This week, we enjoyed our very own garlic and brussel sprouts cooked up with bacon and cashew nuts and served with mashed potatoes and gravy. So close to Christmas, we also had crackers with the meal and mince pies for afters.
We prepared the vegetables on Wednesday - and yes, you need to get revenge on Charlotte for this photo Lewis!!
The outer leaves of the brussel sprout plants are a bit brown after all the snow and cold weather (and were ravaged by those caterpillars earlier!!)
Some sprouts were quite hard to get off the plants - a strong twist was needed.
There is still plenty of garlic left (in fact, the shed is filled with its aroma!)
Whilst Catriona and Lewis prepared the vegetables, Charlotte cut the pots from the fat balls. They stuck together perfectly!
A rich store of energy for the birds to peck at.
Without the wheelbarrows, there's lots of room in the shed.
Cooking the sprouts, garlic, cashews and bacon in the staff room. Miss Swallow carried the hot food out to the shed in a wicker hamper.
Reading the instructions for the crackers - they were not the usual type!!
Everyone had a whistle with a number on it. We had lots of fun TRYING to blow them at the right time to play Christmas Carols on the play sheet!
There were some gardening jokes in them. What's a gardener's favourite magazine?? "Weeders Digest" of course!!
Notice the musical hats (and we are wearing our new aprons too).
We all tucked in - yumm! The food didn't stay on our plates for long!! As we were eating, it went very dark outside and heavy snow started falling which made it feel very "Christmassy".
Danielle and Catriona pull the last cracker ready to play the whistles!As the bell went for the end of lunch, we all parted - wishing each other a Happy Christmas. In fact, everyone seemed sad not to be meeting next week (as we finish early on Thursday) but actually I think we should meet on Wednesday - we can just check and fill the bird feeders and then check out the blog if it's cold or snowing! So, if you are reading this folks - see you next Wednesday!!
Udate: as the afternoon went on, the snow kept falling and settling on everything. This continued through the night and Friday as well, so the school was closed on Friday.
My word! The snow did clear off quite a bit, didn't it? Good job you managed to get all those sprouts ... They look delicious. I've never done them with garlic. A few mushrooms wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
ReplyDelete"Weeder's Digest" ... Oy, vay ist mir!
And just a thought: Next time for the fatballs ... don't punch a hole in the pot; instead, cut up a tin can into squares about 1½" on a side, punch a small hole in the centre of each, and thread your string, twine, whatever, through, and knot it. The metal should keep to the bottom of the pot satisfactorily whilst the filling is poured in. It's heavier than the fat, you see, in case that wasn't understood. It's the method they use when moulding those biggish celebratory candles ... pick one up and look at the bottom.
And may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas, from the Great Plains of North America to you all in Bonnie Scotland!
—der Wandersmann