How does it happen ? You have a favourite recipe which you make time and time again, then you decide to make it for friends who are coming to supper and ……….. disaster ! Now, I may have mentioned before, I am not a good cook, I don’t like cooking and my cooker (Betsy) doesn’t like me. She clearly thinks she should be in a kitchen with a much more accomplished chef and I agree with her, but sorry, that’s the way the cookie crumbles – or doesn’t in my case, we have four of my home made cookies holding up the four corners of our house ! I have friends who have shelves and shelves of cookery books and enjoy nothing more than delving in to them. Don’t get me wrong, I admire people who can cook, I am jealous of people who enjoy cooking and am disappointed that I am not one of them. I have six, books that is not shelves. Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course, she rarely lets me down, A Girl Called Jack, sent to me partly as a joke when funds were very stretched, she never lets me down, a Farmhouse Vegetarian Cook book which is well thumbed and I have just got from a book sale James Martin’s Book of Desserts. Can’t remember what the other books are. First of all when trying something new I look first at the list of ingredients. More than eight ? No thank you. Any mention of a bain marie or gelatine ? Very much no thank you ! Cooking takes so much time and then the food is gone (often in to the bin in this house ) in a few minutes. Think of all the thing I could have been doing instead of preparing food ! Luckily for me Ernst is a good cook. He’s not one of those men who adore cooking different recipes he is just a good basic cook and his tomato soup should win gold medals ! Can’t think why I got started on this track now, probably because I have just burned a tray of cheese biscuits I was making for apéros this evening. This is my trouble, I put things on to cook and then forget all about them. Honestly, it’s in the oven and now it’s down to Betsy, let’s go and do something more interesting. I once put some prunes on to cook and then went to take the dogs for a long walk. the smell hit me about half a kilometre from home. Mmm I thought, someone is cooking something nice. Then, “oh sxxt, the prunes”. Needless to say the saucepan joined my own personal burnt saucepan mountain.
Now I’ve got to leg it to the airport to pick up a couple of girlfriends who, hopefully are on their way over from Gatwick. However it is general strike day so nothing is certain.
What is certain (like the link ?!) is that it has been a good month for dog adoptions but still no luck for Lancelot or Lou. I’m thinking of going on chocolate strike until they are homed. Your prayers please to your own special person for Bear a beeyootiful puppy adopted from us by the wonderful, the incredible, the unbelievably good Leeanne and Mike of Twilight. Leeanne got a bit broody and wanted a bit of youth in amongst her oldies at Twilight so she adopted one of our ‘Bruiser Pups’. Very sadly it seems that during a bit of rough and tumble with another pup, Bear’s eye has been damaged and he will very likely be blind in that eye now. We are devastated and can only think that if he is to be blind, then he couldn’t have better owners than Leeanne and Mike – but a bummer for them.
Right, really have to dash now, forgot to mention that we’re off to Cornwall on the 11th for a week, I know I know, this year is manic. Usually we have one week in Spring and one in September but this year there is a lot going on. Ernst’s nephew is getting married in Germany in July and one of my brothers will be celebrating 40 years of married bliss (I never thought they would get to 40 weeks but don’t tell them that – JOKE !) in August. So I think I’ll be boring you with my travelling tales nearly every month !!
Got a possible sniff for Gavaroche – yey !
Love,
Sue x