A Nob or Knob of butter?

Usually for Christmas Eve Dinner, no matter what we have, there is the obligatory salad. The Lovely Wife is normally tasked with making a salad as her salads are oh so wonderfully good. This year however, I chose to do something different. Something simple yet tasty and satisfying. As the old Kellogs Corn Flakes advert in Australia goes - The simple things in life are often the best.


Before I proceed on to the dish I made, I want to relate a small 'argument' that ensued between The Lovely Wife and me. We were playing a game of Boggle with the kids and The Lovely Wife wrote down nob. I disputed the word and she raised her haughty eyebrows and condescendingly asked me whether I had ever heard of a "Nob of Butter." I snorted at her and said that it was a "Knob of butter and not a Nob." To which she insisted that she was correct. I was quite adamant that I was correct as I pride myself in speaking and spelling according to British English - which as far as I'm concerned it the only English there is...Nonetheless, I let it go for the sake of family unity!

For the record though, it IS knob of butter which is a very British term describing a lump of butter about the size of a walnut maybe or a teaspoon. Quite an arbitary measurement really much like a splash of olive oil or a dash of oregano or a swig of rum. You get the idea.

There is a reason for my ranting as you will soon see.




What I decided to make was simply some steamed vegetables tossed in butter.

All I did was to steam some broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and throw in a can of sweet corn kernels. Then I threw in a couple of KNOBS of butter, a little salt and black pepper and tossed the whole lot together coating it evenly.

So now you know why it was important to hear the story about a Nob versus a Knob of butter.



This dish was very well received and few believed it was nothing more than steamed veges tossed in butter. Simple, yes? Delicious too! It's true that the simple things in life are often the best!