Stocking Up ...

No its not a reference to the practice of hanging lingerie from the mantel in the hope of Christmas gifts.

30% and I took advantage of a Sunday without Rugby and spent a good few hours in the Kitchen doing some bulk cooking. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a few staples that freeze well and provide a home cooked meal at the end of a busy working day.

We started off with a couple of gammon hocks and a kilo of split peas that had been soaked overnight and after a mammoth veg prep session and a three hour simmer we have about 7 litres of Pea & Ham Soup that makes a great lunch with some crusty bread. In case you are wondering what cooking vessel I use for a gallon and a half of soup ....

..... its not only Jam that you can make in a Jam kettle.

Once that was simmering we knocked up some home made faggots with a shoulder of pork and some liver that had been sat in one of the freezers. We had about 3 kilos of meat and liver and ended up with somewhere in the region of 50 faggots that have been pre-cooked and frozen in their own gravy. They are a lovely blast from the past with mash and peas for supper on a cold winter evening. All of the roasting tins were put to use and both ovens were running for a couple of hours to get that lot cooked.

By the time we had finished that it was lunch time and soon after we saw TP off to his Grandma's as his Mum had decided to drive down South today*

30% and I then took T&M out for a walk. It was beautiful out, very cold, but lovely. Earlier today I had caught the overnight forecast and we were one of the coldest places in the Country as the Pershore Weather Station recorded an overnight low of - 19 celcius.

T&M go crazy in the snow and ended up coming home absolutely covered with icy lumps where it has accumulated on their coats. We had to dip their legs in warm water to remove the ice and then let them dry in the hall before they were allowed further in to the house. Fortunately the hall has stone flags and the resulting water was soon mopped up.

Cold Feet!

Just below St Peter's

T&M at play

 Once they were damp rather than sopping and settled with a bone each from the gammon hocks, I put the final dish of the day on. We were going to need some freezer space and the pigs head and trotters just had to go so another batch of brawn was kicked off.

Somewhere amongst all this I got the Log Burner fired up and I will be collapsing on front of it alongside Eddy just as soon as I can.

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* He eventually arrived about 5 hours later having had to have a tow at one point when she skidded on a roundabout. The normal journey time from here would be 2.5 - 3 hours in normal conditions.