Cookery Calendar Challenge: May

I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.

Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook

This month I chose Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook, a present from my daughter who knows my love of cookbooks.  We'd watched his television series together and warmed to his gentle presentation and simple yet elegant dishes.  It's an unusual book in that it's arranged by ingredients rather than courses: anchovy and aubergine, nice rice, and ham, bacon & a little pig.  He's a believer in good ingredients, not necessarily expensive, treated well.  Despite having had his book on my shelf for several years I'd only ever baked his rich and creamy rice pudding and looked forward to trying out more of his recipes.

Smoked Haddock Pilaf with Ginger & Parsley

The first I attempted was Smoked Haddock Pilaf with Ginger & Coriander.  My first set back came when my fishmonger didn't have enough smoked haddock in his fridge and I had to resort to a luminous yellow overpackaged fillet from Aldi.  The second was when I discovered I didn't have a suitably sized oven proof lidded pan and had to settle for a larger one which didn't allow sufficient depth.  Lastly I forgot to buy any coriander.  The parsley I'd picked up for Sunday's dinner was acceptable, although not quite as appropriate.

However I didn't let any of these contretemps deter me from recreating Simon Hopkinson's delightfully simple yet deliciously light supper dish.  A few minutes' attention on the stove top and 20 minutes in the oven and it was ready to eat.  Simon declares a pilaf to be possibly his favourite way to eat rice in any form (marginally better than a risotto) and I'm inclined to agree.

Lamb's Liver with Sweet & Sour Onions

The very next day we ate his Calf's Liver with Sweet & Sour Onions.  Offal is not to everyone's taste, but I love it in all its manifestations.  Our butcher didn't have any calf's liver, so I had to make do with lamb's, but that was the only substitution.  There was just enough creme de cassis in the bottle to fill the required tablespoon.

This was another simple dish.  I fried the liver for longer than Simon suggested and was afraid I might have overcooked it, but I must have judged it accurately as it remained soft and tender.  The red wine vinegar and the creme de cassis lifted the sauce.  I would have enjoyed it with the recommended soft and buttery polenta but we had potatoes and swede to use up which worked just as well.

Later in the week my partner prepared the Aubergine Parmigiana, which was gorgeous.

I've a feeling that The Good Cook will not be languishing on my bookshelf any longer.

My book for June is Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour.

Cookery Calendar Challenge: March

Welcome to my first Cookery Calendar Challenge report. I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.

I chose Jamie Oliver's The Return of the Naked Chef, which I almost instantly regretted.  It's not that I don't like Jamie Oliver.  I do.  He's an entertaining TV cook and I value his contribution to the debate over the nutritional value of school dinners, over-fishing etc.  It's not even that I didn't like the book.  It's just that I'm trying to cut down on my meat intake, and although he does offer a number of vegetarian recipes, very few of them appealed to me.  In addition, because the challenge slipped my mind until the end of the month, which coincided with my attempting to use up the contents of my fridge before going away for a long weekend, I found myself even more restricted.

My first dish was Spaghetti with Anchovies, Dried Chilli & Panagritata. Being quick and easy to prepare - boil pasta, melt anchovies in garlic oil, toast breadcrumbs, throw together - it made the ideal holiday lunch.  I shared it with my daughter.  She didn't like it, mainly because of the anchovies.  I did enjoy it, but found the panagritata made it feel a bit dry in the mouth.  If I made it again I would add a bit more reserved water from the pasta and hope it didn't take the crunch from the breadcrumbs.  Perhaps a touch more olive oil would be better?

I'm afraid my photograph doesn't do it justice.  I though afterwards that it would have looked better if I'd tossed it together beforehand.

My second dish was Pappardelle, Spicy Sausage Meat and Mixed Wild Mushrooms.  For practical reasons I swapped pappardelle for tagliatelle, wild mushrooms for a mixture of button mushrooms and broccoli and stirred in a couple of spoonfuls of cream. We ate it for dinner with a green side salad, sharing it with my daughter's boyfriend.  It went down better than the first dish.  Its versatility and the fact that it makes a little meat go a long way means that I'm sure to make it again.

