Spinach au Gratin and a Minor Melt Down which Called for a Mini Break

Spinach au Gratin 

Hello Beach Dwellers

How are you?

Me? Well one would think I had been chained to the kitchen over the holiday period, with the amount of food popping up here on this blog.  I must say that feeding a family three meals a day for the last 2 weeks, has been a little on the stressful side and has blown the weekly food budget out of the water.  So much so, that when Mr Beach House began eating off my plate the other day, along with some other very annoying behaviour at the yacht club, it ended in tears, with me getting up and walking out.  Leaving him to the spoils of what looked like a very nice Thai Beef Salad.  Had I been allowed to eat it in peace, I could have given you a more definitive answer on that.  But no..........

Paterre a fabulous store in Woollahra

Funnily enough he has been super nice to me since.  He even unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher this morning, which just about made me fall over.  There was me thinking he was just incapable of it, but rather he'd has just been lazy in this matter for the last 11 years of our marriage and beyond..  If you read me regularly, you will know it was my new years resolution for 2012 for the men in my family to learn to put their dishes in the dishwasher and as I indicated, it was a complete fail.  Well that was 2012.  2013 is a new year.  Wonder how long it will last.

The Lord Dudley a Great English Style Pub

So taking matters into my own hands, to make me feel better about being the resident slave, I drove into the city and had dinner with a friend.  We visited my old watering hole and had a few bubbles and laughs together.  I stayed the night in her beautiful apartment, we talked 'til the wee hours, I lamented the life I might have had for about 5 minutes, was spoilt rotten and I am now recharged to cope with another year of motherhood and wifedom....read being taken  for granted laced with the occasional moment of complete joy.  All I can say, is thank God for girlfriends.....actually make that women in general.

I used to live here in Hargrave Street Paddington.  See how close it is to the city in the background

Anyhoo I do have a little story about this spinach au gratin, which was the side dish for the individual Beef Wellingtons and Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes I cooked for our Christmas Eve family dinner.  It didn't happen on Christmas Eve, but rather some years ago at a lunch we were having here at the Beach House in Winter.  There were kids involved.  I served up the spinach, and it was woofed down by all, including said children.  One of the kids piped up and said "Can I please have some more of that 'green stuff'?" To say his mother gulped in amazement would not have aptly described her shock. She was super impressed that her son was happy to eat 'green stuff', as he had always rejected it before.  He took another big helping and that evening, his mother left clutching the recipe to my Spinach au Gratin.  I have fed this to my kids since babyhood and it's a great way to upload vegies into them in a kid friendly way.

Easy Spinach au Gratin
serves 4

100g butter or a big knob
2 heaped dessert spoons plain flour
1 cup low fat milk
1 cup grated tasty cheese
1 packet frozen spinach defrosted and with the water sqeezed off
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a small pot over a medium heat. Add flour and mix into the butter. Slowly whisk in milk, constantly stirring to avoid the development of lumps.  If they do appear continue to whisk until they disappear, which they should.  If they don't, you can push the mixture through a sieve.

Once the white sauce has thickened, add the cheese and stir to combine.

Once the cheese has melted, mix in spinach and salt and pepper and serve hot.
I always pre make this and leave it to sit on the stove covered until needed.  It reheats well.  Serve as a side dish to red meat.  This is also lovely served on toast as well, but is not for slimmers.

A beautiful Tuscan entrance

Have you entered my Rustoleum paint giveaway yet?  It's open until Friday 11 Jan. Go here for that.  If you want to do a few quick projects around the house this year, this one is sooooo for you.   It is so quick and easy to use. Not many entires yet, so your chances are good.

Today I am linked up here
Showcase Sunday
Table Top Tuesday
Take a Look Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Transformation Thursday
Feathered Nest Friday