Still using things up

 This morning I've cooked a gorgeous lasagne.  I wanted to use up all the leftover bits of cheese from a fancy cheese pack. We're not big lovers of brie so I chucked the whole brie into the cheese/bechamel sauce.  Then I chopped up a half cucumber and the last pepper from my plant and added it to the home made pasta sauce.  I've used pork mince which I bought from Aldi and had been reduced in price by 30% before Christmas.  Plenty of home grown frozen tomatoes went into the sauce too. I grated some Red Leicester over the top and finished it all off with some chunks of mozzarella. There's plenty for tomorrow too so I'll only need to warm it through.

Using things up

 This morning I made porridge for breakfast.  I chucked in some chia seeds, sunflower seeds and sultanas.  Then I added a good spoonful of the orange flavoured sugar that I made before Christmas.  I'm trying to use up as much food from my fridge and cupboards as possible so I finished it off with a good squirt of cream.  It went down very nicely indeed. It's snowing again so I won't be setting foot out of the house today.

All neat and tidy now

 Christmas has been packed away and everywhere is all neat and tidy now. I wish it wasn't icy underfoot as I'd love to get out for a walk.  Used up the last of the turkey today in a delicious soup. I had some home grown butternut squash left over and it was lovely in the soup. I've still got one butternut and two small squash in my food store.  There's plenty of potatoes in the garage and I've got celeriac and carrots still in the garden. The cabbages are hearting up nicely and it won't be long before the white nice star broccoli starts producing. Garlic, leeks and onions are looking really healthy and there's a few very small swede too. Plenty of lovely fresh homegrown produce to turn into big pans of stew while the weather is freezing. 

The porch is all spick and span and the GreenStalk is waiting for some compost and plants.  It gets really warm in there through the day and I'll heat it through the night with a little oil filled radiator.  

We have snow

 We have snow and it looks so beautiful. I've spent the morning battling the laundry, cooking a turkey curry, taking down Dec's and making a big pan of turkey stock . Tony has been to his gun club this morning and quite frankly I wish he'd stayed there.. nuff said. 

Happy New Year everyone

Tony and I had a fantastic time at the ceilidh last night. We danced every dance and oh boy am I aching this morning. I'm amazed that I was wide awake at 07.30 as we didn't get to bed till 01.30. We read for a little while to unwind. Tony's still in bed and I don't think he'll surface before lunch time. Not a drop of alcohol passed our lips last night.  I do love that he doesn't need to get tanked up before hitting the dance floor. He really is great fun to go out with. I'm cooking turkey for tea but won't even think about cooking till mid afternoon.  I do hope that 2026 is a wonderful year for us all. 

It's New Year's eve

Well today sees another year gently slipping to a close. Tony and I are really looking forward dancing the year away at the ceilidh tonight. This afternoon I'll be preparing a little buffet to share.  There's the usual pigs in blankets and I have a big bowl of prawns defrosting.  My plan is to make plenty of prawn and cucumber sandwiches to share with whoever else will be on our table. There's loads of cheese to use up too so I'll be cutting it into chunks and making mini cheese and vegetable skewers. 

We've been watching bluetits checking out the nest boxes and it won't be long before a pair decides to set up home. Unfortunately a couple of local cats are patrolling around our garden and we are forever chasing them away. I saw one dragging a dead pigeon last year.  Another disgusting cat is using my vegetable beds as a toilet. I really do wish it was against the law to allow cats to roam freely. 

We've got a turkey crown defrosting in the garage and it'll feed us through to the weekend. There's plenty of vegetables ready to pick from the garden so we won't need to shop for ages. I've three legs of lamb in the freezer and plenty of chicken, steak and fish.

Yesterday we got up to see a beautiful double rainbow over the back garden 

Twixmas

 Tony and I have got some friends coming round for a few nibbles and a festive drink this evening.  I've been busy twiddling on with edible bits and pieces.  I've got some of the hot party food ready to pop in the oven at different stages. Here's a few light nibbles to be getting on with while the hot stuff cooks. I've got a couple of baguettes that I want to pop in the oven just before they arrive.  They'll be cut into slices for the pate and soft cheese. I do love entertaining.

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Merry Christmas

 I hope you all have had a wonderful day. We opened our presents first thing this morning  and I'm thrilled to bits with my beautiful yellow GreenStalk. Our dinner was absolutely delicious and the goose cooked to perfection. I've used the giblets to make gravy and a  lovely pate so nothing has been wasted. Yesterday  I got a head start by harvesting and cooking all the vegetables. They only needed to be warmed up today. The parsnips and carrots that I'd grown were as sweet as honey. 

Our friend has just left after popping in for a Christmas drink and Tony and I are curled up together on the sofa to watch Vera. I don't think we'll be staying up too late tonight. 

Christmas all sorted

 Tony and I have spent most of today in and out of supermarkets trying to find a goose. We've just managed to buy a frozen one from Lidle so that's Christmas all sorted now.  We do have a turkey crown in the freezer as a back up in case we couldn't find a goose but we're happy bunnies now that we're all sorted for Christmas. 

 We started off today in a local garden centre as I wanted a pink hellebore. A young lady was playing a saxophone and a clarinet and I asked if I could film her for YouTube 

Christmas ceilidh

  Last night Tony and I went to the Christmas ceilidh where we danced our little legs off. We're both aching today as there were a lot of sidestepping dances. I've struggled to hop or sidestep since my hip replacement. My friend had her hip replaced on Wednesday and she's in an awful lot of pain at the moment. It will take a while to get that under control as it's very early days yet. Tonight we're off out to our friends for a meal and a Christmas drinky. It's been one long round of social events these past few weeks and I am absolutely exhausted. It's a good kind of exhaustion though.