Again, apologies for the photograph with its very shiny plate!

Flicking through the book there are a couple of other recipes I'd try - pukkolla (Jamie's take on muesli), pan-toasted almonds with a touch of chilli and sea salt, salmon fillet wrapped in prosciutto with herby lentils, spinach and yoghurt, his marinades and rubs and chickpea Moroccan flatbread.

My book for April is Rachel Roddy's Five Quarters.  I first encountered Rachel in the Saturday Guardian where she was one of a series of cooks in residence (she now has a regular column) and clicked through her book in Foyles on many occasions before finally buying it.

What's for tea?

One of the joys of blogging is being inspired by other bloggers.  Eliane over at faites simple has challenged herself to plan her week's meals in advance on Sunday evening and to make better use of her 'embarrassingly unused cookbook library'.

This is something I have tried at various points in my life.  When I succeed it transforms my week.  No more midday panics over what we're going to eat that evening, no getting halfway through a recipe only to discover that I'm missing a key ingredient, no nasty discoveries at the back of the fridge ...

So this week I'll be (mainly) cooking from Rose Prince's the new english kitchen.

Monday
Haggis, neeps & tatties (in celebration of Rabbie Burns)

Tuesday
Baked chick peas, peppers & potatoes with yoghurt sauce

Wednesday
Butternut squash risotto

Thursday
Braised red lentils with lime juice & feta

Friday
Tamarind fish stew (from the freezer)

Saturday
Chicken curry (from the freezer)

Sunday
Beef braised with rhubarb

The Year in Books

I have joined Circle of Pine Trees' A Year in Books project.  This is a virtual reading group in which members choose their own book of the month and post a brief review of it for others to share.  There is also a plan for everyone to read the same book one month.  Pop over forLaura's far more coherent explanation here.

Anyway, I have chosen We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler for January, or rather it was chosen for me by my husband who included it in my Christmas stocking.  It's my first of her books and I'm looking forward to reading a new author.

Summer 2014: A Review

At the beginning of the summer holidays I drew up a To Do List.  This is how I got on.

Cycle to Bath along the railway path

Having been knocked off a bike aged 18 and not ridden again until last summer on Colonsay, I was more than a little anxious about my ability to reach Bath without incident, but it proved to be much easier, and far more enjoyable than I'd feared.  We hired Bromptons from Temple Meads station via Brompton Dock, whose service I thoroughly recommend.  The path was a delight, taking us out behind back gardens and parks into the open countryside where we rode through wooded areas, along causeways with views out over the fields and following the river into Bath.  There, after a pot of tea in a cafe, we folded our bikes (albeit with a few teething problems) and carried them on to a train back to Bristol.  I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm planning to do it again.

Bake 5 pies from my new Pieminister Pie book

I managed two.  They were the Screaming Desperado (chilli con carne in a rough puff pastry) and Porkie Buns (Vietnamese flavoured sausagement in a hot crust pastry).  I loved the filling in the first and would eat it again on its own (the pie had a 'soggy bottom'), but the buns were a sensation.  We at them on a picnic at Tyntesfield with coleslaw and my daughter's boyfriend's mother's(!) piccalilli.

 Visit Tyntesfield

We caught the bus and claimed our 20% discount at the ticket office, cafe and shop.  It was a glorious sunny day and we spent a couple of hours wandering round the grounds, admiring the sculpture exhibition, exploring the outbuildings and the kitchen garden and eating our picnic, before entering the house. Restoration is ongoing and given the quality of what has been achieved thus far, the finished article will be truly amazing.  

Make falafels
I used Jamie Oliver's recipe.  They were alright but not nearly as good as ones I've eaten from street stalls; more bean burger than falafel.  So I'm going to try out Yotam Ottonlenghi's recipe which I'm certain will be more authentic.

