Happy New Year!

Greetings from a very chilly Suffolk seaside town – it’s been mild and damp here for weeks and now winter is upon us all of a sudden. I hope you had an enjoyable time over the Christmas period and have stayed well – many of our friends have been coughing and sneezing, probably due to the miserable damp weather. It was lovely to catch up with family and friends – we ate too much and laughed ourselves hoarse with silly games and wind-up snowmen, elves, santas and penguins racing down the hall… We wasted very little food thank goodness, but next year I might resist making braised red cabbage as that was the least popular vegetable dish (unless there are shouts of dismay from at least one of our young people). Turkey is my favourite meat so we had a very big one and there was plenty for me to graze on when I went to the fridge 😉 . Today, however, I’ve bought some stewing lamb from the butcher at the top of our road and have got it marinading ready to make Tagine tomorrow. There will be enough to put some in the freezer for later in the month too. I’m a great fan of batch cooking and always have Slow-bol and soups ready to thaw and enjoy. Some of our young friends find them handy too… So, back to normal? Our decorations came down today, but where did all that dust come from ?? 🙂

Friday again!

Goodness me, where did that week go? The diary looked quite empty this time last week, but filled up before we realised. There was a quick trip to Norwich (always a pleasure 😉 ), a funeral too which was very sad, but a birthday lifted the spirits. A visit from a young friend and a chance encounter with two ex-pupils lit up the mid-week. It’s always a joy to catch up with people I knew as young children, many years ago, and see them all grown up with interesting jobs and tales to tell. Christmas jumpers had to be dug out from the back of the wardrobe and more mince pies were needed. The beleagured shopkeepers look forward to their Cake Friday treats so extras were made in order to keep plenty in the freezer for visiting family, one of whom will only eat my home made mince pies. If I say it myself, they really are the best – you can’t beat home made mincemeat and orange dessert pastry. The recipe is on the website if you’re looking for inspiration. So, menus are written and turkey orders are to be collected – the hunter-gatherer is taking charge of that. He’s done a sterling job this week with a very comprehensive list, coming home with everything crossed off. Brilliant. Good man. So I hope you are looking forward to enjoying Christmas in your own way and I wish you a very happy Christmas and a healthy New Year. ❤

Organised?

By this point in December we usually have an idea of who we’ll see at Christmas and when they will be with us. All this has to be slightly flexible though – the pandemic taught us not to take anything for granted, didn’t it? We delivered turkey etc to a young friend who had Covid and then ate Christmas dinner “together” through the wonders of technology and Skype! As usual I have several lists on the go – our young people all have favourites and expect certain foods to be on the table. We have to have carrots as well as Special Sprouts and red Cabbage. No Yorkshire puddings for us, but chestnut stuffing and plenty of pigs in blankets. Dessert isn’t a big deal as we’re usually too full for that, but my mother always made a fresh fruit salad so this year I’m going to reprise that, but they don’t know, so don’t let on, will you? If you’re stuck for ideas there’s quite a selection of recipes on the website, including chocolate log and reindeer cupcakes, mince pies and mincemeat Eccles cakes as well as stuffing and vegetable suggestions too. And Brownie-in-a-jar is a great gift idea for the budding cook as it looks lovely with the layers of brown and white with a useful jar when it’s been made. The instructions are available to download to add to a personalised gift tag. I hope this might be of use, but if you feel a bit overwhelmed just keep it simple. It’s only a day and the people you are with are the most important ingredient xx

Porridge!

Earlier this week I was listening to Radio 4 – specifically a conversation between Emma Barnet and Thomasina Myers about porridge. Not the regular Scotts Oats which come in a box with the kilt wearing chap on the front, but the sachets of quick-cook oats which have flavours added. Many years ago our children sometimes had them for breakfast, they were so convenient. All that’s needed is to cut open the packet, pour the contents into a bowl, fill the empty sachet with milk and pour it over the dry stuff. Sometimes there would be a large nugget of maple syrup, or various other flavourings which melt during the microwave cooking period. Unsurprisingly these have now been classified as Ultra Processed Foods and deemed unsuitable for children to eat (as have crumpets…). So Ms. Myers was asked how she cooks her porridge and I was taken aback at the list of ingredients..tahini paste, Greek yoghurt, cinnamon, seeds, raisins and other things I’ve forgotten. No mention of oats, water, milk, so you can imagine my reaction. The next morning, because the hot-line to the BBC had been so busy, we heard other listeners contributions and I had to smile when Granny Anna gave us the complete recipe for her “Granna” porridge. A cup of oats, a cup of milk, a cup of water and a pinch of salt. Stir, heating gently, until thick enough then add one Medjul date and a snipped apricot. A lady after my own heart. Thank you Granny Anna! 😉

Success!

