SWIMMING THROUGH TREACLE !

What a day! No sleep again last night and a bad attack of the Brentford Boogie in to the bargain,which kept me awake until five this morning. My son arrived home from work and found me spark out,bless the boy he made coffee and toast but I was hard pressed to stay awake long enough to eat it.


I did not surface again until eleven and when I did it was on very wobbly legs and with a splitting headache. Pa had been up for a while and was hungry so I made a quick breakfast of hot buttered crumpets and then began to work my way through the days chores.

Having been informed by my son that he had on has last t shirt I decided that I really must tackle the ironing, I found the laundry basket full of unironed t shirts which came as no surprise. Thankfully the day was cooler and I managed to get through a good half of the load before I caved in and left the rest for another day.

Much time was spent preparing dinner as I had promised the boys a special fish dish. For Pa and I pan fried salmon,rosti,sliced runner beans and home ad Hollandaise sauce, for my son herb and crumb crusted cod with rosti. runner beans and a spiced tomato sauce.

Since I was taking the trouble to make Hollandaise,which I love I made a double amount so that I can make eggs Benedict for tomorrows breakfast. Dinner was well received and only slightly marred by the salmon being smoked and although my son does not like fish the cod was cooked to suit his taste and so it went down well.

Four egg yolks for the Hollandaise meant that there were four egg whites sitting in a bowl and so Pavlova seemed the obvious answer , I quickly popped one in the oven and then went out to pick fruit.

By dinner time I was exhausted and very glad that I had done all the prep for the meal earlier. I decided that in light of my late attack of the you know what,s that it would be wise to decorate the pavilion with something other than fruit and served it instead with a large scoop of chocolate iced cream and fresh whipped cream............we ate the lot!..

On shaking legs I staggered to the stair lift and almost wept with gratitude as I travelled slowly up the stairs. Now as I sit at my desk all is quiet for the moment ,all but the summer sound of the water spinner giving a much needed drink to my pumpkins and squashes.

Tonight I must try to sleep, or at least not to prowl about as is my usual custom, I feel very wobbly but the feeling will,I hope ,be gone by morning. Today has felt like a battle ,like attempting to swim in a pool full of treacle and just staying on my feet has been a challenge,but now I can take a warm shower and relax for a while,before ,I hope sleeping soundly for once.

DAMSON FESTE !

A FEAST OF DAMSONS

With the game season almost upon us and a glut of ripe damsons in the orchard you might,if you have lots of damsons yourself like to freeze a few pounds for winter use. The following dish is a family recipe, rich and delicious for a chilly autumn day.



STEW POT VENISON

2 lb venison meat,shoulder is best

seasoned flour

1oz butter

2tablespoons of cooking oil

1 pint of red wine

a good grating of nutmeg

1 blade of mace

salt and pepper

half a pound of stoned damsons( the damsons must be ripe,soft and sweet)

8 crushed juniper berries tied in a muslin bag with the mace.



Cut the venison into chunks and dust with the seasoned flour, Heat the butter eighth the oil in a frying pan and brown the venison quickly then put it in to a lidded casserole.



Pour the wine in to the frying pan scraping up all the brown crystals and juices then pour the liquid over the met in the casserole.

Add the stoned damsons and stir before cooking in the oven at 350oC for 2 hours. Remove the bag of spices before serving with creamed celeriac and glazed carrots,or mashed potato with carrot and parsnip.



Of course while the heat continues the last thing on anyone’s mind is stew so how about this.



Damson milk shake



quarter pound of stewed stoned damsons, sweetened to taste.

1 ping of fresh chilled milk

3 scoops of iced cream.



Put the milk in to a blender ,then add the damsons and blitz well.

Strain the liquid through a nylon sieve to remove pieces of damson skin.

Return to the blender ,add the iced cream and blitz again until frothy,

Serve in chilled glasses.



Stewed damsons can be added to yoghurt for a healthy snack and are really good with chilled rice pudding.



Twiggy's tree house is in a damson tree and at the moment she is being bombarded by half eaten damsons which he been disguarded by the parakeets........Her Majesty is not amused!

