Category: Planning and discussion

A day at the seaside

I have been away this weekend, back up to the North. While I was there, I went to see my little brother so I could collect some pheasant and we decided to go to the beach and take his son, my four year old nephew.

We live close to the sea and it is only a matter of minutes before we can get down to this faded little seaside town. I love it for its ageing beauty and the beautiful white sands lashed by the ferocious North Sea.

It’s also where the Bear and I used to go for a walk when we first met. That was  romance………

Seaton Carew to Headland

It’s all pretty much deserted at this time of year with only a few hardy souls out in the biting wind

Seaton Carew in December

The North Sea sweeps straight round and down from the frozen wastes of Russia… and you can tell. Your face hurts and your nose goes numb from the biting wind.

I have actually been swimming in the sea in January and once you get over the initial agonising shock it is, in fact, quite exhilarating. Our Granny used to live in this small  town and she swam in the North Sea most days. Tough old thing she was, too. I reckon the ice cold dousing  every day did her the world of good.

She believed in open windows, whatever the weather, and lots of exercise. She was never ill. Mind you she ate nettles and wheat germ, which for a woman born in 1896 made her a real health freak. Forward thinking, I’d think she’d say.

And yes, that does say 1896.

I don’t think we will ever be as fit as her because once we got there we decided that fish and chips would be the perfect treat

Seaton Carew Fish and Chips

 Oh the smell of them… there’s something so lovely about freshly fried chips and beautiful crispy batter round just caught fish…. there’s no way you could make this at home. Not to have it turn out the way a real chip shop can do it.

We opened the back of my brother’s car and perched in the boot, keeping as much out of the wind as we could.

When I broke open the fish, clouds of steam came out. Hot and fresh and doused in salt and vinegar. Now that is a smell that makes me smile!

You have to eat it quickly because REAL fish and chips are fried in dripping and once they go cold the dripping congeals. Not, I have to say that we tend to hang about .

Seaton Carew prom

When we finished, we decided to get my nephew an ice cream…. well, it’s not a trip to the seaside unless there’s ice cream, is it? And even in temperatures well below freezing, with the wind chill factor, small boys will always want ice cream.

Seaton Carew Big Ice

Especially when they see an enormous ice cream in the street…

The ice cream was being sold in a sweet shop… a real. old fashioned type of sweet shop

Seaton Carew sweet shop

And even in December there were bags of luridly coloured candy floss

Sweet shop candy floss

So, with our noses frozen and the little one beaming happily we got the most seasidey kind of ice cream.

Not for us the handmade, carefully crafted, organic, free range and  chef inspired icecream… no, we went for the industrial whipped….

Sam's ice cream

Because sometimes, just sometimes, there’s nothing nicer than recreating childhood pleasures.

Game

I was born and brought up in the North of England in a more rural area than most of the rest of the country. I lived in a small village before I moved to the city. That’s it in the picture, just perched on the hill below the rising sun

 early morning bike ride 001

 Shooting is a pretty typical pastime, whether it is clay pigeons or game, in season. And now it is autumn, with its cool and misty mornings…… shooting season begins

 early morning bike ride 002

Those of you who disagree with shooting, leave the page now. What follows will only be of interest to those who believe that if you want to eat meat then you take the responsibility of dealing with its death. I believe it is an honest way of getting food.

It is also seasonal, healthy and very tasty. Excellent reasons for getting your own game. If you don’t (or can’t shoot) then support people who do and sell their game on. My brother (he of the ginger beer ham) shoots and, if he is feeling generous towards his big sister, will hand over various birds.

It’s the shooting season now and I asked him to remember me.

He must have been thinking of me because he sent me some photos   (probably the only photographs on this blog that  I didn’t take myself, so full credit to  little brother)  anyway, he took them on his mobile phone while he was out  the other day

Big Little Brother's Shoot

 Fantastic, isn’t it?

And while he was lurking in the undergrowth….look what went past

Bruv's deer pic

No, he didn’t come home clutching a haunch of venison but in the autumn months we are always well supplied with game birds – pheasants, wood pigeon, partridge, wild duck – and they make an excellent addition to autumn cooking.

Big Little Brother's shots!

At the moment, in my freezer, I have woodpigeon and pheasant and I know exactly what I will be doing with most of them. One of the many good things about having a regular supply of game is that you can experiment with new recipes and not just stick to the traditional ones.

Expect more posts on this – you might not have the game but you could replace that in the menu with chicken and you might find new recipes to please you.

Oh, and expect, at some point, to find a masterclass on breasting pheasant  – the world’s best little brother has promised to take pictures to show you how easy it is to prepare a pheasant for cooking! He’s also rather good on recipes…..

The Great Greek Yoghurt Experiment

Those lovely people at Total Greek Yoghurt sent me a big delivery of yoghurt so that I could try out recipes…..

 Yoghurt, cheese and chilli oil 006Yoghurt, cheese and chilli oil 012

Yoghurt has been made for over 4,500 years and is eaten all over the world  – for many adults, milk is hard to digest and yoghurt is perhaps the only way that milk can be consumed. It is only really the North European who generally escape the problems of lactose intolerance and can drink milk with impunity.

When yoghurt is made, the bacteria in live yoghurt, by breaking down the sugar into lactic acid, makes it easier to digest and even those with lactose intolerance can sometimes eat yoghurt. It’s worth a try if you do suffer….

And there are so many things you can do with yoghurt  – apart from eating it with honey or fruit and nuts, it makes beautiful moist cakes; it can be used in savoury dishes instead of cream… and it is my mission to work my way through  a variety of recipes and really extend my repertoire.

Phase one of my first recipe has already been started and tomorrow, all will be revealed. Then of course there are the other things….

Planning ahead

After several weeks away from work because I had an operation on my arm, I will be back at work from Tuesday. That’s good because I need to get back to earning money, but bad because I will be leaving at 7.30 am and getting back after 6 pm.

If  we are to be eating at any kind of reasonable time I need to be organised. I need to plan shopping and ingredients…. I need to plan meals that kind be either cooked while I am out or cooked quickly when I get in.

So from now on there are going to be meals featuring slow cookers or ultra fast put-it-all-together meals.

There’s a couple of things I must do  – first, I really have to sort out shopping lists so I can get things in advance or, at least, know what I am going to grab as I race through a supermarket on the way home after a long day so I will be searching through recipe books and magazines…. oh the work I put into this…

cookery books and planning 005

I might as well relax while I read because, after this, I will be at a desk all day

cookery books and planning 006

Oh, and the other thing?

Without putting too fine a point on things, The Bear and I are no longer the sylph like creatures of our youth…. a diet is called for. Well, not so much a diet as a restriction on the amount of calories we have been consuming. I know the government has said I actually need more than the 2,000 calories they said a normal woman needed but  I really don’t think my waistline was paying attention. For some reason I seem to have…. well, expanded!

Over time I have been collecting and developing recipes that are 400 calories and under as a serving – we shall be going through that file as well. 400 calories for a tasty portion? That should help. Of course you would have to add in extra calories for the side dishes but it HAS to make a difference…….. doesn’t it? Well, it has to.