Sausage, mushrooms and onion in cider

I could  wistfully go on about how autumnal and warming this is.....but in reality it came out of opening the fridge and realising all we had left was half a pack of sausages, some mushrooms and onions. Googling what could be done with such meagre rations I found a truly delicious sounding recipe for sausages with mushrooms and onions. Unfortunately I read on to discover that, while simple sounding, it had hundreds of other ingredients in it and took HOURS which made it useless as leftovers recipe.

The trouble was that I had decided it sounded good and I was getting hungry. So I ignored the recipe and made it up instead. It was great and, unlike most leftovers meals, it was an entirely reproducible kind of great.

Ingredients to feed 2-3
Half a pack of sausages - I was lucky and had 8 chipolatas which felt less stingy when serving
1 onion
1 pack of mushrooms
Half a can of cider - Strongbow courtesy of the 24 hour shop

Method
1. Chop the onions roughly and put them in a casserole dish with the sausages and a glug of oil and bung in the oven on the highest setting.
2. Poke the sausages and onions every 5-10 minutes so they don't stick.
3. When everything is going brown and caramlised roughly chop and add the mushrooms. Give it all a good stir in so that the mushrooms pick up on the flavour from the sausages.
4. Put back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms are starting to cook nicely.
5. Add the cider, salt and pepper and cook for a final 15-20 minutes

While this would be great with mustard mash we had it with roasted mini potatoes discovered in the back of the cupboard. Flippin' marvelous.

Post holiday efficiency

I've been on happy holiday. Yorkshire, as you ask, fish & chips, fat rascals, a splendid game pie, some unexpectedly good museums in the middle of nowhere and lots of good luck with weather. We need not mention the hair raising trip over the Pennines in the fog, in the dark, in my very old ford fiesta....

Returning home has mixed feeling for me. On the one hand the thought of my own bed, my own stuff (missed my non stick pans in our self catering cottage) and just getting home is a truly delightful thought. On the other hand I am always convinced that the swag carrying burglars with ladders have swooped in the moment the car left the road. I know, I know! But I genuinely do feel slightly sick at the possibility of it every time I go away for a bit.

The other thing about getting home after a break is that my productivity improves. All those little jobs get done remarkably quickly. One non-boring job was to finish making a birthday money purchase. I had been lusting for a while over Sarah Young's  tea towel animals. For a start they are tea towels which can be made into an animal cushion, or not. Then they are just fun and unexpectedly intricate designs. Useful and amusing! Having narrowed the designs down to the fox or the lion I realised that I couldn't choose and I had to have both.

Thus the fox was made very speedily into a cushion. Ahem....his name is supposed to be Felix but we called him Stuart. He is slightly scary with his unrelenting stare.

Then life and holiday took over and the lion was left sewn but sadly unstuffed. Guilt prompted me to put him together on our last day off. With the addition of some fish tank stones at the bottom he is now happily propping open the door of the spare 'oom.

Tah Dah!

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the newly recovered 99p chair.

Just so you don't have to go scrabbling around this is what it looks like before.

It isn't perfect but I do think it is a pretty good first attempt at upholstery.

I am not going to go into how I did it as I would look a fool and there are hundreds of descriptions on more accomplished blogs out there. Suffice to say these things I learnt along the way.

1. Your hands will hurt and look pretty ugly during the process. I am not a hands and nails kind of girl at all but they did look pretty dreadful. Nail and staple scratches are not pretty.

2. Take your time and take photos as you remove the old fabric. (This works better if you don't have your phone stolen with the photos on it.)

3. Label and number the pieces of fabric as they come off. You want to put them back in reverse order.

4. Iron the old fabric and lay it out on the floor so you can work out how much fabric you need. (This is revolting but essential.)

5. Decide whether the last person who covered the chair knew what they were doing. If yes follow them if no follow them and use your commonsense to make adjustments. There are at least two parts that I really wish I'd done this.

6. You will use a lot of staples.

7. GO SLOWLY! Tack each piece of fabric in place with a few staples and check it is right before properly stapling it in place. It is a pain to take out 30 staples just because it all needs to shift 1cm to the right.

8. Doing your own upholstering is cheaper than hiring a professional but it is not really cheap. Yes you may well get the chair for a bargain  but upholstery fabric is expensive and your will need more than you imagine. I did splash out on Jorja Wilkinson fabric because I have been yearning to used her denim owl fabric for ages and as the chair had cost so little I felt I could justify it. This place will help keep fabric costs down: www.curtainfactoryoutlet.co.uk/

9. It may well be worth giving the chair a bit of new padding. Ebay has loads of cheap sheet wadding. This also has the advantage of being fire retardant so will give you peace of mind. I didn't want to attempt removing all the old padding and springs as I know my limits and it was all in good condition. However giving it a covering of wadding freshened the whole thing up.