I just cannot be asked

Coming as I do from the northern moorlands I confess that I find this level of heat oppressive,today I finally gave up trying to work through the heat. Last night was spent lying starkers under a mosquito net ,rising occasionally to wring out my pillow or stand under a cold shower. During the past week we have noted the increase in the number of mozzies and their vicious attacks have plagued us all, but it is their high pitched whining hum which annoys me the most ;even jungle strength mozzie lotion does nothing to daunt these little horrors.




Sticky ,weary and tousled it was a reluctant trio who assembled at the breakfast table,rather later than usual, for breakfast en famile . Sundays are gaming days and at the moment the Sunday game is played in our kitchen so late as we were, although we ate in haste the first guest had arrived well before breakfast was over.



As the kitchen was to be the scene of battle Pa and I washed up in record time an left the warriors to it. Now I had the day free and for once there was no baking to do and I was thankful,hot as it had already become. I had no intention of doing the ironing and it was far too hot to work in the garden, even the cat twiggy was,by eleven in the morning was flaked out in her shady tree house where she was to remain for the rest of the day.



As I sat at my desk ,making believe to write I began to nod off almost at once and at last gave up the struggle, stripped off and returned to the protection of my mozzie net and fell asleep at last.

Dinner,was very late as the battle raged for longer than usual than usual, it was the fastest stir fry in history and non the worse for that.



As I write darkness is falling fast and although it is still sweltering a light breeze has sprung up and the stirring in the air is pleasant. I have a glass of chilled beer and fully intend to have another before long.



Tomorrow whatever the weather there will be bread to bake and we shall all swing in to action as the new working week begins.

My blog has been as boring as the day has been,noteworthy only for the fact that today I did practically nothing at all, thankfully a rare occurrence.

CHESHIRE CHEESE SAUSAGES WITH DAMSON CHUTNEY

Summer having arrived at last with hours of bright sunshine has caused the damsons to ripen fast and now the race is on to get them picked and preserved before they become over ripe and lose their pectin ,or  are eaten by wasps and our large population of wild parakeets! The following recipes are old ones but they are a firm favourite with us.
Vary the type of cheese to suit your own taste of course ,although i do find that melting cheeses such as Cheddar make the cooking a little difficult, cheeses which crumble are best.



DAMSON CHUTNEY

4lb damsons stoned (Ghastly job but worth the trouble)

6 oz dried fruit

1 tablespoon of pickling spice

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

half a pint of vinegar

1lb Demerara sugar.

Simmer the damsons and dried fruit,pickling spice (tied in a small muslin bag),salt and ground ginger in a heavy bottomed pan with just enough of the vinegar to prevent the mixture from burning.

Cook gently until the fruit is soft,stirring occasionally.

Add the remaining vinegar and sugar stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Boil the mixture until it is thick then remove the spice bag and disguard.

Pour in to clean hot jars and seal.

This chutney may be eaten at once.

While the weather remains hot we often find that we do not care for meat dishes ,the following recipe is an old one and one of our favourites.

CHESHIRE CHEESE SAUSAGES

5 oz fresh bread crumbs

1 medium onion finely chopped

3 oz Cheshire cheese crumbled.

1 tablespoon of fresh parsley,or tarragon chopped

quarter teaspoon of dry mustard

3 eggs

flour

extra bread crumbs for coating

fat for frying (I use dripping but vegetable fat will do.

Mix together the breadcrumbs,onion,tarragon,cheese ,seasoning and mustard.

Beat together two eggs and one yolk bad add to the mixture to bind it, if the mixture is still too dry add a little milk

Divide in to 12 sausage shapes and roll in the flour

Beat the remaining egg and white until frothy, brush over the sausages and then roll in the bread crumbs. Chill for 30 minutes then fry until golden brown.

Serve with the chutney and a mixed salad
If are careful to buy the right cheese this makes a great meal for vegetarians .

Our new neighbours have moved in and on first impression they seem very nice.
My little cat is ignoring me at the moment,on Friday I treated her for fleas,a thing she detests,she has not spoken to me since. All blandishments having failed I shall have to endure Her Majesties huff until further notice.

