A Monthly Review.

-
At the beginning of January I set myself some modest targets rather than resolutions and I am pleased to say that I have made some progress huzzah!

The first new veggie meal has been devoured- my carnivorous chaps seem to suffer a strange adversity to chickpeas but my falafel disappeared in a flash. Lots of seasoning seems to be the trick to get those under the radar successfully. This time I fried them next time [there will be a next time] I am going to brush them with oil and bake them. I have put out a polite request on freecycle for Ronald Hutton books so shall have to see on that one.

Finally the seasonal shelf...well ......ta dah!


A sort of Imbolc/early spring display. The wren ornament is the first present Mr GBT ever bought me and I still love it to this day 24 years on. The handmade wreath in the background was bought at the weekend at the fabulous Anderida Druid Conference where I was dancing. I also brought this beautiful little hand painted wren pendant home with me which doesn't show up properly so Mr GBT has very kindly taken a close up shot for me to share.


So headway is being made. I am making my first ever jam suet pud in the slow cooker this weekend which will count as the first new dessert of 2014.

Arilx

Comments

  1. Rose H (UK)8 February 2014 at 21:37

    I LOVE your beautiful seasonal shelf, your wren is beautiful :o)
    Rose H
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aril9 February 2014 at 21:17

    Aww thanks Rose!
    Arilx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thrifty Saturday

-
Image
  Food storage and thrifty ways to achieve it. I haven't bought clingfilm or freezer bags for more than 20 years. The only times I've ever bought ziplock bags was when we needed them for the rare occasion when we fly....these are then washed out and used until they're no longer fit for purpose [then recycled]. This is just what I do...gnat bottomed by name gnat bottomed by nature😁 I've found that the bags which house breakfast cereal make fabulous freezer bags [they're also good for separating burgers when you want to freeze them and not have them end up in one big lump]. They're sturdy and keep the contents from going dry. When it comes to securing the top I have some bag ties, but I also keep the ties which come with the coffee bags, bits of stray garden wire, clothes pegs and even cutting the top of the plastic bag and then wrapping it round the neck works. Clingfilm. If I have to wrap something then I use foil and then, as every other thrifty person I know,
Read more

Thrifty Wednesday

-
Image
     With the current energy price rises looming I see much talk of buying air fryers, heated airers and other things to help people to save money and keep their usage as low as possible. Absolutely nothing wrong with any of that. We have a tiny kitchen with very limited storage space, so I think long and hard before I buy any gadgets [or anything for that matter]. Those that are here have earnt their place and when our slow cooker pot cracked earlier in the year we immediately replaced it. Our sc has seen much use for the standard things like casseroles and cooking gammon joints. I've done a fair amount of experimenting to see what else I can cook in it over the years. Bread  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-bread?fbclid=IwAR23FJf0raD5g_R6joW7XcRvUWybqh6M99SxiTEPG3ggXvI5um_3ufpx3Tc  was a surprising success [it seems counter intuitive] as was lemon curd and fudge [slightly different texture]. On Christmas day we made another suet pudding same as here  http://gnatbot
Read more

A Table for the Nation

-
Image
Phew I've just spent an amazing Morris weekend watching two local sides dancing [as part of the May day celebrations Broadwood Morris dance in a local church!] and performing with Mythago as part of the Sweeps Festival in Rochester. Over lunchtime I popped into the cathedral and found this huge 13m oak table on display in the nave. Aside from its size the most surprising thing is it has been made from a piece of 5000 year old black bog oak which was discovered purely by chance preserved in the peat of Wissington Fens in 2012. Due to its year of discovery coinciding with the Diamond Jubilee it was named the Jubilee Oak. If this was only a section heaven only knows how big the original tree must have been. This type of oak is the densest native hardwood and the only naturally black one. I was interested to learn that it also gives a unique sound when made into musical instruments and is much sought after for that reason. Maybe not surprisingly it took nine months to dry the wood out
Read more