Friday

First of all, the advert!  I posted a recipe for savoury rice on TsRs.

After a very cold start yesterday, it turned out to be surprisingly pleasant.  Not that warm, of course, but the sun shone and the children were happy, all the more so because it was inflatables after school and rain would have stopped it, as would very high winds.

We've all seen inflatable castles.  Well, these are several notches up from them and, as lorries drove onto the school field and the inflatables went up (and down again), the excitement levels rose and rose and . . .  The two year 1 bays have windows that open out onto the school field.  A lovely aspect but somewhat of a distraction at times like this.  So mean old teacher pulled down the blinds and threatened no-playtime-if-the-work-wasn't-done which held them for the time needed.  I thought the afternoon would end in tears, they were so excited, but it didn't!

Today is also starting off cold but I'm hoping it will be like yesterday and stay bright for most of the day.  For me it is my SEN day so I'm out of class, working on other things.  Hard work, but different.

Back to yesterday again - as I went into school I saw that my parcel from Lakeland had arrived.  Some anti-mould spray, three rolls of easy-leave, one big roll of perforated cling film and - and - my new pressure cooker.
I've always been a bit terrified of pressure cookers.  I'm sure this is quite unreasonable but . . .
In my relative youth I had one that hissed and clanked away, sending steam in all directions and generally sounding as if it would explode at any moment.  It never did, of course.  Despite this, when I had to move from my previous home I was quite relieved to leave it behind (and I am sure it got chucked as soon as I had gone!).
However, in this project I am undertaking for frugal eating, I have been rediscovering (not that I ever forgot it really) the joys of cooking pulses from scratch rather than opening a tin.  Having scorched two batches of butter beans I decided that I needed (wanted!) a pressure cooker, especially after I read that you don't have to soak them beforehand.  So I looked around and ordered one from Lakeland.  Not the cheapest available but it had good reviews.

Photo taken from the Lakeland site so, as I'm plugging their product, I hope they won't mind!

So yesterday evening I read the instructions carefully, took a deep breath, prayed for courage and - boiled up some kidney beans!  Well, I couldn't believe the difference.  It was quiet, easy, simple and I had a pile of cooked kidney beans in less than half an hour - unsoaked kidney beans too! - and after the initial wibble, I felt safe.

It's chickpeas today!