All that caper

After Tuesday's meeting with Jeremy, and the intense digestion of the information that produced, it is very pleasant to have a few low key days with nothing very notable to do. Things that there are to do are mostly culinary,  marking my gradual resumption of responsibilities in the kitchen. (Cliche alert: Jill has been doing a sterling job, ably stepping into the breach, taking up the slack, etc. Glad I've got all those out of the way! They are all true.)

This morning, after some watering, I decided to have a go at a banana bread recipe with which I have had some success. This actually turned out to be a banana and pear bread, as I only had one ripe banana. Anyway, it seemed to come out pretty well. It was rescued from disaster by my remembering that the flour was plain, not self-raising as labelled on the container. So I just added a couple more teaspoons of baking powder, and it rose nicely.

We will have that following lentil soup and beetroot salad; I haven't started the former, but have cooked the beetroot for the latter. (Pressure cooker to the rescue.) I am hoping the weather will be a bit cooler by then; lentil soup is not really a summer dish, but Jill requested it, and it will suit the requirements of the party. (Our niece is staying with us, who is vegetarian.)  I have been doing stuff for the meal intermittently, there being plenty of time.

The main problem, while I was shopping, was finding capers, required for the salad. Woolies seems to have gone out of them; I had a good look in the section where you find olives, artichoke hearts and so on, but no capers. I then asked about them in the deli, and someone came and looked in the same section as I had, to no avail. Fortunately the market was open, and the deli there had a choice between salted ones and those in vinegar. (The latter were recommended.) Capers are one of those things that is difficult for which to think of a substitute. In days of yore I used to make a pasta sauce with them and sun-dried tomatoes. Could there have been olives as well? Surely not! Anyway, it seemed pretty good with parsley and parmesan cheese on the pasta. It all sounds a bit "more is more" now; such were the days before my beloved's food intolerance diagnosis.