Wrapped !

Presents wrapped.  Tick.

For niece Sarah (4) and nephew Mathias (8)

For the adults, mum Irma, brother Rijkaard (or Richard in English) and sis-in-law Joelle.

Popped into a suitcase and on their merry way to Belgium. Tick.

Patricia xxx...x

Mammoth Task

Last Wednesday we had to collect the pork at the butcher's. The meat from our piggies.
The largest of the two was sent off to the man who is going to turn the meat into salami, sausages, bacon, etc, etc.
For the 'smaller' one I asked the butcher to brine the two legs, so they will be collected just before Christmas. Pete (the butcher) minced one of the shoulders for me and the other, just boned, so that I could cube it for stews.
The heads were already in the freezer. Freezers full !! Of course, we have the lamb, that we acquired a few weeks ago, in there too.
I got Bert to ask Pete to just halve the saddle lentghways. I would do the rest. Pete almost got in a panic. He doesn't seem to trust my abilities of cutting meat. "But what will she do with it ?" Bert, in all his wisdom said that I was going to take the tenderloin off and things like that. "Yeah, I get that, but what with all the rest ?"
What, indeed ? Luckily Pete had the good sense to cut the belly off the back too. So, in effect the pig was quartered lengthwise.
When Bert brought in that first part, I broke out in a cold sweat.  That is not the meat from our pig ! That is from a friggin' dinosaur !
After wiping off the perspiration from my forehead and palms of my hands, I set to work on the loin.
Halved it, to just after the ribs. The rib side for chops and back ribs, the other side gave us 2 nice loin roasts. Oh, and of course I took off the tenderloin.

These loin chops measure 32 cm (1 ft ?), weighing about 600 gr !

That is Bert's hairy hand, not mine, thank you very much.

That was Wednesday.
On Thursday morning it became all too obvious that our two chest freezers wouldn't cope. I took out one of the heads and cooked it for, yes brawn.
By mid afternoon, the freezers were stuffed to the brim. Bert hurried to Kenmare to buy an extra one.
Due to lack of suitable space anywhere else in the house, it is now in his office of all places. Only temporary, I can assure you.

Thursday was the longest day, ever! (Just like this post, I guess). My hands sore, muscles achy. It is a good workout, butchering a pig.
I rolled pork belly with herbs for porchetta. Made and cooked meatballs, large and small.

Fat rendering down while I was working my way through and continued with that job on Friday, when I also finished the brawn.

There is so much clean meat coming off the head, that I can't justify not using it.

This time, I opted to put the meat through the food processor. In Flemish we call this kind of brawn "kipkap".  Nothing untoward has gone in. Just tender meat, onions and parsley, cooking liquid and seasoning.

I used the weekend to make yet another batch of brawn, the head taking up too much space in the freezer.

Bert so deserves a silver medal for manning the vacuum sealer, for being the knife sharpener, freezer stuffer and tidy up-er here and there. 

The gold medal is mine, all mine !

Patricia xxx...x

Net Curtains at Christmas

What does one do when unsightly screws are sticking out of the wall above the window. Ah sure, you drape some net curtains off them.

I did this to give our Christmas tree a bit more umph. I'd agree it would look more suitable for a wedding venue, but I'm really not that bothered.

The curtains are from Ikea and I have several of them. They get used for all sorts. Especially as a table cloth at Christmas. See 2 photos below.

The dragonfly lights I have for ten or so year. Bought them in France when we lived there. They have been used in various rooms and ways.  I love them still.

The End
Patricia xxx...x

Clash

 While most bloggers are getting into the spirit of Christmas, I try to lift my spirits with flowers from Lidl.

And they do. I just love the two clashing colours. They seem to intensify each other's brightness. 

It looks like that slightly lower surface of the wireless was made for a vase. My father got a fit every time someone would place a plant or a vase with flowers on a TV or radio. Because accidents with water are waiting to happen.

Hey hey. A few weeks ago, I was planning to post loads of festive recipes for a great Christmas feast or a New Year's eve party.  Let me just tell you now : It ain't happening !

I am not a cookery show production team, dealing with Christmas in July. By the time I start on my food, everyone else has a fair idea what they will be eating and are more than likely cooking at the same time as me. So, what would be the point ?

Instead, I will be writing down my recipes and taking photos as and when each dish is being made and I'll post them next year, starting in November. How about that ?

Don't fret. During the coming weeks I'll be posting a few recipes of things that can be eaten at any time of the year. It will most certainly include my Frangipane cake. My go-to cake for all occasions.

Patricia xxx...x

Poached Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (preferably free range or organic)
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 3 celery stalks, washed and cut into 4
• 1 large carrot, washed or peeled, quartered
• 1 fennel bulb, washed and quartered
• a handful of parsley stalks
• 4 bay leaves
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 tbsp black pepper corns
• 1 tbsp coarse sea salt

Method
It is dead easy.

The carrots here are hiding at the bottom. You'll just have to take my word for it.

