Peace is ill
Peace, the softer one of our new pair of hens is ill. I found her this morning, feathers ruffled and looking very seedy. Peace is very sweet natured and steady. I picked her up and put her inside my jacket. She cheeped plaintively as I stroked her and carried her up the garden into the warm kitchen. She is now in the bathroom well away from the Min Pins, wrapped in a large towel. Her temporary home is a big cardboard box with food and water. She was asleep with her head under one wing just before I left for work. Danny sent a few updates...
read moreSnow
My brother Mark had carpentry lessons at school. Once he brought back a sweet little stool that still stands in my mum’s bathroom to hold books beside the loo. The other thing that I remember was a large and sturdy toboggan that he made when he was just twelve years old. It was big enough to accommodate all three children in our family. My mother had remarried and we were moving to Devon, a county renowned for its mild winters. Secretly she thought that the toboggan would hang redundant in the garage. But this was the winter of 1962/63,...
read moreDelicious budget meals for frugal yet scrumptious entertaining: Chicken and Romano Pepper Risotto
We have done very little entertaining over the past eighteen months. The major reason why we’ve slowed down is cost, and time. When I seriously thought about why we were not entertaining, I twigged that I was hung up on the cost rather than the time and the taste of the food. It’s taken all these months to realise there’s no need to spend a fortune or take a day off to cook. We eat well most nights. Why not open our door and share? You can entertain on a budget as long as the food is delicious. And there’s the rub. Entertaining on...
read moreThe cottage is quite still
It’s ten o’clock and Danny has disappeared to bed. Dr Quito is snoring gently in a basket at my feet. The wood burning stove has at least another hour of life and it’s snug in the kitchen. Years ago I wouldn’t have dreamt of staying in on a Saturday night. Now I love it. With the prospect of a day off tomorrow I’m going to have an early night too. Not to creep under the covers and snooze though. I’m deep into the lives of an enclosed order of Benedictine nuns. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden was given to me years ago by...
read moreHow to make the best chicken stock in your slow cooker
I’d written my post for tonight. Budget, delicious chicken risotto for 62p per portion when I realised that the main ingredient – the chicken stock hadn’t been blogged. A horse without the cart is no good for anyone who is travelling in foodie country. So here’s the cart. This stock works with cooked chicken bones or a fresh carcass. The latter makes better stock, I think. If you remember to remove the chicken when it is cooked (1-1.5 hours depending on size) you will have perfectly poached chicken to add to a multitude of other...
read moreBest great budget recipes for 50% or less: Che’s suggestion for great char grilled sirloin steaks recipe
This is the end of the first month of our 2009 challenge – Best great budget recipes for 50% or less. Danny has become an addict of the condemned food counter at Tesco. He drops by most evenings when he does the final post run in Newmarket. The clientele that are attracted to this mini mecca have gradually changed over the past few months. “There were a very smart couple picking through the shelves this evening. There wasn’t much left. The man turned to me and announced, ‘The wolves have already been.’ He clearly didn’t ...
read moreSnowdrops and aconites
A beautiful postcard stands beside my computer, showing drifts of woodland snowdrops. It’s an advertisement for four snowdrop weekends at Chippenham Park. One day I hope that there will be bountiful drifts of snowdrops and aconites in front of our cottage. At the moment there is a patch of grass. The south westerly aspect means sun all afternoon. There have always been small patches of snowdrops in spring, a few aconites and a little later, pale blue crocuses open like stars on bright days. The gravel driveway takes up most of the space...
read moreHalf roast chicken with a lemon, saffron and cream sauce recipe
“How about a poussin tonight, marinaded in lemon, thyme and olive oil?” D was enthusiastic. “That would be wonderful and quick to cook. It’s not really a proper roast is it?” Danny has been great about our “no Sunday roast for January” challenge and this seemed like a good compromise for the final Sunday. That was before I went shopping. The poussin were so miniscule that it took me a good ten minutes to spot them on the Tesco shelves. And they were £2.79 for a 450g bird (£6.20 a kilo). The Tesco Finest Corn-Fed Free Range...
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