Monday Moments

 Ben was at the decking job in Great Ecclestone this morning and since it was a short visit it made sense for me to stop in the car, so I brought a mending job that was on my list:

The zip was no longer functioning in my grey Lands End coat so step one was to remove the existing one before replacing with the newer version.

After he had finished with his site inspection and organised phase two of the project it was time to head home, but as a thank you we stopped at Myerscough Plant World Cafe, and Ben bought me a latte.  Interestingly we sat in the exact same spot many moons ago (2011)when Sara was a student.  You can take a trip down memory lane if you like and see the blog post here

This afternoon has involved sewing said zipper into the coat.  It would have taken me a fraction of the time to use my machine but I wasn't feeling too great today (my body has not liked being upright 🤪) so I put my feet up on the sofa and have slowly hand stitched my way along the coat 😊

For tea we had another meal from last week's cookbook but gah is was difficult with the pastry!  Greek yogurt is used in a lot of their pastry style dishes as a cheaper alternative to butter and to speed up the whole process, but it did make the dough more difficult to roll out.  However it was worth it as the pasties were really tasty and there are enough for lunch tomorrow, so that's a win!

The filling is one medium sweet potato, one small courgette and one leek finely chopped, 80g of extra mature cheddar cheese, 70g cottage cheese, a dessertspoon of left over clotted cream and a drizzle of water to help combine.

The dough mix was 300g self raising flour, 2 teaspoons of onion salt and 180g greek yogurt.  Mix all the ingredients to form a dough, adding a little cold water if necessary to combine.

I rolled the dough into a rough circular shape, added the filling and then formed a pasty shape with each round of dough.  The pasty's were cooked in the oven at 200C for 15 minutes and then 180C for a further 15 minutes.  Since the vegetables are finely sliced the cooking action within the pasty mimics a steaming effect and so there is no need to sauté the veg before cooking.

Cats and Cooking

Thankfully I had my phone to hand when I snapped this image of Milton and Poppy:

One cat out and the other cat in 😂

We had our Sainsbury delivery today and the guy remarked on our shopping order definitely being on the healthy end with all the veggies and fruit stacked in the crates.  I'm really grateful for the doorstep deliveries as a supermarket shop would probably finish me off right now.  However there was still a lot of to and fro on my behalf, as the big larder fridge from the old house is in my outside room and it did need a good wipe down before loading with all the goodies.  I earned my sit down once that job was tackled.

For lunch we had spaghetti bolognese and there were clean plates all round:

The ever growing chaotic table 😂

Good ol' Spag Bol

After lunch I had a Whats App video catch up with my mum and a lovely chat with Eva all the way over in New York State!  It was Eva's birthday on Monday and normally I try and send a hand made gift but there hasn't been much crafting going on since Covid.  I had originally wanted to send her a Barnes and Noble gift card but since I don't live in a country linked to their store it was a no go so Amazon it was 🙄. At the moment they are dealing with an ice storm and possible power outages should things worsen, but so far so good.  It was lovely to surprise her with a phone call, she is a very dear friend ❤️

After my afternoon sit down it was back in the kitchen again for tea duty - stuffed baked potatoes, salad and the Christmas Mincemeat Flapjack originally intended for Candlemas Day.  Since we don't eat a great deal of sugar I used stevia in the recipe and quartered the amount and instead of golden syrup used maple syrup.  I also reduced the amount of oats and substituted 1/3 cornflakes instead.  Needless to say the flapjack was more crumbly than normal probably due to the significantly reduced sugar content but despite that it was very tasty.

All in all a really lovely day 😊

 

That Went Quickly

This week has positively flown by, we've roughly kept up with some form of school work even though it has still been the Easter holidays.  I had to laugh when I saw an Instagram video post of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge talking about the importance of mental health during this time (that wasn't the funny bit)  At the end of the interview they were asked, "so how are you all coping?" and that was when they had admitted they hadn't told the kids it was the Easter holidays and that homeschooling was 'interesting' :-)

Building the raised bed

 Ben finishing the raised bed with the advice of Dave in positioning of the drill holes.

From the kitchen

  Easy Banana Muffins

70 grammes unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

190g flour

50g xylitol/sugar

2 level tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 ripe bananas mashed with a fork

2 eggs

1/2 tspn vanilla extract

130g grated/ finely chopped chocolate

Heat oven 160C and grease muffin tin or use paper liners

Whisk flour, xylitol, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl whisk melted butter, mashed banana, egg and vanilla until blended.

Add banana mix to the dry bowl then use fork to combine.  Do not over mix.  Stir in the chocolate and fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

These muffins were totally yummy and we will definitely be baking them again.

 Butternut, chilli and peanut butter soup served with vegetable and sausage tartlets.

