Wednesday 29 January 2014

A busy day


The great de-clutter continues.  I just do a little each day and have even gone through my cookery books and magazines, pruning . . .  That is a BIG one for me as I love my cookery books and it is hard to shed any, but I figure there are plenty left to keep me going.


I also had a reshuffle of the books on this shelf, and got my "Farm" series books together (Tudor Monastery Farm added after this photo taken).  If I organize them now, when we come to pack LATER IN THE YEAR (power of positive thought about moving and all tha!), I will have things properly categorized - most of the other collections already are.


No longer needed - all to go.



I also got busy in the kitchen, and cooked up a Cheat's Chicken Pie.  Basically it is two chicken breasts, fried off in a little oil and drained, (or you can just add left-over cooked chicken from a roast, which is what I usually do), and add a tin of Campbell's condensed Chicken soup, let down with a can of water, add a few peas/mixed veg of your choice and simmer very gently until meat is cooked.  (Note: when cooking for fussy husband, there is a HUGE variety of things I cannot add to the meal, onions included!)


Roll out a sheet of ready-made flakey pastry and cook in a hot oven.  Voila!

Being a cheapskate, I trimmed off the last couple of inches of the rolled-slightly-thinner pastry, brushed it with milk, grated cheese over it and rolled it up into a knot to cook at the same time and provide a tasty snack:

Excuse battered old enamel plate - it's the one we cook Sardines on, and however much you think you have removed the oil, you are always proved wrong next time you use it!

The bananas now have a temporary new home - an old cracked cast iron skillet. I try to keep them seperate from the apples, oranges etc in the main fruit bowl, or else they get over-ripe very quickly.

Meanwhile, one of our neighbours came round and we had a lovely chat, and I got back to baking once we'd set the world to rights.  I had a tray of blueberries I had put in the fridge to defrost and forgotten aabout, so they HAD to be used up promptly.  As Steeleye Span played in the background, I rustled up some Blueberry Muffins (I have to say, these are even NICER when they are Raspberry Muffins!)  4 to eat now, and the other 8 now in the freezer.

Then I made a batch of Cornish Fairing biscuits (these are ginger biccies, basically, but SO much superior to anything boughten).

So, a useful day all in all.  I have a change of painkillers (v. short term) and they have helped me sleep better, and hopefully the pleuritic pain is under control again (it was ghastly from last week when Doc put me on a-b's that I KNEW wouldn't work). 

A day out in Leominster and Hay-on-Wye today, so I shall take my camera and report back later.

9 comments:

  1. What great news that you are in less pain and able to do some of the activities which bring you joy *and* yummy items to eat. That knot of cheesy bread pulls at my taste buds in a very sweet and loving way !~! books are so hard to say good-bye to, aren't they? We did a Major Cull a couple years ago and there are volumes for which I reach only to find they must have been a member of that group that went to the local library donation bin. A moment's regret and then I mostly can find the info I need online anyway much more quickly and likely better arranged by now. Enjoy the day at hay on Wye; I look forward to the photos.

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  2. You sound much chirpier today and you've certainly been busy. The chicken pie and the baking look really scrummy. Enjoy your day out!

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  3. I'm glad to hear you had a better day yesterday - the baking looks totally delicious :)

    Can empathise with the decluttering - having a major one here too. I took hundreds of old wildlife magazines to the recycling place the other day. I am dreading tackling the books as I find it very difficult to part with any. I did get rid of a few hundred fiction paperbacks a year or so ago that even I had to admit I would never read again. My husband has always refused to put anything in the loft but he has now put shelving units up in the garage (cars these days seem to big to go in there!!). So a lot of stuff is going in storage boxes and out there but I have to go through it all first as I can't keep it all.

    Hope you had a good day out :)

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  4. Oh goody - more book photos!
    hope you avoided buying any more books in Hay while you were there!

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  5. I keep reading blogs full of cakes and biscuits! I can't do ANOTHER injection.

    Fingers crossed for the new painkillers and well done with the de-cluttering.

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  6. Glad you're feeling better, my allergies always triggers my pleurisy and so antihistamines usually help.
    Thinning out books is so hard, I always feel like I'm giving away a member of the family.
    Oh my your chicken pie looks good!

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  7. I am pleased you are feeling better. The easy chicken pie recipe is great, I shall have a go at that. Hope you enjoyed your day out. PS Decluttering should make you feel good.

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  8. Your baking looks most appetizing--I love muffins of any sort. Why are husbands like that?--One must disguise certain things that are good for them. J. won't eat zucchini if he knows it is present.
    I left so many books behind in our frequent moves between 1998-2010, most of them going to the library or a second hand book shop. I go hunting for a particular title at times and wonder why I would have parted with it.

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  9. My OH won`t eat leeks ( unless they are craftily disguised in a blended veggie soup when he doesn`t know he has had them!).

    We have recently sorted out a boxful of books, to make room on the shelves for new ones, but it is so hard to do. Like giving away old friends!

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