Devondancer update

[jsluder]

I prefer to wash them down with Doom Bar ...

No! Really? I never would've guessed that in a million years.

[SteveShaw]

I've come to the conclusion over the last year (during which I've benefited from expert Doom Bar sampling) that good beer is far better with food than wine in most cases. Doom Bar is superb with hot chilli dishes and curries and is perfect with omelette and fish 'n' chips. And you just can't do any better than Doom with a chunk of tangy Cheddar (proper stuff, not that Canadian muck) and some crusty white bread and pickle of your choice on a hot summer's evening.

And when I say good beer, resist the urge to rush to the fridge for some of that Miller rhymes-with-sh1te or that Budfahter. That isn't what I'm talking about. Don't ruin your cheese that way. Unless it's that Canadian muck of course.

[avanutria]

It still boggles my mind that the drinks available at the combination meeting/parties at work are orange juice, water, wine and bottles of Budweiser.

They're very rare events, maybe 4 in the past 2.5 years, but the drinks are quite consistant.

[SteveShaw]

It still boggles my mind that the drinks available at the combination meeting/parties at work are orange juice, water, wine and bottles of Budweiser.

They're very rare events, maybe 4 in the past 2.5 years, but the drinks are quite consistant.

Take a flask of tea is my advice.

[devondancer]

Thank you all for the recipes and offers of more. Lesley will be eating well soon.

She has not been allowed home yet, as her breathing is still bad, but it is hoped that she will be out over the next couple of days. Physio is out for a while, and exercise is to be very gentle only. She is not coping well with any physical strain, although the surgeon had hoped that she would manage now. Luckily her whistles have not been banned this time, although she is not quite up to them yet. As you can imagine, she is disgusted with herself and very annoyed about the exercise, or lack of it. She is, however, as positive as ever, and will use the time to learn that fife! No one has told her that she mustn't try to get her arms up, so that's what she will be concentrating on.

Once she is home she will be able to keep "plodding" with her stick, so will not be totally immobile. It is just extra exercise that does not suit her yet. She is sorry about it, as she had so looked forwad to making better progress, but philosophical. As she says, she hadn't expected to survive the first series of operations, or some of the disasters that followed, so she is a lot better off than she expected to be. Life, any sort of life, is a bonus now, and she knows it, and will not grumble.

Again, our thanks for all your support. I shall be a good cook by the time Lesley is well again, and hope that I will have fattened her up a bit! Skinny, bony woman that she is!

Ro

[SteveShaw]

Good man, Ro. Keep yer pecker up, old chap! Love to yers both!

[Cork]

It's sad to hear that Lesley could be so physically limited. I really feel for her.

Yet, it's a ray of sunshine to hear that she could be so positive, and so resilient.

Tasty, good food really does go a long, long way. It simply helps to make life worth living.

She already knows just what she likes, and so perhaps that could be just what she now needs.

:-)

[anniemcu]

Thank you all for the recipes and offers of more. Lesley will be eating well soon.

She has not been allowed home yet, as her breathing is still bad, but it is hoped that she will be out over the next couple of days. Physio is out for a while, and exercise is to be very gentle only. She is not coping well with any physical strain, although the surgeon had hoped that she would manage now. Luckily her whistles have not been banned this time, although she is not quite up to them yet. As you can imagine, she is disgusted with herself and very annoyed about the exercise, or lack of it. She is, however, as positive as ever, and will use the time to learn that fife! No one has told her that she mustn't try to get her arms up, so that's what she will be concentrating on.

Once she is home she will be able to keep "plodding" with her stick, so will not be totally immobile. It is just extra exercise that does not suit her yet. She is sorry about it, as she had so looked forwad to making better progress, but philosophical. As she says, she hadn't expected to survive the first series of operations, or some of the disasters that followed, so she is a lot better off than she expected to be. Life, any sort of life, is a bonus now, and she knows it, and will not grumble.

Again, our thanks for all your support. I shall be a good cook by the time Lesley is well again, and hope that I will have fattened her up a bit! Skinny, bony woman that she is!