 Sausage and Veggie Tartlets

454g sausagemeat

1 Courgette grated

1 Carrot grated

1 Onion finely chopped

320g weight in puff or flaky pastry

Flour to dust

Preheat the oven to 200C

Place sausagemeat, courgette, carrot and onion into a bowl.  Mix well to combine.

Roll out the pastry and cut into rounds and place in a shallow muffin tea and then add small amounts of the sausage and veg mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.  These are great served hot or cold.

Everyone tucking in to our Saturday night supper :-)

Deliciously Ella Flap Jack

Two posts in one week, nothing short of a miracle!  We had a visit from Nanna and Grandad H today and I actually managed to remain upright for the duration of the visit :-)  I did immediately take to my bed once they had gone however!  After my rest I spent some time in the kitchen making some delicious flap jack.  This one is for you RONDIE, do you remember the times when we used to eat raw flap jack mix, sitting in the kitchen at Furness Park?  Happy Days, dear friend :-) xx 

 

Making Days

Pip and I have been busy crafting and creating:

 Making "Oog" the glove monster.  It was an upcycling day and Pip rescued a long forgotten lonely glove into a rather sweet cuddly toy.

 Weighing and mixing.

 A hug in a mug courtesy of the recent Sainsbury magazine, a bakewell tart sponge in a mug and baked in the microwave oven.

 One toy + One Dessert = One very happy Pip :-)

 Onto the next upcycling project for the day.  Take a worn out pair of jeans and turn into a very respectable bag.

Pip really enjoyed the use of the sewing machine.  I will have to take a photo of the finished item.

Looking for joy :: DPP Day Twenty Three ~ Birthday-ing

Seven times around the sun and as always the adventure begins at midnight when I am finally finishing with birthday prep and fondly reminiscing of early labour signs at that exact moment!

 Wrapped and ready.

Pip woke at her usual time of six thirty but was happy to hang out in her room until I was sorted a little while later.  She found the large box shaped present very intriguing and her response upon opening was absolutely delightful:

Meet Shannon who likes nothing more than being outdoors, she is an our generation girl

Once the remainder of the presents had been opened we made our way into the front room for the "x" marks the spot, you were born here at 8:30 am:

 My not so little baby just about able to sit on my knee :-)

It wasn't long before Pip's best buddy from school arrived and they had great fun:

 Sharing a how to draw book.

 Decorating cup cakes.

 Pink icing, Christmas sprinkles and chocolate hearts!

 Watching and waiting ...

... for the fountain!  

I had "technical issues" and could not strike the second match quickly so that they would burn simultaneously!

After lunch we made spoon puppets:

A flower girl puppet for B.

We also had several other visitors throughout the day dropping off cards, presents and good wishes.  Pip remarked several times that it was the best birthday ever and kept thanking me for the party and the treat activities.  We bought her a birthday card with her absolute favourite phrase:

" Love you to the moon and back"

And she also adds, " and deep down into your heart."

As I write she and Shannon are tucked up snug in bed and since Pip is not usually a bed sharer with her teddies and rag doll this is quite an interesting turn of events :-)

Smashing Seven! Oh to be young again :-)

Advent Blessings x

Looking for joy :: A DPP Catch Up on Gaudete Sunday

DPP Day 11 ~ A Gem of a Generator

 On Friday night we waved goodbye to this:

 This hulking brute had provided power from early Tuesday morning until 8pm Friday evening when we were finally re-connected to the main grid :-)

DPP Day 12 ~ Make and Cake

We had our last make and cake session for the year and as is the custom I made chocolate peppermint shortbread:

  I had real problems with the shortbread mix and so the biscuit base although yummy was very crumbly, hence the irregularities in shape and size!  Still it was good to gather and craft with friends.

DPP Day 13 ~ St Lucia Day

Cinnamon swirls made to the accompaniment of a St Lucia recording via you tube was the order of the day.  They weren't served at the crack of dawn but shared for afternoon tea with a very dear friend:

     

We survived another steady down pour of rain on Saturday and woke to blue skies and frost this morning.  I think the past few weeks are catching up with me health wise and so I made the decision to be home based for the remainder of the weekend.  

I still seem to be in denial about Christmas preparations and every year I say the same thing, "The only year I was organised when I was pregnant with Pip, which is seven years ago!!"   Sadly I do not have the nesting instinct to keep me on track and now I have a birthday to organise two days before the big day :-) 

We have bought all the presents and so they only need wrapping and since our present list is quite small it shouldn't take that long.  Pip spent the afternoon writing out her home made Christmas cards and as a treat for "Gaudete" Sunday both her and Benedict watched a Christmas Film.  All in all, a good day.

Advent Blessings x