Friday - A Poppy Comes Home

On Friday my son came over with his partner because it was 100 years to the day since my Great Uncle (Andy's Great Great Uncle) had been killed at Gallipoli.

To mark the occasion I had decided it was the appropriate day to put the ceramic Poppy, that had previously resided at the Tower of London, in the garden so Andy and I went outside and hammered the metal rod in and then attached the ceramic head.

Wanting to verify that Great Uncle Harry really was 21 when he was killed I got the family bible out. Andy searching in it amongst the pages found some newspaper cuttings and I cannot remember ever having seen this one that he unearthed which mentions Great Uncle Harry being killed on the 4th June 1915 so maybe someone got it wrong somewhere.  I think I'll go with the War Commission date.

To keep in with the day I had made a Lamb Tagine (Turkish'ish) which we had with roasted veg, from a Mediterranean recipe which was the best way of serving veg I could think of to be in keeping with the day. The veg recipe was new and we really enjoyed it, so much so that Chas and I had it again yesterday with some fish.

I used courgette, aubergine, peppers, onion, all cut into big chunks, and cherry tomatoes, baby potatoes (parboiled) which I put in a bowl and marinaded with basil, rosemary, thyme, pinch of chilli powder, garlic and balsamic vinegar for an hour or so.  Then I put the whole lot in a dish and sprayed with some Frylight before putting in the oven on a high heat for 30 minutes.  Try it and add anything else (I added mushrooms last night) that takes your fancy.

Now Andy and I have a laminated copy of the War Graves Commissions certificate and I have a couple of copies to give to other family members and I will send copies off to Australia where we have other family members.

My poppy has come home!