Muddyboots

Follow the fortunes of Muddyboots & Family on their East Yorkshire farm which has changed from dairy farm to luxury ice cream manufacture

Thursday 27 December 2007

ovens, sprouts & cold turkey


Yippee, survived, Christmas has come [and gone]. Have fed the 5 thousand, or so it would seem. Sprouts, sprouts and yet more sprouts. What may l ask is so marvelous about them? The very thought of eating one of those small green mini-cabbage-wind-inducing-things makes me feel positively nauseous. I ought to have a medal for preparing that vegetable!

This year, we have replaced the old kitchen with a new, second hand, ebay version which came complete with ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES. l am now the proud owner of an electric oven. WOW. You see, being a proper farmer's wife l have cooked only using an aga. For non-aga aficionados, this means that your turkey needs to be cooked slowly, very slowly in fact, in the bottom oven over night, leaving you room to burn the roast veggies in the top oven, whilst trying not to loose to much heat from the hot plates, phew... well this year, l cooked the turkey in the... electric oven. Do you know it tasted ok, moist, juicy & not falling off the bones aga style?

The tiles surrounding the aga have been designed & hand painted by a very talented fellow blogger residing in France, and her web site can be visited by a mere click just here!

The entertaining bit is still going on, tonight SIL & husband are here for a spot of tea, beef in ginger wine with clementines being top of the menu this evening! Christmas presents for them this year was a doddle, so to speak. Donations to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Duly done!

So, what with mild weather, an unhealthy amount of food, which l am pleased to say has been sourced locally where possible, [smug grin], it has been a fairly quite Christmas; the dogs have enjoyed tasty gravy on their food, Lucy-Piglet has been taking all her medicine without too much fuss, plus the added bonus / bribe of 6 small feeds a day, actually l have turned this in to 3 feeds a day but don't tell the vets! Oh, and did l mention that the oesophagus stretching appears to have more or less cleared / improved her eating ability?

**Happy Christmas / Birthday [Boxing Day] / New Year to TF [ a Canadian] & KS [a local] in Australia! Enjoy the surf dude!**

14 comments:

Pondside said...

What! No leftover Brussels Sprouts??
It sounds as though your Christmas continues on at an entertaining rate. So glad to hear that Lucy is much improved, that the new oven is satisfactory!

snailbeachshepherdess said...

Glad to hear the kitchen appliances have all done the bizz! Lovely picture of the aga and the tiles.
Sounds like Christmas all came together OK for you all ...and so here's to the New Year ...cheers!

Sally Townsend said...

What a very fine Aga, REAL Country Living. Well done to you for sourcing all your food locally too, now if only everyone was as supportive of local growers. x

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

A fellow sprout hater! Me too. I have managed to consume some in a left over roast vegetable soup which I somehow accidentally made palatable. hope you continue to enjoy your holiday.

Casdok said...

Well done for surviving!!

Kitty said...

Loving those tiles, I am feeling a commission coming on later in the spring for S's birthday...
Gorgeous tree, by the way.

Norma Murray said...

Am I the only person on this earth who actually likes brussel sprouts?
I must say your Aga Tiles look lovely...
I buy locally when ever I can, but it ain't always that easy.

Frances said...

Hello from New York.

Your Christmas report is lovely to read. And the photos, too. Those tiles do look quite wonderful!

I rarely do cook brussel sprouts, but somehow just like the looks of them. When I do cook 'em, I don't over cook them, and usually mix them with some sauted shallots, and bit of nutmeg, and creme fraiche (don't think I've spelled that one correctly.) Anyhow, I do treat the sprout with gentle respect and it returns the favor!

x0

laurie said...

those tiles are beautiful.

and brussels sprouts? i do love them drenched in butter. but they have to be small, so they don't taste bitter.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Brussel sprouts are like any other vegetable - absolutely bloody gorgeous! I never ate one vegetable in my entire life that I did not like. Agas? Aren't they noblemen from the middle east?

bodran... said...

Wow the kitchen looks Great! and finished in time well done! The sprout thing is pretty weird! why do we bother at christmas?? isnt there enough to do xxoo

Exmoorjane said...

Glad you've had a good Christmas....and you deserve to be smug about your veg. But....I'm with LWB - I actively love Brussels sprouts?
Would you give up the Aga and stick to the electric now?
Happy New Year!

Un Peu Loufoque said...

They do look good in palce dont they those tiles even if I do say so mysefl!! How can you not like brussel sprouts!! Left over sprouts Fried in butter even better!!

Milkmaid said...

Wow your tiles are great, I can't believe you've got it all done inn time for Christmas, things like that never happen in this house, next Christmas maybe, my Rayburn cooks my turkey perfectly and they try to tell you Rayburns are inferior to agas
Happy new year, hope to meet up with you this year muddy

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