Saturday Kitchen

Our new 'timetable' kicked off on Monday - and it's working a treat.  Historically, I have worked along the lines of fitting home edding around our needs of the day (generally trips out/shopping and crappy chores etc) but the new improved me has encouraged Oliver into the drafting of a new schedule where he feels Master of his own destiny, and he is up and buzzing. 

In addition, instead of rocking up to the table with NFI of what we are about to embark upon, I am getting out books, pens and 'stuff' and looking on the net the night before to 'prepare'.  Not quite like a proper teacher - but a step in the right direction.  It is making the whole process a lot smoother.  And because we only have two things loaded up each day - it is bitesize and do-able and he gets it.  AND after an hour of working together amicably, he likes a 'break' to play Lego and I get to trundle off with my crochet and watch an uninterrupted episode of The West Wing.  We return later to do more,  not irritated and stressed at each other and with a small glow of achievement under our belts.

Happy days.


The new improved me seems to have more time, and at the weekend I had a go at Hugh F-W's pasties from this book, which I had for Crimbo:

I have never attempted rough puff pastry before, and I can now marvel at it's simplicity.  Hugh's filling was swede and potato, but since we have a glut of squashes, Mark bought this baby up from the depths of the garden to use:

It is a Queensland Blue, and it is beautifully mushy and sweet.  I didn't have carrots (also in the recipe), so I subsituted celery (edging it's way up my list of fave versatile veg).  The result was 4 professional-looking pasties which tasted like someone who knew what they were doing had made them.  Boy did I feel smug.  Even Oliver thought they were lovely.  I didn't bother to correct his assumption that the filling was carrot and potato.  I suspect the mere mention of celery and squash would have coloured his judgement.

Last night Oliver and I were watching the Sport Relief British Bake Off - a hitherto unwatched programme - and I was inspired to reach for my Mary Berry baking bible.  She surely must be at least 150 years old.  Oliver found her name hilarious and spent much of the programme collapsing into hysterical giggles.  I found it funny that he found it funny, so much merriment all round.  If you have never seen this programme, (you probably have - it's just me who lives in la la land), it's pretty cool for explaining the theory of the way ingredients behave if you do this that and the other to them.  Tres informative.  My Mary B book was a present from my brother last birthday, who presented it to me with a demand I cook the traybake on page 186 for his birthday 5 days later.  I did it.  Think I am so keen to court his admiration and approval that I end up hating myself.  Oh families.