This week has been a week for using all sorts of food which had been consuming space in the freezer. For many years we had two, one very tall and the other half size, but a young friend was in need, so we gave the half-size version away. Not a problem until I want to find room for a turkey and several trays of uncooked mince pies. So we had a delicious slow-cooked leg of lamb last weekend, with enough left over to make shepherds pie the next day. I added a bag of chopped veggies to the slow cooker so that created a bit more space. Today the beleaguered shopkeepers enjoyed a piece of chocolate cake, although I’ve been reminded it wasn’t any old chocolate cake, but Granny Pat’s chocolate cake. The recipe is on the website, it’s technically known as Milk choc. cake and is a favourite of all our young peeps, including our nephews, so it was a big deal to use that today. But, guess what? It came out of the freezer too ! 😉

No room!

As the end of November approaches I start to plan all the shopping for Christmas, including food which will need to go in the freezer. I’ve made the mincemeat for the mince pies – it’s in the fridge being fed with brandy from time to time and the jar(s) turned upside down and downside up each week. So my next job is to make the dessert pastry and several trays of mince pies and freeze them till needed, then cook them freshly. The trouble is, the freezer is too full. So today I’ve made minestrone soup using a bag of soffrito which went in there a couple of months ago along with half a dozen others. The surplus soup is going to be frozen until collected by a young friend this weekend, along with the excess tomato soup that went in last week. Yesterday I found a small leg of lamb which is now defrosting in the fridge and tomorrow will be slow cooked with garlic and rosemary, plenty of red wine and some stock, then redcurrant jelly to flavour the gravy. Going slightly off-piste, it’s going to have yet another bag of frozen veggies in there too which I plan to, well, mash, to thicken the gravy. Now I’m going to resist buying bargain packs of anything just so space is conserved. You never know, there might be a pud from M&S which needs to go in too 😉 x

“Facing up”

When our older son was born I made the choice to leave the classroom for a number of years. Eventually, missing contact with others, I took a part-time job in Waitrose, Harpenden just to have some more meaningful conversation… Initially I was supposed to restock shelves after the department manager had determined what was needed. In reality I struggled to manoeuvre the racks of cans out of the room-sized lift from the warehouse. But after a full day of till training in an outer London branch I was deemed suitable and ready to sit behind a cash register, punching in the prices of each persons shopping. Quickly I came to enjoy the interaction with customers and was promoted to be the person who “ran the front”. Each evening there were people who “faced-up” the shelves so it appeared that there were no spaces amongst the packets and cans. Did they check use-by dates? Probably not. But when buying a package of meat or bag of salad or veggies we instinctively look for the longest date, often not the pack nearest the back but frequently the one at the front of the shelf. That won’t do…restocking should happen from the back please. I could name and shame but we all see it I’m sure! (With regard to missing taramasalata mentioned last week, it seems the staff at the factory are on strike. Still no tabbouleh 😉 ) x

Anything missing?

During the course of each week I compile the shopping list – it’s the usual stuff, broccoli, cheese, flour, caster sugar etc. Then on Fridays (usually) the hunter/gatherer, having boldly decided which supermarket to visit, takes on the task of the weekly shop. Certain things have to come from other places – we can’t neglect the brilliant butcher at the top of the road or the new baker in town. But over the last few weeks he’s come home without some of the items, curious omissions like tabbouleh, taramasalata and even unsalted butter. Only yesterday I was in the local Co-op where there happened to be plenty of u/s butter, so I bought some, but there wasn’t any milk. Just don’t mention large boxes of PG Tips, the small boxes aren’t any good to us, we drink lots of tea every day. What’s happening? Are you having problems too?

Catching up…

Do you remember the upside-down can theory I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? Well I promise you it works, for some foods. I decided to try storing tinned tomatoes, spaghetti and chickpeas the wrong way up to see if they came out more easily when the can was opened and they all faired well, even the tomatoes. Recently I’ve invested in a long handled silicone spoon to scoop out the reluctant bottom layer, but it’s not been needed. So a positive result with that one. Also I’m very pleased to read that a person has been arrested in connection with the theft of a lorry full of expensive cheese from Neal’s Yard. Apparently it was destined for Russia – let’s hope it’s found before it gets there. Finally I’ve had a lovely afternoon chatting with an old friend and reminiscing about pupils and colleagues from one of the schools we both worked in. After feeling so rough it’s great to be back in the loop! Stay well friends x