Ro

I would still like to throttle that blithering eejit physio oaf who gave her such a hard time the other day instead of actually doing her job!!!!! That kind of strain was not what Lesley needed, and I really hope some repercussions are coming for that woman. /rant

Now.. on to comforting things...

Here's a view of our front gateway,

I have to leave the gates open a bit so that the oldster of the cats (19, and that's old for a farm cat) can still get to the water safely.
... some marigolds you can almost smell,

and a comfy fuzzwad of the 'bloomin eejit' variety. He's a bit peeved with me, as I took his favorite pot over for the lavender over the coming winter. He'll get over it. The smaller pot is deeper, so he seems to be adjusting. He's a huge cat, so getting everything tucked in is a bit of work.

[devondancer]

Lovely photos, annie. Lesley will enjoy those - you know how she loves knowing all about you all and where you live! That includes your cats! She loves cats, and although we do not have any at the moment she is always eyeing up possible strays! I put my foot down after our last three had to be put to sleep in fairly quick succession, and she kept breaking her heart.

On the physio front, when Lesley went back to see the supposedly better therapist she took her complaint in, in writing, so although she is no longer there herself her complaint remains! She also stated that she would be fully prepared to attend any meeting required of her in order to deal with the woman once and for all. Obviously it will have to wait until she comes home, but she will follow it up. But I think you are right - she did not need that stress, and it hasn't helped her. Of course, the new physio pushed her too hard - I don't think they read the notes: this woman has heart failure - do not make her try to race about! She will try, if asked, although she is sensible at home.

Thank you all for your good wishes and recipes, plus the recipe exchange, which I'm also keeping an eye on! I do need very easy recipes - they have to take 2 minutes, require one pot, taste wonderful and be very very good for you! I don't ask much, you see.

Hoping that Lesley will be breathing better today and will be able to come home. I miss her! And her whistles, and the keyboard. And soon the fife, no doubt - thanks a lot, Cork! What comes next? Do I have to buy her a flute? There is no room for any more instruments here!

Ro

[Cork]

...I do need very easy recipes - they have to take 2 minutes, require one pot, taste wonderful and be very very good for you! I don't ask much, you see...

As a matter of survival, I learned how to cook by the "one pot" method. Really, it's easy, and with a bit of practice you might be surprised at just what could be done! Moreover, once you get the knack of cooking in one pot, two pot cooking becomes easy, too, more a matter of timing what's being done. Probably the three most important important things to remember are 1) most foods need to be cooked with the use of either some oil, or some water, 2) to keep the cooking temperatures on the low side, except for boiling, as cooking at higher temperatures can be tricky, and 3) to keep an eye on whatever you're cooking, while flipping or stirring whenever required.

Fortunately, salads and the like require no cooking, and, better yet, they're actually good for a person to eat.

...And soon the fife, no doubt - thanks a lot, Cork! What comes next? Do I have to buy her a flute? There is no room for any more instruments here!...

That little fife might look like a toy, but it's not! It has the potential to take a player quite a way, and I'd suggest holding off on any other flute until at least some mastery of that fife has been achieved. BTW, although it's commonly called a fife, it's actually a small, conical bore flute, a real flute.

That said, however, of course there's room for another flute. There's always room for another flute, as so many here on the C&F board could already know! For instance, at the very top of this very page could be seen the words Chiff & Fipple, and just under them could be seen a representation of the six tone holes of a typical ITM whistle or flute. So, I'm afraid it's utterly hopeless to here suggest that there couldn't be room for yet another whistle or flute.

;-)

[HDSarah]

Hi Roland and Lesley,

I check in to this thread regularly to see how you both are doing. My thoughts are with you!

Here's my contribution to the recipe collection. It takes a bit more than two minutes but it's pretty simple. I don't like the typical potato salad that folks make in the US because it's mayonnaise-based and I'm not fond of mayo, but this stuff is magnificient!

