Sunday morning

Good morning, gentle readers.  It's another chilly start to the day but there's no frost as far as I can tell.  I did wonder because when I wandered out to check the defrosting freezer, the gauge read as zero.  However, I suppose that if the temperature is low and there's still ice inside, it would read close to freezing.  As a result though, there is still some ice at the top and I guess that will take half the morning to melt.  I could attack it with a hair dryer but, frankly, with more interesting things to do, I can't be bothered.

Totally irrelevant photo I took yesterday in the garden.  Most things are showing signs of age now but these little beauties brighten up their corner.

Yesterday was, as I suspected it would be, very productive.  I finished off the seedless blackberry jam and have five pots full - one for K who gave me the berries, one for DD, one for L in exchange for some fresh eggs, I hope, and two for me!

I made the roasted veg soup and will do a separate entry with the recipe.  It's tasty and frugal.

I went shopping and came back with more than I expected.  Sainsbury's had a special offer - two packs of chicken for a tenner and three packs of beef for a tenner.  So I got some!  I've decided that the lemon chicken recipe isn't really suitable for freezing so that's gone back into the pile.  To replace that, I will make another batch of  'Best Ever Chicken Balti', a recipe I found in a Slimming World magazine which is pretty quick, easy and very delicious.  I'll do that today.

I made the butternut squash and chickpea curry which was easy.  It's quite sweet in a savoury sort of way and, eaten with a more spicy curry, is very delicious.  It might be too sweet if it's eaten on its own and I am having a rethink about the containers I will freeze it in.

I looked through my recipes for something beefy (lean stewing beef, so slow cooking needed) and found Beef Paprikash which I cooked in the slow cooker for about five or six hours.  Another totally scrummy dish, very meaty and savoury.  As it was cooked in the slow cooker, there was still a lot of liquid which was tasty enough for me to pot separately as a soup.  An unexpected extra.

Do you remember my idea of freezing curries in what I call 'titchpots', each of which containing a third of a full sized portion.  Well, yesterday evening I had my first titchpot meal.  Chicken curry in a hurry, chunky puy lentil dahl and the butternut and chickpea curry, arranged on a plate with a dollop of natural yogurt on the middle.  It was so gorgeous!  I will definitely continue with this idea.

I don't think there's anything else . . . oh, yes there is - I bought a camera.  I've been thinking and researching for a while now.  I know I bought one from a friend, and it is a super camera, but not one that can be carried in a handbag and not all the convenient in the classroom as one has to use the view finder so the 'eyes in the back of my head' ability disappears temporarily.  I got a Panasonic, well reviewed both online and also by a friend who has one, a good zoom, said to take good close ups and easy to handle.  I also treated myself to the convenience of a second memory card and a second battery pack.  Not a case though, as I already have one.
If my school camera hadn't been playing up, I wouldn't have indulged, but there's still no news about it, it's been sent off and goodness knows when it will come back.  We use technology a lot in the classroom now, and camera use is one of the biggies.  My purchase was more or less planned for but what wasn't planned was an impulsive decision to have it delivered speedily, so on Monday I should be getting a parcel and by Monday evening I should be charging up batteries, raring to go!  Yay.
What did seem very silly was this - they do this particular camera in several colours - black, red, silver and white.  I really fancied the red one but it was about a tenner more than the black one for exactly the same technology.  Daft!!!

It seems to be all spend right now.  I'm continuing my investigations into the Thermomix and following Diane's culinary adventures with great interest.  I did think about getting one in the new year but I might investigate the finances a bit more and go for an earlier date.  We will see . . .

Today?  Well, there's a bit of planning still to do and I have a chicken balti to make, a freezer to finish off, refreeze and reload and family round for lunch.  What a lovely day it will be!  I hope yours is too!