Nanny Gossip.

It’s 9pm and we are both in the kitchen preparing dinner. The flatmate is peeling me some prawns, while I cook the linguine till it’s al  dente. I am thinking that this dish is going to be delicious, and so fresh, after chopping up the red chilli, and slowly stir frying the capers in a little olive oil.  It was now time to move on to slicing the green olives.

“Great!” I said sarcastically “They are not pitted” as I tried to slice them.

“You need to remove the pits first” flatmate states.

“How?” I asked

“You bashed the olive with the slide of the knife, and squeeze the Pitt out,  then sliced”

“Oh”

“Here I will do them” he said as he gently takes he knife out of my hands and process with slicing the olives. “and you are now free to eat the prawns I just peeled for ya”  He said while giving me a grin.

As I look down at the prawns, and see that this wonderful guy I am living with must have training in peeling prawns, they were peeled perfectly. “Oh my god, you took the backs out as well”
“Yeh!”

“No one has every done that for me before” I said as I pick up one of the perfectly peeled prawns and ate it.  While giving the flatmate a quick glance.  I noticed that the pasta looks likes it’s  la denta.

“How many olives do you need?” the flatmates asks.
“Oh about 12, but I’m not fussed, how many have you done? I said as I drained the pasta over the kitchen sink.
“Eleven” he said
“Yeh that will do”
“Should we let the pasta cool down, before we add the rocket!”
“yehhh, cause that lemon pasta you cooked before was so much nicer cold than warm” he states as he walks away.

Ummmm that lemon pasta, “Rigatoni with Courgettes, Lemon and Basil” A recipe by Rachel Allen.  Quick, easy and the taste?  Sensational.

He returns a minute later, “I brought you a present” I spun around and noticed that he had brought me  Apricot Chutney,  fresh from Tassie, a Gold Medal winner. But, APRICOT… APRICOT….APRICOT CHUTNEY!  I hate chutney. Well all as I can say, ‘it is the thought that counts’ at least he was thinking about me.

“Thank-you” I said feeling really embarrassed, and turned around and put the chutney  in the fridge, and said “you must have some” and continued with adding the rocket to the pasta. Realizing that I should have given him a hug and a kiss, even though, I hate apricot chutney!

Well dinner is served.  “Linguine with expensive yellow-fin tuna, capers and olives”  I said while handing him the biggest bowl”  “Consider this dish a dish that I will only serve once a year” Without telling the flatmate the price.  I told him not to look at the price on the packet but I’m sure he did.  The tuna alone cost $50 bucks!

“This is so good….this is so good,  it’s so fresh, Bill is just great isn’t he?”   Bill! Bill!   What, I cook it!  This love affair with Bill Granger…..jeeez, I don’t know.

“That is good, I’m glad you like it.  What did you eat on your trip?” I ask

“Tuna and pasta”

“Great! You ate tuna and pasta, on your trip, and  you come home and I cook you tuna and pasta as well!”

“Oh, but this is different, it’s so fresh. Bill isn’t he great, I just love his recipes”  He said, forgetting the fact that I cooked it!

After polishing off his dinner in about 2 minutes flat!  Yes he inhales his food, the world is lucky he is not a royal, otherwise everyone would starve!

He politely says “Don’t worry about the dishes I’ll do them” As he gets up from the dinning table and heads towards the kitchen. As if I’m going to argue.  I look down at my dinner and realising that I wont be able to finish it, I asked the flatmate “would you  mind if I put my leftover back in the pasta dish, and finish it off tomorrow”

“No, not at all, I’ll fix it for you.”

“Thank-you. do  you need to use the bathroom before I have a shower? I ask

“No, go for it”

After spending about half an hour in the bathroom, and reappeared, in the lounge room, with a towel just wrapped around me, hair soaking wet, and water still dripping down my tanned, athletic body, I asked the flatmate, who is browsing through the cookbook I brought him for Christmas “‘the silver spoon’  pasta cook book”

“Hey flatmate?”  As he looked up I’m sure that his eyes were about to pop out, I know that I must have looked good, been a swimmer and all. I have very toned, and broad shoulder that the average male would kill for.

“Yeh”

“Have you done a 4WD course?”

“Yeh, why do you ask?  He states without taking his eyes off me. “Are you going to go 4WD driving though?’

“Yeh, I bumped into David and Jan, on New Years Eve, and I am think about going back to  do absailing again.  I haven’t done  it in about a year, but to get to the areas we go, its pretty rugged”

“Well it is good,  you do learn about the axial , and whether it left or right, it would be a good idea”

My god what is he talking about ‘ axial left or right’? As I shake my head while heading to the bedroom to get changed. As the flatmate can’t take his eyes off me.

“Alright I’m heading to bed” the flatmate said as he proceeds after me. “thanks for dinner, and thank-you for getting the dry cleaning. have a good night. Nitie, Nite” and closes his bedroom door.  His bedroom door!  What! That is it!  When am I ever going to get desert…….How many meals to I have to cook for this guy??

republished with permission from “The Daily Nanny”  visit her blog  http://thedailynanny.wordpress.com/