Some days, no matter how hard you try to do a good job, things just go wrong, anyway. I've had a few of those days recently, so I'm just going to resort to making it to the end of March without too many calamities and not counting my proverbial chickens before the eggs hatch.
Speaking of eggs, we now have two ducks a hen and two bantams laying, so I have begun swaps and trades with neighbours again - a lovely lemon drizzle cake handed in this afternoon!
Apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend but I'm squeezing in 14+ hours a day in an attempt to fit in work, household, family crises and the complete overhaul of the web site, along with building us some brand new forums -
Now You Know. They aren't quite completed yet, but they are open for use, so grab your username before someone else does and I'll 'see' you in the daily chat thread.
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| Pancakes galore! |
With all the eggs we are now getting, it has been a case of quickly using these to make speedy meals grabbed in between hours of hectic work. (I'm not even thinking about the 2013/14 tax return yet!) So, it's been eggs for lunch in some way, shape or form. Pancakes made with sultanas and cinnamon, served with sugar and lemon... again!
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| Good grief! What is it? |
In a huge rush to make a loaf, this is what I got in return! The above is supposed to be a beautiful, freshly baked loaf that would be ready for breakfast after I got up early and decided to try the fastbake setting! I'm guessing that's a no-no for the cheap bread mix I got a few weeks ago. But gear not! This mangled mass got chopped and turned into croutons after we salvaged the middle slices. The crunchier bits got chopped and added into the chickens' breakfast!
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| Doughball! |
My next calamity came when I put the day's mince on to warm and forgot to make the dumplings! I did a quick search and saw mention of a speedy microwave version... it didn't work very well! I think I 'rubberised' them! Well! I was so annoyed that I dropped them into the mince and let them soak themselves soggy in extra gravy... then served them up with cabbage and carrots for dinner anyway! There were 6 but I am ashamed to say that the two leftover were simply inedible and went into the fire to burn for a couple of hours!
Lunchtime today was toasted pitta breads filled with scrambled eggs and hot dog sausages, 'garnished' with tomato ketchup! But guess what? I over crisped the pittas!
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| Pasta twirls added to mince & carrots |
The leftover mince from the doughball disaster should have been made into a pie but I ran out of time again... phone rang at 7.45pm and that reminded me to look at the time and realise I hadn't made dinner! So tonight's gourmet choice was pasta mixed through the leftover mince and carrots.
Seeking solace after all my culinary woes, I did a cupboard rummage and discovered a tiny tin of longlife sterilised double cream, which gave me the incentive to whip up some ice cream from one of the cheap instant mixes. I needed some frugal luxury, so that's what I made... extreme luxury ice cream!
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| Whipped double cream, milk and cocoa |
The ice cream mix needs half a pint of milk, so I made it up with skimmed UHT and then whisked in a heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder.
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| Microwave-defrosted a bowl of garden raspberries |
I still have plenty of berries in the freezer, all picked last summer from the garden, so I quickly defrosted a bowlful, sweetened them and then mashed them.
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| Adding sweetened, stewed raspberries to the chocolate mix |
Adding the mashed raspberries to the chocolate ice cream mix - had to sample the rasps to cheer myself up a bit - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
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| Mixed and ready for freezing |
All mixed and ready for the freezer. That was almost 9pm and it's now almost half past midnight, but guess what I am doing, other than finishing off a very rushed blog post? I'm about to tuck into this absolutely amazing ice cream and don't care what anyone things about that! :)
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| Raspberry and chocolate ice cream |
Apologies for any silly mistakes in this post; I am hitting 'post' without previewing or proofreading it... my ice cream is melting!
Love the look of the ice cream and think you deserved a treat after such a busy day!
ReplyDeleteKJ x
The ice cream is delicious, can highly recommend the chocolate and raspberry combination. :)
DeleteOh dear, days like that should definitely be finished off with icecream. I've definitely go to try making some as that looks delicious. I hope you have a more successful day today :)
ReplyDeleteOff to a good start with some sunshine and freshly brewed coffee. Pity there's no warmth, roll on summer and breakfast on the patio. :)
DeleteDont you just hate those days, when you wish you had stayed in bed with a good book instead! At least you made the most of everything and got to eat your delicious looking ice- cream....even if it was late!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a really good day today.
Karen
Thanks, Karen. It wasn't so much a bad day as a day when the best I could write about was the worst of it. LOL Worklife has taken over for now but that's what pays the bills and I do love my 'job'. :)
DeleteGosh - I feel for you. Hope today is a big improvement. Your ice cream looks delicious -and well deserved!
ReplyDeleteI think the tale of frugal living while trying to build a frugal business empire deserves to be shown in true light... it's certainly not all plain sailing but it is OK to make mistakes. :) We call them frugal life lessons. :)
DeleteI am glad I am not the only one that has those days!!
ReplyDeleteStill covered in snow over here!! I have a photo of a snow bank smiling at me on my blog today!
I have plenty of these types of days, especially in the kitchen department, but my goal has never been to achieve culinary supremacy. LOL
DeleteOh you sweetheart! If anyone deserves such gorgeous icecream it's you!
ReplyDeleteHope your family crisis weren't too bad!
You're doing a fantabulous job on the new forum dear lady. Try and get a but of you time though..maybe even taking a walk or a bit of knitting.
Look after yourself NYK, and take care.
Rw xx
I love what I do, spending my time writing, money saving and doing all my web-based stuff, RW, so this is why I am not getting much by way of any crafting done. But I also need to cram as much in as possible before the clocks change this weekend. From thereon in, it will be time to play outside! :) Friend and I are plotting and planning here in the background about where our next adventure should be - sooner, rather than later. :) It's just been delayed slightly owing to so much going on this month. :)
DeleteLooks to me like you ended your day on a very sweet note :-) Nice change of direction!
ReplyDeleteAnd the ice cream looked divine! ~ Pru
Cheap ice cream mix could be gone before summer at the rate it's being used here! Everyone loves it and it's so versatile! Anything goes! (Havent tried cabbage! LOL)
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