Read 5 books
I read three (well almost three!) - Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gayle, A Death in Tuscany by Michele Ferrara and How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.  A varied selection but all good reads.

Create a sourdough starter
My starter is well and truly established and has been used to make three loaves.

Get up early to watch Bristol Balloon Fiesta Dawn Ascent
I've watched many an evening ascent, but whether it's the satisfaction of making it up the hill that early, hot cups of tea from a flask, the absence of the fairground noise, the soft light or the anticipation of a bacon butty on our return, but this one was extra special.

Bake 5 new breads
I managed four - irish soda bread, flatbread, cornbread and sourdough.  And if I count the kanelbullar (technically buns, but made with yeast!) then it would be five.

Picnic at Bristol Zoo
I spent a leisurely day at the zoo with my younger daughter and picnicked on the lawn.  There's always something new to see and the promise of even more to entice you back.

Visit the Jeremy Deller exhibition
I'd never heard of Jeremy Deller but found his work very thought provoking.  I particularly appreciated the huge paintings on the wall.

Visit St Werburgh's City Farm, eat meatballs @ Ikea and shop at Bristol Sweet Mart
We had to go to Ikea to buy a table for my younger daughter.  I like to make the most of my £4 day rider bus ticket so we combined it with a visit to St Werburgh's City Farm and a short walk through Boiling Wells.  We enjoyed our meatballs at Ikea but sadly didn't have time for a cuppa at the farm.

Make rhubarb & ginger jam
I managed to get five jars from our new rhubarb plant.  I took a chance with a bag of jam sugar that was four years past its best before date, but we're still alive and kicking!

Take advantage of podiatrist appointment to window shop in Cotham/Clifton
I popped in to Kitchens and bought a banneton for my sourdough breadmaking and two pie dishes for my Pieministering.  Having drooled over The Philosophy of List's madeleines I'm kicking myself for not having bought the baking tin I saw on my way out.  Still, I'll be back that way on Saturday so ...

Swim and lunch at the Lido
Although I haven't technically done this during the holidays I did book our visit during that time.  We're swimming and lunching there this weekend.

Make a start on a recipe folder
Our house is littered with piles of magazines and boxes of cuttings but, with no way of knowing where any of them are when I need them, I rarely use any of the recipes I collect.  So, armed with a ring binder, an A4 pad, a pair of scissors and a Pritt stick, I went to work on the pile of Guardian 'cook' supplements.  I was ruthlessly selective and have ended up with a folderful of recipes that I might very well use.  Indeed I've already cooked two of them.

Make pizza
I made a couple of the best pizzas I've had in a long time.

Walk: Leigh Woods
I dragged my younger daughter and her boyfriend round the second longest trail, stopping to admire the view across the gorge and eat banana bread.  Despite being the weekend it was unusually quiet.

Picnic on Brandon Hill
We ate tortilla and salad and watched language students play frisbee under the trees.  Rain and the absence of the Vee Double Moo van prevented us from lingering.

Finish crocheting my daughter's quilt
It's almost there.  When I started to crochet the granny squares together I discovered I didn't have quite enough of them, so I had to rustle up a few more.  There's only five to go now and the border to add.

Walk: Bristol Old City
It's amazing how often we walk past building without actually looking at them.

So I didn't hold 5 dinner parties, visit Oxford, make tomato ketchup, take a proper look around the M Shed, watch the Night Glow, walk round Snuff Mills or Blaise Castle, shopped for clothes for work, swim in the outdoor pool at Street, make icecream, crak Prashad's khokla recipe, preserve lemons, make lemonade, have a barbecue or take the ferry boat to Beese's Tea Gardens.

