A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

lucielle

katieowl wrote: »

OOhhh Claire McDonald!!! MOST impressed. Was the breakfast nice? Her cookery books are FAB.

Kate

Everything was wonderful, including the 6 course evening meal. Her books are great.
L

SDG31000

Morning All

I have to admit that I'm feeling a bit grumpy this morning. There should be a law against it being so cold and still having to suffer hayfever. I swear that someone has poured cement into my sinuses overnight. I wouldn't care so much if I could find an anti-histamine that a) works and b) doesn't make me feel suicidal after three days of taking it. I miss Trilludan (sp?) so much.

Ok, moan for the day is over. Today, I have a Dr's appointment this afternoon and some cooking to do. I have a kilo of ox cheeks that I'm thinking of making a slow cooked beef stroganoff thing with and a huge bag of pork ribs that need simmering and marinading for a few hours. I should know better than to let DH near the butchers counter in T*sco when they have ribs. We came away with £10 worth and that will only do one meal with my greedy lot. DH and the monsters are basically bottomless pits that I shovel food into three times a day. I also need to make more banana cake as DS1 has been eating hot cross buns for breakfast instead of the bananas he asked for. I think this lot will go into the freezer and I'll take it to the DPIL's for Easter.
I'm planning on taking a few tins of baked stuff as it means the kids will have stuff to snack on with all the effort done in advance. Also my DPIL always have hoards of people coming in and out their house over Easter. Them living next door to the church they attend means that the kettle is always on and they get through masses of hot cross buns. I'll also attempt to make some posh looking iced Easter biscuits as they make a good alternative present. It will also use up some of royal icing sugar stash that is hiding under the stairs. DS2 doesn't mind icing biscuits, but the Easter Bunny tends to end up either goth or with bullet holes. Boys are strange creatures and I'm not sure how the ladies that attend church would feel about those ones lol.

I suppose I had better move. While my pink gingham pjs are fetching I don't think they are suitable attire for the Doctors.

Take care everyone xxx

katieowl_2

SDG31000 wrote: »

Morning All

DS2 doesn't mind icing biscuits, but the Easter Bunny tends to end up either goth or with bullet holes. Boys are strange creatures and I'm not sure how the ladies that attend church would feel about those ones lol.

:rotfl:

Kate

mardatha

I quite fancy the idea of Goth bunnies in purple & black icing....!

helvelyn

anguk wrote: »

My OH's motability car is due to be renewed in August and he's started looking at new cars, the first thing we look at now is the petrol consumption because we're struggling at the moment. He's done all the working out and decided on a diesel model because it would cost us about £600 a year less to run even taking into account the higher diesel cost! :eek:

I was talking to a friend about the differential in price between petrol and diesel and how diesel always used to be much cheaper (and she says it still is in Europe)...yet another way to fleece the public!

Byatt

Goodness, you are all such bizzy bees, I feel positively sloth like! I must admit I quite like sloths though. Maybe in a former life...:o;)

Went to my DD's on the weekend; we went to the garden centre and got 3 bags of compost for £5. (50L bags). I thought that was quite good, although they had them hidden right at the back (offer was in the paper, with a coupon) so had to ask. The front entrance had loads of other types but much dearer, and one kind gent was trying to help me choose but I had to say I was looking for ones on offer, but not sure he knew what I meant. I thought at first they had all been bought up, though we had raced down there like headless chickens. :rotfl: Was halfway tempted by one of those flyaway mini greenhouses, but it looked too flimsy, for my back yard; affectionately named tornado alley. :eek:

I had also ordered compost from the milkman (to save me hauling them through to the back yard) but they turn out to be only 40L bags. Still, they are organic. My handkerchief sized garden is now overrun with compost bags. I'm trying to motivate myself to start thinking about planting.

Cold here but no snow. Lots of rain. :cool:

Found out some new stuff about ex which had me :mad:, but I'm going to try for some counselling to harness my inner b!tch. I don't believe people get their just rewards or kharma; sometimes, you just have to help the fates along.

