Last evening saw the second attemt at the rather bland lamb and pasta bake from delicious.

This time around I simply ignored the suggested quantities of spices and went on my own merry way. After a first cooking, I tend to prefer to use recipes as a framework, rather than a rigid set of rules to follow. This approach made a huge difference to the result, which was delightfuly yummy and which the hardly haus will enjoy again.

Lamb is rather expensive at the moment (more expensive than all other meats). Word on the street has it that it is the result of the drought. There have been debates amongst farmer types as to whether the definition of a lamb should be changed to come more into line with New Zealand’s. In NZ, a lamb is still a lamb if it has 2 teeth, i am not sure what it is called in Aus if it has 2 teeth – hoggett? (i could google, but my care factor is low).

Lamb fetches higher prices than “hoggett” (can’t say that i have ever seen *any* sheep meat other than lamb available for purchase), but its not really cricket to change your traditional definition so you get better prices, is it?