Time for Cocoa

As this last week started with brilliant sunshine, I am not complaining about the heavy rain that greeted the end of the week and the weekend. In fact for Saturday, it lead to the cancellation of an event that I was attending. I was just a little miffed that no one informed me until I was at the site where the practical conservation work was supposed to happen. I had just arrived when someone thought to call me to let me know it had been cancelled.

So I headed back home and on the way I thought I would travel into Consett to get My new Wellington Boots. I was going to the same market stall where I got my walking boots from. As I was very pleased with them, last week I had asked about Wellies. Yes they did sell them but would bring them next week. Informing them that I may not be able to make it, I was told they would bring them anyway. But due to the weather, they had not turned up either.

Well it looked like I was having loads of luck. Being positive I just thought well if was not for all this bad luck I would have no luck at all. Therefore while in Consett I went and got some Fruit and Veg and went to a café for a coffee. Slowly over the months I have tried most if not all of them, and I have finally found one that is really decent. What attracts me to this one most of all they do their own Cooking and Baking rather than buying in ready prepared stuff and a bank of Microwaves. Add to this the really friendly staff, great coffee, well they have me won over.

A couple of days prior to this I had needed to weigh out some sugar, but the scales I have are not that much good. I have one set that looks good but are useless, and another that's just useless. When my ex and I split I gave her the choice of scales she wanted, she took the ones that worked. So I bought a cheap one and that became my useless set. So while in town I thought I would price up a set that works properly. Avoiding the really cheap ones I found a set of scales for eight pounds, so now I can be sure my baking is not so hit and miss.

Also I had a look at the milk pans. As I long ago joined the BOF club (Boring Old Farts) and started drinking cocoa, the milk pan that I have really showed how inadequate it was. The metal is to thin to provide even heat so I have to be extra careful not to burn the milk. In the same store as I got the scales they had a rather unusual design of milk pan. I had looked at it before, but I was not sure if it would work as well as the conventional design. It had a good thick base, was stainless steel and by a good name manufacturer, so I decided to get it. At the very least I thought it could be a good film prop.

I am very pleased with it as it heats the milk well without burning it but the unusual shape handle means it pours better than any other pan that I have used. Therefore, it looked as though my luck had changed for the better as well as my appreciation for good design.

When I got back home again, I decided that I needed to get some housework done. I keep on asking the Cat to do her share but with her Alzheimers she keeps on forgetting. One of the tasks I did was to clear out the vegetable store. I know that I am not alone here, as we all can end up with the odd carrot, the last of a celery head, a forlorn pepper. Well with these I will make a stew with herbs and spices, a few pulses or anything that is in the store cupboard to make these left overs into a balance of flavours. This time it made a main meal for two days. This cleared out the fridge and gives me a clean slate for the meals I want to prepare as well as my cooking videos.

On that note I was able to film the footage for another one today (Sunday). It is clear that my way of working and with the other demands on my time, I have about five or six of the cooking films that I have near completion now. While I was joking with a friend that the puppets do actually talk, it is the matching of the script and narration to the footage that proves the most demanding. While, I probably could do something quick and dirty and get them out quickly, but I really do want to make them as well as I can.

A little news on the local birds who have been using the Wood Mouse Café, I have seen several newly fledged House Sparrows, A pair of Starlings and three Blackbird chicks. The regular Blue Tit is looking so tatty that I had to look twice to be sure of the species.