A Week In View

 

 

March is half way through;  it does seem true that the older we get the faster time flies.   I've done a lot of sewing and knitting this week.   The picture on the above left is of the fabrics that I am using to make a  strip quilt which is to go in the car instead of a traditional-type car rug.  

 

After I'd finished my weekly shopping I decided to try out a different café for some refreshment.    I went to the Veg Out café, which serves only vegetarian and vegan food.    I had a hot chocolate and a slice of vegan chocolate cake, which was lovely.    The atmosphere inside was very relaxed and peaceful  and I sat enjoying my food and drink and reading a very long letter from a friend in the US.

 

Thinking about how quickly time can fly by, a few months ago I read an interesting article by a psychologist (whose name I  can't remember) who wrote that we can help stop the feeling of time slipping away by noting and celebrating important times during the year - birthdays, anniversaries, feast days etc.   

 

Celebrating feasts and festivals is something that our society doesn't do very well anymore,  which  I think is to our detriment.  Most of our festivals and feast days have been lost.  Those that are left have been taken over by big business and are stressful consumer fests, rather than times for us to mark time and celebrate our lives.  Bank holidays have become extra shopping days inserted into the year where we are encouraged to go and spend.   One of my goals for 2015 was to celebrate more "special days" and I am looking forward to welcoming the Spring Equinox next week.     I am planning to make a Spring Wreath as described by Anne Wheaton in her blog Life In Mud Spattered Boots , which is one of my favourite blogs.

 

 



 

 

 

 





In My Kitchen March 2015

In my kitchen are root vegetables.  

I have been doing a lot of cooking with a  selection of  traditional winter vegetables.   In these "between" days, when winter hasn't quite gone and spring hasn't quite arrived. I want to eat  comforting, warming foods, and food made using root vegetables fits the bill nicely.    Parsnips are my favourite and among dishes I enjoy eating at this time of the year are Spicy Parsnip soup, Parsnip Gnocchi,  and Roast Parsnips.    Another dish that I made for the first time, and which hubby and I both liked very much, was  Root Vegetable Cakes (from The Kitchen Revolution by Rosie Sykes, Polly Russell and Zoe Heron).  These used a mixture of swede, parsnip and leeks.  We ate them with fried eggs and homemade tomato relish.

In my kitchen is kale

This came from a local Farmer's Market.   I served it shredded and gently cooked in an inch or so of water, as a green vegetable.  

In my kitchen are Tiramisu wafers.

These are lovely for elevenses with a mug of milky coffee.





I was interested to read about The VegOut Challenge that Francine writes about in her blog Life In The Food Lane.   It is an interesting challenge and one that I would like to try a bit later in the year.



The Year In Books - March 2015

My February read was "Bicycle Diaries" by David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame).  David Byrne takes his fold-up bike with him when he goes on tour and this book is a record of his thoughts about the things he sees, and the people he meets, as he cycles around some of the major cities of the world.



 

I enjoyed reading his thoughts about the cities that he visited especially the chapters about his visits to Manila and to Baltimore.  What I didn't enjoy about this book were his thoughts about some of the meetings he had with  people in the music and arts industries.  I didn't find these very observant or interesting.   Fortunately though they only took up a small part of the book.

My choice for March is "In The Eye Of The Sun" by Ahdaf Soueif.  

Ahdaf Soueif is an Egyptian author, although she writes in English.  I've read another of her novels "The Map of Love" which was the book that started my interest in the Middle East and in learning Arabic.   "In The Eye Of The Sun" was her first novel  and according to the blurb on the back cover, it is a love story and a story about what it's like to be a woman in the Middle East and in the West.    Ahdaf writes lovely prose with descriptions that evoke time, place and characters so I am really looking forward to reading this book.

A Grand Day Out to Baddesley Clinton

Wednesday was such a lovely day.  N and I were both at home so we decided to go out for the afternoon.  We were setting out quite late so didn't want to venture too far and were tempted by what we had read about the Priest Holes at Baddesley Clinton.    Baddesley Clinton is a National Trust property almost on our doorstep although neither of us had been there before.   

