Mad frenzy cooking

I've had a busy cooking day today. I'm not a big fan of cooking after a day at the necessary 9 to 5, but I like to eat a home cooked meal. The solution for me is to cook and freeze meals at the weekend. So today I have made butternut squash and lentil dahl, a big pan of bolognaise, vegetable soup, fish pies with celeriac, parsnip, carrot and potato mash and a sourdough loaf. Busy, busy, but I can wear my kitchen halo with pride and fill the freezer with instant meals.

Bolognaise still bubbling, the remains of the veggie soup after lunch, and the butternut squash, spinach and lentil dahl at the back.

Cod and smoked haddock fish pie with parsley sauce and mixed root vegetable mash. One to eat today, one for the freezer (and one for my Mum and Dad)

Giant doily rug

I'm still working on my crochet doily rug using the wool I bought at Bakewell Wool Gathering and I really hoped that it would be finished by now, but it's caused me no end of bother. I've started it and then undone it so many times that it is really is the incredible shrinking rug. I initially followed the pattern to the letter but it just wasn't working for me. It started ok but after a few rows it went all fluted as there were just too many stitches. Now I'm not following the pattern except in spirit and checking regularly too see if it is becoming baggy and wavy (and occasionally ripping back the odd row). Having said all that, I still like the look of the rug but am a bit concerned that it is not stiff enough and has too much stretch. I really don't want to create a death trap of a rug so am wondering whether to try shrinking and felting it a bit in the washing machine (maybe a bit drastic), or to create a fabric or crochet backing for the rug to firm it up. Hmmmm, must ponder this further. Mind you, I might never finish the darn thing! 

Peak District Walking

No progress on the makey bakey side of things, but instead I have a few photo's to share of our weekend away in the Peak District in Derbyshire. We are very fortunate to be so near the dramatic and varied Peak countryside and although we travelled only 20 or so miles to stay in Grindleford in the Dark Peak area, we were able to relax with family and friends on an overnight stay with a couple of gentle walks around the Longshaw Estate and Padley Gorge. The weather was mostly dry and we were grateful for that after some very heavy rain on Friday night which meant that the streams were very fast and full. The woodland in Padley Gorge has a Lord of the Rings feel to it and you could just imagine the trees getting up and moving around as they were so twisty and gnarly and covered in moss.

Cumin and Sultana Rolls

As soon as we were settled in our new abode I gave some attention to my poor neglected sourdough starter. It was getting a bit ripe and crusty after being unused in the fridge for so many weeks with only the occasional quick stir with some flour and water. I was really ready to start cooking and eating good home made food, although we have the smallest kitchen in the universe so it's a bit of a juggle! I've managed 3 sourdough loaves over the last couple of weekends in our tiny kitchen, one to eat, one to give away and one sliced and in the freezer. I wanted to try something different and was inspired by Vanessa Kimbell's Cumin and Sultana rolls on the Bakery Bits blog.  They were really delicious with a a lovely fragrance and slight sweetness and they baked perfectly according to the recipe. The rolls were proofed  in the base of  'La Cloche' baking dome, whilst the dome lid preheated in the oven. When ready to bake, the hot lid was placed on top and then straight into the preheated oven to bake. The bottom picture shows the full 'family tea' ensemble including a rather hastily made (but tasty) victoria sponge.

Seaside tranquility

We did it. We finally moved house. Pheeeeyooooo. We were able to spread it out over a number of (interminable) days but we are now ensconced in our temporary little rented apartment. Still in disarray, but it's starting to come together. We managed a brief interlude during the move to get away to the Lincolnshire coast for a bit of respite and recuperation and it was so welcome. It was beautiful. The weather was unseasonably warm, the sun shone and all was well. We managed a few strolls on the promenade, a few visits to the pub and couple of drives up the coast to see the wildlife. We went to Donna Nook to look at the grey seals which come ashore to give birth to their pups in October and November. Apparently, 38% of the world population of grey seals can be found there at this time of year. We went a few years ago and enjoyed it but it is now very popular (and busy) . It was a somewhat surreal visit this time as the RAF base next door were on manoeuvre and we watched the seal pups whilst being buzzed by a helicopter and the distant sound of machine gunning. Weird. Our second trip was to the salt marsh at Saltfleet. The sea was out and the beach and sky stretched for ever and was almost completely empty. It was such a contrast to the beach with the seals. Sleep, eat, breathe and the body batteries recharged enough for the final house move push.  

Crochet and knitting gifts

I've been a bit lax about recording finished gifts. This is usually because I do most of my crochet and knitting in the evenings and like to take photo's in daylight. However, with the nights starting earlier and the weather at the weekends becoming more autumnal (or wet, windy, foggy, with the occasional beautiful sunshine...... well, what can you expect, this is England), I have decided to just take some photo's indoors and have done with it. So, the following are my recently completed crochet and knitting escapades. From the top are my fish and chip baby jumper and hat, a gift for the new owners of our house and a selection of shower scrubby mits (ssshhhh these are for Santa).

