MARIE'S MUSES

Good morning everyone! It may be bucketing down outside this morning, but the sun is shining in my heart! Many, many thanks to all of you for your many cards, e-mails and lovely Happy Birthday wishes on here! You really made what was a lovely day even more special! I think I just have the bestest friends in the whole wide world, and I count you among them!

We did have a lovely day yesterday. The sun shone down on us for most of the day and we had a wonderful time together. My mother called me first thing in the morning and it we had a lovely conversation. I can honestly say that I have been lucky enough to hear my dear mother’s voice every single birthday of my life. She calls me twice a year, once at Christmas and on my birthday, without fail. I know that if she is calling at any other time, something is dreadfully wrong.

We set off early to go to Battle. Battle is the town that marks the sight of the Battle of Hastings, right in the middle of 1066 country. We had glorious sunshine and we went on the back roads for part of the way so that Audrey and Peter could enjoy the lovely scenery and a few of the small villages along the way. Down through Horsmonden and into Goudhurst the roadway is lined by beautiful leafy green trees and bountiful hedgerows and the dappled sunlight as it fell upon our car and the roadway put a definite song into my heart. The day was off to a good start. The view as you leave Goudhurst and go on your way towards the A21 is simply breathtaking. You are looking out over the south downs and it is all rolling green hills and majestic fields full of wonderful colours.

When we got to Battle it was really easy to find the place we wanted to go and park the car, but the heaven’s decided to open up as soon as we arrived and we thought to ourselves, my we are in for it now! But the showers were very short lived and we were in glorious sunshine again very soon after.

On the 14th of October, 1066 something occurred in this area that would ultimately change the course of British History forever. What makes this event so important to the English is the immutable fact that it was the last time any foreign power was to conquer her. Without doubt, a lesson that became indelibly etched into this island race - for ever. This must surely be the one conflict that every British student and adult alike can recount - hopefully, along with the naming of the two main protagonists.

I learned ever so much yesterday about this eventful day in history. I had learned a lot about it when I went to school, but our trip through the actual battlefield and then through the Abbey which is there was really illuminating and brought the whole experience to life for us. You could actually picture the events which occurred on that day in your head. I would have to say that the English Heritage have done a wonderful job of presenting this most auspicious historical event to their visitors and I was most impressed. We walked the whole battle field and were able to experience it all first hand. It was all very, very interesting.

By the time we were finished there it was lunchtime and so we set off for Hastings and our fish and chips. It was very windy there yesterday and there were a lot of breakers and rough waves on the water and the water was the bluest I have ever seen it. We did have some lovely fish and chips though (I am not sure what it is about fish and chips and the seaside but they always taste better there!) and then after lunch we explored an old church in the old town that dates back to only 14 years after the Battle of Hastings and then we went for a long walk along the beachfront before we started on our way back home. The best part of the whole day was getting to spend time with our dear friends and each other.

Last night they treated me to a lovely dinner out in our local town which brought back many memories of times we spent together in Chester doing just that! Audrey and Peter are our dearest friends up there and we have been able to celebrate many happy times together as friends and couples, birthdays (Peter’s and my birthday’s are only a few days apart as are Todd’s and Audrey’s) and anniversaries (once again our anniversaries are only a few days apart) and all of the special moments in life. We do miss them a great deal down here. I have lots of women friends down here and very special ones at that, and Todd has a few men friends, but we really have no couple friends here and that is something we really miss. Quite often on nice evenings weather wise, when we were living in Chester we would call them up, or they would call us up and we would go off on a long walk together and we spent many evenings playing rousing games of scrabble together. Audrey and I worked very closely together in the children’s Sunday school of our church up there, and we do miss each other’s company tremendously. They are on their way back home tomorrow and we shall miss them.

Life is not so much what each individual makes of it, but what we make of it for each other and Audrey and Peter have enriched our lives in so many ways. We truly cherish their friendship and will be looking forward to when we can spend some time together again, hopefully in the near future.

Last Friday night I made Todd and I a beautiful Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. I find that oftimes lately, we are eating more and more vegetarian food. I don’t think I could ever go totally vegetarian, but dishes like this make it a lot easier to go without meat more often.

Serves 4

This delicious version of lasagna is so good you won’t even miss the meat! I love the sweetness of the roasted vegetables and the richness of the Bechamel topping. Together they are heavenly …

For the roasted Vegetable Sauce:

½ pounds of red bell peppers, seeded and diced

1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2 medium courgettes, cut into half moons

1 aubergine, cut into cubes

1 red onion, peeled and chopped

1 tsp of olive oil with a dash of toasted sesame oil

1 tsp basil

Cracked black pepper to taste

8 cloves of garlic, peeled and wrapped in foil

One jar of really good quality tomato pasta sauce (cheating I know)

For the spinach layer:

½ tsp olive oil

8 medium mushrooms, cut thick

½ pound raw spinach, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

For the Bechamel sauce:

1 TBS butter

2 1/2 TBS plain flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk, heated together with a bay leaf

½ tsp salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

To finish:

9 non-cook lasagna verde noodles

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Lay out the vegetables onto a baking sheet and toss with the oils. Lay the foil wrapped garlic alongside. Bake for 30 minutes and then stir. Bake 15 min more. Remove and transfer to a large bowl. Squeeze baked garlic into the vegetables and stir well. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Set aside while you make the béchamel.

Melt the butter over medium low heat in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and let the two cook together for about one minute. Strain the milk into the pan slowly, stirring the whole time. Cook, stirring until the mixture is thickened. Season to taste with the salt and freshly grated nutmeg. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To cook the spinach, pour the oil into a large frying pan or wok on medium heat and fry the mushrooms until they start to brown. Add the spinach and seasonings and cook until spinach wilts. Add a TBS of water, if needed, to help steam the spinach down. Transfer to a sieve to drain excess moisture.

To assemble, Put a quantity of the vegetable sauce in the bottom of a nine inch square baking dish. Cover with 3 of the noodles. Cover with 1/3 of the remaining tomato vegetable sauce, the mushrooms and the spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella, add a sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with three more noodles, 1/3 roasted vegetable sauce, 1/3 of the mozzarella, and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with last 3 noodles, the remaining sauce and Parmesan and the mozzarella. Pour the béchamel on top evenly. Bake at 400 F for 30 to 45 minutes, until the noodles are cooked and tender and the top is nicely browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.