BREAKFAST AT THE CAFE AVIE

Breakfast on Friday is always very late these days,as every other week my son and I do the shopping early and eat on our return. Morning found me in considerable pain and my son was obliged to go without me a fact which he took rather better than I expected,off he went while I took a large dose of codeine before venturing gingerly down stairs.




Pa was up,which meant that I was late which would not do as we had a guest for breakfast so leaving Pa to tidy his room I went back upstairs to clean and dust my own, From my bedroom window I could see a good deal of activity as our illustrious landlord having originally placed a rent of £1,800 per month ,no new carpet, and no white goods had, after several months of derisive comments from prospective tenants and ardent pleading from the letting agent,had a change of heart.



Yesterday a “Let By” notice went up and today the new fridge freezer,cooker heated towel rail etc. arrived and were installed by the parks electrician ,who,finding himself next door to the Café Avie at his break time called in for a pot of tea (English Breakfast) and shortbread fingers (Wholemeal). He was prepared to sing for his breakfast and in fact seemed rather relieved to get off his chest Th following tale.



When the Estate Manager ( may his wax jacket melt) realised that if he wanted to let the house he needed to lower the price and install the basic white goods he also decided to chose then himself. This was not good judgement as he is unfamiliar with the dimensions of the kitchen next door. On attempting to install the fridge freezer the electrician discovered that no matter how he hung the doors they would not open fully due to lack of space,for either a door or a work top was in the way.



Following instructions he installed it any way,he told us “It will be fine so long as they do not buy any large joints of meat.”

Now why would you install something so obviously wrong? Well of course that answer is that true to form the Estate manager left the matter until the last moment and the new tenant is to move in tomorrow. New appliances had been promised and new appliances they have,the fact that they will not operate correctly is apparently by the way.



The cooker is the cheapest piece of tat I ever saw and the heated towel rail is just large enough to hold a small face flannel! There is potentially the prospect f a very troublesome day for is tomorrow,as on Saturday,s the Estate Manager does not work, the Facilities Manager(may he be visited by a plague of haemorrhoids) is still on holiday. When the new tenants realise their predicament we will be the only people too whom they will be abode to sound off as it ha s been made known to all that Pa is still,technically employed by the Estate.



Coincidentally our old neighbour will be with us for breakfast tomorrow which will add a certain frisson to the occasion.



Many of the days chores went undone today as I was, unfortunately not well enough to do them and my son, poor boy is also feeling pretty grim. Pa is , for once the last one standing.....for how long,who can say? In the mean time it has been decided that an very early night shall be had by all in the hope that we shall all fell better in the morning. Let us pray!

man hauling mama back home!!

My son,having been glued to his keyboard all week working on his latest novel,was rather pleased when I suggested that we go exploring along the canal tow path, With my scooter newly returned from the repair shop after having a small fortune spent upon gears, tyres, lights and switches felt confident that she would be fin;and so it was that with a fully charged battery and a basket of cold drinks we set of on our adventure.




Quite recently I discovered Elthorne Park , a special place full of wild rabbits,coots and herons and with a wonderful view over trees and park land to a real horizon,a thing much missed by us former hill dwellers. Knowing that my son would love it I suggested this walk and he was delighted.,we had fortunately remembered to take our cameras....unfortunately neither of us had remembered to pick up our mobile phones before leaving home.



About a mile out we discovered this discrepancy but ,rash fools that we were we felt only that it made our holiday from chores more complete,a nonsensical notion that we were soon to bitterly regret.



All along the way there were lovely thing to be seen and if it had not been for the noise of traffic from a near by motorway it would have been easy to imagine ones self deep in the countryside. Tiny mallard chick and young moor hens abounded and everywhere fat glossy blackberries ,sweet as can be adorned the hedgerows. Bryony and wood nightshade festooned the hawthorn hedges where the haws were already ripening fast.



We reached the park and wandered through the many paths e brow of the arriving at last at the brow of the hill where we gazed at the view like starving men with a feast before them. I have not seen such a horizon for fifteen years and I confess to being close to tears.



Trundling further a long a smooth track we decided that we should consider returning so I put on a little speed to gain the turning space when suddenly ,with out warning the scooter stopped,she stopped so sharply that I was thrown on to the tiller;the acute pain this caused told me that I had probably dislodged a kidney stone...help!