Bakewell Wool Gathering

Bakewell 'Wool Gathering'  was a woolly temptation too far. This is a festival in it's second year - see here for details. I only heard about it recently and didn't want to miss the chance to go, despite the house  move ramping up. I sneaked off to Bakewell on Sunday morning. The weather was glorious, and the countryside was just unbelievably beautiful with the autumnul colours exploding around every corner and over each hill. I kept seeing photo opportunities as I was driving along, but was so conscious of limiting my time out that I didn't stop to take photo's, so I'm afraid I can't share any of the views. It's a small show but I can forsee it getting bigger as it becomes established in the festival calendar. There were a lot of different exhibitors with every colour and texture imaginable, from fleece to finished garment with everything else inbetween. There were quite a few workshop's but I just didn't have time to book into any.  I really would like to try spinning. The idea of being able to create my own yarn and make something from it is very appealing. It must be the primeval mother earthiness of it all. I know you can buy ANYTHING on the internet, but it's so rewarding to make something beautiful from scratch. Spinning also looks so rythmically relaxing, which might only be because the people demonstrating had spent years honing their spinning skills. I choose to believe that it is something that would come naturally to me. Hah, in my dreams. Next year I'll give it a go...maybe....
Of course I didn't get away without buying something. I really want to crochet a giant doily rug and Texere Yarns of Bradford had the very yarn for me. It's an Axminster rug wool on 250g cones and was exactly what I was looking for. I bought a selection of colours to brighten up our new temporary home and started experimenting the same evening. I started with 4 strands of the denim/purple colour and a 6mm hook. Then I plied it up to 6 strands with a 7.5mm hook. The jade colour only needed 4 strands to match the purple, and the pink was the same. .After several restarts to try out different ply's of yarn and hook size I haven't got much further. It is like the incredible shrinking rug. I did get to 3 rounds of colour last night, which makes it a whopping 12 or more inches, but I wasn't at all happy with the centre loop so I ripped it all back and started again, but this time with a magic loop. I'll let you know how I get on!

Moroccan meatballs with harissa

I know that it's acceptable and positively encouraged to eat copious amounts of takeaway meals when you are moving house, and I was fully on board with this concept for girls night in. I'm just not very good at maintaining this. I crave home made healthy meals which don't rely on salt, fat and sugar to make them "tasty". I haven't had time to make bread and I couldn't face a quick eggs on toast for lunch with cheapo crappo sliced bread so decided to make some pancakes. Being a bit of a 'knit your own yoghurt' kitchen nerdy person, I have a flour mill so can quickly grind some fresh 'farine de ble noir' or buckwheat flour, which is perfect for savoury pancakes and has the added advantage of being gluten free if wheat or gluten is a problem. Think Breton crêpes if you have been lucky enough to have been to Brittany. Well, so much for quick, we had run out of eggs so dashed out to the local butchers and bought eggs and bacon for lunch and lamb mince for dinner. The pancakes were made in double quick time while the bacon cooked, and then I assembled it with a super speedy cheese sauce, again made with buckwheat flour. It's amazing how fast you can go when your tummy is rumbling and you are on a mission! Sadly, the rush to consume this creperie delight meant that there are no photo's of the pancakes, although my appreciative family were most definitely happy with my mission accomplished.

Onto to the harissa and meatballs. Again, fed up with the takeaway/restaurant meals, I decided to make some lamb spicy meatballs. Why? Who know's what goes on in my head. So, with my googled bbc good food recipe I set to with the meatballs. Ok, so the first thing to do was to measure out the spices and grind them in with the pestle and mortar. What! It's packed? Ok....time for improvisation. I found my rolling pin and converted it into a pestle (or is that the mortar?) and bashed the spices. Now for the breadcrumbs. Hmmmm, we have a wholesome bread shortage, so decided upon oatmeal freshly ground from oat groats using the flour mill. Having made the meatballs I started cooking them. Half way through I was wondering why on earth I had thought that meatballs was a good idea. They had to be cooked in batches, it was taking ages and I was trying to make the harissa paste at the same time. Stressy or what. I persevered and got to the end. My harissa didn't look as red as the photo on the web pages, but then I had to use some green chilli's as well as red ones as that's it all I could find in the greenhouse. Anyway, it tasted lovely and we really enjoyed it at the end of another busy Saturday.

Improv pestle and mortar

Speedy oatmeal

Add mint and  an egg to the spices, minced lamb and oatmeal

Shape the meatballs

Sizzle sizzle

Harissa time - Chop the chilli's, red onion  and pepper with herbs and ground spices

Fry the chopped veg gently until soft

Serve the meatballs and harissa with couscous and corn chips and say Cheers with a glass of real ale.