Comfort Food and Treasures

We’ve had snow, frost , fog and rain during the last week. Slippery paths in the garden, frozen puddles and frost-rimmed plants. Had a walk around the other day when a frosty morning tempted me out with my camera.

I love the way the frost outlines the edges of the leaves and fragile petals. Surprising that a few flowers are hanging on despite the cold and I even saw a ladybird. I hope it managed to survive the low temperature.

Christmas treats are dwindling now and the winter demands comfort food. If you find yourself craving for satisfying things to warm your tum and make you feel happy try my easy pudding. I call it Apple Pobs Pudding. When we were children, if we were unwell, we were given “pobs”. This was a dish of bread soaked in sweetened warm milk. My pudding is a version of this. Like a bread pudding but with the addition of apples for extra flavour and a lighter texture.

I use a white bloomer from Tesco for this. I’ve no doubt other bread can be used but the white bloomer makes it especially good.

Apple Pobs Pudding

2 cooking Apples
300 ml of milk
4 tablespoons Sugar
1 large Egg
Half a White Bloomer Loaf
Butter

Peel and slice apples into salt water
until needed.
Warm milk a little. Beat in egg and
2 tablespoons of sugar.
Put half the bread, broken into 
pieces, into a baking dish.
Gently pour half the milk onto
the bread to soak it.
Arrange rinsed apple slices on top.
Sprinkle the other 2 tablespoons
of sugar over apples.
Put the rest of the broken bread
on top and carefully pour the
remaining milk and egg mixture
over.
Press down gently to ensure the
bread takes up the milk.
Dot with butter.
Bake at 190c/170 C fan oven for 25 - 30 minutes. 

Really good hot or cold, either as it is or with cream, greek yoghurt or custard. If you like cinnamon with apples just sprinkle a little over the apples when you’re making the pudding.

Things don’t always go to plan in my kitchen. I bought some plums for stewing and I washed and stoned them, then placed in a pan to cook with a drop of water. I set them on the hob and turned the heat up to get them going. Went to sit down for a minute.

You guessed it! About 15 minutes later I thought I could smell something and heard a noise. I’d completely forgotten about them. The plums were burning! Luckily I could tip out the top ones and they were perfectly good to eat. However the pan was a burnt mess with plums stuck to the bottom.

So I did what I usually do. I learned this trick many years ago. If you put a small amount of water in the pan and sprinkle in some soap powder (laundry detergent) and leave overnight, the burnt-on stuff comes away cleanly. So no harm done. Just a wash and thorough rinse and good to go again.

This works beautifully on a roasting pan. No amount of rubbing will bring off the burnt-on fat after a roast has cooked but this little trick works like magic. Also good for burnt potato pans if you forget and let them boil dry.

Away from the kitchen, I haven’t done much on my latest intended painting yet. I have almost finished the drawing but it’s really difficult to draw lots of paintbrushes crowded together. I mustn’t hurry it though. I’ll try to make a good drawing before I apply the paint.

Here’s an old painting to be going on with.

Summer flowers are lovely to paint but so are Still Life subjects like this. I particularly like trying to capture reflections and shadows like on these kitchen storage tins. I have photographed so many things around the house and painted them. Sometimes I use gouache, as I’ve done here, with an underlying drawing to get the shapes. Other times I use a big canvas and acrylics to make more of an impact.

The only problem with being an amateur artist is that our house is full of paintings taking up room. Although we have many on the walls the supply keeps coming every time I’m in the mood to paint! There are worse problems! Nice to look through them now and then to refresh my memory.

While we’re all confined to home it’s perhaps a good time to look at and renew our pleasure in the things around us. Things that make a house a home. It might be a treasure you were given as a wedding present or just a piece of pottery picked up for pennies at a charity shop. I have many things I’ve picked up over the years and they contribute a lot to my feeling of home comfort. Here are a few of mine.

It’s so easy when you’re leading a busy life to take your home for granted and not to notice the little details which make your home unique and special. It bears the stamp of your personality. It reflects your tastes and what is important to you. Now is a good time to take stock and to appreciate the little things which give you pleasure.

Stay safe and well. Keep enjoying the simple pleasures and the bigger picture will fill out as you go along. Feel free to share your own treasures and comments.

With you all again in a few days.