• put the chicken in a cooking pot, large enough to contain all ingredients plus water
• arrange all other ingredients around and over the chicken
• cover with cold water
• bring to the boil
• turn down the heat, and let it simmer ! for about 1 hour.

• take the chicken out of the stock straight away and transfer to a plate or shallow dish.

• Drain the stock through a colander and use it for soups, sauces, gravy...The vegetables are for the chooks.
• Pick the meat off the bones while still hot/warm. It'll come off easier than when it is cold.

Use the succulent meat for salad, sandwich, soup, ragout, chicken pie

Skin and cartilage  for the dogs

Discard of the bones. Bin or compost.

And there you have it. Simple and doesn't take a lot of effort. You'll get quite a few meals out of this.

Patricia xxx...x

Feeling Slightly Better

My mood has changed for the better during the day.
Everything in the kitchen is now dust free, thanks to my friend Basia.
The tree has been decorated. By moi.
And the leak in the sitting room is still going strong.

Someone we know, who knows a thing or two, will come on Monday to see what can be done with incoming water. Fingers crossed.
At least we are not in this kind of a pickle.

Kenmare

The raging Sneem River

Ireland has fallen into the sea.

Bah Humbug !

Not sure how to get my mojo back.
This is how far I got with putting up the tree yesterday. The top still missing, lights in but not 'arranged'.

Last week we had a leak, dripping from the sitting room ceiling. The rainwater probably coming through under the lead flashing.

Yesterday our builder came to rectify a crack in the kitchen floor and he also had a look at the lead flashing outside. 

Kitchen floor is now repaired.

The layer of dust over every surface has not been tackled as yet.  I don't know where to start.

Storm Desmond (seriously, who thinks up these names) has been battering us all night and is still going strong. Desmond gave us a not so lovely present this morning when we came downstairs  to a leak in the ceiling, worse than before.

I can't be dealing with this. I can feel paralyzed at the best of times when there are things that I need to be doing. Now I just want to crawl back into bed.

A bit of flooding has gone on down below. My nephew's platform is now standing in a moat.

At least our new road has been holding on. 

Have a better weekend than I am having at the moment.

Patricia xxx...x

Repurposing

I don't like to throw things away. Mind you, I'm not a hoarder, even though people with minimalist tendencies might be of a different opinion.
This old radio was in my fathers workshop. He used to repair radios and televisions, along with other electrical goods. He had a few of these. My guess is that people used to give him their old stuff when they got in the new. My dad passed away about 12 years ago and my mum moved house 5 or 6 years later. That's when I acquired this beautiful specimen and even though it didn't work anymore, I kept it and moved house and country with it.
It has been in the shed since moving here 2.5 years ago. But I finally got Bert to bring it to the house and asked him if we could make it into a light feature.
He obviously had to think about it some. Then this weekend he installed LED lights on either side of the display. The speaker came out and - for now - we just put a small glass table lamp in there.

I like it already. It needs some beeswax and the display needs a good clean.

The display is quite something else. I wonder if one could really receive Radio Cairo or Radio Bucuresti ? 

It gives me joy and reminds me of my father, sitting in his workshop, tinkering away at a TV. I can almost smell the solder he used to melt.

Patricia xxx...x

A Lamb for the Freezer

Yep ! You know what's coming. Vegetarians, vegans look away now.

You've still got time.

This is the third year that we buy a lamb from a friend of ours.  We order it in springtime and it is ready end of November. It is very good value, I find, 100 euro (slaughter and cut, included).

But, I've learnt my lesson. I don't want 200 (slightly exaggerated ) chops. I want legs, shoulder for stew or curry, minced lamb for kofte, a loin roast, some ribs and 16, yes, only sixteen cutlets. 

So, this year I asked for the lamb to be just halved. Isn't it strange that 'people' just assume Bert (the husband) is going to cut up the lamb ? Erm ... that will be me. Bert will be hiding out in his office, babysitting the dogs.

It can be daunting to start. But if you have experience in cooking meat that goes beyond a steak or a chop you should know which part of the animal is what. If you don't, the internet is full of good info on this.

 Leg, shoulder and belly

 Cutlets, loin roast and tenderloin (tenderloin is suitable for meat skewers)

The ribs

 I boned the shoulder and cut into cubes for stews. The legs will be roasted and the shanks, yumm, I'm sure I'll find a good recipe for these.

The meat that wasn't too cleanly cut or cubed, plus the belly, got minced.

I cooked the bones in a large pot of water. The 'nice' meat that came off is for shepherd's pie. The not so nice meat was for the dogs. They also got a bit of the stock, but most of it is now in the freezer to add to stews, soups or gravy.

The piggies will leave us this Tuesday, but I promise not to post any butchering on this blog, unless there is a huge demand.

I am now about to take the Christmas decorations out from under the stairs and see if I can make this place feel festive in some ways.

When will you put up the decorations ?

Patricia xxx...x