It was intended to be a light lunch!

Four arrived to chat whilst nibbling smoked almonds with cashew nuts to complement bubbling Cremant de Loire.  Two woodburners kept my L shaped ground floor cheerful against the rain. Lunch was served:
Leek & Potato Soup
Cut lengthwise 3 or 4 leeks, wash to remove all dirt, then cut horizontally into fine ribbons. Into a large saute pan add a large shaking of olive oil, the leeks as well as 4 cloves of crushed, chopped garlic.  Add 800 to 1kg of peeled potatoes chopped into small cubes, with one litre of chicken or vegetable stock. Season with bay leaves. Simmer until soft. Use a potato squasher to squash some of the cubed potatoes. If you prefer fewer lumps you could whizz half of the quantity in the blender.  Add one pint of milk. Season to taste with more salt and pepper and I also added fennel seeds.  You could add a large dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche or add a spoonful to each bowl of soup which I think looks prettier.  Sprinkle with dill, paprika and black pepper.
Fish Lasagne served with Riesling
Prepare:
1. Saute onions and garlic.
2. Separately saute chopped chunks of red pepper and tiny chopped sweet chilli style pepper.
3. Make cheese sauce with a roux of flour, milk, cheddar cheese.
4. Cook diced carrots.
5. Cut filleted and deboned hake/pollack/colin fish (lieu noir) into large cubes.
6. Part of a inexpensive packet of smoked salmon pieces.
7. Packet of tomato puree.
8. Seasoning, herbs plus paprika.
Contruct:
1. Oil a lasagne dish. Scatter cooked onions onto base. Place 3 leaves of Lasagne pasta.
2. Scatter more onions, red peppers, carrots, seasoning, fish, tomato puree + 3 leaves pasta.
3. Repeat 2.
4. Cover with runny cheese sauce. Grate cheese on top. Sprinkle with paprika.
5. Bake in a hot oven for apx 20 to 30 minutes.  It can be left to cool but cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Serve with Mesclun salad or broccoli florets. 
St Maure de Touraine Goats Cheese with Mesclun.  
We donned wet gear to walk to Witches Rock. On our return we enjoyed 
Spicy Ginger Pear Roulade with Earl Grey Tea
1. Peel and core 3 or 4 large Conference pears. Dice into a saucepan, add 30g butter plus 60g sugar and simmer gently until soft but pears still in their shape.
2. 120g plain flour, teaspoonful bicarb or baking powder, spices of ginger, cinnamon, allspice, mace, nutmeg, tagine mix as you wish.
3. In a pan melt 30g butter plus 1 large spoonful golden syrup and the same of black treacle. Beat in one egg and juices from pears.
4. Mix 2 and 3 together... beat hard...
5. Pour into a rectangular Swiss roll tin lined with baking sheet paper twisted at corners which has been scattered with sieved icing sugar.  Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes or so. Leave to cool for a few minutes and roll the paper and sponge cake. Unroll. Add pears (use remainder for breakfast!) and thick cream spread over the top... use the paper to help you roll. Keep wrapped tightly and put in the fridge or a cold place. Decorate with sieved icing sugar. Serve alone or with extra cream but that WOULD be naughtily over indulgent!!

NB  Mesclun is a  Provençal salad.  Mescla means "mixture".  The salad should include chervil and  rocket,  lettuces and endive in equal proportions, but the modern version may include spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, endive, dandelion, lamb's lettuce, radiccio, sorrel  or other leaf vegetables.

I have a problem loading photographs because Google tells me that Picasa wishes me to purchase more space... I am going to have to work on this because it appears that some photos on my blogs are too large... Oh tedium!!!!!! I do not like Picasa but I suppose I need it! 

UPDATE:

I received two suggestions but cannot find the 'purrfect' one that Ron Ron made.