10. It is really addictive. "I'll just do this little bit and then I'll stop. Oooh! Look how nice it looks. I'll just do that little bit......Ooooh! Look! It's starting to look like an actual CHAIR and it's 1am and the neighbours are getting annoyed at the sound of the staple gun........"

11. A pair of long nose pliers are very handy as you tug the fabric through the slots in the frame.

12. I have a very patient Matey who came and said nice things every single time I called him upstairs to show him the new bit I'd just done. He also managed to not point out that I looked crazy as I stood looking at it with what can only described as a  bear stare while saying absently that I'd come to bed in a minute.

Chicken, mushroom and white wine risotto

I used to hate risotto. Every time it was claggy and sticky and I just did not like it one bit. Until several years ago I went to a dinner party only to discover that a prawn risotto was the main dish of the day. "Smile and eat it." I said to myself. It was fabulous. Mentioning my surprise to the chef he pointed out that most risottos in restaurants have been hanging around for a bit so go gungy. His was out of the pan onto the plate, onto the table and eaten with no time to go bad. A revelation!

I still thought that there was no way I could do it at home until I had a very yummy one earlier this year at the in-laws which inspired me to have a go. Several edible but not so great risottos followed until this one which I can honestly say is easy, yummy and can be made out of leftovers.

Ingredients for 2-3 people
Risotto rice - 1 handful per person plus one extra for seconds.
Chopped left over chicken (or cooked chicken thighs, one per person)
1-4 cloves of garlic (I like garlic but am aware not everybody does!)
1 Chopped onion
100g mushrooms - I go for chestnut mushrooms.
1 mug of white wine - You can of course leave this out and replace it with more stock.
2 mugs of water with 1 chicken stock cube - I find oxo cubes work best for this. Clearly if you have proper stock this is better.
50g Parmesan
Seasoning

Method
1. Fry the mushrooms till they browned and put aside with the  chicken
2. Get the pan nice and hot with  a drizzle of oil and fry the onion and garlic until softening then add the rice.
3. Reduce the heat and put about a ladleful of the stock and white wine into the pan. Keep stirring until the liquid is mainly gone, add another drizzle and repeat.
4. When the rice is close to being ready add seasoning and stir the mushrooms and chicken in. Keeping cooking until the rice is soft and ready to eat. You may need to add more water.
5. Before serving stir in the Parmesan.

Authentic it is not, yummy it is. Last night I could have twice as much but it was all gone.

I'm back to normal finally.

Don't tell me! I know that you were on the edge of your seat wondering where I was and what I was up to. Phoning insurance people mainly. The banks sorted out replacements in a matter of days. The insurance lot however agreed it all pretty quickly but three weeks later I have only just got a replacement phone have had one small payment but am still waiting for the main cheque for the rest of it. The insurance people must be sick of my voice as I took to phoning them daily for a bit of a chivvy up. However this is somewhat depressing as it means that three weeks is positively speedy in their world.

No means of taking the odd snap means that blog posts get very tedious. I would be the first to say my photos are rubbish but I do at least try to ensure that they show the object in question thereby clarifying what I've been wittering about and possibly negating the need to read all the nonsense.

While I have been very good about waiting to get the cheque to replace stuff but with replacement cards arriving I did crack within a few days and got a purse. I tried to hold out before buying a bag but after two weeks it was driving me mad carrying my bits around in an increasingly grubby Daunt Books bag. At my Matey's suggestion I went for a satchel so I could have it on me when cycling but still retain a modicum of style.

Now don't tell me that satchels are boringly ubiquitous. I KNOW! I actually wanted one way before the current trend started but had a really lovely bag so couldn't justify it. I have slightly skirted around the trend by going for for a small 11 inch satchel which does not have the 'school' name plaque at the front. It also ensures that will carry the things I need instead of the entire world in my bag.

So here it is. From the Leather Satchel Company. A British manufacturer which has been making these things since the 60s. Their bags come with a 5 year guarantee and is totally customiseable. (Beat that "we don't do custom orders and are more expensive" Cambridge Satchel company)

Any gripes? Only one very minor one. I asked for a few extra holes in the strap. As a shorty I always end up hammering nails into shoulder straps to get them to the right length. The person who added the extra holes seems to have got a little carried away. It looks a bit odd to me but I'm sure I won't notice it at all in few weeks time. I should add that I never like new bags when I first have them. Even if I have chosen them, spending weeks, months even, deciding on the poor thing. Yes I am that fussy. This bag looks far too new at the moment and I can't wait for it to get properly bashed about and develop some character.