But I did have lunch with friends at the Tube Diner, follow the Secret Cemetery trail around Arnos Vale, attend Amnesty's Goldney Garden Party, eat kebabs and jalebis at the Islamic Cultural Fair hand out leaflets at Temple Meads protesting about the increase in rail fares, run a Bristol Pound stall at the Tobacco Factory Market, see What If and Two Days and One Night, oppose the Metrobus proposal at a council planning meeting and generally enjoy not having to go to work.    

This Weekend ...

On Saturday I attended the 2014 Global Aware Conference.  The highlight of the day was listening to Ruth Valerio, who describes herself as a 'community activist, Christian, academic, eco-warrior, mum, author, veg grower, wife and pig keeper rolled into one'.  She inspired me with her passion for food and her recipe for virtuous eating (humility, frugality, generosity, justice, hope & patience and love).  I was particularly struck by a quote from Wendell Berry "The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition.  One reason to eat responsibly is to live free".  I came away resolved to make changes to my food habits, more of which later.

On Sunday I saw 12 Years a Slave.  It was a hard film to watch, and the exquisitely beautiful lingering shots of Louisiana only served to highlight the brutal injustice of the subject matter.  I was struck by the dehumanising effect that the system had on the slaves, stripping them of their natural instinct to come to the aid of their fellows, and the overwhelming feeling of utter hopelessness. 

Monthly Book 1/52

Wooh!  Not only have I committed myself to baking a loaf of bread a week, I am now about to undertake to read a book a month.  I just hope it doesn't end in tears!

Anyway, following the mantra of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, I'm joining in with Laura at Circle of Pine Trees.  Details can be found here.

My first book is Maggie O'Farrell's 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox'.  I discovered Maggie O'Farrell last summer, when I picked up 'after you'd gone' from an Amnesty second hand book stall.  I took it on holiday and sat reading it on the sofa of our Colonsay cottage looking out over the sheep grazing in the field.  It had been a while since I'd read a book I'd chosen for myself.  The last few had been selected by members of the reading group I'd been attending, none of which I'd particularly taken to, and I'd begun to wonder whether I'd ever truly enjoy a book again.  'after you'd gone' broke the jinx.  It's a good thing I was on holiday as it allowed me the hours required to finish it within a couple of days.  Whether it was the poetic quality of the prose, the graphic portrayal of loss, or the references to my beloved Edinburgh ...  Perhaps, because although I enjoyed 'Instructions for a Heatwave' it didn't grip me with quite the same force.  I'm hoping that 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' with its setting in both Edinburgh and India (where I was born and grew up, admittedly long after the Raj!) will draw me in again.

Weekly Bread 1&2/52

They say great minds think alike.  Well, having decided back in December that I would like to bake a loaf a week during 2014, I discovered that Lou Archell over at Littlegreenshed had been inspired by the same idea.  Only she's more efficient than me and turned it into a project to share with other bloggers.  You can read all about it here and join in the fun.

I baked my first loaf last Saturday, the same one I'd baked on Christmas Day.  It was a no knead white loaf baked in a Le Creuset casserole.  You can find the recipe here.  I followed it to the letter, except that although I used fast acting yeast I pre-activated it in warm water with a little sugar before adding it to the flour.  It's just as easy as it looks and produces a wonderfully crusty loaf.

Today I baked my second loaf, an Irish soda bread, which we ate for lunch alongside a bowl of leek and potato soup.  Very appropriate!  The recipe came from Paul Hollywood's book entitled 100 Great  Breads, which I bought for £3 from the book man who drops off a boxful of books at our office every month or so.  It should keep me going through the challenge.

The Rubbish Diet Challenge

I've just signed up for another of Mrs Almost Average's Rubbish Diet Challenge.

To find out more about this challenge click here.

And to follow my progress click here.

The Compound Word Project

If you like words and images,

and relish a challenge,

you might like to head over to The Compound Word Project 

and pit your wits against your fellow bloggers.

Fasting for Lent

Prompted by Sue's post over at The Quince Tree I have decided to give the 5:2 Fast Diet a go this Lent.

