Sunday

Brrrr - it is jolly cold this morning.  A definite dressing gown and slippers morning.  From what I can see (which isn't much) it hasn't rained and the skies are clear so here's to another lovely sunny day today.

To my great shame I left the washing out overnight.  The drying times are getting a lot shorter and the second load wasn't really done in time so I though 'why not'.  My mum would be horrified!  They should be ready to bring in by lunch time, I would imagine and then I can iron them ready for school tomorrow.

Yes, I have four days of work at school this coming week.  It was actually five days but I can't do one of the days.  I have planning to consider and am getting all the old 'too much to do and no time' feelings which isn't at all true.  Of course I have plenty of time and the teacher has done all the work for me, bless her, but the reactions are ingrained, I guess.

As predicted, yesterday ended up fine, sunny and for a while it was reasonably warm too.  J came over and did some weeding for me.  He also said nice things about my home baking so I must try not to fob him off with shop biscuits in future!  I sorted out the Normandy Chicken and have three substantial portions in the freezer.  I made some bread which I froze at the start of the proving stage.  This evening I will get one loaf 's worth out to thaw overnight and see how it ends up in the morning.  I'm hoping it will have thawed and be at room temp so I can bung it straight in the oven when I get up which means it will be baked, cooled and ready to take to my customers.  As it is an experiment, I am not relying on it and will bake the necessary four loaves in the afternoon/evening so they are within a day when I hand them over.  This morning it is bread for Beth!

I managed to get my first load of washing in and ironed which was good.  I shall be short of time this week so need to keep up with things somewhat.

I cooked the bullet steak and, you know, it was really delicious.  In the end I rubber oil on the steak and cooked it for a short time on both sides so it was still a bit pink in the middle.  While it was resting I made a sauce by deglazing the pan with a bit of dry white wine with a knob of butter, then adding two sliced chestnut mushrooms, a little garlic puree, some creme fraiche and some Dijon mustard with salt and pepper to season.  Finally I sliced the steak thinly and popped it back in the pan with the sauce and any juices that has come out to heat to piping hot again.  Eaten with chips, it was very tasty.  The bullet steak was tender and have a great flavour so I will be buying more of that.

In Eat Well for Less, they also talked about 'pope's eye' or 'spider' steak which they descriptively also called 'cow's bum' (because of its position).  I have emailed Chapmans, the best butcher in the region, to ask if they have it and how much for as I have never, ever seen it and in the programme they said it tends not to be on sale.  I am looking forward to their response.
Diane - have you ever come across it?

Today is quite full.  I have the aforementioned bread to make and bake, washing to iron, some photos to put into a facebook page (must do that straight after coffee) and Beth is coming round for lunch.  I have potatoes to use up and also eggs so I think some sort of Spanish omelette thingy as I also have onion, peas and peppers.  That, with a simple salad, should fill a few gaps very nicely.

Now I am off to start the first lot of dough.  But first, coffee.  Real coffee, I think, seeing as it is Sunday.  I shall make a big pot and reheat mugfuls when wanted.
How do you mark your weekends?

Food:
Breakfast:  scrambled eggs with bacon bits, yogurt
Lunch: Spanish omelette with lettuce, tomato and peppers.  Might concoct a dressing too with mayo, vinegar, honey and mustard..
Dinner:  The other bullet steak but this time I will have it plain, or maybe peppered, with chutney or my home made spicy ketchup and a side salad.  Alternatively, I might get a roll out of the freezer and have a hot steak roll where the salad can be part of the filling.  Mmmm - that sounds nice, doesn't it?