A celebration & minced beef

We set off to Ricky’s. I was our wedding anniversary yesterday. Our 45^th. Sapphire that is. I’d donned an electric blue (nearest thing I could get to sapphire) satin blouse & a colourful skirt. We were out to celebrate. We’d barely got to the end of the road when a light went on in the car – flat tyre. We turned round & headed home, hastily pumped in some air before setting off again. We enjoyed our meal. Susan, head of front of house & wife of Ricky, was worried about how the Fox looked. He was shaking again. When we left she gave us a bottle of wine even though we hadn’t explained why we were there. She was just so pleased to see us again.

 

This morning was started by trying to get hold of Kwikfit. Something has to be done about that tyre. We need the car to do the food shopping & to get to Kendal later this week. Our car is a Motability car which means we have to take it to Kwikfit. After several attempts I finally managed to get through on a very crackly line & have booked the car in for repair later today.

 

Meanwhile the district nurse has been to change the dressing around the PICC line so I’m free now to go with the Fox to Lancaster & Kwikfit.

 

Since then I’ve been making some meatballs for dinner. It has to be said minced beef is a wondrous thing. Even meatballs can taste so different according to how they’re cooked, what sauce, if any, they’re cooked in. Today’s meatballs are stuffed with mozzarella & are going to be baked in the oven in a tomato sauce.

 

When I think of meatballs I tend to think of curry. The one I make is our favourite curry. But minced beef goes into so many things – burgers, Cornish pasties, meatloaf, collops, popovers, Bolognese, to name but a few. It is also one of those fairly inexpensive meats so most people, particularly when money is tight, have discovered their special ways of making it exciting & varied.

 

 

 

Little things

The chicken was beautifully moist & tender. What I really loved was the tarragon in the sauce. I do love tarragon. The aniseedy taste reminds of my childhood, enjoying aniseed balls &, usually on holidays, pebbles (the sweets, not the stones). I think tarragon goes so well with chicken, brings out a difference of flavour.

 

Today the sun is shining. When I got up there was a definite chill in the air. We’re beginning to get the season of heavy dewfall, not quite frost, early on. However, the day is quickly warming up.

 

The starlings have already been for breakfast of chicken fat & skin. Little did they know I had some more in the house for later on. I’ve put that out now but I suspect it won’t last long.

 

Life is full of these little thing that make it special, no matter how well/able you are to get on & do.

 

 

Anticipation & frustration

I’m looking forward to the chicken the Fox is cooking this afternoon. The recipe calls for it to be poached in a traditional fashion. The Fox has decided to try to adapt the recipe & cook it in the slow cooker instead. It should be a one-pot wonder with the chicken cooking first, then potatoes & veg are added later. Some of the liquor is thickened to make a sauce. Hopefully the chicken should be beautifully moist, just falling off the bones. Mmm, mmm.

 

I’ve just been out in the garden. The bird feeders needed re-filling. In the process I discover some animal, probably a cat, has left some slop on the soil. Needless to say I hastily got a bag & did my best to remove it without getting anything on my hands. It is annoying the animal seems to have found a rare bare patch of soil, just next to the parsley, to do its doings. I used to love cats but these days, when our garden seems to have become the favourite loo for all the cats in the area, their appeal has sunk. I wish they could just use their own gardens for loos, not ours.