Chickens!

Hooray! Last Saturday we finally got our girls! The one you can see pictured is Henrietta (as named by my Dad). We rescued them from a life as a battery hen that was no longer wanted... they would have gone to the pie factory. We chose to get 4 chickens as we'd been told that they would probably not lay eggs every day - probably only 50% of the time - so that would mean we should have 14 eggs per week. Plenty.

But no, now we have them laying 3 or 4 per day so we've accumulated 20 eggs in 6 days! They just can't help themselves!!

At first the little sweeties didn't go outside at all - they were overwhelmed, we think - but now you can't stop them scratching and pottering in their run. Unbelieveable in this short time they have fattened up massively and are now growing new feathers so they look less like 'oven-ready' chickens and more like our pet chickens.

I'll post more pictures when they have grown a bit more.

Sweden

Had a really fabulous weekend in Sweden. I'd never been there before but I was convinced it would be cold. Not so! It was gorgeous and so warm I felt sorry for the wedding party all trussed up with lots of layers. They still looked fabulous nonetheless.

Swedish weddings are quite rowdy affairs with lots of traditions we don't have here in the UK. For example, whenever the bride goes to the loo during the meal all the men have to jump up, form a queue, and give her a peck on the cheek! Vice versa for the groom!!! Plus, anyone can give a speech so there were A LOT of speeches.

Mr TigerLily did an execellent speech as Best Man and everyone got the jokes. I was astounded by how well EVERYONE speaks English. I made an effort to use a few Swedish words to show willing but I was shamed by even little kids chattering away in their second language!

Gooseberries

I picked a box or two of homegrown gooseberries and wondered what to do with them. I had hardly tried them before - the odd bit of jam or whatnot, so I was unsure where to start with them.

Then I saw Valentine Warner's programme last week and he had a great idea for them. These little beauties are gooseberries that are cooked and sweetened then simply topped with meringue. Easy peasy and pleased the parents.

The only thing I would change next time is to not be scared to add tonnes of sugar!!!

Friday's lunch

Here is Friday's lunch. I'd become a bit lazy during the week and ate things that I know are not particularly nutritious for lunch, such as jaffa cakes and elderflower cordial. So I pushed the boat out and made this salad. It's made from broad beans, spring onions, a squeeze of lemon, tomatoes, coriander, avocado and a dash of cream, plus seasoning of course.

I was really pleased with the finished result and inhaled it rather too quickly. (I think all the waiting around taking photos had taken its toll)

Got the cot

Recently we've started getting baby equipment. With approx. 12 weeks to go, time is creeping up fast. My main source of baby paraphenaelia is from eBay so it is important to start now while I still have the energy to go out and pick the stuff up. On Tuesday we got the cot. A really nice lady sold it to us and gave us sheets and other bedding on top of the original cot purchase!
It really does look like someone is going to be moving in now it's set up. Getting very excited indeed.

Just call me Nigella

On Monday I felt inspired to bake. I fancied eating cake and I am rarely satisfied with the shop-bought kind so out came the cookery books. I slightly adapt most recipes that I follow and this one was no exception. I cut the quantity of eggs and added more lemon oil to the cake batter. They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself!

The best bit about baking is decorating the little darlings. I used royal icing powder which gives a nice sheen to the icing and my sweet little jelly lemon pieces are trashy but also quite cute, in a way.

Spinach from the garden

Yes, more garden produce. This time it's spinach. It looks like a fair sized bunch, but as usual I was fooled. It cooked down to about 3 tbsps! Never mind the quantity, what about the taste? Home-grown spinach is so superior to the shop bought stuff I can't even explain it properly. Basically the shop-bought stuff has little/no flavour, whereas the garden stuff just tasted so much. Yummy.

We had it with garlic and a tiny dash of soy sauce. It made a great sidedish to our rose veal patties with peanut sauce and rice. Yay!!!