I do fear however that on my dutch bike with my shiny gold helmet and red satchel I look somewhat irritating. At least I'm not wearing a cape...until the fabulous 60's navy blue one I've just ordered from Etsy arrives...

A bit of deviation

I don't intend to scribble down bad things in this blog because that just isn't the point of it. (I'll admit I'm not 100% sure what the point is yet other than giving me a bit of a creative kick up the bum.) I think there are enough bad things in the world without me wittering on about the bad things in my life. However I'm going to make an exception this time as I think there is lesson to be learnt and I'll try to keep it brief.

My bag was snatched at the weekend. Yes, yes I live in London, it happens all the time, I should have been more careful. Hold on. I was actually moving and had my eye on my bag. I was cycling home when two lads on a moped went past me and lifted the bag from my basket. Literally the guy at the back put out his hand and took it before they sped off. I was 100 metres from my front door.

Now before we go into too much doom and gloom I was lucky enough to have a kind couple see the whole thing. They took me in for a cup of tea and called the police. Faith in humanity was put back in balance.

I'm not going to bring out the violins by go into what I lost. It was everything. Several nice things that were presents and a number of things I never usually have with me. The thieves had a good win but it is covered by insurance and at the end of the day it is just stuff. But I learnt these things:

1. Just because I am moving at a passable pace does not mean I'm safe. Bit of a shock that one. I assumed that if somebody took a chance it would be when I was stationary.

2. I usually hook the strap of my bag around my handle bars in case somebody takes a chance. The police told me that it was a bad idea because the thieves will get angry, will keep tugging and the chances of being hurt are high.

3. The police told me that muggings are on the decrease while snatch and runs are on the increase as the effort is much less and the chances of being identified are low.

4. Check your bag is covered by your household insurance. It probably is but worth a phone call before anything happens.

5. Keep your keys separate. Luckily mine were in the bottom of the basket. The last thing you need having just been robbed is to have to change your locks as well. I would add that keeping your phone separately is a good idea as well. I couldn't remember my Matey's number and couldn't start cancelling cards until I had got home.

6. Set up the 'Find your ipad/iphone' app on your phone and computer. By the time I had worked out what to do and downloaded it the ipad had been locked and wiped so untraceable. The faster you can get onto the system the more chance the police have of tracking them down.

I would add that the police were great, realistic that I won't get the stuff back but ensured that I had everything I needed to make an insurance claim. They also made it clear that it wasn't my fault and I wasn't a fool for having my stuff with me.

Of course I can't claim to be unaffected by it all. I resent having lost the presents people have been kind enough to buy me as the new items won't have the same emotions attached. It's horrible costing these things up to make an accurate claim.

Oh and the stupid thing that really annoyed me at the time was the loss of the new staple gun that had just arrived. I had planned to tackle upholstering the chair at the weekend but have had to order another. Would have quite liked to see the robbers faces when they saw that.

I'm still here!

Just awfully busy with a lot of projects in the mid way stage. This has the unpleasant effect of leaving the house look a tip and not much to write about. I don't think it is especially interesting to read about and look at pictures of things which still look a bit rubbish.

So in stasis at the moment we have:

The spare 'oom project
Shelves to put up to cover pipes - waiting till I visit my Mum so I can borrow her jigsaw. I could buy one but it seems silly for three cuts.
Hunting for a carpet remnant to replace the truly vile stained matting. - This make take longer than I want as I had no idea how expensive carpet is. Fortunately we have a lovely blue rug which hides most of it.
Bookshelves to find and put up - again waiting to visit Mum to see if she still has my old 'precious shelves' (So called because they held my precious things.) which would do nicely.
Armchair to recover - Doing well on this one. The chair has been stripped as far as possible and I am just waiting on a sample of fabric before making the next move. Sod it! Here are some really bad mid way pics to enliven your day!

I decided to follow what the previous upholsterer did and left some of the original fabric in place. They probably had a good reason. The legs have been sanded down and polished up. I thought this would be a five minute job. Two hours later I was getting there. They have come up a lovely honey colour though which will work well with the blue fabric I am almost certainly going to use.

The new range project
Top secret at the moment but is taking up a lot of time. Rather exciting though and I have discovered a new skill. Gilding. I swear I would cover the whole house in gold leaf if it would come across as a ostentatious.

Oh and I'm making a super hero cape for a 4 year old. Quite fancy one myself. If I were a superhero what would my superpower be?