Mr K in the kitchen

At the beginning of the year, I tried to instigate a new rule for Saturday nights, either we went out for a meal, went to friends or if we were home, my husband would cook.
At first he was keen, and a good sprinkling of compliments whilst eating encouraged him to keep doing it. Comments like 'I cook 6 days a week, it's only fair I have a day off' kept him feeling like it really was only right and proper for him to tackle the cooker on a Saturday.
But recently, for one reason or another, the routine has been broken and I can't remember the last time he took control of the kitchen. So when Jamie Oliver started his 30 Minute Meals programme and it all looks so simple and tasty, a seed of an idea started to germinate in my brain. The episode where he does piri-piri chicken with a mixture of sweet and ordinary potatoes with a salad was on the tv and we were both saying how good it looked. 'I reckon you could do that' I dropped into the conversation. Then I 'accidentally' printed the recipe off the website and left it on the desk. Today I happened to buy all the ingredients needed when I went to Tesco. Then I casually mentioned that as Strictly Come Dancing was on tonight, it might be nice if he did dinner while it was on the tv. Before he knew what he was saying, he'd agreed to it!
I'm so looking forward to having my dinner cooked for me again, how many episodes in the new Jamie Series?......

Feeling Fruity

Not too much to blog about today, so I thought I would show you how nicely my sloe gin and blackberry brandy are coming along. Aren't the colours of these beautiful? And look how plump and gorgeous those blackberries have become, they must have really soaked up the brandy. Far too good to throw away when the drink is matured and I have to strain them off. Any suggestions as to what I can make with them, I think they are going to be pretty alcoholic!
On Wednesday my daughter decided that my hairstyle was 'boring' and 'old fashioned' which meant the scissors were sharpened and I was in for a make over! We got home from me having 4" chopped off the front and she decided that a new hair cut needed a new hair colour so she was standing over me as I prepared lamb shanks for tea putting in 3 different tones of colour we must have looked a strange sight, me cooking at the stove and her following me round with foils and hair dye.
I've updated my profile pic, did anyone notice the difference?!!!

Hot stuff

Does anybody else out there think that different drinks takes better out of certain mugs? We have a variety of mugs in our house ranging from bone china to more chunky ones. I have one little green mug in particular that no one else in the house dares to use for fear of having something happen to it. It's a mug I bought in a craft shop in Bournemouth nearly 30 years ago and to me, that mug was born to have milky coffee in it. If ever I am feeling poorly, that is the mug I turn to for comfort. It's not the prettiest mug in the house, but it's my favourite.

This year when the January sales were on, we bought a Nespresso coffee machine. The coffee from it is superb, the best home made coffee. But the spout that the coffee comes out of is fairly low and some mugs simply don't fit underneath it. I had bought 2 lovely slim, short, white Sophie Conran mugs from Portmeirion but I've been looking for some more. So today I popped into a new shop that has opened in town. The Steamer Trading Cook Shop. I spent ages looking round the lovely homeware and kitchen equipment downstairs and then noticed that there was an upstairs too. There were 2 walls filled with mugs. And in the middle of them all, were some lovely Emma Bridgewater mugs, duck egg blue, just 3" tall and 3" in diameter with 'white coffee' written in white along the inside and outside of the rim. They called out to me - "Buy me" I walked round the store some more, picked up a few other mugs but they weren't the right size, they didn't feel right in my hand. And in my mind, I could hear the blue ones "Me ... pick me ... take me home" And so I did, I bought two and as soon as I got home, I plugged in the machine, washed up the new mugs, and had a cup of coffee. They were a good choice. I think they are destined to be some of my favourites!

Self portrait Blogtoberfest day

Well Tinniegirl has decreed that today should be a day where self portraits are the focus of the day. Just thought I would explain why I have suddenly inflicted a picture of myself on you for today!

So now we have that over and done with, let me give you an update on the book binding - the class has been organised by the school as part of a well-being programme - offering up the school services to staff at the end of the day so there were only 6 of us there. The papers for the covers are beautiful and we have leather for covering the spines ... but that is some weeks away! Our first job was to choose the leather covering and we all just stood there for a while stroking the silky smooth skins. Picking one up, then putting it down, then choosing another and then going back to the first one - until the teacher saw that we could easily spend the whole hour that way and made us make a decision so we could start on the real work. At this point I think she realised that 6 members of staff could be more trouble than a class of 30 teenage girls!

Our first job was to cut up our papers, fold them into sections and start sewing them together. We have brought them home to complete as homework. (which is what I am doing in my self portrait!) The hour flew by and I think we were all disappointed to have to stop and come home! We learnt a neat trick to make sure you don't pull your thread out of the eye of the needle by unfurling the strands of the thread and twisting the needle through it, so clever. As an example of adults being as troublesome as kids, the person opposite me cut off enough of the waxed thread to do her sewing at home, wound it round 2 fingers to make it tidy, did it too tight, couldn't get it off her fingers, fingers started going bright red and looking a tiny bit swollen, had to have it cut off !

Back to School

Well I was typing up an article for our school newsletter I saw that the art department had run a bookbinding course for our gifted and talented girls. The finished books were beautiful and I said to the art teacher that if she ever did another course, could I sneak in and join in?
So I was thrilled when she told me that they were offering it as an after school activity and staff could sign up. My name was first on the list she put up in the staff room! I have been ticking off the days and after school today is the first class. I'm not sure what is involved, but pretty paper seems to be part of our kit {happy days!} and I am hopeful that if a Year 8 girl can manage it, surely I can give it a go.
Excuse the quality of the picture I've added, I tried to photograph the online version of the newsletter to give you an idea of what I'm doing and it's not been terribly successful. Maybe I need to sign up for a photography course too!
I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow.

A splash of colour

I do love the colours of autumn. Summer colours are lovely too in their bright, happy way but there is something about the autumnal tones that I love. I tend to choose these colours for winter clothing, they seem to suit the redhead colouring that I have.

We've tidied up the garden this weekend and whilst all the vibrant summer flowers have gone, we have quite a few evergreen plants and I noticed that the sedum is so pretty in amongst the greenery. It seems to be spreading around the garden too, every year there is some growing somewhere new. It looks lovely beneath the burgundy leaves of the acer and I know it will be flowering now for some time.

I love these sunny autumn days and I hope we still have a few more in store before the wet and dismal days of November come in. I really am a tropical gal at heart, clearly meant to live in some warm Mediterranean climate rather than the uncertain weather that we 'enjoy' in the UK!

Food for thought

I've signed up for the blog hop over at Amy's - have you?
I've decided on the recipe I'm going to share, in fact I may share two! We had friends round for dinner last night and I fell back on an 'old faithful' dessert recipe that is SO simple and only has 5 ingredients so I may share that too.
I'm torn about whether or not to share an embarrassing story on the blog hop which relates to one of the ingredients in the main recipe. But I still feel my cheeks burning in shame when I think about it, and I still have problems looking the customer service assistant in Waitrose in the eyes when I go in there.
It's a glorious day here today, the Indian Summer days they promised us for the weekend finally arrived, so I may just have to go for a walk this afternoon to make the most of it. Have a good Sunday!