Hello friends
Welcome to a somewhat different Friday Chat Day,
this is a Virus Free Zone!
Nothing negative - all happy positive stuff here.
With the majority of us confined to home I'm sharing
some ideas, recipes, photos and only nice news.
First off, I've been walking the plank!
Mum and Dad have had new turf put down in their garden and this
has necessitated walking across planks to get to the cabin.
It is really quite funny how just a couple of inches off the ground
can make you wobble and that's before a glass of wine.
It is looking very lush and green.
April's kit is underway and I'm making some little changes,
I've got a small supply of cellophane bags left but once they're gone
I'm switching to paper bags, just doing our little bit for the environment.
Of course, not boring brown paper bags I've made sure they are nice.
I will also ensure they are sealed down so you do not lose any pieces of your kit.
Crochet - plenty of time has been dedicated to crocheting this week,
I even tackled some leftover yarn for the beginnings of a blanket.
What do you do when you have baskets full of yarn... you order more!
This is for a new project called Rainbow Pom Blanket designed
by a lady I follow on Instagram, Little Gems Craft Shop.
The pattern is here.
It works by using multiple strands of yarn together so you
get that beautiful blended rainbow look.
Equally looking forward to making the pom poms.
Cupboards, larders - what do you have lurking at the back?
This is the time to make use of those items.
items you bought for a recipe and never got around to it or
those items precariously close to their sell-by dates.
We tend to make a lot of meat free meals and we have also
become somewhat adaptable with our meals this week.
One turned out to be unexpectedly blooming delicious.
Adapted from a Hello Fresh recipe we call it -
Bean Stew with Crispy Cauliflower Nuggets
It is meat free, healthy, full of vitamins and fibre.
Adaptable ingredient list:
Cauliflower florets (frozen or fresh) works with broccoli too
Mayonnaise
Courgette or any other veg to use up
Breadcrumbs - bought or homemade
Tin of cannellini beans (or you can use baked beans or kidney beans)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Seasoning - you can use some chilli powder, Mexican seasoning - whatever you have
Salt and pepper
Cooking oil - just a splash
Garlic - nice but not essential
Soured Cream - nice but not essential
1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2.Cut the cauliflower florets (you just want the mini trees at the top). Pop into a bowl.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Pop a couple of dollops of mayo in and coat the florets. Mix in breadcrumbs, I grated one slice of wholemeal bread. Transfer onto a lined baking tray, place in oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and crispy.
4. Whilst the cauliflower is baking, drain the tinned beans. Take out a third and place in a smaller bowl, mash these down with a fork (to be used later for thickening). Cut courgette into chunks.
5. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add courgette, cook for 3 mins, add garlic, seasoning and tin of tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and let it bubble away for 5 minutes. Add the crushed beans, simmer until thick.
6. Spoon into dishes, arrange roasted cauliflower on top and add of a dollop of soured cream - if you have some.
Once you've had dinner how about settling down to watch some TV?
On my recommended list this week:
Belgravia - ITV
Downton Abbey it isn't and a bit of a slow burner initially
but loving those frocks.
How about revisiting Jonathan Creek?
All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer
I had forgotten how much I love these.
Amazon Prime - Season 5 of Outlander is now available.
I'll just leave this picture here...!
Eagle eyed among you may have seen this little coffee cup
symbol on my blog
This is a donation button to assist with charity kit expenditure,
not actually buying me a coffee.
It feels very uncomfortable asking for donations but upon a good friend's
advice I have opted to put this button on my blog.
With postage costs, PayPal fees and buying the various supplies it does
eat into the charity donation and I've found myself spending more each month.
I could increase the price of the kits but I am very conscious of keeping
the kit price both manageable and attractive to everyone.
So, only if you feel happy to, please click on the Ko-fi button.
OK friends, think that may be enough natter for this week,
keep safe, keep well and please stop by next week.
10 comments:
Morning Christine.
Thank you for the lovely chat.
Your parents garden looks lovely.
I have been semi isolated too but in a different way, looking after my
six year old great granddaughter she has chicken pox, it has been lovely
making all sorts of crafts, sewing felt spectacle cases for the other grans and, pin cushions.
Learning to knit, it has been great fun, we forgot the itch.
Have a lovely weekend, Kitty.
Oh very pretty little bags.
Lovely to hear all your news. Great photos & the recipe sounds delicious.
Michele
Love the garden a real sense of spring with the forsythia in bloom. Gorgeous pom crochet blanket. Love the recipe will have to try that as well as the suet roll I still need to try. I don't know how other people feel but I would be happy to do friends and family payment for charity kits, this would save you paypal fees. Stay safe. xx Hazel
Good morning Christine , enjoyed reading your post . Just trying to motivate myself to get out of bed. I must say these times are very difficult when you are a social person, as are most crafters , fortunately I have plenty of stash to keep me going . The worst for me is not being able to have a kiss and hug from my kids and grandchildren. But I am lucky in many ways , a roof over my head, a nice garden to walk round and friends to keep in touch. Aren’t we lucky that we have a network whereby we can keep in touch with each other. Stay safe xxx
Hi Christine,
I echo Carolyn's words. I'm used to being on my own so it doesn't bother me but it is nice to have lots of crafty friends to keep in touch with though. The garden is looking very pretty. Perhaps not having a harsh winter has made the difference as everything seems quite forward at present. The colours in your yarn basket are so pretty together so I will await the pictures of your pom pom blanket.
The recipe sounds really nice and would freeze ok (? not sure about the courgettes) Experimentation required if I start running out of what I've got.
Take care Jackie xx
Good morning Christine. Have you thought about making a bowl of soup with the cauli/broccoli stem? Another soup that is a regular here is to simmer peas in enough water or stock to cover +1cm for five minutes, add a chopped up little gem lettuce and simmer for another minute and blitz. I add either ham or mint sometimes. This recipe was given to me by the cafe in Holmfirth where they filmed the outside shots for the cafe in Last of the Summer Wine 🙂
Hi Christine, So glad you are keeping yourself busy, and safe. Lovely piccies and your balls of yarn look fabulous as does the starts of your next crochet projects. Thank you for the recipe, it sounds lovely. I have just made a chicken and chorizo paella from a recipe on the M&S web, it took an hour from start to finish and tasted fantastic.
Enjoy your weekend I am finishing off an Aall & Create card project and have already started a patchwork table runner, so will be finishing that off next.
Lots of love from Patricia xx
It is lovely to read your chat Your parents garden is looking lovely and so does the crochet I like the look of your recipe but OH would hate it as he doesn’t like garlic or spices He’s really taken with an old recipe I used to do ( and to boost his iron levels) which is spinach and cottage cheese pancake layer cake
Please do as you need with the charity kits
I am crocheting like crazy (when mojo allows) It’s the men I feel sorry for as most don’t seem to have many hobbies
I am grateful that we’re safe
Take care xx
Your crochet looks lovely Christine. Love the colours. My crocheted blanket is growing but only one ball of wool left so will have to get more on line. Seems a shame as we have a lovely little wool shop locally but as on self isolation I cannot get there. Recipe looks good. Take care
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