a country mouse parties

Country mouse went to a kitchenware party last night (joint Pampered Chef and Jamie Oliver) and spent £45 on stuff she doesn't need and which won't help her cook better or have a more organised life. Sauvignon Blanc is heady stuff for a mouse.


Above: the Pampered Chef goodies. Below: the Jamie Oliver goodies. All displayed in country mouse's sister's immaculately clean and tidy house. How does she do it. Note country mouse's nephew's artwork on the walls. The painting with the fish and the big black blob shows "Nemo and his Dad and the underneath of the boat." Yes, he has painted the boat from the viewpoint of the fish.

At last we have a new playpark. The villagers got together and raised money for it through a combination of lottery funding, money from the council and things like garden parties and face painting. We had to do this because the old playpark was removed and replaced by a car park when a beautiful old church in the village was being turned into flats. The church was really special. Like the rest of the village, it was built by a Victorian Christian philanthropist for the orphans who lived here in those days. Every column inside it was carved with different motifs, like fruit and leaves, and every pew had different, child-sized carvings on it. The stained glass was stunning and again was specially for the little orphans, with images of happy bible stories that they could understand and enjoy looking at. It was utterly tragic to see it all removed and being replaced with yet more "luxury apartments."

Country mouse was at the playpark yesterday in the pouring rain, getting a sign installed to thank the sponsors in time for the official opening ceremony today. We're also getting a cycle track marked out in white paint on the adjoining patch of old tarmac. Little R loved jumping up and down in the puddles more than she loved the swings. Perhaps we could have made some financial savings on play equipment.

a country mouse cooks dinner

I bought yet another new cookbook the other day: Fay's Family Food http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fay%27s+family+food
by Fay Ripley, who used to be in Cold Feet. I justified it to myself because it was reduced to £5 and really after all it's an INVESTMENT in my search for an organised life.

Last night I made Creamy Boursin Salmon Penne (P.183) from the "Don't Panic" section. I ate it and loved it, DH ate it but didn't love it and Little R didn't eat it at all. "Yuck," was her verdict. It involved mixing Greek yoghurt, tomato puree and garlicky soft cheese into a sauce and pouring that over pasta with steamed, flaked salmon and steamed broccoli. My verdict was "Yum" so we'll be having that again and Little R can have a banana.

Tonight I made One Pot Lemon Chicken With Thyme Rice (P.90). I was very attracted by the one-pot notion - Fay advises that you "use your favourite casserole dish"- until I realised that Fay is using one of those fabulous and scarily expensive casserole dishes that can be used on the hob then transferred to the oven and which also look very Jamie Oliverish on your table afterwards. I don't have such a thing. So I cooked it all in my huge silver frying pan then nearly put myself in A&E pouring it into a le Creuset rectangular casserole dish (splash splash OWWW) and covering it with tinfoil. Worked out fine. No need for vast expenditure to be made on kitchenware on http://www.johnlewis.com/, although I did enjoy contemplating that. I loved it, DH ate it without comment and Little R said yuck and ate a banana.