Snow

I must admit I have got up this morning feeling tired.  The winds howling around the cottage had me awake most of the night.  Thankfully the winds now seem to be slowing down, so some normality can be resumed.  I drew back the curtains and it was snowing, a light covering so not enough to cause any real problems just yet.  Although according to the weather forecast the temperatures are going to drop so problems could occur when it all freezes.  I am so glad I don't have to go out in it, I will take Mickey for a romp in the garden.

It has continued to snow on and off all morning, carpeting the ground with a white blanket.  I have seen it now in all its glory and the beauty it exhumes so now I will be quite happy for it all to disappear.

The slight covering that we have is of course nothing like some parts of the World so I shouldn't complain.  It would be interesting to see how other parts of the Island have fared Harris is quite mountainous so I would imagine it would be a lot deeper there.  Parts of Mainland Scotland seem to have been hit hard too according to the news.

I have been asked to give you my recipe for my chicken and creamy leek pie from my previous post, so here it is.  I should point out that I use leftovers for the meat element so have enough meat for the amount of people you are serving.  You could use ham/gammon or a little bacon to bulk out the chicken if you wanted.

Chop one leek finely and cook in a little butter and oil add one teaspoon of flour and stir thoroughly adding enough chicken stock to cover the leeks.  Add the chicken and then pour on milk and cream to cover the contents of the pan, this should thicken a little.  Transfer to a ovenproof dish and then either add a pastry crust or a mashed potato topping.  I use butter and milk to make the potato creamy and add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to give it a little zing.  Put it into the oven to warm through and brown the topping(about 20 mins).

I served this with green beans, cauliflower and carrots.  Hope that helps.  I have made this so may times that I don't need to measure or weigh things out so you might be wiser using google to get a recipe.

I started to roast vegetables  when I was cooking meat in a bid to fill the oven and save using the hob but very soon discovered that when used in soups the flavour was intensified immensely.  Since then it has become a win, win situation as the soup has more flavour and I am saving money too.

What is the weather like where you are?

See you soon.