Flowers from the garden: October 2008
In 1990, at the start of the boom, I was living in London and working in a small photo library in the East End. This was way beyond the City (the square mile of London’s East End that is the financial centre). Here there were quiet residential streets and parking spaces. I wasn’t happy in this job as my dyslexia (never divulged to the proprietor) meant that my indexing skills were eccentric. This often caused explosive ructions when a transparency had to be found in a hurry. In the end I spent most of my time mounting slides...
read moreDelicious cod and creamy spinach pie recipe
I decided to try a different sort of fish pie. One that was easy on the fish but tasty enough to satisfy. My mum is addicted to Waitrose Spinach Mornay. If I incorporated spinach in a creamy sauce, our 325g of cod and the last two guinea fowl eggs of the season, I might be able to create something that would delight my mum and a weary Danny home late from Wales. We have given up our Friday night steaksas part of our new mini challenge hatched by a comment from S.O.L. regarding saving money. “It is becoming a game. How little can I get...
read moreExceptional people: Malcolm Monteith – and the saddest words in the world
Sometimes I have a bad day. I’ve stayed up too late and slept badly. The Min Pins keep their distance, tired too from a night in a bed on a stormy sea. In the morning I scurry around making their breakfast and sorting out the chickens. Munching toast from Jalopy’s long dashboard, I corner carefully and prepare for the worst. Bad nights often mean a tricky day at work. As a decorator, I can’t hunch at a desk and pretend that I’m working. It’s all about being lively and producing truly visible results. A small flask of coffee gets...
read moreNo knead spelt bread
Every time Danny goes away on business I make bread. I suppose it’s because I have more time on my hands and there’s not the rush to rustle up supper the instant that I get in from work. I prefer to eat much later than my paramour and tonight it’s the cottage pie that I made on Saturday. As my fingers fly across the keyboard a baby pie is heating through in the oven along with my first attempt at no knead spelt bread. It’s snug in the kitchen, a warm haven away from the chill of the rest of the cottage. The dogs loll beside the wood...
read moreTackling aggressive behaviour in our pack of dogs
Over the past weeks since Daisy Beatyl died we have been having problems with Inca. She is determined to be top dog and if there’s a fight she always wins. She is slightly heavier than the stag red Min Pins and has a much more dominant personality. When Great Aunty Daisy B was alive, Inca used to test the domination boundaries with our Senior Dog. GADB was patient with the pup but finally would turn into a snapping, scary beast that had Inca backing off immediately. Beatyl’s jaws were large. The stag red Min Pins are much quieter and more...
read morePerfect easy suppers: Dressed Cromer crab with salad leaves and white oaten soda bread
Every other week I shop with my mum. We enjoy a good lunch chez maman and then glide in the comfort of Danny’s car to her favourite stamping ground – Waitrose. With our save money in 2008 challenge this isn’t the top of my supermarket list for bargain store visits but over the months I’ve noticed some good, substantial offers behind the deluxe portals. As the credit crunch starts to bite with a painful rather than a playful nip, their in store offers have increased. Last weekend I shopped there for well under fifty percent of the...
read moreRats in the chicken run
The rats are back. The harvests are in and they are looking for a decent source of food and water for the winter. What better than a spacious run with layers’ pellets, fresh vegetable scraps in the morning, and the possibility of bagging two plump one month old chicks. Mice are around all year but rats are generally seasonal visitors in our run. “Let’s winter at that cosy cottage down the village,” must be the Rat Master’s cry when the threshers arrive to harvest the corn. “Yes, but after our annual sojourn in the grain store,...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: comforting low fat cottage pie recipe
During a cold snap a few weeks ago I had a longing for a really good Cottage Pie. So I made a version of this dish in the slow cooker (crock pot). Adding vegetables from our garden – the cottage kitchen smelt wonderful for hours. The slow cooker is a great way of cutting the fat content of a dish as the meat doesn’t have to be browned in oil, or the onions fried. When the filling was cooked, I strained off the juices and put the bowl in the refrigerator. The fat was easily removed a couple of hours later. The dish was delicious but the...
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