The house is beautiful.   I find a lot of the larger stately homes rather overwhelming and uncomfortable looking;  as a person who almost constantly feels cold, I am always conscious about how unpleasant it would be to live in a house with enormous rooms and no central heating.   Baddesley Clinton though was the perfect size.  Lovely well proportioned rooms, warm wood panelling  and comfy furnishings.   A fire was lit in the sitting room and it was so warm and cozy in there that I sat in one of the armchairs and was tempted to take 40 winks.

 

 

There is a very beautiful private chapel in the upstairs of the house and we saw the Priest Holes that the house is famous for.  Of course, as is the case with National Trust  properties there was a very good café and we had a lovely late lunch.   I definitely recommend the fruit crumble and custard!

 



A Week In View

Spring is definitely in the air here in Birmingham: Crocuses are in flower, birds are singing and this afternoon it was warm enough to sit outside without a coat and drink a cup  of tea. 

I've had a busy week and have been quite organised for a change, although that takes a lot of effort on my part.   The most interesting thing that I did was to go to a restaurant named "P'shou" which serves Kurdish food.   

I had Quzy and Fasolia and I enjoyed them so much.   The restaurant is on the top floor of a very unprepossessing building, not the sort of place where you would expect to find good food, and it was a little slice of Iraqi Kurdistan in the inner city of Birmingham.   

A Week In View

This week I have been feeling a lot less tired and anxious than I have for a long time and I've been using some of my extra energy in the kitchen. I cooked something new everyday. Among the dishes that Hubby and I enjoyed most were Onion Tear-and-Share bread ( recipe from BBC Food magazine),; Mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese; and  Orange-mustard stir fry with tofu and Asian greens (recipe from Bite-sized thoughts  ). I know there is a popular idea that life is too short to stuff a mushroom but the preparation time for the ones I made was about 10 minutes and they were so enjoyable that it was 10 minutes (plus some cooking time) well spent.

I finally got a cheque from my insurance company so I could replace my car, which had been written-off when a huge 4x4 ran into the back of me while I was waiting at a red traffic light. I found the crash and the aftermath very traumatic and I'm sure that the collision has played a part in my recent ill-health. During the week I went out with N to look at a few cars and finally bought the Ford KA in the photograph. I've driven it out and about a few times this week and am pleased with my choice. I enjoy driving very much so it is so good to have my own little car again.

In My Kitchen - February Kitchen 2015

For a long time I've been an avid fan of the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, written by Celia,  and l love catching the other "In my kitchen" blog posts that she links to.  This month I've finally plucked up the courage to take part as well so here is what's in my In My Kitchen  in February 2015:

Leeks

 

In season at this time of the year they've been featuring a lot in my winter cooking.  Some of my favourite dishes have been when they were paired with Gruyere cheese as a filling for twice baked jacket potatoes; in a homemade chicken and leek pie; and when they were combined with another seasonal vegetable, celeriac, in Celeriac and Leek soup (recipe from River Cottage) which I served with homemade bread sticks.

A new pie dish

I love blue and white enamel ware and this pie dish is the latest addition to my collection.

A jar of Tiptree Mincemeat

This was a left-over from Christmas.  I can't think of mince pies outside of the period between the start of Advent and the end of the New Year holiday so I wanted to use this mincemeat to make something a bit different.   So, I made shortbread mincemeat slices.

The shortbread was buttery and crumbly and the mincemeat was full of plump, juicy fruit (I highly recommend Tiptree Mincemeat to anyone who doesn't want to make their own).  A slice with a cup of Earl Grey made delicious elevenses.

Liquorice Catherine Wheels

I don't venture into Birmingham city centre very often but when I do I like to pay a visit to Mr Simms Sweetshop and treat myself to some old fashioned sweeties.  On my most recent visit I bought liquorice Catherine Wheels, which brought back memories of Christmases when I was a child.  My Christmas stocking always contained a  selection pack filled with assorted liquorice treats including my special favourites,  Catherine Wheels - long, thin strips of soft liquorice wound around a bejewelled aniseed sweet. They are as good as I remember them to be.