They used to plug Center Parcs as 'the holiday the weather won't spoil' and that is very true. I have my fold up raincoat coat and waterproof (ish) shoes ready to pack and you get wet swimming anyway! :-)
My yarn order arrived yesterday - it's lovely, just the right colours for a colourful, traditional sort of - er - thing! I'm happy! I'm having to resist starting the thing right now - which would never do!!
Alex turned up, learned how to make nice, crunchy roast potatoes, ate some for lunch (with chicken and veg!) and took two bags of two portions of them home to freeze for another time although I got a very strong impression that one bag would be used for his and Beth's dinner!
He's going to make some more (at mine) nearer to Christmas and freeze them for the Christmas dinner. That's my boy!!
He's going to make some more (at mine) nearer to Christmas and freeze them for the Christmas dinner. That's my boy!!
I took him home and stayed for a chat with Beth. Usually she and Alex would be coming with me to Center Parcs as we have done each year since lockdown but this year that hasn't happened (for various very good reasons).
So the plan is to book a holiday there next May for Alex's birthday instead. Then, the following year, we have a long standing plan to have a family time there for my 75th birthday and go bananas in a very posh treehouse. Very much a one-off - unless Ernie is very kind to me (which ain't going to happen!)
So the plan is to book a holiday there next May for Alex's birthday instead. Then, the following year, we have a long standing plan to have a family time there for my 75th birthday and go bananas in a very posh treehouse. Very much a one-off - unless Ernie is very kind to me (which ain't going to happen!)
And Alex's next lesson is roasting a chicken!
It's interesting - teaching someone else who is starting from scratch has really made me realise how much we home cooks do things automatically, instinctively. It makes writing out instructions for even the simplest things like roasties more long winded than one would expect.
Today I will . . .
get the food/equipment sorted for next week
do some washing so I know all the clothes I need for next week are clean, dry and folded for packing
find a recipe for a healthy apple cake (if that's not an oxymoron) and make it
do some cleaning and tidying and generally sorting things out
watch the Strictly launch show (how can it possibly be that time of year already?)
How about you?
Have a lovely day. xx
That sounds like a busy and happy plan. Thanks for reminding me about Strictly-I must set it up to record. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it and I loved seeing Chris and Diane's dance again. xx
DeleteExperience and those little tips are better than any recipe. Both myself and DH make the same soup and it would be quite different even using the same exact quantities as his cooking methods are different to mine. I do a slow simmer he seems to do full on heat most of the time even when something is supposed to be on simmer, and we chop differently!
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean. A dish is far more than its ingredients. The trouble is, all those little extras can make it very confusing for a beginner . . . :-) xx
DeleteAgree about teaching someone else to cook, there's so much that we just do automatically isn't there........ I bet the roasties were lovely.
ReplyDeleteYou're very organised for your holiday, much more than I would be 😆
Alison in Devon x
PS Hurrah for Strictly x
They were lovely! :-)
DeleteYou wouldn't say that if you saw my table at the moment. It looks utter chaos. I'll get there though, hopefully by midday, and then I can have a nice relaxing rest of day and a better night's sleep. :-) xx
Good afternoon, Joy.
ReplyDeleteWork has been keeping me rather busy these last few days, so I've just been enjoying a weekend catch-up with all your news. The weather here is awful just now, but it's set to improve starting tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Mmm...roast potatoes! The best part of any roast dinner. It sounds like Alex is doing really well with his cookery lessons.
And a visit to Centre Parcs sounds amazing. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Xx
He's doing great. Once we get the roast chicken done, he can pretty much make a simple roast dinner - he's OK with boiling veg anyway - and then it is just the whole timing thing - and that's a different matter entirely, bless him.
Deletexx