Having done very little baking for a week of so, with the exception of course of bread making I fell the urge to get back to the kitchen and do a little baking. I confess that during the week before the holiday there were a few times when I thought that if I saw a baking sheet next March it would be too soon....I did not last a week!
I decided on a large batch of chocolate chunk cookies for today as these have proved on of the most popular of late and as the cookie jars were all empty I baked a round five dozen of these delectable little biscuits.
Pa had popped out to the shops and I had the warm kitchen all to myself, outside it was cold and grey yet there was plenty of life and movement there. In the front garden Twiggy was casing the dead leaves as they blew about in the wind,occasionally turning somersaults and then hiding from imaginary enemies before pouncing wildly upon nothing at all.
I am lucky to have three windows in the kitchen through which I get a great view of the bird garden and the kitchen garden,today there was plenty to see. Hanging upon the wall near one of the windows is a tray filled with bird food, today while I watched it was favoured by Willow Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits with the odd robin and the occasional Nuthatch. Starlings squabbled with Parakeets of the fat feeders and My Lord and Lady Blackbird visited the table feeder in great state. Wood pigeons grazed upon Ivy berries while the wren blew in and out of the garden like one of the leaves which the cat was chasing earlier.
I was glad that she had confined her play hunting to the front garden as many of these small birds would stand no chance if she took up hunting in earnest.
By this time the kitchen smelled deliciously of hot chocolate as the batches of cookies were removed tray by tray from the oven and set to cool and being rather partial to warm cookies I ate a couple with my coffee,diet be blowed! I used to be far too thin but those days are I think gone for ever, still at my age aim entitled to middle aged spread and no spoil sport dietitian is going to rob me of it. We spend far too much time worrying about the state of our health and while I do not advise an orgy of gluttony I see no point in making ones life a misery with this or that diet, living is what kills us so we might just as well live it up while we can.
I look at it this way, I am fifty eight, riddled with arthritis and have dodgy kidneys, I have no wish to end my days dependent and stuck in a wheel chair or worse,in bed! Two years of being house bound taught me that much. Niether do I intend to end up at a great age with altzhiemers, I have nursed two relatives with that diabolical disease and have to tell you that should I become afflicted I shall certainly bail out long before I become a burden to my son or any one else for that matter. In the words of Henry Hobson “Life has to be worth living before I'll live it.”
Enough of this gloomy topic and back to the kitchen. Once the cookies were done I made some beef burgers for dinner and this is what I did.
BEEF BURGERS
1lb steak mince
4 oz fresh bread crumbs
2 oz sun-dried tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme chopped
I small onion chopped very fine
salt and pepper
I teaspoon Dijon mustard
6 small squares of cheddar cheese about half an inch square
Mix every thing except the cheese in a bowl and then divide in to six small or four large burgers. While shaping push a piece of cheese in to each one and then form the burger making sure that they are flat on both sides
Cook in a little oil on a griddle or in a frying pan. They can be grilled but I find that the become rather too crusty for my taste. The will need between five and eight minutes each side depending upon which size you make
Serve on toasted buns with caramelised onion rings and a salad.
This mixture makes very good meat balls if you leave out the cheese.
Pa returned from the shops feeling chilled so I made some hot coffee and added a dash of Rum, it worked wonders. Yesterday I tackled the ironing although I forbore to mention it as I am sure that I bang on far too much about how I hate the job. Today I feel very virtuous on both counts.
Today I checked on the winter and spring cabbages which I have grown this year under a mesh tunnel to prevent the wood pigeons for grazing them down to the ground, unfortunately the mild weather and the extra warmth provided by the tunnel has meant that slugs still abound in the kitchen garden and are still taking liberties with the cabbages. Tomorrow I shall hoe the up and throw in some sawdust. Slugs hate the stuff and with luck the cabbages will recover in a few weeks time.
Having spent yesterdays blog preaching tolerance for the Grey Squirrel I feel bound to confess that I can find not reason why slugs should exist at all, I hate, loath and despise the blasted things and the only reason I do not slaughter them whole sale is that such action would also kill the snails of which I am fond, so you see In the end I too have feet of clay!
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