Danny’s best juicy Tuna steak recipe
Danny is addicted to the “condemned food counter” at our local Tesco. This is our name for the reduced price section. A fun avatar for the place that has become a regular routine in our lives and something that adds zest to our cooking regime. We have to adapt at a moment’s notice to whatever bounty D drags home. Some goes into the freezer and some into the fridge to be relished within a day but most is cooked immediately. This is one way that we have slashed our food bills and are eating far better than we have done before. These cut...
read moreHow to choose the right paint colour for your room
Brringg, Brrringg. “Hello, we’d like our kitchen decorated. There’s just one problem we don’t know what colour to choose. We’ve already spent over 20 pounds on matchpots.” My initial visit to make a quote is free. And all advice on colour is free too. I work in loads of different houses each year, from the basic housing estate box to the ones with mile long drives. Gradually I’ve developed a feel for colour and which ones work best with the light in a room. Most people start by choosing a colour whereas the true key is assessing...
read moreToast
It would be hard to give up garlic, thyme and red wine. I’d find it impossible to give up toast, that great old standby. Fresh bread toast is best, crisp yet melting in the middle. But a stale curling crust can be reborn into palatable munchiness with the aid of a toaster or grill. We are a ‘toast in the morning’ household. Toast topped with thinly shaved cheese, Black Knight marmalade, Marmite, Honey or often just buttered and eaten quickly. Nibbled voraciously in between morning duties. Have a shower, then a chomp. Feed the chickens,...
read moreOh Mistletoe where do you grow? By Steve Kirk editor of The Bushcraft Magazine
This article was published in a past edition of The Bushcraft Magazine. We are friends of this superb bimonthly. A subscription to this periodical could be the perfect Christmas present for anyone who likes some contact with the Great Outdoors, even if they live in a high rise in Walthamstow. Each issue is packed with really interesting articles, photographs and great ideas. It’s subscription only like most smaller magazines and arrives in the mail. You cannot buy it on the news stands or WH Smith. And that’s what makes it so special....
read moreBest homemade taramasalata recipe
Danny lips always go pleaty when I suggest taramasalata on pitta bread for a lunchtime snack. Some might call this a benefit as I could eat a whole tub on my own. But even the smaller tubs are too much for a single sitting. It’s the sort of thing that I long for and then feel replete after a slice of laden pitta bread. The tub is pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten after my fix. Several weeks later it’s discovered by D on a fridge clearing binge. The thin lips as it is tossed into the bin say it all. Last night I discovered...
read moreBaked sausages recipe with Bramley apples, honey and star anise
Sometimes it’s really good to get home, pour a large glass of wine and rustle up a dish that takes just ten minutes to prepare and is cooked in under an hour. This dish also keeps warm well and is a delight when you eventually tuck in. It’s one of those easy dishes. Filling the kitchen with great aromas as you get on with the more enjoyable sides of life than standing by a hot stove. I made a very similar dish a few weeks ago and we loved it. This evening I discovered that the recipe had been swept away on a kitchen clearing binge....
read moreYesterday I escaped from a prison sentence (almost)
Jalopy always travels at a sedate pace but when I slide into the leather seats of Danny’s company car, it is a far smoother ride. Purring home at 40mph through Cambridge City in D’s car feels like 30mph in Jalopy. This is unfortunate. Cambridge City speeding cameras perk up when I glide by. This city has been my Waterloo on two occasions. The maddening thing is that I’m normally very careful in built up areas and I get really angry when cars speed through our village. They might kill a cat, stray dog or even a child. But I seem to...
read moreBest potato cakes with parmesan and smoked paprika recipe
“I’ll cook this evening. We’ll have the pork hock dish from last night. There is loads of mashed potato left over. How about potato cakes?” Mondays are always busy for both of us. A simple meal seemed perfect. But returning home I discovered that we had no eggs. So I pulled out all the stops and made a new potato cake recipe. If you have an egg to coat the cakes before rolling in flour, it would probably be even better as the cakes would retain their shape. Meanwhile our cakes spread a bit in the in the frying pan but they were...
read moreSeasonal double glazing works well
Our cottage is very old and just one room deep with no snug porch or conservatory at the back to hold the heat. The front and back doors open directly into the kitchen and a third door leads to the sitting room. It has a double glazed window at the front and a single glazed window overlooking the bird table and garden. So there are lots of draughts. The cottage ceilings are so low that only people under 5’10” (180 cm) can confidently move beneath the beams without fear of painful cranial impact. But it also means that the cottage becomes...
read moreUpdate on our young Golden Sebright cockerel, Beatyl Boss
Sunday was an important day for our young cockerel, Beatyl. Mrs Boss and her adopted son have been living in the Emerald Castle for the past three months. This environment is fine for a mother hen with chicks as it is a secluded area away from the rush and thrust of The Big Pen. The fowl in TBP can look into the castle grounds and the castle residents can look out and small baby fowl are protected. However our young cockerel is now just over 13 weeks old. And for the past week I have been fretting about the temperature in the Emerald Castle....
read more
Most Recent Articles
I made two litres of dog food by mistakeOn Monday I decided to test out the theory that cottage pie is best made with pieces of beef rather than minced… »
Recipe for meatballs and spaghetti with red wine, tomatoes and bell peppers. Foolproof slow cooker/crock pot recipes“Please don’t buy mince again. I just don’t like it.” Danny grumbled out of the kitchen. “But you like… »
Win £50 worth of B&Q vouchers with The Cottage Smallholder and Direct Line Grand DrawFor those of you who missed out on the metal bedstead competition: we’ve got another great prize to offer you!… »
New layout for CSH – testers wanted pleaseDanny here, everybody. 14% of our visitors use mobile devices, such as tablets, iPad, smart mobiles and so on.… »
Update on the remaining Min PinsIt’s been seven weeks since The Conteesa died suddenly in her sleep. Danny buried her in the garden under the… »
It’s the little things that make the differenceI don’t often write much about the little things that give me pleasure. They initially seem too insignificant to… »
Recent Comments
{ I was thinking the same as Magic Cochin but then like you I don't have my phone attached by an umbilical cord wherever I go.... } – Wed 8 :47 pm
{ Good point but I don't tend to take it about with me everywhere 
} – Wed 7 :25 pm
{ Doesn't your mobile phone have an alarm setting? C x } – Wed 6 :32 pm
{ I would put it towards a bbq, it's just a shame you can't purchase some sunshine from b&q } – Wed 12 :04 am- { Hi Lesley The clucking means that she is brrody also plucking her own feathers is a sign too. } – Tue 11 :58 pm
- { Hi Lesley They have to stay in the broody coop 24/7. Could you put in a garden shed or garage? } – Tue 11 :57 pm
FD