I signed up for the ultra distance in the London Duathlon that took place a couple of weeks ago. The challenge was hard. The ultra duathlon consisted of running 20km (1:38:26), cycling 77km (4:22:38) and finally running 10km (58:30). I finished last in the race.

Cantuccini feature large in my childhood memories. I associate them with gas stations during car trips in Italy, my father bringing the whole family to tour furniture factories. They were a road trip bribe that my parents somehow convinced me were a treat. I only learned much later that those hard-as-rock "cookies" were best served with - and dipped into -a Tuscan dessert wine, Vin Santo, a tradition I now embrace with open arms. I am also now happy to pass on to my children, especially as Little Boy Green is into making a mess in the kitchen, as daddy does, a delicious cookie that is best served as a "treat".

Little Boy Green has recently been very curious about pumpkins. We have received a few squash in our veg bag in the past few weeks but given previous meetings of boy and pumpkin in a culinary context have been less than successful, we had not thought to reintroduce the two. However, pumpkins have been popping up in the books he's been reading, and all kinds of varieties of squash have also been growing for a while at his favourite haunt, the Spitalfields City Farm, leading to him requesting some for lunch.

This recipe was inspired by a very good friend who was generous enough to provide us with recipe tips for this tofu based frittata. I suppose it would have only been a matter of time before I came across a recipe similar to this one, but it is all the more special knowing that it was informed by someone who is inspiring in his own right. Recipes, like food, are best when shared.

While leafing through some cookbooks in search of inspiration for another evening's supper, I came across Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Chana Dal (in Curry Easy Vegetarian). It is a nice one-pot dish (we love those) and the idea of including some greens and other vegetables in the dal to enhance the nutritional hit it offers is a winner.

The recipe for this week is a super easy, super quick and very refreshing salad that is a perfect lunch on a hot summer's day. Green papaya salad reminds me of a good friend, who was for a very long time obsessed with it. It is perhaps the memory of his fondness for this salad that brings a smile to my face. That smile is made even wider by the memory of Little Boy Green helping me prepare it.

Another take on a childhood favourite is this recipe for lentil sloppy joes. The memories of this comforting sandwich hark back to my elementary school days in Damascus where Sloppy Joes* were made and sold by the good ladies of the PTA out of a little library window.

For my take on beetroot ravioli, I decided to revisit some older posts which made this super easy, especially since I had some leftover raw kale pesto. Once the filling was made, and because the recipe calls for raw beetroot, all that I really had to do was to assemble the plate, albeit with some practice and patience.