Visitors

The Illis are coming for lunch.
Evie will be 17 tomorrow.
I had the best night’s sleep in bed for ages. It started off very well on the sofa which was annoying, but it continued nicely in bed. And I awoke quite suddenly but feeling quite satisfied.

T was as dopey as ever but treated to the usual sort of brekkie – a Marlborough bun this time. It was some sort of currant filled concoction with a glazed surface. Shaped like a rocky island.

The day did not attract me to venture outside. It was frosty and misty but the sun eventually burnt off the mist. But by then I was busy in the kitchen.
So H had to wait for her short walk. Short? Because by the time I had finished preparing food, the sun had taken itself off and the frost prevailed. And I was quite tired by then.

It turned into a nothing sort of walk. She will get a better walk tomorrow when I’ve dropped T off at Daycare.

So, during the morning I made a Hollygog pudding. It looks a bit like a car crash but tastes really good. It’s an old Oxfordshire recipe – a hug on a plate, involving flour, butter and golden syrup. And I added orange zest.

The first course will be chicken and chorizo pie with veg for the meat eaters and veg and bean pie for the others. I found edamame beans, frozen ones, in Waitrose so they will have to do. Edamame beans are immature soy beans and look like small shelled broad beans. Very green. Very tasty and healthy too.

I have discovered that IKEA grave powder is vegetarian. Or it might even be gravy powder. It makes a tasty pouring sauce which can be spiced up with the other ingredients. So with the help of packet puff pastry that will be how I make the pie.

I spent the morning chopping and preparing the ingredients. I also made a bean/ cabbage/beetroot/caper and orange salad to add to the broccoli/ carrots/ leaks/ sugar snaps /green beans/ edamame beans that have gone in the pies. 5 a day! Just about!

And to go with the Hollygog pudding I have chopped fruit. Sadly the grapes I bought for this purpose have been disappeared. But a few mysteriously reappeared from somewhere near T’s bed.

The family were on time to seat themselves as the pastry had puffed and all was ready. We ate. And ate a bit more of everything. Ali did a fantastic job of sweeping the kitchen floor before allowing herself to be seated. And an even better job of clearing the dishes and tidying up after we had eaten, ably abetted by various family members.

They have a newer car to look forward to – a Golf. George could no longer fit into their Mii apparently. I was fond of that car – it took me to and from my knee operations because it was easy to get in and out of. I need a step ladder to clamber in and out of the Volvo.

The evening was devoted to Call the Midwife (comfort viewing) and Happy Valley, series 3 (definitely not comfort viewing) . What a contrast! I might have to watch series 1. It might ground me better, though I did watch series 2.

Thought for the Day

And that was all sorted before our visitors came