Baked in a pie

My weekend with my children was good. Friday night we ate takeaway thai food - chicken satay, tom yum ga, stir fried beef with chili and basil and coconut rice. It was very yummy and my oldest daughter loves chili. Saturday we went out to the kitchen shop to buy some individual pie dishes. We got oval white porcelain and they were only $3 each. After horse riding, we went home, ate lunch and my younger daughter and I made pastry. I learned to make pastry watching my mother and though she did some things which never made sense (like putting a pinch of baking powder in it) she was a terrific baker so I follow her example. We made a sort of rough puff pastry by grating the fat into the flour. Then Miss I did the gentle rolling and folding 10 times. My mother never let pastry rest but I find if I don't then the bloody thing always shrinks and I have leaking filling on my oven floor. We made leek and chicken filling for Miss I and me, and a sort of ratatouille with olives for Miss S. They looked terrific but since I left my $%#@ camera at the beach I am unable to show off my culinary prowess. On Saturday night we watched Gilmore Girls, another secret vice, and had an early night. Sunday morning I was up early finishing packing their bags for horse camp - this consists of scruffy t-shirts, jodphurs and old track pants since this is a no-frills adventure. Their father wanted to drive down with us and since he is going to China on business and won't see them for a couple of weeks I felt compelled to agree. But I have to say sitting in the car with him for 5 hours has left my shoulders in a knot of tension. We stopped en route to see farming friends. Although they are also friends of his, it was an awkward visit and despite an extra cute new kelpie puppy to play with we didn't stay long. We dropped the girls at the farm and settled them into their rooms. Miss S headed off to the horses immediately and I left Miss I cuddling a ginger kitten on the bench outside the kitchen door. I avoided conversation on the drive home by listening to this. It's very well read with the author narrating and the dialogue with actors. I woke up this morning with stiff shoulders and a dread for the working week. At least, I am going to Pilates tonight. Over here, Alan has an excellent piece on the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza (Bantuising Gaza - links don't seem to be working). It encapsulated the what's wrong with this picture discomfort I was feeling.

Comments

[kitschenette]

oooh, home-made puff pastry! crikey. that's something i'd like to try. any chance of coaxing the secret recipe from you?