Before I start, I couldn't resist taking this photo of the three bowls that I have to feed Daisy, Maisie and Millie - every morning and evening I think of Goldilocks and the three bears!!
Ever since I bought my soup maker, the mysteries of soup making have been reduced to a 20 min "throw it all in and switch on - come back and find it finished and blended". However there is one family favourite that requires more effort and dedication -the ham hock broth! It starts the night before when the frozen hock (£2 from the local post office - remember?) is defrosted in water (if possible change the water before you go to bed so that the saltiness is reduced). This morning I changed the water again and removed the skin / fat as far as possible. Last night I had also started to soak some soup broth mix (lentils, pearl barley etc) and so drained them and added them to the pan with the hock and a stock pot. Once the hock was cooked, I removed as much meat as possible and then drained the rest of the mixture into a fresh saucepan (normally I might have kept the stock but there would be too much fat for SW liking). Into this saucepan went more water, another stock pot, some finely cut veg (I cheated today and used a pack of frozen veg plus some cubed potatoes) plus the hock bone to add more flavour. This was left to cook and then the chopped ham was added towards the end. mmmmmmmmmmm - it's a meal in itself! Truthfully it is better left a day to absorb the flavours but I intend to freeze portions of this as well. Not bad for a couple of pounds cost plus veg in the house!
Whilst the soup was cooking I could, of course, continue with this weekend's mission to finish the Christmas projects. The bag took 30 minutes maximum to finish and was soon packed away ready to wrap!
Next up was the last present (did I really say that?) - this is the wall hanging that mum asked for back in the summer (despite me having already made her present back in May!!). It took rather longer to complete but I am delighted to report that, bar some hand sewing, it is now finished and ready to be wrapped - I just don't want to give it up!!
The last sewing project was a little kit that I bought at the show last week and wanted to make for Carine to say thank you for looking after the dogs. I won't post a picture since I have an idea to make a couple for family shoe boxes (we agreed last year that our presents for those family meeting at Christmas should fit into a shoe box!).
So, has today been all crafting? Not quite - I did fit some time into starting the deep clean of the downstairs bedroom - since it involves moving the big iron bed etc I will aim to complete this by the end of the week - baby steps !!
It's also day 3 of the advent calendars - I received some gold flecked scented pomanders (brilliant for the drawers upstairs) from my brother and his wife, and some homemade bias binding from Wendy - I am one lucky girl!!
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