I often feel I'm over-protective when I stop the boys playing with delicate or dangerous thing, but I became Mr-Not-Pleased when I let Ryan take a few pictures yesterday.
It was promptly dropped and the lens is now in its own little heaven.
Charity donation anyone?
(As an aside, I took the camera apart to see if I could fix the focusing. I gave myself a massive shock by shorting out the flash. Scary!)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Ben on beam
Of course, there's no reason to suppose that a 2 year old wouldn't be perfectly safe balancing several feet in the air above a concrete surface.
Ryan's birthday cake
He's obsessed with all things Dr Who - not old enough to be properly scared, I guess.
Anyway, who could be scared by Licorice Allsorts?
Thursday, October 05, 2006
"The Ivy" Shepherd's Pie Recipe
SHEPHERD’S PIE
Serves 8
900 g each good-quality minced lamb and beef (mixed and not too fatty)
vegetable oil for frying
0.5 kg onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 g thyme, chopped finely
25 g flour
50 g tomato purée
1 ltr dark meat stock
50 ml Worcester sauce
150 ml red wine
8 half servings of firm mashed potato, with no cream added
Season the minced meat. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan until it is very hot and cook the meat in small quantities for a few minutes, then drain in a colander to remove all the fat. In a thick-bottomed pan, heat some more vegetable oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and thyme until they are very soft. Add the meat, dust it with flour and add the tomato purée. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add the red wine, Worcester sauce and dark meat stock, bring it to the boil and simmer for 30–40 minutes. Strain off about 200 ml of the sauce to serve with the pie. Continue to simmer the meat until the liquid has almost evaporated. Take it off the heat, check the seasoning and allow it to cool. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6. To make the pie, put the meat into a large serving dish or individual dishes and top with potato. Bake for 35–40 minutes.
A good accompaniment for Shepherd’s Pie is Mashed Neeps.
Serves 8
900 g each good-quality minced lamb and beef (mixed and not too fatty)
vegetable oil for frying
0.5 kg onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 g thyme, chopped finely
25 g flour
50 g tomato purée
1 ltr dark meat stock
50 ml Worcester sauce
150 ml red wine
8 half servings of firm mashed potato, with no cream added
Season the minced meat. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan until it is very hot and cook the meat in small quantities for a few minutes, then drain in a colander to remove all the fat. In a thick-bottomed pan, heat some more vegetable oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and thyme until they are very soft. Add the meat, dust it with flour and add the tomato purée. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add the red wine, Worcester sauce and dark meat stock, bring it to the boil and simmer for 30–40 minutes. Strain off about 200 ml of the sauce to serve with the pie. Continue to simmer the meat until the liquid has almost evaporated. Take it off the heat, check the seasoning and allow it to cool. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6. To make the pie, put the meat into a large serving dish or individual dishes and top with potato. Bake for 35–40 minutes.
A good accompaniment for Shepherd’s Pie is Mashed Neeps.
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