Packing it all in...

I have mentioned that we have a trip coming up but have given out very little detail up until now. Myself and Jay are off to Portugal for 5 days, it was our Christmas gift to each other. An all inclusive 5 star accommodation,  flights and transfers for us both at a bargain price.

We felt that rather than buy each other useless gifts that we neither needed nor wanted that this was the perfect gift for us. This time of year is always tough for everyone and a little bit of sunshine does wonders to give you the boost for the coming year (hopefully).

Whenever we book a holiday we usually book a last minute deal and by doing it this way we can sometimes go away more than once. There are lots of different websites that give great last minute deals, we often use Icelolly * and so far we have been very pleased with the results.

I have been battling with the internet and trying to download certain documents that needed printing, they are now all done and ready. I now have the task of packing and I am unsure of what to take. I know the weather is not going to be soaring heat and sunbathing weather, would be nice though. However we only have hand luggage so everything has to be essential and right.

I have been through my wardrobe and selected what I would like to take and now I have to narrow it down again to essential items, oh decisions decisions!

Dinner last night was a rummage through the fridge to see what I had to go with some chicken fillets. Our menu had got a bit mixed up due to people not being here for dinner and changes have to be made. There was half a butternut squash, a swede and a bag of carrots and a tub of soured cream. I chopped the vegetables up quite chunky and put them in a pan and added some frozen mixed vegetables and a pint of chicken stock. I added a teaspoon of English, French Grain and Dijon mustard and a dessert spoon of honey.

Once the vegetables had started to soften I added the chopped chicken fillets to the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Whilst that was cooking I made some breadcrumbs out of some rolls and the last few slices of granary bread.  grated some cheddar and mixed this in with the breadcrumbs.

I added the sour cream to the chicken and vegetables gave it a good stir and then using a slotted spoon I put the chicken and vegetables into a casserole dish poured over a little of the sauce and then covered it in breadcrumbs. I cooked this in the oven on gas mark 6 for 30 minutes and had the sauce simmering on the gas so it would thicken.

A super meal to feed six people and cost about £5.50. If you don't add the chicken but just use vegetables and add pulses it will obviously cost a lot less. Unfortunately for me the boys and Jay would probably hang me out to dry if I served them a pure vegetarian meal.

There was quite a lot of vegetable so I chopped it all up and cooked them in chicken stock and added split peas and have frozen it in batches and I can then make this dish again or even add it to a stew or a curry.

All I have left to do is a trip to the hairdressers and a quick dash to get some food in for the boys and then I can relax with a glass of vino in readiness for our little vacation. Until next time x

* No money was earned by this endorsement, it is my own opinion.

Getting nowhere fast...

Well the countdown is almost at an end, just a few manic and hectic days remaining and it is all for just one day, how bizarre we are.

We still have no tree as it is still stuck in the loft, we have not ordered the turkey yet and no food has been purchased but I am writing out my lists and trying to get myself organised.

I have been looking for some recipes for treats over the festive period and I have found quite a few and have settled on a few to try.

One of my favourite foodie sites is the BBC good food where I have picked the braised red cabbage recipe to have on Christmas day, I do like this but no one else does so I will make a batch and freeze it in smaller portions so I can have it when I want. I have also picked out stilton puffs, red onion and brie tartlets and pasty parcels.

Ben will be making his pizza whirls and between them Adam, Lewis and Jay will be making the pastry for the pies, sausage rolls and other pastry bits. And I shall make the cakes and other sweet stuff, this we will be doing on Saturday, and then on Sunday we are doing the big Christmas shop.

Jay is in charge of Christmas dinner and always has been so it is usually the traditional Christmas fare and we now have a bird in a bird in a bird roast, which I think is about 4 or five different bird meats all layered inside one another.  This is really good value for money as it is all meat and we use up all of the meat and it often lasts us about five days. We drive out to a farm butchers called Bramfields to get our meat for Christmas.

I am hoping to get the tree up later today, I need to shift things about to fit the blooming thing in!

On Monday the sun was shining and it was quite warm, I cleaned out the girls and they enjoyed the sunshine along with a muddy dust bath!

Well I best get a move on, I hope your preparations are going well. Until next time x

Wigglywoo's Brewery!

Well what do you know, mum and dad came over today for lunch and look what they had been and got on their walk yesterday, my much wanted sloes. Now all I need is to purchase some gin and away we go. I have popped them into the freezer and they will be perfect for use once I purchase some gin. One very boozy Christmas is on the cards!

As promised here are the recipes from the other day.

Christmas Spice Chutney
1lb elderberries
1lb cooking apples, chopped
1lb onions, chopped (I used red onions but you can use what you prefer)
12oz sugar
1/2 pint red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2  fresh ginger (or dried ground)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon

Place all ingredients into a heavy bottomed pan and simmer for about an hour. Place in warm sterilized jars, label and store. As with all chutneys this taste better after a few months of being made.

For the elderberry syrup I used the recipe from Ashridge Nurseries which you can access from this link http://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/blog/elderberry-syrup-recipe/
I did not add the ginger or the cloves from this recipe, I just used fruit, water, sugar and lemon juice. For every pint of juice you add 1lb of sugar and the juice of a lemon. This will keep for ages, put in to airtight bottles and store in a cool dark place. Once the bottle is opened keep refrigerated and will last about 3 weeks (it will be gone before then!)

To make the liqueur I just put the desired fruit into a wide necked jar/bottle fill it about a 1/4 with fruit add the same amount of sugar then fill up with desired alcohol. The jars I use are 1.5 ltrs. Store in a cool dark place and be sure to turn or shake the bottle everyday and in about 3 months it should be ready to decant into your desired bottles.

Right I have several bottles/jars that need turning. Until next time x