When drawing the curtains in these dark evenings I love to see the far-off blink of headlights on the other side of the glen as a car makes its way along the high, tree lined road by the forest. We live out of town, the pitch black night of the countryside is mostly calm and peaceful but sometimes our house is exposed to fierce winds and driving rain so it can be comforting to see a sign of life.
An analogy maybe…I’ll let you decide.
Before I start I want to say a massive thanks to everyone who has purchased calendars. If you would still like to order one (or more!) please follow this link.
This week I’m taking snippets from three days last week, a little reality check, I hope you enjoy this mish mash!
A Day Off
In an effort to always be honest about real life, to help give you perspective and to gently suggest you check in with yourself, this is how a day off looked for me at the start of the week. Far too busy, this is far from self care but it’s often the reality. I’m terrible at slowing down; my perception is skewed by the feeling I’m doing nothing rather than the positivity in true relaxation and turning off.
Continuing with her theme over the past couple of months Easkey has woken at least once every night shouting for me to come and snuggle her back to sleep, making a very tired and grumpy mumma first thing. Drag myself out of bed, get the porridge on the hob, boil the kettle and make a hot drink, make the packed lunches for the children, finish the Substack writing as we sit around the table together, get the children dressed and ready for school (at least 8 ‘get your shoes on’) quickly check emails before we leave the house. Stop at the bakery to pick up the loaves for school, drop the children off at school, head to the beach for a quick walk, back to the house for breakfast and coffee, order stock for the week ahead and get back to messages and emails, drive back to town to pick Easkey up from nursery, Go to the park for a little while, back home to have some lunch together then a bit of tv time for her while I change the bed sheets, empty the bins, feed the chickens and clean the bathrooms. Start prepping dinner, drive back to town to collect Michael, go to the post office, leave a message off with a friend, have another quick walk on the beach (and help dig a moat), collect Cillian from school, get home, homework sorted, lunchboxes unpacked and washed, finish making dinner, have our friends round, go to a meeting at school for 2 hours, back for bedtime with the kids then a cup of tea and early to bed.
400 Mince Pies and the City
A lot more work than I initially presumed! But a fun challenge, I made our delicious mincemeat a couple of weeks ago to let it mull a little. It doesn’t contain fat and is fresher than most mince so it’s yummy as soon as it is made. Making behemoth amounts of pastry and then rolling them by hand is no mean feat and I actually had bruised inner knuckles from all the rolling. I had to bake in batches of 100 and on the last batch I hastily had to head out to a forgotten parent teacher meeting, leaving one of our hero staff to take them out of the oven. Thanks Emmet x
Packing them up and delivering them down to Beflast to the gorgeous Field Day was a lovely excuse to take my mum with me, we hardly ever get a chance to spend time alone these days so I was delighted to blether away to her all day long and treat her to lunch at Frae, a very delicious spot in Holywood. It was great to be in the city, I laughed in spite of myself as I wondered where all the people where from and what they were doing, at the traffic, at the lights; the general wonderment of a country bumpkin!
A Perfect Saturday
I needed a day to tip the scales. After a very chilled and fun bake with Julie we headed for a swim, the water was a calm and beautiful after a few choppy, rough days, I’m happy we can still get in mid-November. Dara and I met afterwards and sneaked off for a pint in the pub, a good time to chat and hang out before the inevitable chaos of the children! I got home first so went straight down the lane for a walk then read a bit of a new cookbook with a little Valentia Vermouth and tonic (forced relaxation!) before the others came home. Then the fire was lit, we made pizzas and watched a movie and everyone was happy, bliss!
Is it enough to balance busy days with beautiful days like this? As long as you are seeking them out, as long as you know you’re due one. Are you due one?
Potato, Leek and Cheese Croquettes
5 medium potatoes
one leek
one egg
100g cheese of your choice
salt, pepper
Breadcrumbs
one egg
flour
Method
Boil or bake the potatoes, while they are cooking slice the leek and fry in a frying pan over a medium heat in some butter or oil until soft and sweet, around 10 mins. then remove the skin and mash very well ideally with a ricer. Leave to cool. Add the leek, egg, cheese and salt and pepper, stir tigether well then shape into sausages. Chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. Fill a large heavy pan with oil about an inch up the side and heat on a medium high heat until ready- test by putting in the handle end of a wooden spoon and if lots of tiny bubbles gather around it you’re ready!
Put 2 tblsp flour on a plate, on another plate whisk the egg briefly and put your breadcrumbs on a third plate. Roll the croquettes in the flour then the egg then the breadcrumbs. Fry in btaches about 3-4 at a time until golden brown. Warning they will be as hot as molten lava DO NOT try to eat straight away!
