Cooking for one (Mark Three)

Farway

It snowed this morning as I was having my cuppa!   Not a lot of it and not settled but shouldn't be happening in April. Now it's just grey, dull & cold outside, and I was thinking of re-potting my tomatoes but may give that a miss today, my "potting area" is near house in a sunny spot

caronc said:

Good morning everyone, 
Yikes Farway at least you weren't injured. You might be able to add one to your next SM online order to save too much hunting for a replacement. I didn't realise the glass pans were still being made, I remember my friend wanting them when she got married in the late 1980s.

That's what I initially thought, but it''s harder than it seems,

On line I can easily buy sets of pans or pay a fortune for a single posh pan but just one small cheap pan is not as simple once you start reading the reviews, "flimsy, tips over, food sticks etc" are a flavour

I've had to compromise & am getting a non stick one from Asda with my next on line shop, it's supposed to be dishwasher safe as well but I have my doubts about that, however it'll do until I get enough oomph in me to restart mooching around shops, although who knows maybe the Asda pan will be just perfect?

I've another ciabatta in the Panny this morning, last of the ham + pickle in a sarnie for lunch

Dinner, nuked LO HM stew, perfect for this weather

Sun's out now, very fickle weather, tomato potting is beckoning after all this afternoon

Brambling said:

I feel your pain Farway I've  threatened to replace my floor tiles with cushion flooring, I'm sure you will be finding glass bits for weeks 

I planted my tomato and chilli seeds today before getting interrupted, I was given some Tigrella seeds but didn't plant them do you recommend them Caronc?.  I'm short of space / window sills to plant too many seeds and it's still too cold for the mini greenhouse.  I was going to plant beans, courgette and cucumbers but was first interrupted by a very long telephone call by one sister (I'm glad she's paying the bill) and just as I was saying goodbye my sister who lives locally knocked on the door 🙂  she did ensure I was planting for her as well.

I've tried Tigeralla toms but found them so so, even the stripes were not very prominent. However always worth a go if space allows.

I grew one last year which was superbly sweet but the fruits were tiny, little finger nail sized,so this year my "new one" is Ship Saint, probably over hyped but it was on offer for £1 so hard to resist

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
I like Tigrella Brambling, not so much for the stripes but I find they have a sweet/sharp taste which compliments the sweetness of other types well in salads etc.
Hopefully the pan will cover your needs Farway until you see what you want. 
Oh pork and fennel JKS one of my favourite combinations.
Frosty and bright here today and we've avoided the snow though there's quite a bit just a few miles inland.
The gnocchi gratin was delicious, definitely worth trying. Lots left though so I'll have some more tonight with sausages and then that's lunches covered for a couple of days. Next time I'll half the recipe but wanted to try it out as published for my first go.
I've defrosted a huge tray of lamb bones and will roast these today ready to make more stock, I added 2 tubs of turkey stock to my freezer stash yesterday.

caronc

Good evening everyone, 
Apart from making stock and subsequent hob cleaning after I depressurised the pressure cooker too enthusiastically  I don't seem to have done anything very much today apart from some voluntary admin and buying a birthday card online. The stock will cool over night so I can lift what looks like quite a bit of fat from it before I reduce it down.
Bangers, gnocchi gratin and asparagus for dinner.

Brambling

Thanks for the Tigrella tips as they are free seeds I may see if I've room on the patio for a couple more pots, I usually grow cheery or baby plums as they are more likely to ripen outside and usually give me a good crop.

please let me know how the gnocchi goes Caronc, so I can see if I need to buy some non green gnocchi 🙂 I did see he has another book out in September but it's eating together and includes what to serve at dinner parties etc, so I'm not sure if it's one for me

it was snowing when I drew back the curtains this morning a very fine snow which still left about 1cm on the car, I had to pop to town before work and it was a 'proper' snow storm with big flakes for about half hour and all gone when I looked out the window just after 9.15 the rest of the day was lovely. A slightly different April shower 😁 

It was a long work day for me, we had to work through lunch and didn't finish until nearly 7pm.  I managed to grab a early lunch at 11.45 between my 11 finishing and my colleague starting the midday one early it was eaten on mute 🙄. It was a tasty scrambled egg with smoke salmon (advantage of a freezer audit 😁) on a toasted muffin.  Dinner was a quick and easy chicken salad with new potatoes 

justkeepswimmimg

Caronc, I love fennel seeds but not a massive fan of fennel strangely 🤨. Sounds like you could go into business with all your stock making! That sounds like a fairly productive day to me.

My excitement was two loads almost completely line dried, easily pleased 😊

Busy but productive work day and I managed a workout before I started, no wonder I’m about ready for bed...

Lunch was filled pasta with peas and tomatoes, there was supposed to be tuna with it but completely forgot until I was most of the way through 😂

Meatfree Monday tonight - made feta and olive stuffed courgettes with harissa couscous, was yummy if I do say so myself...

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
Definitely give the gnocchi a go Brambling, it's very delicious and I confirm it reheats very well.
Needs must in the stock making front JKS, the number of meat bones and chicken carcasses that were lurking in my (laden) freezers was scary. No wonder I was struggling to find space! After yesterday's lamb bones just the beef bones and some bacon bits to transform.
Frosty first thing but it's cloudy now and it started to drizzle but it's supposed to clear later and turn frosty again tonight.
Just enjoying a cuppa and a sit down after giving the bathroom a good scrub, it just had a quick wipe round last week when I was feeling grotty post-jab.
More gratin for lunch and then it's liver & bacon with cabbage and mash for dinner. 

Farway

Afternoon folks

Mixed weather here, spots of rain but warm sun as well, out earlier looking for bananas, none in the co-op as per usual, but did find YS celery which although not suitable for topping breakfast porridge will keep for a bit

Managed to pot on some tomatoes after lunch of cheese & cuc sarnie

Dinner, last LO SC stew nuked

The fridge is looking a bit desolate now so probably time to get another on line shop in, with a saucepan and tomato fertiliser as well, I could get used to this

Brambling

I'm quite partial to roasted fennel and it has been known to disappear in the kitchen before it reaches the plate 

where do we need to send the food package to Farway?😁

Unless I can get my head around using green gnocchi in the sauce Caronc I'll have to add gnocchi to the shopping list, sounds like another success from JO

Standard work day, at least being busy makes the day go quicker 🙄 lunch was the same as yesterday smoked salmon, scrambled egg and toasted muffin which used the last of the salmon and the last muffin.  Dinner was a mini roast dinner pinging the LOs from Sunday's chicken and veg.  I kept the last breast for tomorrow and the rest of the bits and the bones have been frozen for stock and soup

justkeepswimmimg

Ooh, maybe I should try roasting fennel...

I’m on my second work day like that of the week, Brambling...definitely two more like it but fingers crossed for a slightly easier day on Friday 🙄. I did manage to get a load dried on the line and also had a nice sunny walk at the end of the day.

Scrambled eggs and avocado on a bagel for lunch. Leftover roast pork, mash and veg tonight. Some more of the pork has gone in a noodle salad for tomorrow (which of course made leftovers 😂), also put two portions of pork in the freezer...

caronc

Good morning everyone, 
Not sure what the weather is going to do today, there was a light frost first thing but now it's grey and just kind of "hanging there"! If it stays dry my sister will come over for a garden natter this afternoon.
The liver and bacon last night was so good, I had forgotten quite how delicious it is.   
I've a notion for a corned beef pie but don't know if I cba to make pastry, might try it as a stuffed flour/yoghurt flat bread as wee experiment instead. 
Last of the gnocchi for lunch.