out to be perfect.

I am on an incredible high right now. Lisetta is gone, the dishes are done, and my sister is taking a nap. I'm a little tired, but all pumped up. Cooking focuses me 200%. When I'm in the Kingdom of Kitchen, I'm in a different mental space altogether, and I forget about all else. I can quite understand why some people, when they're frustrated or angry or unhappy, find refuge in the kitchen and simply cook their sorrows away. Cooking  can transform any negative mood into a positive one, and turn an already positive one into an amazing one.

As usual, I forgot to take "before" photos, so the dining table isn't picture perfect.

I will give the recipes, one at a time, in separate blog posts.