Lent crept up on me this year and caught me unprepared.  A weekend in Scotland and my defection to the Quakers, who do not observe the Christian calendar, meant no pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and  no conclusion on what to 'give up' or 'take up' in preparation for the great feast of Easter.

So thanks, Sue.

For those of you who have not heard of the Fast Diet, click here for all the details.

This week I fasted on Monday and Friday.  It should have been Monday and Wednesday, but I swapped Wednesday for Friday when I decided to go out on Wednesday evening.  That's one of the advantages of this diet.  Provided they're not consecutive, fast days can be observed on any day of the week.

Another advantage is the freedom to eat pretty much what you want, even on fast days.  There are no expensive ingredients, no 'diet' foods, no 'sins', no 'red/green' days to choose between and very little in the way of calorie counting.

Dieters can not only decide what to eat, but when to eat it.  So far I've chosen to skip breakfast, lunch on a bowl of soup and save the bulk of my calories for an evening meal.  Vegetable soups are not only quick and easy to prepare and delicious to eat, but they also help stave off hunger pangs.  Eating normally at the end of the day saves me from having to cook a separate meal for the rest of the family or having to watch them tuck in while I nibble on a stick of celery!

There is a book to accompany the documentary but I've found as much as I need to know from the website. I'm indebted to a variety of bloggers who have posted calorie counted recipes for fast days (London Unattached, The Frugal Cook and Tinned Tomatoes).  I've collected my favourites on my Pinterest board (link to the left) and can recommend the One Pot Southern Style Rice we ate last night.

In 2013 I resolve to ...

I'm spoilt for choice.

I could resolve to bake all my own bread ... or do all the dishes before bed ... or read more books ... or lose some weight ... or stop stressing over silly things ... or grow something (anything!) in the garden ... or switch off the light before midnight ... or start running again ... or cut down my plastic consumption ... or spend less time on the laptop ...

While I fully intend to do most (if not all of the above) at some point during the next year, I'm reluctant to set myself up to fall at the first hurdle in a month, or a week, or (in the case of unnecessary stressing!) in a day's time.

I've been interested in what fellow bloggers have been posting on the subject of New Year's Resolutions.  Lucy in the Clouds directed me to Shinypigeon's sound advice.  Karen at A Quiet Corner has been inspired by Meet Me At Mike's resolution to make 2013 The Year of Interestingness.  Jen at Little Birdie has opted for 'plans' while Nancy at The Philosophy of Lists has simply chosen to eat more smoked salmon!  Now there's a resolution I wouldn't mind keeping.  Karin at Green & Generous quotes the Buddha: "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."  Sue at The Quince Tree is swapping cakes for delicious healthy meals.  I hope she shares her successes.

So where does that leave me on this first day of 2013.

Well, I've decided to (continue to) be open to new ideas and opportunities.  Of course I want to be healthier, and tidier, and greener, and more productive.  But more than any of these I want to embrace life and all its possibilities.  Despite its various shortcomings this is still a wonderful world and I resolve to enjoy (and share) the best it has to offer.

Advent Blogging

In addition to posting my own musings, I've been following a couple of other Advent-themed blogs:

Hannah Broadway has been brightening up my day with her bold festive images.

Jen has been matching photos and words to get us in the mood.

Karin reflects on how the way we choose to celebrate is an expression of our inner self.

The Coffee Lady takes an irreverent view of Advent calendars, laser-cut houses and stags' heads!

C puts us all to shame by making her own delightful snowscape calendar.

Lucy embarks on another crocheted masterpiece.

Dotty Cookie devises an impressive series of Advent activities for her children.

Gillian and Charlotte have been making their own edible gifts, while Karen has transformed a branch from her apple tree into a stunning illuminated feature.

So pop over and be inspired!

The photograph is a very poor quality one of our advent calendar.  I really should try to get a better image of it.

