2010.12.19 My Day

Sorry its been a while since I last posted  - life in general has sort of got in the way.

We had some snow the other day but one sniff and you would have missed it.  Its been dreadful  from what I have seen every where else.  Please take care and keep safe  and warm wherever you are.

The other day we were given a two hen pheasants a lovely surprise and very welcome .  Have had them outside the back door on one of the plant hangers in this cold weather which has kep them safe from predators and also kept them nice and chilled.  Reminds me very much of my childhood when my uncle had been shooting for pheasant.  Oh I do miss the countryside and the way of life.  We have had these for lunch today, freshly plucked and drawn and then straight into the cooker.  I roasted them after barding them with bacon.  I then served them with mashed creamed potato and green beans, and broccoli, cauliflower carrot and peas, together with a home made sloe gin gravy. (I bottled my sloe gin the other day and I am quite chuffed with it.  Needless to say I shall be making a lot more of this berries permitting in the future .  I have the macerated berries to put into chocolate so that we can eat them as a sweatmeat after lunch.) 

Dinner was extremly scrummy and delicious and very warming in this oh so cold weather.  I also opened a bottle of elderflower champagne that I had made earlier on in the year.  This was my first batch.  It looked flat in the bottle, but it most certainly wasn't.  I am extremely chuffed with this and am going to have this on Christmas day with my roast turkey. (Its very muscat/lemony and very refreshing - I chilled it by standing it outside the back door as it is most certainly cold enough)  Needless to say I shall be making a lot more elderflower champagne next year blossom permitting.  It was very pleasurable enjoying something I had actually made from earlier in the year that actually works.  But even if it goes wrong you learn by the experience and learn not how to do something.  The trick is not to get despondent but to persevere.

This week has been one for new things as I also opened a bottle of my home made passata sauce.  I had this served simply with plain pasta and loads of grated cheese and it was extremely filling and tasty.   Would also be very good used in casseroles and as a base for a tomato soup.

Other delights from the put down are still to be awaited and enjoyed hopefully in due course.   I stacked the majority of this the other evening on my corner dresser and there are lots of things to use in baking and for puddings. Lots of jams and bottled fruits But it is firing me up to set too and do a lot more than I have achieved this year.  I have all sorts of ideas for Seville Oranges and Forced Rhubarb  as well as for a stock pile of home made house wines and other goodies, including sauces and cordials.  I love preparing the seasonal ingredients for use throughout the year and especially round Christmas when as a result you end up having a choice of all these lovingly prepared ingredients for use in your home cooking which gives you far more choice.  Only problem is I need a much bigger pantry!

I am not in the Christmas mood this year It seems to have come too quick  and I seem to have run out of time a precious commodity at the best of times and despite all my previous planning (in retrospect its been a good thing that I did this) things have slightly gone pear shaped in the last few weeks or so, but we have to make the most of what we have rather than that which we haven't got.  Sometimes no matter what our dreams we are dragged screaming and shouting into the present and have to deal with what is rather than what we aspire too.  

A lot of my Christmas decorating plans have gone awry.  Its more that I cannot get at the bulk of my decorations, not because I don't have them or that I can get much in the house as it is.  Hopefully in the coming years things will change and I will then be able to have everything how I really would like it.  Hence I have been concentrating on the food side more than anything and at least we will eat well and it will be more of an old fashioned Christmas without too much hype or glitz and we won't be paying through the nose well into next year for it. 

I have made three Christmas puddings, a Christmas cake and lots of other goodies.  I have only bought the ingredients but have made a lot of things myself or am in the process of doing so in an effort to keep costs down but still enjoy good quality food with no nasties in it.

I read several blogs and enjoy reading about other people what they are doing what they are making or whether they are making renovations to their home or having a fire place put in, like my friend Leanne at Somerset Seasons Dorset Days http://somersetseasons.blogspot.com/  .  Leanne has just lit her first fire in her new hearth just in time for Yule and I am so happy for her as she has achieved what she wanted to do with help and assistance and plenty of trial and effort.  Its lovely from my perspective to see people achieving what they want to and seeing it through to fruition.  We only see a peep slot of each other's lives, and yet in some instances its as if we have been connected for ever.  And a proper fire in winter, something to keep you warm, soothe your soul and to dream by - I am so happy for Leanne but ooh so envious! - One day!

I am a great beleiver that people come into each others lives for a reason and a season, some stay and some go but all leave an indelible mark on who we are and on our hearts.  The Internet is just another way of doing this and gives a different meaning to community.

So wherever you are in the next few days be kind to yourself - despite all the hard work hope you enjoy the season and the celebrations.  Hopefully I will get in another post by the end of the week.


With a glass of Elderflower Fizz./Champagne in my hand - bottoms up till I catch you all again.


Pattypan


xx