This weekend we climbed up the track to meet the first lot of lambs who have arrived on the farm. The snow swirled around us in gusts. Goodness only knows what happened to spring. The lambs were nice and comfy in a shed full of cosy straw and their mums to snuggle up to. They were full of beans too, leaping up onto bundles of hay and bleeting curiously at us.
I had a go at a new pie recipe this weekend and it’s definitely worth a share. It’s a Cheese, Onion and Apple pie and is from an issue of Country Living but with my usual alterations! The pastry was made with oatmeal using 175g plain flour, 110g butter and a good handful of oatmeal. The recipe recommended using 2 tablespoons of water to make up the pastry but to my mind that wasn’t nearly enough so I added quite a lot more. I’d up the onion content too and go for 4 onions rather than 2. The recipe said to slice up the onions and boil them. Ugh, horrible – boiled onions! Reminds me of watery stews at school. I sauteed them in butter…much nicer. The recipe called for 3 Bramley apples, peeled and sliced, but I thought that was too much. I’d go with one, or two at the most. So, you layer up the onion and apple with crumbled Wensleydale cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and sage, then put the top on the pie and put it in the oven. We LOVE cheese so I put in the whole 250g pack of Wensleydale rather than the 150g it said in the recipe. Hats off to all you vegans out there. I’d never have the will power.