On the Sixth Day of December

What angels will visit me today! What messages am I listening to?

Over on Green & Generous Karin believes that how we celebrate Christmas is determined by how we feel inside.  I agree (and recommend you read the rest of what she has to say), but we are also influenced by the world in which we live and the messages it bombards us with.  It requires a strong will to resist the external pressures to do this or that, and follow your own heart.

Last Christmas we escaped to St Ives where, unfettered by custom or convention, we spent one of our happiest Christmasses in a long time.  But we can't always run away.  Sometimes we've got to stand our ground against the presumptions of how it should be

On Saturday we'll buy our tree and leave it bare - with no more than a few lights - for a week.  Ostensibly to allow my elder daughter to help decorate it on her return, it will also serve as a reminder of the beauty of natural form.

These angels can be found in Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol.

Food Challenge: Week 1

Following the examples of Sue over at The Quince Tree and Thrifty Household, I have set myself the challenge of living on a food and drink budget of £52 per week.  This is apparently the equivalent to the value of  food stamps the US government pays to people on a low income.  My figure is calculated by multiplying the daily rate of £2.50 by 3 (the number in our household) and then again by 7 to reach the weekly figure.

Now I'm not on a low income and can afford to spend more that £52 per week on food but, like many others it appears, I have developed the habit of buying more and more food when my fridge/freezer and cupboards are already stocked with more than enough to feed us for some time.

Yesterday I reached the end of my first week and calculate that I spent £51.11, just short of my my target.  I was greatly helped by the donation of almost half a chicken and a huge bowlful of boiled new potatoes, left over from the church's harvest supper and dinner with friends one evening.  They provided one dinner and a couple of packed lunches.

Apart from that I raided the freezer for tortillas when bread ran low, we ate our way through our organic vegetable box and made inroads into our stockpile of beans and pasta.

In addition to the vegetable box I did buy mince and chicken and bacon, and added on what we spend on our milk delivery.  I even included the money I spent on a pot of tea and a cold drink after our walk through the woods on Sunday.  I could have done it for less if we'd gone veggie or delved deeper into the freezer but   the constraints of time and a carnivorous daughter precluded any further savings this week.

I love a challenge and this one has been such fun that I'm going to carry on with it for at least another week and, who knows, possibly even longer.  

Vegan MOFO

My blogger friends Sime and Kay over at Just Humans Being have signed up to Vegan MOFO and will be posting on all things vegan during the month of October.  As a carnivore it would not have been appropriate for me to do likewise but I have decided, nonetheless, to try and explore this meat and dairy free diet over the next few weeks.

The day I first read of Vegan MOFO I realised that my dinner that evening had quite coincidentally been vegan, a runner bean curry and rice.  If there had been any yoghurt in the fridge I'd have dolloped a spoonful of it on the side, but there wasn't, and it was perfectly respectable without.

As I've said, I am a carnivore.  I've considered vegetarianism and even veganism, but although I'm persuaded that I should eat less meat and question its provenance, I'm not convinced that I should give it up altogether. However it's clear that eating less meat makes sense for the sake of my health and the welfare of the planet and its people.  It will help me to live more frugally and perhaps even shed a few pounds.

So I'm looking for inspiration, ideas and recipes.  Knowing Sime & Kay I'm sure they will not disappoint!

Use it or Lose it

On last week's Would I Lie to You, David Mitchell mocked the suggestion that Sue Perkins paid regular visits to her local butcher, describing the practice as a '1950s idyll' reserved for 'posh' people because 'most people buy meat at supermarkets, don't they?'

Well I have news for David.  I'm not posh and the last time I looked it was 2012, and I buy most of my meat at my local butchers.  I realise it's only a comedy programme but I get sick and tired of people assuming that supermarkets are the only place to shop and that people who do otherwise are slightly odd.

