Glanbrydan’s Weblog

Hi

I thought I would take the chance while Sam was doing other things to slip in this post about the last few weeks and the weather as it has been quite eventful.

Firstly to get away from the caravan and cabin we spent Christmas up at Carrbridge which is around four miles outside of Aviemore in Scotland. The weather was perfect for a ski-ing resort, only a shame we didn’t go there for the ski-ing but we did have great fun on the Rodel Bahn (sledge run) which brought back memories of the German Alps at the millenium. My little mishap wasn’t a reminder although I shan’t forget it in a hurry. The head has just about recovered!

We then spent New Year seeing daughters, son in laws, partners and grandchildren having a great time at each.

When we returned home however it was to a very different scene with the hills and mountains carrying their coat of snow which transferred them to a new world.

That was the good side for the bad side was that we became effectively cut off as the council viewed gritting the lanes around us as very low to no priority so they were quite lethal. With care however we found we could get down into the valley and back again so could get into town for the essentials uch as wine. We weren’t prepared to risk going any distance as we couldn’t be sure of getting back again so the cars have had something of a rest.

We also had problems getting supplies for the farmers markets as two suppliers declined to chance the minor roads so we were left wanting. happily that worked out ok though as the farmers market was cancelled due to the weather. Hopefully those booked for later this month will be ok as we don’t want to lose the momentum built up before Christmas.

Talking of farmers markets our reputation must be growing as we have been invited to become part of the Aberystwyth farmers market which is one of the more successful.

Going back to the weather a real problem hit us when the water supply froze up and stayed in that way for over a week. For a couple of days we had no water at all and then we had to cart it up from the house. Most things have no unfrozen but that wasn’t without incident as yesterday we heard strange banging noises outside which was followed by a bang and water shooting everywhere as one of the pipes had been frozen off by ice and when the ice thawed the water flowed. happily one of the builders sorted it our for us and we are now dry!

Talking of builders, the reak advantage of this weather is that they have been working non-stop on the house as they can’t work outside so lots of progress has been made. Currently they are building wardrobes and plastering following the first fixes for plumbing and electrics.

Plumbing raises a problem for us as due to the weather all plumbers round here are working flat out, including ours and whilst the builders need him to do jobs so they can progress we are finding it almost impossible to coax him around here.

Going back to electrics for a minute, have you ever had to have your power supply to the house moved? I ask as we are having to pay somewhere between £530 and £800 for them to move our power supply and meter from inside the lounge to the outer wall imediately adjacent! Money for old rope or what?

That just about brings us up to date except to mention (and I don’t know if Sam has already mentioned it) that we have been adopted by a young cat who has wormed their way into our home and affections. As we don’t know the gender we have called it Jessie although it seems totally reluctant to answer to the name. Also Vickie now spends most of her day whining as she would like to catch it and despatch it. Little does she know that she would get little change out of Jessie and she would probably come off worse.

I shall leave you in peace now and just leave you in the hope that you are not being troubled too much by this inclement weather.

T-W-O

Whilst in Scotland we went out for lunch a few times. We noted that the local cafes made a big thing of home cooked soups. We chose from a soup menu in one such establishment which included ham & pea soup as well about 4 other options.

It was a lovely homely, thick soup and made me want to cook soup when we returned home. I went to town and purchased a cheap bacon joint but failed to find split green peas in our small local coop branch. Settling on lentils we made a basic soup recipe which was delicious.

 As I watched the TV last night we saw a ham & lentil soup being made on the hairy bakers show (I think it’s UK only TV series but please do look it up on the web as they have lots of lovely baking suggestions). Ours is slightly different but I think all versions are probably yummy.

I purchased a small bacon joint in the supermarket but gammon or good ham would all be good if a little more expensive.

This would serve 4 people for lunch as well as enough bacon for a dinner for 2. Just increase the quantities for a bigger pot of soup and don’t worry about weighing things too much.

 1 unsmoked bacon joint  – ours was 1.2 kg

A blob of butter for cooking

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed and then peeled

2 carrots, peeled & sliced quite thinly

2 sticks celery, washed, de stringed & sliced

Half a swede, peeled & chopped into small pieces. Ours were chopped into battons about an inch (2.5cm) long and a half an inch wide (1 ish cm)

350 grammes of lentils or a good part of the half kilo bag they sell

Black pepper

The day before you want the soup soak the bacon joint in a bowl of water. You only need to cover the meat with the water and leave it for a few hours to get rid of some of the saltiness.

Then get a saucepan that is big enough for your bacon joint and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until cooked. We cooked the 1.2kg for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The general guidelines for boiling bacon are 20 minutes per pound (454grammes) plus 20 minutes. You need to keep the water the meat has been cooked in.

We then ate half the bacon for our dinner served with mashed potatoes and green beans.

 The next day

Heat a biggish pan  – it will need a lid and need to hold all your soup – put the butter in and cook gently until the butter has melted. Stir in the onion & garlic cooking gently for about 10 minutes.

Stir in all the prepared vegetables and pop the lid on for 10 minutes checking regularly and stirring to make sure they don’t stick

Whilst this is cooking chop the bacon joint left over’s into bite sized pieces and add to the pan. You are eating it so make them the size you like.

Rinse the lentils under cold water and stir them into your pan of cooking meat & veg.

Pour over some of the liquid you saved from cooking the meat. It needs to cover the cooking meat, veg and lentils plus a little bit. Give it all a good stir and bring to the boil. Then turn down to a high simmer for 10 minutes. Again you must check and stir the pan every few minutes or it will stick. Also if it looks too thick add a bit more water.

If at this point you are asking what is too thick then think that the food needs to keep absorbing the liquid so make sure it always has some water visible.

Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer for about another 15 to 20 minutes. You need the vegetables to cook though.

Add black pepper to taste. You shouldn’t need salt.

 Now this chunky, filling soup is ready to dish up.

If you are a smooth soup only peroson then whizz it up in the blender.

We ate it on it’s own as we had crumpets for breakfast but it is good with some fresh bread & butter and a bit of cheese on the side.

 This can be made a day or two in advance and keeps well in the fridge as well as being good to freeze.

 Carrbridge, nearest village to where we stayed

We went to Scotland for the Christmas holidays to get away from the building work and generally have a get away from it all.

We weren’t disappointed as we stayed a few miles from Aviemore and it snowed, snowed, snowed! Once we were settled in and the fridge was stocked we could relax. We stayed at a small complex with wood cabins (because we just cannot get too much of them). The cabins were compact but had everything we needed, kitchen, bathroom & somewhere to sleep. My mother joined us and together we sledged, built snowmen and walked (a little)

Waking up to the snow and not having to drive or get about meant we could enjoy it. I really feel for people who have trouble getting about in the good weather, the freezing pavements and roads can be a real hazard to everyone.

We have come home to find our world has frozen up. After a small amount of snow the temperate dropped and even our cold water supply has frozen solid!  The pavements are so icy it’s shocking. I know the TV has been reporting it but local councils need to wake up to the fact that it just isn’t safe to walk around. Somehow we need to solve the problem of icy pavements rather than have people and pushchairs wandering in the roads.

I really appreciate the freeze is a shock in these times of global warming but how do other countries manage?

On a happier note we have been adopted by a wild kitten. We think it must be a baby from a farm cat somewhere local to us. Being unsure of the sex we have called it Jessie cat. We currently feed her and she comes into the cabin for a play, a fuss and a warm up.