Jottings - February 14th - hibernating

 

Last week it was so very, very cold outside that getting up and doing something (anything) wasn't appealing. Days were dull and cold but with little snow, sunsets were fiery red, and the birdbath water froze solid for three days.

 Maybe the contrast between lovely warm indoors and freezing temperatures outside encourages us to be lazy; to curl up somewhere snug and semi-hibernate. Obviously if you have work to go to, a dog to walk, grocery-shopping to do, then staying huddled inside isn't an option. But I've nowhere I need to go and, having seen forecasts for heavy snow, did my shopping early. 

So I stayed in. 

I tended to the sourdough (made my best loaf so far, plus naan, pizza and dumplings from the discard), 

I started reading Troy by Stephen Fry (one of my Christmas presents) and continued my Wii Lego journey through Middle Earth - that's nearly finished with just a few irritating tasks left to do, and I've decided to start a Lego Pirates of the Caribbean alongside.  Made cake with aquafaba, coconut water and blackberries from the freezer 

I finished the gloves/hat/scarf set made with another Christmas present, and I'm now at that 'find the next project' stage. 

Other places had huge snow drifts or beautiful icicles worth walking to see. We just had cold, iron-hard ground with the lightest covering of snow. On Tuesday I went out in the hope of finding some snow away from pavements and roads ... but didn't, although falling snow made pretty stars on my coat. 

Jottings - January 31st - the longest month ever

I think almost everyone agrees that this January has been the longest on record. It seems to have stretched interminably. 

This last week, on the other hand, seems to have flown by. It started with snow, and ended with snowdrops. 

Like last week, it's been busy, though for different reasons. I had two trips out to different supermarkets to pick up online orders!! I can't remember the last time I did this, but there's always something that one supermarket stocks that's special, isn't there? This time it was a specific chilli powder, and particular flavour of Pot Noodle. 

My sourdough, now named Dodo, is still demanding a lot of attention, but even if the bread I make isn't edible getting my hands sticky and floury has been worthwhile for the range of things I've made from the unwanted mix discarded each day. Dumplings are a definite favourite, and pancakes made this way taste almost like those made with eggs and milk. 

What I'm most pleased with though is making reasonable naan-style flatbreads. I tried this before, after watching a demonstration at the Good Life Experience At Home in autumn, and they didn't work well, managing to be both burned and undercooked at the same time! This time I got them right; maybe not perfect, but not bad.  Oh, and I served them with a new vegan dish discovered on the BBC Good Food site - a squash and cabbage sabzi - which exactly fitted what I was looking for with Veganuary; using up the allotment produce.

And a lot of my time has been spent playing Lego Lord of The Rings on the Wii. If you've played it yourself (LOL) you'll know from the photo that I've finished the first play-through of the game, and now reached the fun bit where extra quests and mini games have opened up. It may seem an odd thing to spend so much time on but while I'm playing all that matters is escaping from orcs and fighting my way to the end of the level; there's no coronavirus in Middle Earth! 
 

Jottings - 24th January - busier, happier week

 As you may have gathered from the title, this week has been busier and happier. Perhaps happier because busier. Actually, make that definitely rather than perhaps. 

  After the bustle of organising, and re-organising, and re-arranging everything again of Christmas (thanks a lot, Boris), January has been too quiet and I've slipped back into that empty nest feeling that comes when children leave home. Try as I might I couldn't find a focus for my days, and was in danger of slipping back into last Spring's lazy habits. 

Then I found a purpose in life - starting a sourdough culture - and my days since have revolved around it. When I wasn't actually tending it (to be honest that takes about 15 minutes max, but it does set something in stone which must be done) I was reading up and watching on line videos on best ways to keep one going. A lot seem to make things needlessly complicated - from fancy flour to specialist equipment - rather than help, but I found Irish Examiner food columnist Colm O'Gorman's Instagram tutorials helpful and inspiring, and posts I'd seen over summer from author Sarah Jasmon encouraged me to experiment and use each day's 'discard'. 

I'm a thrifty, waste-not-want-not style, housekeeper at best, and I hated the thought of throwing perfectly good 'dough' away, so loosely following Sarah's ideas I've tried to make something every day - pancakes, dough balls, dumplings, a pie/cake now named Rhubarb Caramel Sourdough, cinnamon rolls - and I'll continue to do that.

This has certainly kept me busy, plus my Veganuary challenge keeps me busy as meals seem to take more planning than usual to avoid repeating the same dinner too often. We've had a week of chillis, curries, pasta (with doughballs), winter roots stew with dumplings, but occasionally I've fallen back on lazy ready-prepared mock-chicken pies and burgers.

I've completed a skirt I started before Christmas (being home-made, it has pockets!), and knitted a pair of gloves. It's all kept me busy, and left less time for scrolling through worrying news reports.

To finish the week off in style, Sunday brought a heavy fall of snow. Normally my delight in snow is tempered by knowing it will be impossible to drive anywhere. But this year I've nowhere to go, so I can enjoy it.