Looking Forward

Thank you for all the kind wishes left on my last post, I'm feeling much better now and trying to be a bit more attentive regarding my diet.

So what's new around here.

A batch of freshly hatched conkers for a start.

Whilst in town on Sunday we took a little detour to the park by the art gallery and S gathered up a great haul of shiny new conkers.

I was hoping to be able to take some photos of the lovely autumnal trees but once again I managed to go out without a memory card in my camera.

Annoying.

On Saturday G and I had a trip to the theatre to see Orpheus.

 But it wasn't the Greek myth as you may expect it to be.

 This production by the Little Bulb Theatre was set in 1930's Paris to a score of jazz, opera and French chanson and it was absolutely fabulous.

A real treat of an afternoon.

They are in the middle of a tour and I urge you to go and see them if they are your neck of the woods, you will not be disappointed.

For World Vegetarian Day last week I had planned on cooking a meat substitute dish but for various reasons this didn't happen. In the end I managed to cook it on Sunday and although I have no photos to show what it looks like I will share the recipe. It's one which resulted in clean plates all round and as that is a rarity these days it's something to be celebrated. 
Mix together 1tbsp curry powder, 2tbsp apricot jam, juice of a lime and 1tsp coriander. Fry meat free chicken style pieces for 6 minutes and then add the curry mix and cook for another 6 minutes. Once cooked pop them in pitta bread. That's it. This time I served them with salad and rice.

I did a spot of baking this morning. Mincemeat crumbles. They are the perfect accompaniment for a mid morning cuppa.
Cream 5oz butter and 3oz sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in 5oz plain flour and 3oz cornflour. Form into a ball and then push the mixture into a baking tin and chill for 20 minutes. After chilling bake at 200c for 12 to 15 inutes until puffed and golden. Spoon on a jar of mincemeat. I didn't have the crumble ingredients given in the recipe so I used a mix of caster sugar, plain flour and porridge oats, sprinkled it on top and baked for another 20 minutes.

All that has happened, so what is it I'm looking forward to?
Well, it's G's birthday in two days time and then on Friday we both have the day off work and so hopefully we'll be off out somewhere for a spot of lunch. 
Happy days.

And during a recent conversation with my sister she told me how she and her partner have decided to just buy each other a token gift at Christmas and use the money they would have spent on presents towards paying for a couple of weekends away. I knew G would love this idea for us and when I suggested to him did he want to consider this for us too he was on the internet within hours looking at possible destinations. 
Now next January we are off to Brighton, only for one night but it's great to have something so lovely to look forward to.