Steve's Potato Salad (from my Lebanese friend Steve S.)

5 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 large onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 tsp crumbled dried mint leaves

Put the potatoes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. While the potatoes cook, stir the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and mint together and set aside. Peel and mince the onion.

Test the potatoes periodically by sticking a fork in one, and when they are soft enough to eat, remove from the heat and drain off the water. (The time will vary. When I use tiny new potatoes from my garden, it only takes about 5 minutes; with bigger, tougher store-bought potatoes it can take up to 10 minutes.) Dump the minced onion in with the drained potatoes; pour the oil mixture over, and stir. This is meant to be served chilled, but I like to eat some when it's fresh and hot, too.

I especially like to make this with tiny new potatoes from my garden. I made some last week with red, Yukon Gold (yellow), and blue (actually purple) potatoes, and it was a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue.

I dug the last of my potatoes out from under an inch of snow on Sunday. Our seasons have changed, and it's winter now. We had an unusually long and lovely fall -- it lasted the entire month of September. (Yes, that's long for this far north!) Now everything is white.

Love to you both,
Sarah

[devondancer]

Thank you all again. When Lesley comes home she won't know how I've suddenly learned to cook!

At the moment she is quite poorly again, unfortunately. She goes down so quickly, which is rather frightening. I am hoping that she will come back up again just as fast, but am never able to be complacent. It is very scary loving someone so much when they are so ill - Owen take note! You will have wonderful times in your new relationship, but also terrifying ones. I just hope for better news tomorrow.

Lambchop, Lesley says she ows you an apology. I was going to PM you, but she says it should be public. You were quite right: she was trying to do too much, although to be fair to her, she had been told that she could. However, time has proven you right and the medics wrong and she wanted you to know! That's not to say that she won't keep trying, though!

Please keep Lesley in your thoughts.

Roland

[ElPollo]

Make an omelette.

Be sure to add some cheese in a 1:2 ratio while you make it.

If early in the day, fry some bacon to almost crisp.

If later in the day, fry a piece of salmon, add a few drops of lemon juice + some salt and peber (amount depends on how much you used in the omelette, don't use too much overall), serve with a few leaves of lettuce and a few slices of tomato.


Oh, and one note on using oils.. Olive oil for the low temperature cooking, rapeseed for the high. (If you make a plain salad mix and nothing else, a few drops of olive oil mixed in can have a nice effect)

[SteveShaw]

An omelette is dead easy and takes about four minutes from finding the eggs. Find a medium frying pan (around 20 cm should do it). Turn your biggest ring on to full heat. Break three eggs into a mug and add salt and pepper. You can do two omelettes at a time if you have two pans but one after the other is no tragedy as they're very quick to make. Nothing else. Put large knob of butter (never oil) into pan and when it's almost smoking pour in the egg and swirl around. Leave for 30 seconds, then use a fish-slice to draw in the edges of the omelette and allow the runny egg to go to the edge. At this point you can add some grated cheese if you wish or anything else you fancy in the omelette. Just at the point when all the egg is barely set, fold the omelette in half. Leave for about 45 seconds, remove from pan and eat. Very nice with chips and some salad. My wife has hers plain but I always grate some parmesan into mine.

Easy oven chips: Scrub up some spuds (don't peel) and hack into wedges. No sweating over exact sizes or shapes. The best spuds to use are the waxy salad ones such as Charlottes or pink fir apple, and organic ones are always best. Boil in salty water for five minutes, no more, and drain in a colander. Throw them back into the pan, rough them up a bit and coat liberally with groundnut oil. Believe me, it's the best oil for this. Spread them on an oven tray and put into a very hot oven for about 25 minutes. Keep an eye on 'em and turn them over once or twice. Brilliant with your omelette with some Wilkins' tomato sauce.

[devondancer]

Lesley remains very poorly. My cooking is on hold as I am again spending my time with her, but am grateful for the recipes, which I hope to get the chance to try soon.
Please think of her and send your powerful thoughts her way. Thank you all.
Roland