Time to cook.

Hello Dear Friends and Followers.

Here we are into another week and creeping towards the end of August. Please tell me if you can, where this year has gone?
I am at a loss as to how quickly this year has disappeared and we have hardly done any boating. On the bright side there is always next year and the canal are not going anywhere so to speak.

News on the generator. Hopefully all being well it should be completed this week. I know this may sound a little crazy, but I am looking forward to hearing what it sounds like and to whether it is quieter than our last one. I am hopefully that it should be a lot quieter, but we will see. I will post the outcome when it happens.

With the past few days being so up and down with the weather, I felt the need to cook today, so this morning having walked the dog, fed him and the cat and sorted a few boat things out, I got on with the job of deciding what to cook.
First on the list for making was a Cheese and Potato Bake. Now I know there are many different ways to do it, but this is my way.
I firstly peeled three good size potatoes, sliced and diced them and put them on to boil. I then made a plain white sauce. My way is to add a heaped dessert spoon of butter to a pan and melt. To that I added a heaped dessert spoon of flour. I mixed it until it looked a little like breadcrumbs. I then took it off the heat and added a little milk at a time until it was creamy. I put it back on the heat to cook through, stirring all the time. Once it was bubbling I removed it from the heat and added grated cheese to my tasting. By the time this was done, the potatoes were cooked, so I drained them and left them to cool. In a pan I then added a diced onion and sliced leek and allowed them to brown slightly, before adding them to the cooled potatoes. The white sauce was then poured over the potatoes, onions and leeks and mixed together.

Once the potatoes were coated in the sauce, it was poured into a oven proof dish and ready for baking. Before putting in the oven I added sliced tomato to the top and ground pepper.
Next to make was a Cornbeef Hash pie. I sweated off some diced onion and sliced leeks, whilst this was happening I opened a can of cornbeef, sliced and diced it and then added it to the pan of sweating onions and leeks. I allowed this to cool. I then made some pastry, for this I used 3 oz of butter and 6 oz of self-raising. Having rubbed them both together and added water, it was time to roll out the pastry and line a dish.

I then rolled out the cover for the pie, forked the edges and put a few vent holes in the lid to allow the steam out.

Once cooked or baked which ever you think this was the outcome and lunch was done. I added some veggies and hey presto a dull days cooking was done and we have some left over for a couple of days. I always think the cheese and potato bake is better the second day.
With lunchtime done and dusted, I spent time in the office talking over the details for the Heritage Weekend, which is held on the 9th and 10th of September. It is only about three weeks away, so coming along fast. No sooner we are all set up for it, the weekend will be over and we will begin organising for the next year. I still have cards to make for the event, so I need to get a wriggle on with that.

Over the past few days Marmite has begun clawing at things, which means her claws need cutting and this afternoon was the afternoon to do it. I have always cut her claws since she came to us at 12 weeks old, so she is pretty good at sitting on my lap and letting me cut her claws with nail clippers. I often think she is thankful that I do them for her, because she then stop clawing at the door curtain and rugs.
It has been a quiet day really, which has not been helped by the weather. I have such a lot I want to do painting wise, but unless I know we are going to have at least two or three days dry, there is very little point me painting or beginning the process.

Is it me or are we becoming an angry world?

I am noticing more and more how angry people are getting. This is not just in the real world, but on Facebook and Twitter. I belong to a couple of groups on Facebook and I am seriously thinking of leaving them due to angry people and the abuse they give others. There is absolutely no need for it and I for one do not do angry very well, but neither do I tolerate it. I have been there done that, got the t-shirt and DVD and so it is not going to be part of my life again.

What annoys you and would you become Mr and Mrs Angry over it?

Pop back again x