Cooking a la Seaview

As much as I love my food (especially when prepared and cooked by someone else), cooking for others comes a wee bit more reluctantly. As a new mum many many years ago I did what most mums do and I started off with the best of intentions - breast is best, home made pureed vegetables when weaning etc etc - none of this prepared jar and dried food for my precious wee ones.

After a few years however, reality kicks in and when working full time on shift work, those pre-prepared oven ready meals and take-aways start to look mighty appealing especially when I was so tired arriving home from work I couldn't bear the thought of cooking a meal from scratch. And it doesn't help when I regularly forgot to get something out of the freezer before I left for work anyway!

Over time I found the skills I did have as a cook (and I was taught how to cook by my mum) were rapidly vapourising into the ether along with microwaved TV dinners. A sad sad state of affairs indeed.

This all changed however, when I met and married my husband John several years ago. John's background is in catering, he loves food and as he runs a B&B having the skills to cook is an absolute necessity. Needless to say my own depleted culinary skills were yanked up by the boot straps and I quicky learnt to distinguish one end of a pan from the other...........and oh yes, how to cook scrambled eggs so that they are light and fluffy and don't bounce like rubber round (and sometimes off) the plate. 

We have very different styles when it comes to cooking. John has a tendency to replicate the Swedish Chef's style (remember The Muppet Show) which he describes as creative and intuitive with a hefty dose of Scottish flair, ably assisted by a wee dram of the old amber nectar! My style on the other hand is very precise and measured with great attention to detail. I refer to it as cooking like Delia; John refers to it as being 'very English'!!

Needless to say the kitchen can at times be a hotbed of differing opinions but we do work incredibly well and produce some cracking meals. Although we live in a remote place and don't have access to mainland shops and other food outlets, it does mean you have to make do with what is in the fridge, cupboard, or larder. The use of fresh local products means you end up cooking with the best of ingredients and what a difference this makes when it comes to producing flavoursome healthy meals.

Now, the original point of me writing this post was to say that I was I have been making good use of my time today (due to the appaling weather outside) and I have been busy in the kitchen making Delia's Christmas Chutney. This year I have made a real effort to make as much of my Christmas food as I possibly can, including my very first Christmas cake and although buying the ingredients has at times been stressful (remember no Tescos here on the island), the time, effort and results have been very worthwhile.

I just hope there is something left to eat for Christmas!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...............

I wonder if the planets have all been out of sync and in conflict this week - browsing round the blogs it would seem many of us have had a really rotten week.

Touch wood I haven't suffered from this lurgy (although 2 out of the 3 children were ill with it last weekend); but I did have the misfortune to perform a rather painful ballerina split in my wellies whilst walking Megan on Monday lunchtime and ended up pitching face first down the hill into a water filled stinky peat bog and sprained my right ankle and left wrist in the process. It doesn't matter where you are, how much pain you are in or what you look like - your first thought is always 'I hope no-one saw me'

Megan thought it was a hoot - 'Do it again Mum!'; I managed to right myself, climb up and out of the bog and hobble rather painfully and slowly home stinking like a wart hog and bleating pathetically like a lamb! Poor me.

Anyway I ended up confined to bed again - there must be something about Mondays that just doesn't agree with me. For goodness sake - the winter months are supposed to me my time off and I don't want to spend them in bed convalescing.

Anyway, there is only so much daytime TV drivel a girl can stomach so yesterday it was time for another big adventure. The hunt for a Christmas tree!

It was like some kind of military exercise - the planning was unbelievable, Buck House has nothing on Seaview! Dog cage out of the car, back seats down, front seats moved forward, all the puppy dog paraphernalia packed (just in case!), saw, sheets, dog.................you know by the time we set off I was beginning to think we wouldn't have a room for a tree.

Anyway, 30 minutes later we went off road and up into the forest hills to choose a tree! Well, we were spoilt for choice - where do you start when you have miles and miles and acres of pine trees to choose from - big trees, little trees, tall trees, short trees, green trees, blue trees, stumpy trees, fat trees, thin trees, trees with cones, trees without cones, trees that shed needles, trees that don't, fragrant trees, non-fragrant trees...................................................well, you girls know what it's like. It's like asking us to choose a shade of paint for the wall - there are 213 million shades of magnolia for goodness sake, so how am I supposed to choose a tree from a whole forest.

Simple solution - leave it to HE man.

Before I could say "Yes but no but.......................", my man was off into the forest (complete with saw and yellow wellies) and brought me back this fine specimen.

After a wee bit of re-arranging in the car (leaving me to hobble 15 miles home was non-negotiable) the tree was in the boot and we were back home before nightfall.

I love real Christmas trees - I love their colour, scent, shape and their style but I do suffer with my conscience a wee bit; cutting down a tree just to dress it up and then throw it out naked in a month's time seems quite brutal, even though we had millions to choose from.

Well the tree was in, cut down to size (just a wee bit more lopped off).................and then handsomely dressed in its best bib and tucker. I adore the traditional wooden ornaments with lots of reds and greens with a splash of bright shiny baubles.

Every year I buy a couple of new additions and this year I bought these lovely wooden ones

An Angel
everybody has one looking out for them

Good ole Santa Claus x

Frosty the Snowman
This is as good as it gets!

Fingers crossed the tree is still there in the morning - Megan has been stalking and eyeing it up; she thinks it's her new chew toy!