We now realised that leaving home without our phones had been stupid in the extreme,but there was not time for repining and my valiant son began the arduous task of pushing both me and the scooter home................a full three miles!!!

We had climbed the rather steep hills in happy anticipation of the view, now we face having to get the scooter down these hills without the aid of brakes as the only way to push the scooter is by knocking her out of gear and since the gears are the only brakes she has the problem is obvious.



I had to remain on the scooter in and so with my teeth firmly clenched we began the descent. Manfully my son used all his strength to hold the scooter back on the down hill slopes and even more manfully did he strain to push both the scooter and its occupant on the uphill sections.



A bridge,picturesque but dreadfully steep almost proved our undoing for although he managed to push the scooter up the steep slope ,as he came down the other side the weight pulled her away from him and she was for a few seconds out of control,then my son stopped her by the expeditious use of hi boot under the tyre.

I had been holding his hat as he pushed and it was with horror that I realised it was no longer on my knee.......it had gone!



Apologies seemed insufficient as my son stumped off up the tow path to find the missing hat,leaving me parked by a nest of tiny ducklings and feeling dreadful. With his hat back where it belonged we pressed on having no idea at all of the time. Shops were closing,it must be late Pa would be so worried....................hmmmmm!

On our return his casual hello told us that we had not been much missed,still all was well and as I did not feel like cooking we ordered Pizza and iced cream.

Of course now I am back to square one with my scooter and I must admit that my confidence has taken a nose dive since this latest breakdown,yet I cannot go back to b was before the scooters arrival .

That worry must be for another day,for now we are all safe at home,and that is all that matters.

WE FEAST

Ever since the day when our freezer decided to defrost itself a few days before Christmas the feast which followed this catastrophe has gone in to the family history as one of the best meals ever.


On that occasion the table was laden with a huge turkey, a brace of pheasant, a guinea fowl a large joint of beef and about three pounds of sausages.

Roasting that little lot took all day but when ,at last we sat down to dinner there was enough for a small army.
Served with nothing more than trenchers of bread and a salad this meal looked spectacular and was very much enjoyed by all those who participated in the feast,


Since that time I have often been asked to “Do it again” and while cost and time prohibit such an indulgence I do from time to time prepare a scaled down version of this memorable meal.

On the menu today. Pork Belly flavoured with a paste made from freshly milled spices which have been cooked in olive oil before being rubbed into the well scored joint.

Chicken breasts coated in a well seasoned flour and pan fried in clarified butter and fresh herbs

Potato salad, made from our own potatoes,baked and creamed courgettes,cherry tomatoes,spring onions ,salad, trenchers and a few tortilla thrown in for good measure.
All was going well...too well..the pork was roasting and making the whole house smell wonderful and with the chicken ready to cook at the last minute I had....correction ,should have had plenty of time e to clean the bathroom.

Half way through the cleaning at well past four I answered a knock on the door which proved to be the electrician come to fit a replacement extractor fan in the bathroom. Not unfortunately the electricians who worked on our house a few weeks ago but the estate electrician who is more unfortunately still the most messy artisan I have ever encountered During the hour which he spent hammering and banging in an attempt to dislodge the old one I watched nervous;y as the pile of brick dust grew and his dirty hands hovered near the newly painted walls and the even more newly cleaned tiles.


By the time he left their was brick dust every where an I had to begin the job all over again. Down stairs the pork was cooked,unfortunately I was not ready to pan fry the butterflied chicken breasts, cream the courgettes or prepare the salad......bum!

I whirled around the bathroom like a crazy woman and when I had finished left my son to put the cleaning things away while I sped off to rescue our feast and with much jiggery pokery between us we saved the day. OK. We ate almost two hours late and the pork crackling was not as crisp as I would have liked but all was well and the boys and I tucked in with enjoyment

.We would of course never be able to eat so much at once but the left overs will make excellent sandwiches for supers and of course our little cat will have her share.

Post script.

When the fan was turned on after dinner......it co,mes on with the light. A cloud of brick dust flew out of the blasted gadget and ,positioned as it is directly over the kitchen door ,

the dust cloud blew right in to the kitchen and settled................everywhere.......***!!!!**!.