I'm sure loads of people are MIA...I know my good intentions of January have fallen by the wayside, and as we are now thundering through March, I can't see me catching up with the GC or NSD's threads. Surely Christmas was only a week ago? :cool:

Reminds me, kind of, need to book the £un holidays thingy; got an invite so don't have to get vouchers...seems they are missing me. :rotfl:;)

HariboJunkie

Spring has most definitely sprung here. :j

I don't ever remember a winter so mild here and the garden is quite advanced compared to last year. All the tete a tetes and some of the daffs are out. I even have some early tulips appearing. The birds are merrily nesting and the frogs have spawned.

It's quite cold at night but I've been sleeping with the curtains open so I can wake up to the view of the sea and the snow covered mountains. It actually makes me want to get out of bed. :rotfl:

SDG Hope you feel better soon. xxx
Lucielle what a lovely bonus to collecting the car. I have met Claire Macdonald at cookery demonstrations and she's lovely.
Good news about your dad VJsmum. x

Off to light the stove and start dinner.

lucielle

I didn't get chance to meet any of the family as they didn't work weekends. I use Claires books so I know she's good.
L

SDG31000

katieowl If you think that's bad you should have seen the biscuits a few years ago. I had my friend's children round to decorate biscuits and made a load of pastel coloured icing. Then the little darlings found the food colouring and we ended up with something that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Tim Burton movie. Everything was dark green, purple, black, midnight blue and blood red..with the odd splash of bright yellow for contrast. They weren't exactly spring like by the time they had finished

mardatha I would send you one but I don't think it would survive the Royal Mail system. The last time I posted biscuits was to my Mom and it cost me over £10 to send a small tin of them special delivery.

The trip to the Doctors went reasonably ok I think. My blood pressure was slightly high but she didn't give me any figures to go on. Se said that the other problem I'm having wasn't caused by what I thought it was and that a test might be a good idea, but didn't do it. I have to go for a fasting blood test on Tuesday. So no tea to ease me into the day Eeekk. I must remember to warn the family about that.

Ribs are simmering away happily and smelling wonderful, so that is most of dinner sorted and DH and DS2 are happy.

Tomorrow I must remember to ask my friend about when would be a good time to take her up on her offer of sewing lessons. I had lessons at school, but was hopeless at them. All I want to be able to do is sew a straight line and anything beyond that would be a bonus. I'd love to be able to make my own clothes, but can't see that happening. I haven't had the courage to knit a jumper yet, let alone deal with complex machinery.

There goes the kitchen timer....take care everyone xxx

Mrs_Chip

A day of two halves today- this morning was lovely suunshine but cold, but after lunch the cloud came over and the wind got up - horrible grey and freezing cold wind now .

Thankfully we seem to have almost done all the necessary clearing of rubbish from the house - just a bit in the hall and porch to do. Rubbish removals coming tomorrow - the front garden is full of black sacks. We have been able to give a lot to charity and to Freecycler's, which is a nice feeling. In fact the whole process has been quite cathartic, getting rid of a lot of stuff that has been dragging us down for a long time.

I had a bit of a wobble regarding the removal - I did an online quote and looking at the boxes we have to move I started to panic that it would not fit! Spoke to a lovely lady at the removal firm who could not have been nicer, she told me they are sending a 7.5 tonne van, and looking at one online, I am happy that we will get everything in! I cannot believe how many books and CDs we have got - I stopped counting my cookery books at 200 :rotfl:.

I am running down the freezer, final chuck-out will be Wednesday. Last night I made a fish pie with a bag of fish mix plus some pollock fillets. Made a white sauce and added chopped gherkins, as all my spices and herbs are packed. Topped it with crushed plain crisps and some manky frozen roast potatoes (OH likes to have them in for when he fanices a roast and I don't ) that I cubed then deep fried and piled on top. Baked for 40 mins it was actually delicious, if not entirely healthy! Tomorrow's lunch will be some defrosted chilli with toasted pitta breads.

It's a bit like camping here now - so much stuff has gone or been packed, no heating and food a bit make-do-and mend. I must say it does make you appreciate home comforts, this game is getting just a bit tedious now!