Roast chicken!

Resplendent and 

 Dusted with Fennel pollen it definitely looks good enough to eat.  Now it is tea time. Ad I am about to ave a well deserved cup of tea, plus a piece of chocolate cake that I made this  morning. Before the chicken went into the oven.sorry the pictures are out of sync.    

So  come on, all you who read this,      loyal family, friends, Doctors, nurses, Physiotherapists, , Occupational therapists, ,Health Care workers. ,anyone. Please tell every body that it IS POSSIBLE to cook one handed ,even in the middle of having the ups and downs of Chemotherapy,and all that that has meant for me. THERE IS FAR MORE TO LIFE THAN JUST A SANDWICH 

Today's offering is a butternut squash and sundried tomato Risotto.very simple and quickly made,as I. Am fast falling by the wayside.have done stuffed courgettes with celery , red onion and red peppers with chopped ham for extra flavour

Feeling slightly better,

So I have made a fish pie, using salmon with a sauce of mushrooms and parsley . And also an enormous Caponata, a Sicilian recipe, you cube a couple of medium Aubergines, chop 2 stalks 

 of celery, add onions,and a large de -skinned tomato plus some Tomato purée. then sweat this mixture till it is soft, then add some cider vinegar,and soft brown sugar to taste. I taste food, rather than weigh ,so it is my personal taste that's involved. I have made such a lot of Caponata so that my carer can take some for her lunch tomorrow.,when she goes and another one arrives to look after me!

So here I am, back a bit wobbly, but still fighting hard.

Please ,no more infections....... 

Sunday lunch, having had a CT SCAN this morning as well!

As my appointment  was for 9.00, I put the pork belly in before we left for the hospital. I was finished with drinking a foul tasting liquid and going in the Scanner after 15 minutes.

When I got home  later, I put in a puff pastry tart, with pesto, bashed up carrots,some roasted cumin seeds, , goat's cheese and some   pine nuts,with a few leaves of basil scattered on the top. A few slices of poke went in the roasting tin as well.

Crunchy crackling,masses of delicious meat,  creamed spinach for contrast colour. what's not to like?  Even better was the fact that as we bought it yesterday afternoon at Waitrose it was reduced to 

£ 2.45! 

What a bargain.

I am so enjoying being back cooking at last.

This evening's supper, , tilapia fillets,with Spinach, tomato and spring onion, sautéed potatoes, and beans and carrots

Fig, Parma ham and goat's cheese for a simple supper.

 

Back at last!

Well, today is the first day I have really felt that things are moving in the right direction,after so many setbacks.

 I am home,  with full time care , but now I have the confidence to get on with my life again So far, on the cooking front it as been somewhat tentative, but here are some of the things I have achieved  in the past week.

Some of them I have managed while still sitting in the wheelchair, but it is rather lower than I would like, so I try to get close up to the hob,and then stand with the chair safely behind me, so I can sit if down if i feel wobbly.

I made a huge batch of Hummus,some flavoured with paprika, some of it with a little  Cinnamon, and then the rest  with lemon and coriander.

Then an enormous Cauliflower cheese,with ham and tomatoes to bulk it out. 

A Bolognese ,made with veal mince,which  gave it a gentler flavour. 

Sunday roast chicken, that nearly finished me off,it really was a bit much, bread sauce, sausages, roast potatoes ,three other vegetables,plus a French fruit tart for pudding. Thank goodness the carer could take the bird out of the oven. As it is completely beyond me ,and impossible to lift one handed! I. Have had far too  many burns from dropping things over my legs  and hand to try now. 

Triple Chocolate cake.and some cookie type biscuits.made with candied peel and bashed up chocolates thatno one   much liked.

Lemon  drizzle cake, 

And now I am about to make an asparagus Risotto , with some extra vegetables. ,beans, courgettes,and maybe peas as well.

 I have some wonderful chicken stock left from the carcass at the weekend. So I know it will taste magical.

And finally, always  looking ahead, I have ( with  the Carer's  help,she did  ALL the chopping of the vegetables) started on some Piccalilli for Christmas presents.

Finally,not forgetting the Spiced Chilli Vodka made with lemongrass, ginger, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods ,and a couple of chilies .will leave that to macerate,and have a taste in a month or so. By Christmas it should be perfect!

Not bad for a start? 

Sorry no photos, but I am certain you can imagine everything......yes there is, just before we scoffed the entire risotto, Rhiannon took the photo, not me.