Felix and Anna

I finished Jack's Felix mitts yesterday (yay!) just as the snow had come back to East Lothian (booooo!). He goes back to Uni this week so I needed to get them done before he headed off to Glasgow. He heads off to the bright lights and we have a quieter house. It's a fair deal!

Next up on the needles will be another beaded Eton hat, this one is for Jen's pal Hannah. I don't normally do requests, but Hannah's a good kid and it's a cute pattern, so I'll make an exception this time.

I've been cooking meals for 30 years and it's very easy to get in a rut and cook the same old, same old for convenience and/or speed, or to make sure that the kids eat something, or to make meals that aren't too spicy (for Jen) or too wet (for Jack when he was younger). I was so impressed with the food that D and I had in Madeira that I decided to liven up my repertoire a little. One of my cyberpals cookknitwine went a whole year cooking a different meal every day- 365 dinners with no repeats! That's impressive, but a little beyond me, so I've decided to try one new thing every week, not necessarily a whole meal, maybe just one of the side dishes might be different.
Luckily we were given a copy of Larousse Gastronomique for Xmas and it's a very inspiring book. I decided to try Pommes Anna last night (with pan fried haddock & green beans), and followed the recipe scrupulously. It's not complicated- thinly sliced potatoes layered with melted butter, pressed down in the oven dish and baked for an hour or so. I served it by inverting the oven dish on a plate so that the kids could see what a potato cake looks like. It wasn't on the plate for long as they descended on it like locusts - even Jack, who normally is not keen on potatoes.

I'll count that as a success, but as I used 80g of butter in it, I won't be serving it on a daily basis!