TARRAGON & THYME

I was busy earlier on in the kitchen again.  I had been going to do a stir fry with some of the pork for tonight's tea, but as we have had the pork for a couple of days thought it was necessary to have something else for a change and I had some mince in the fridge that needed using up.  The Pork will not be wasted though and will be had for Thursday night's tea, when I will go through the fridge and sort out any veg that needs using up before I restock for the weekend. So Lasagna it was then.   Ingredients: 1 large jar (not standard of a bought tomato sauce) or; 2 tins of canned tomatoes blitzed in the food processor; or 2 x 1 pint jars of home canned tomatoes. Home made Lasagna sheets or Bought Lasagna sheets 1kg mince 2 pints of home made white sauce (I used the Roux method) 1 Wheel of Godminster cheddar Chopped onion Pinch of mixed herbs 3 small cloves of garlic, crushed, Plenty of white pepper; 2 teaspoons of vegetable bouillion 2 ice cube tray pods of home made ...

 After last night's tea both OH and I fancied a change for this evening only.  There is still plenty of pork in the fridge and some of this will be turned into a stir fry for tea tomorrow as I have a few  more veggies that need using up in the fridge. As I had some mince in the fridge rather than a cottage pie which is a favourite here,  I decided that we would have a cheat's home made Lasagna where I have used bottled tomatoes.  So that is what we are having for our tea this evening.  The mince needed using up in any event. As I had run out of cheese in particular cheddar cheese, and as the pavements have been so slippy OH went to get me some cheese without me.  He came back with a load of goodies as he had gone to Waitrose.  If I had of known I would have sent him for some other bits I have run out of from there.  However there is always tomorrow. When he came back I cooked a full English breakfast for him.  The bacon had been sold as ...

Nothing is sacred when it comes to food.  It is the fuel we need to keep ourselves well and healthy.  I appreciate that I am a lot better off than most, but that does not stop me pinching when it comes to the pennies and especially with food.  Good food, and food generally is expensive and I think that is one of the reasons that people are generally returning to the ethos of growing their own, me amongst them.  This time honoured method for providing for oneself is not new, but a well aged system and a background which I was raised against.  My grandparents had no choice but to do it this way to provide the best food that they could for their family and extended family over the years.  Having lost that background when the family home was sold on the passing of my Nan, the family lost a way of life.  Sometimes it is only when you lose something do you really appreciate what you have actually lost.  A constant supply of fruit apples, plums, pears, c...

  After a very cold night we woke up to a very sharp haw frost, no snow but extremely cold. Whilst having our morning cuppa we then had a small snow shower which soon dissipated only light, but still snow. A little later on we then had a hail storm which has quickly been followed by large flakes of the fluffy stuff and it is settling.  All I can say is that Mrs Claus must be having a good session in fluffing up Santa's feather pillows. It has continued for a while and it is settling on wet pavements so when it freezes later it will be extremely slippy underfoot.  We only ever seem to have light snow showers compared to the rest of the country but as I have said before I think that is down to the fact that we are very low lying.  Still it is pretty to see.  We need cold winters to kill off nasty bugs of any description particularly in the garden. Since the earlier photos it has been gently snowing for the best part and everything is now starting to get covered....

  A quiet day overall.  We were supposed to be up early and off to the fish man, but we overslept so no fish today. OH did some more work to my new sink unit when we did get up. He has installed the shelf underneath.  So the sink unit is built up but we are waiting for the worktop to be delivered which should be next Friday.  Then he will be able to start and get the sink in situ which will mean that one side of the kitchen will then be done where installing units are concerned although the wall tiling and floor tiling will follow further down the line.  Then we can start on the other side.  The units are very simple and Shaker style. I have been pottering doing household things for part of the day and then cooking in the latter part. It has been very cold here today, and we have had a short snow shower as well.  I had to nip to the shop for some bits but that is the only time I have been out of the house today.  I did not get the extra trees but ...