TARRAGON & THYME

I am trying to focus on a few things each day in order to get things done as sometimes I get overloaded and then I get burned out.  The negative side of this is it then has a knock on effect with my confidence and self worth. I thought this might be a good way of managing things in bite sized chunks and then hopefully reducing the "low days and lack of confidence  Walk to Work Work Walk home Cook Tea  -something quick when I get in Monday is traditionally Scratch Tea Ironing (we have an ironing mountain here which I hope to reduce and then control) Some more of my longstitch (yet again trying to do a little and often) Will see how it goes - anyone else going to join in and what sort of things do you hope to achieve.   Love to hear from you. Catch you soon Pattypan  xx

I mentioned in a recent post that I wanted to get to grips with Patchwork and indeed this is on my list of 52 things to do in a year. I knew somewhere I had some patchwork templates and equipment and so I went looking last night for exactly what I do have. I located circle, heart, diamonds, strip patchwork, hexies and shell templates together with a stock of fat quarters that I had forgotten about.   I am sure I have some more somewhere along the line but at the time of writing cannot put my hand on them.  What I need is a big box in which to stash all templates and patchwork designated fabric to store said consumables in so that I can find things when I am looking for them. I think this is a job that will be done a little at a time when funds allow.  I  recently mentioned about the Dresden plate pattern for a quilt and that I was looking for a template, preferably free.  I had looked at several links last night and not found anything and then I found the t...

I am taking part in the 52 Projects challenge  http://dreamer-dreamingofasimplelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/52-projects-sunday_19.html I am a little slow off the old starting blocks - mostly due to time constraints but I have in the last week  managed to complete a UFO long stitch kit by Sue Daykin entitled Brotherswater which had been lying doormant for some time.  I felt very chuffed that I was able to complete this and it bucked me up a bit. I tend to be a bit slow in finishing things.   That picture has been popped up in the finished box as I want to get this set of kits completed and then framed properly but in sympathetic frames.   As far as I can remember I have had the kits over 15 years.   They were bought during regular holidays up in the Lake District and indeed i may have had them for a lot longer. I had purchased five or six kits in the range and started a couple of them and then got distracted.  I have taken photographs of what ...

In the run up to Christmas at my local veg stall they had some large bunches of fresh parsley so I snaffled some as you do and hung it off my dresser to dry.  Result after taking the dried leaves off the stems and disposing of the dried stem I now have a full jar of home dried parsley which smells wonderful.  I am thinking here something simple like parsley sauce to go with a piece of fresh fish.  I shall have a look later in the week to see if I can find a nice piece of cod or fresh haddock(or perhaps something that we do not have to ring the changes) to have for tea one night.  I like to include fish in our diets every so often as it is easy for my system to process and will help with the arthritis.  We prefer fresh fish as buying it already frozen seems to lose something in the flavour and the texture.  There is nothing nicer than going to the fish Cellars at Port Isaac and choosing the fish fresh; when we go down to Cornwall (we go self catering) we al...

Its been a busy day and I have got all the washing done - do not like doing it on a Sunday but sometimes you have to deal with things when you have the time.  That means ironing tomorrow night. I have spent most of the afternoon cooking.  I started off with making carrot and swede crush from scratch to go with tonight's tea. (I have some in the freezer but I had some carrots to use up and another swede so in the spirit of waste not want not I used them up. I do get cross with the supermarkets though selling carrots in polythene bags and they go off after a few days which is rather hypocritical as most of the carrots we buy have been stored in clamps for quite some time.  Perhaps they sell them in polythene bags so they go off quicker and we have to buy more. I am a tad cynical.  Then I had some tomatoes which I had got for 50 pence a bag to cook up with some Sofrito and fresh herbs and I have roasted them up in the oven to use during the week as one nigh...

Sounds exotic but its just a posh name for three vegetables finely chopped a trinity of flavours consisting of celery, onion and carrot.  Waitrose sell little bags of it freshly prepared for about 66p a bag - I have bought it from there before and used it as a basis for Roast Chicken,  stews, soups, casseroles, for roasting the veggies on so you get a beautiful fragrant gravy if you mash and sieve the vegetables off. I pop it into pies, cottage and shepherds pies and it always adds a lovely flavour. Therefore I was very pleased to learn that you can make and prepare this yourself and store it in the freezer.  That to me means fresh veggies, I know where they have come from and you get oh so much more flavour as a result.  What you freeze them raw - no they are cooked. I found the recipe in one of my new book acquisitions that I bought last year entitled "The Gentle Art of Preserving" by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi.  The book was on sale for about £25 origin...

Its getting towards the end of the month again and the proverbial cupboard to all intents and purposes is looking a bit bare; well perhaps that is not strictly true I had ingredients but on the face of it they just did not appear to go together,but we needed something to eat something that would make us feel full.  OH had been at work all day so we needed something substantial. One thing I do tend to keep in store is lots of different pastas  Its a good way of getting a nice filling meal and I had bought some fusilli when it was on offer recently. I had plenty of cheese, milk, pasta, some chorizo, yellow pepper, onions and broccoli, a pack of Philly cheese with chives so I threw these items together.  Strong flavours with the cheese and chorizo so I started by cooking the pasta in boiling water.  Whilst this was on I fried a couple of onions in oil with a dash of butter until golden and then drained them on some kitchen paper and set them to one side.  ...