The joy of books

I was so excited when these books arrived in the mail last week.

I can't put into words how much I love books. Any kind of books. Old. New. Hardback. Paperback. Colourful. Black and white. Cookery. Crochet. History. Romance. Crime. I don't care I love them all.

Since I bought my kindle many years ago, less printed books are coming into my home, so when they do arrive I get a little bit giddy. It sometimes amazes me how much joy a simple book can give me. My husband, on the other hand, just watches on somewhat baffled by my antics.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'm putting in my trolley and the money I willingly hand over each week for groceries. Also about the food that slowly rots in the bottom of my fridge that I slyly throw away because I'm so mortified over how much I waste when so many people are starving.

This led to much refection about the meals I cook, why do we need to eat 7 different meals each week. Why make a meal that uses half a cabbage or pumpkin or punnet of mushrooms or a couple of potatoes only for the rest to slowly decay in the fridge. Why don't I make larger batches to freeze or eat the same thing for 2 or 3 nights. Why don't I make recipes that use up all the leftover veggies, for example if I made a big pot of soup at the end of every week. The solutions are so simple but because we have so much choice and such easy access to food we've become very spoilt in our relationship with it.

I want to go back to the basics, cooking healthy meals while creating less waste. I love trying new recipes, and I also love old homey recipes. I go to a restaurant when I want fancy but nothing beats home-cooking for me.

I'm hoping that these two books will inspire me. Also we are heading into winter, so it's the perfect time to dust off the slow cooker and make those one pot meals.

Not wasting much time I made this rhubarb and strawberry pie. It was my first attempt at a lattice top.

Not wanting to toot my own horn, but it tasted absolutely divine. The pastry was fantastic to work with and was so delicious, the filling was gorgeous. I just can't get enough of rhubarb. D and I ate this for smoko and dessert for three days. I will definitely be making more of these pies in the future. The next one I want to try is the Pecan pie. I've always wanted to make one but never felt confident in the recipes I've seen. Until now. I think that will be next weeks project.

  

Talking of projects , this is the blanket that I started last week. It's nearly finished, I've just got to sew in the ends and decide if I want to add more to the border.

I'm really enjoying this colour combination. It was such a simple but enjoyable blanket to make.

This is the other blanket that I'm working on. This is going to be a large blanket to cover the back of my couch. This is another colour combination that I'm enjoying working with. I'm about a quarter of the way through making the squares, so still a long way to go and lots of dreaded ends.

We had a little bit of rain last night and it was still overcast this morning. This afternoon the girls were enjoying the sun on the steps.

Xx