a little bit of Germany...and a bigger bit of England...

          Since I retired I have been doing a little more cooking...real cooking from scratch...not opening a packet or just heating something up...

          My intentions for my blog this year was to talk about dishes I make from around the World...I was going to try to blog once a month...well here we are in February already...I missed January even though I did make an Indian Chicken Curry...as I was making this curry I said to Joe that I should be taking photos and blogging about it...but I was right in the middle of it so didn't get the photos...so please take my word for it I did cook Indian Chicken Curry in January...

          My February dishes from around the World...

Black Forest Gateau...it is not named for the Black Forest in Germany...but rather the liquor of that region...I did cheat a little with this...I used a dark chocolate cake mix...a can of cherry pie filling...and pre-made chocolate frosting...

  ...and because I made this the day after Valentines day I added the heart...

 

Cottage Pie/Shepherds Pie...Cottage Pie dates from 1791...when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop that poor people could afford...in 1877 the term Shepherds Pie was used...Cottage Pie is made with beef were as Shepherds Pie should be made with lamb...in my family we have always called this dish Shepherds Pie...

     I cooked ground beef with onions..carrots..peas and corn...seasoned it with salt..pepper and bouquet garni...

                                    put the meat and vegetables in an oven proof dish...

          while the beef is cooking boil some potato's and mash them...layer over the beef...

                                                    cover the potato's with cheese...

                                                        bake for about 20 minutes...

I usually serve this with swede [rutabaga] and carrots gently mashed together with a little butter


 Cornish Pasty's...in the 17th and 18th centuries the pasty became popular with the working people in Cornwall...the tin miners took this convenient meal in a package to work with them...it was easy to hold and they could throw away the last piece of the pasty which would be covered in coal dust from holding it...

                  you can use just about any filling for a pasty...I used stew beef...onions
           ...rutabaga...carrots...the herbs I used were rosemary and thyme...              

                             make pastry...cut into six pieces...roll out to make six circles...

                                     share the filling between the six circles of pastry...

              use an egg wash on the pastry edges...fold in half and seal the edges...egg wash the tops...

                                                                             bake...

 you would think someone from England wouldn't need to use a recipe for a traditional English dish...but most people in England would go to the bakery shop and buy these pasty's already made...



Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas...last time I was in England I brought back some boxes of dried marrowfat peas...these needed soaking overnight...and then they were cooked for 20 minutes...turning them into mushy peas which are traditionally served with fish and chips in England...I used cod fish..

                                                         dried peas from England...

 these are the peas after cooking...looks like a mushed up mess...but they taste so good...

 the fish floured ready to go into the beer batter...I was so busy with the hot oil I neglected to take photos of the frying of the fish...

                                               fish...home made fries and mushy peas...

just a little ramble...

           Even though I am not writing a weekly blog anymore I thought that maybe you would like to see one of my last 52 of 52 projects finished...I think this project was started back in week 49 or 50...the wooden rocking chair was the first item Joe and I bought when we found out we were expecting our first baby...here it is finally finished and being put to use in our living room...

before... 

after...

 

 

          Here is my next project...this used to hold my pots and pans when we lived in Niles Michigan...in recent years it has been holding cases of pop and occasionally cases of beer in our basement...it's next job is going to be a potting bench...if I get it done by Spring...funny I have more time to do these little projects now that I am retired...but it seems like I am busier then ever...when did I ever find the time to go to work...

 

30 years ago...

Excerpt from a diary....

Saturday 12th February 1983....

          This morning Shell called me to ask me to work in wardrobe at the Century Centre on a show they are putting on. But its the dance tonight so I couldn't do it.

          Tonight we went to the club in South Bend, Aunt Agnes and Bill, Ed and Debbie, Betty and Ed, Joe and I all went, it was a good night. I got a little sad for a while thinking about my return home in March but it soon passed.

          What a perfect end to a Valentines Dance.....Joe asked me to marry him...I said yes...I love him so much.

          Now I have to write home and tell Mum and Dad that I am going to marry Joe. I wonder how that is going to go over, it means that I am going to be making my life here in America instead of going home in March. Also we will have to start telling people here in the States.

          We have so much to think about and decide on...I'll probably not sleep much tonight....

                                                                 ^^^^^^^^^^

       A few days later we re-enacted the proposal so that we would have photos...yes I have always been a photo freak...