Crochet
This week I have
continued to make washcloths. I like using
two stitches for the cloths depending on their use. For the kitchen I like the ‘v’ stitch done in
hdc as it has a slightly open texture for scrubbing those dishes and wiping the
benches clean. For the bathroom, I like a stitch that creates a closer weave
and is smoother.
Here I have used
Drops Paris and a 4.5 hook I like my cloths to be about 20-25 cm wide I use
American terms.
Hdc Shell washcloth
Make a chain of desired length ending with an even
number.
Row 1: (Hdc, ch 1, hdc) in second ch from hook, (sk
next ch, (hdc, ch 1, hdc) in next ch) repeat across.
Row 2: Ch 1, turn, ((hdc, ch 1, hdc) in each ch 1
space across.
Repeat Row 2 until your washcloth is square.
Bathroom washcloth
Chain desired width ending with an even number.
Row 1: (Dc, sc) in second ch from hook, (sk next ch,
(dc,
sc) in next ch) repeat across.
Row 2: Ch 1, turn, ((dc, sc) in next sc, sk next dc)
repeat across.
Repeat Row 2 until your washcloth is a square.
Food Traditions
A blog I follow was
writing about her family’s New Year traditions.
It set me thinking about mine and from there I got quite nostalgic about
the food we ate in our family. So, this post is about those family memories and
the traditions we have hung on to.
My Mum was during our
childhood a plain cook, she became more adventurous after we all left home,
(perhaps she had more money to spend on food when we had left, or society had changed,
and different foods were available?). By
the day of the week, we knew what was for dinner! I can still recite it – Sunday
Roast usually Hogget (Lamb) and all the trimmings: roast potato, kumara,
pumpkin, parsnip and peas all smothered in mint sauce and gravy. Monday Shepherd
Pie made with the remains of the roast, peas and carrots and as the oven was on,
we always had rice pudding for dessert. Tuesday Sausages in some form
sausage curry, devilled sausages or just plain fried with fried onions. Wednesday
Either lamb chops or mince (beef rissoles) Thursday Lamb or beef
stew sometimes turned into curry. Friday was always Fish and Chips because
we always went to a movie as a family and Dad would buy them on the way home
and if he was flush, we would have battered oysters as well. Saturday was
a day for savoury meals for example fritters, macaroni cheese, Bacon and Egg
Pie. Puddings were usually stewed fruit
and something like custard, jelly, instant pudding (for non-kiwis it is sort of
a light mousse).
Looking back, it was a healthy diet if a bit
meat heavy by today’s standards. But NZ
was a firmly Meat and Two Vege diet. Vegetarians were considered odd! When I first was married, I followed this
pattern. My first job after leaving Uni was in a bookshop and cookbooks were
starting to be popular so I started to experiment. My first job in Britain was
with a magazine that reviewed books and my editor used to pass out the books to
all the staff at Christmas, As I was her secretary, I got first dibs and always
chose cookbooks, the start of my massive cookbook collection.
This massive
collection has dwindled over the last year as I have been decluttering but
there are a couple of books I just can’t get rid of, they both come from the
same source, my grandmother as a wedding gift in 1975 – Popular French Cookery by Mary Berry, it must have been
one of her first books as it was published in 1972 and she is still going
strong! The other was Suppers and Buffets by Marguerite Patten (1973).
My goodness nearly 50 years old they have held up well.
I was going to post
the Ottolenghi recipes I did this week, but I will now leave that to next
week. Instead, I will show pictures of
my favourite recipe from each of the books.
Popular French
Cookery Cherry Pie (Clafoutis aux cerises)
It is cherry season
here, so of course, I must use cherries, but in fact you can use whatever fruit
you desire, after cherries rhubarb is my fave.
Suppers &
Buffets Cauliflower Basket
This dish used to be
my husband’s favourite savoury meal. Its basically a whole cauliflower cooked
the centre spooned out, green beans put in and covered with good old fashioned
cheese sauce and baked till golden. I always have added a boiled egg or bacon bits
or ham to make it more substantial.
Ive realized while writing this I still roughly follow the pattern of my childhood. Do you have a traditon around food. Do eat the food of your childhood or have your eating patterns change radically?
Pantry challenge
One of the things I
want to do this year is to eat more mindfully and I need to make a more concentrated
effort on meal planning, as I am joining a U Tuber Becky from Acre Homestead in
a Pantry challenge. In this you set aside a small amount of money for perishable
goods such as eggs and fruit and veg and you then live of what you have in your
stores for whatever period you set yourself.
Becky is doing two months; I have decided on 3 months and a sum of $200
for perishables over that period. I have
a deep pantry, but I suspect I have lots of stuff that is not necessary, and
this will be a good opportunity to see what I do use the most of and adjust
accordingly. So, a meal plan will be helpful and that is my goal for next week.
Oh dear, I have been
quite wordy well done if you have got this far, lol! So, I will say bye for now
and see you next week.
Think I will join Lucy on the couch and catch up on some of your posts.
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