Winter venison stew

When it's cold and damp it's nice to do the domestic things. I really enjoy cooking when I'm in the mood and it's much easier to be in the mood when there is someone to cook for. I don't tend to follow recipes though I read them for inspiration. As a result I sometimes make something tasty and totally forget what I did with it. I thought it might be good to write down my recipe here and then you can try it if you like and I can go back and see what I did. Tesco sells the diced venison relatively cheaply - £2.99 for 300g and that's what I used.

Ingredients

300g diced venison

1 small red onion

1 large leek

2 large carrots

Some chopped kale or cabbage

1/3 of a medium turnip

mixed dried beans (soaked overnight and almost cooked)

2 large cloves garlic

1 green chili

1 heaped teaspoon cumin

1 tin tomatoes

olive oil

1 oxo cube

1 tablespoon Bisto low salt gravy granules

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Chop all the veg. Heat olive oil in wok/saucepan and add chopped onion. Allow to soften and then add leek, chopped garlic, chili and cumin seeds. Cook for a few minutes then add venison and brown. Once browned add some water. Now add carrot, turnip, beans, kale, tomatoes, stock cube and bisto. Cook for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. About half an hour before the end of cooking stir in the balsamic vinegar. We had it with brown basmati rice. It was really yummy! Would be nice with beef too.

Here is the lovely man checking all your blogs on his iPhone.

It's been a really lovely weekend so far and it's not over yet. I have some apple left and small apple tarts are coming soon :-)

Isn't he a lucky duck...

I continued the domestic thread today and made these apple turnovers. They don't look that elegant but they were very tasty. The lovely man and I have already polished off the lot of them!

I shan't say much this evening as I have some serious relaxing to do. I hope you're all having a great weekend.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Today has been a day of cleaning. I want to make sure I get rid of the critters that found their way into my iron the other day. I've been cleaning cupboards all day and I bought a small Vax and have cleaned the living room rug. This shows how much muck came out of it - yeuch.

Now I'm knackered. I'm afraid that it's not a very exciting photo but it is representative of my day. It's nearly the weekend folks. Hooray!

Visit from a pal

Here's F - another familiar face to those of you who've been following my pictures. I took a few pictures but the fuzziest was my favourite even though I hadn't used the lensbaby!

This next one is him when the tea ran out. Why is he drinking tea with a straw? you ask. He'd been to the dentist and his mouth was numb. That was great for me as I got his recommendation for a local dentist. I need one and my usual dentist is no longer practising. I won't go without a recommendation as I'm terrified!

I got the news today that I didn't get the job I was interviewed for this week. It was a really good letter though, saying that I would be kept in reserve. It was quite a positive experience in spite of not getting the job.

When I was preparing for the interview, I had a nasty encounter with beetles in my house that had got into the iron, of all things. It was revolting and just goes to show that I ought to give up ironing completely. I am now on a cleaning binge to dispose of any other unwanted guests. Back to the scrubbing then...

Grey day in Glasgow

I've been having a quiet day recovering from all my exertions (and the pub) in the last week. I'm also getting over a cold. It was very grey today in Glasgow and it took a bit of playing with levels to get more colour in this shot but I liked the colour of the tree. I'm afraid I wasn't looking too far for my photo. I'm quietly ensconced on the sofa and will not stray far this evening. Anyone know if there's anything good on telly? I think another cuppa is in order. Hope the week is treating you all well.

Strange day

I just got back home last night after my holiday and learned that I had a job interview today. This picture was taken just after my interview. This is the River Clyde in the centre of Glasgow. I used to cross it every day on the way to work, not far from here. Sometimes it can look very beautiful.

It's really nice after an interview to meet a friend and I was lucky enough to meet K - familiar to those of you who have been following my pictures for a bit. I liked this picture I took of him:

I like these kind of blurry images. I was also happy to be reunited with my Lumix LX3 which I hadn't taken on holiday with me. I missed it.

Now to have a relaxing evening and wind down. i think that my interview went well but I won't know for a while.

Hope your week started well. I hope to catch up with you all soon.

Sunday - met up with old friend

This is the rather grand interior of Tiles, an Edinburgh pub I spent a few hours in last night before heading home. I was meeting a friend who I'd lost touch with and hadn't seen for some years. It was lovely to catch up.

I'm writing this on Monday. I'm feeling slightly stressed but in a good way. I came home to the news that I have an interview today so wish me luck! I'm off to prepare.