I was therefore delighted to read Steph's account of the Totally Locally Leek first birthday party.  Totally Locally is an organisation committed to celebrating the wonderful independent shops, business and people of our towns.  It provides a free award winning marketing and branding campaign to any local community wanting to breathe life back into its high streets.  I love their manifesto which you can read here.

And, according to their online calculator, if every adult in my district, spent just £5 per week in local independent stores, instead of in a supermarket or on the internet, it would plough £2.3 million into the local economy.

As they say, it makes you think.

The photo is of a blackboard in my favourite (yes, we are lucky to have more than one!) local butcher's showing where all his meat comes from.

One More Thing

As you can see from the image on the right next week is National Zero Waste Week 2012, pioneered by the redoubtable (as in 'worthy of respect and honour' rather than 'arousing fear', of course!) Mrs Green.

The theme of this year's week is One More Thing because, according to Mrs Green, if every household in the UK recycled just one more thing the total amount of recyclable rubbish could be increased by more than three quarters of a million tonnes.

Without wishing to sound smug I am a pretty good recycler already (with the support of my local council who provide excellent recycling facilities), but there is always room for improvement.

So what is my One More Thing to be?

Well, after some consideration, I have decided to make better use of my freezer.

I propose to this in three ways:

1. I am going to try and (identify! and) use up some of the food already in my freezer.  Followers of my Zero Waist blog will remember that I attempted to so some time ago, but with limited success, partly due to the lack of labeling and partly to the kind of food I'd frozen. 
2. Wherever appropriate, I am going to double up recipes and freeze half the dish.  This will save energy and provide me with an invaluable store of quick meals for those days when I don't have the time (or inclination!) to spend hours in the kitchen.
3. I am going to label EVERYTHING I put in the freezer - even if I'm convinced I'll remember what it is when I eventually dig it out.  It's remarkable how similar stewed apples appear to curried parsnip soup - but you wouldn't want the latter with custard!  I am also going to try and keep some sort of record of what's in the freezer (and maybe even in which basket!) to help in menu planning.
4. I am also going to use the freezer to save little pieces of food from the bin (even if it's the compost one!).  Parmesan rinds can be frozen to add to the next stock.  Half a lemon can be sliced and frozen to add to my favourite tipple.  The other half of a bunch of parsley can be chopped and frozen in an ice cube tray to add to a stew or a sauce.
5. I shall be recording any interesting observations on my progress over on Zero Waist and I hope you will pop over to see how I'm doing.

Well, that's my One More Thing.  What's yours?

Tussie Mussies

My first encounter with Tussie Mussies was in one of Sue's posts on The Quince Tree, where she explained that they are nosegays of flowers and herbs specially chosen for their meaning in the language of flowers, traditionally used to send messages.  They can be traced back to medieval and Tudor times and were also thought to hide unpleasant odours and protect against disease.

The next time I came across them was at the American Museum in Britain where they are aseembled daily for sale to visitors.

I find them quite delightful and only wish I had a garden large or productive enough to make my own.

c25k

Never say never.

This morning I went running for the first time.  Well, maybe it wasn't the very first time, but I can't remember the last time I jogged, which is pretty much the same thing.

The reason for this unprecedented burst of activity?  Well, last week I logged on to the NHS website and calculated my BMI.  You can do so for yourself (if you dare!) here.  Now I'm not going for full disclosure.  Suffice to say it was not within the acceptable parameters.  It appears (as if I didn't already know it!) that I need to lose weight.

So I'm going to eat more healthily ... and I'm going to exercise.

Fellow Scot, Claire, at Far From Harm Farm, alerted me to the NHS's Couch to 5K programme which does what it says on the tin, ie gets couch potatoes to running 5k in 9 weeks.  It's an audio plan.  Download it on to your MP3 player and away you go.  The lovely Laura tells you what to do and when and there's music to entertain you en route.

So far so good.  Tomorrow is a rest day.  Training continues on Thursday morning.  Wish me luck.  I'm going to need it.

Photo courtesy of NHS Choices