Making pastys

 Vince was getting bored of cheese sandwiches for lunch, and I have a freezer full of meat that needs eating. I've been vegetarian on and off over the years, but as it's factory farming I disapprove of I'm happy to eat home grown or local organic meat. As I'm not rearing any animals at the moment I've started buying a meat box once a month from a local organic farm. The last box we had had some 'skirt' in it, which my research told me was the traditional pasty meat filling. (I'm tempted to do a 'skirt' joke here, but I won't!)
We like a lot of veg in our pasties so I chopped up carrot, onion, swede and potato and stirred in salt, pepper and some paprika.

Pasty ingredients

All chopped up
(a bit of leftover red cabbage sneaked in there..)

 Home made wholemeal pastry (might have been half and half actually)

Yum

I'm really pleased with them. That bowlful of filling made tons, so there are lots in the freezer, definitely a nice change from cheese sandwiches. I might make some cheese and veg ones sometime.
I love cooking. I particularly love cooking with what I've got, rather than looking at a recipe and going out to buy ingredients, partly because the shops are three miles away.

Diary week 3

 

 

 

This weeks diary

(click on the image for a larger version)

 

 

 

 

...is it me or is blogger being difficult about uploading pictures, I seem to have to do it via the picassa web album sometimes.

Quick sewing project

Vince treated himself to a new phone. It's one of those all singing all dancing things that only cost a few pounds a month if you don't use them too much. It will be useful for keeping in touch and getting weather forecasts when we are on the boat. Well it will be useful if we can ever work out how to use the thing.
He bought a case for it to protect it when he throws in in his lunch bag or in the van, but the case only covers the back and sides and doesn't protect the screen (!?) so he asked if I could make one for him. Never one to turn down a quick fix sewing project I produced this. Sorry I haven't rotated the image, I had enough trouble re-sizing it, then finding the re-sized image (new computer!)

leather phone case

When he was asking me to make this he went slightly into silly mode and asked if it could be monogrammed in gold and have the family coat of arms on it etc etc .........
.....So he got a gold 'V' on it!

The next best thing to a family coat of arms?!