We're Having a Ball...

Ok, so as it turns out, I am heartbroken. Not just a little bit sad, but deep down, heartsore. One of my cats had to be put to sleep yesterday and it's left a rather large hole in my world. Now, Miss Twinset doesn't get it... she reckons that there are others (quite a few in fact) and besides, it's one less for her to be allergic to. The other one is a little more understanding, but only because she has a few of those adorable "handbag" dogs, one of whom she claims is directly related to a Hilton. Personally, although it's cute, I think it's closer related to a rat than a Hilton, but who am I to disagree with a pedigree printed on the neighbours best dot matrix printer! (If you don't know what a dot matrix printer is, google it! And NO, I'm not that old!)

I'm not sure anyone really understands it, but there you go. Now you may be wondering why it is that I am blogging today when all I want to do is crawl under my duvet and howl at the world... well, there are a few reasons. No, I'm not drugged up (well, I have taken something, but it's prescription and ... oh never mind), but as it turns out, my sense of humour functions perfectly well no matter what. I think it's a manufacturing flaw and I'm wondering if I can get a refund, but actually, the most important reason is that she used to lie on the sofa next to me as I write and I used to read these aloud to her. Her opinion was measured in how many claws were slowly driven into my thigh or the volume of a purr, but I feel somehow a little closer to her doing this.

The other thing that I discovered today is that I didn't want to comfort eat (although I do have enough junk in the house to do it), I wanted to "comfort cook". Strange, but true. So... in the spirit of all things comforting in the face of absolute sadness.... Please join us for today's....

(Oh dear, I feel that it's only right that I warn you that I was using my phone again and as I said before, it's a wonderful phone, but a shit camera... It's my blog and I've decided that I can say shit if I want to ... so there!)

Dish of the Day

Frikkadels (or for those of you not living locally - Meat Balls). You're going to need some mince (beef in my case), some onions, bread, milk, eggs and seasoning of your choice. Also, fresh parsley if you're feeling adventurous. It's not really vital, but I think it adds something to the flavour. To the left, is 1kg of meat, 2 medium onions, 3 slices of slightly stale white bread, a handful of parsley, 2 eggs and enough milk to cover the bread. You'll see why later...

Ok, now you have all your ingredients ready, you need to start by decrusting your bread. You won't be able to see this from where you are, but the other one is dancing a jig... she sees it as terribly rebellious not to eat your crusts... I think her mother must've been a lot like mine (although without the money, the chauffeur, the housekeeper, the nanny and the Lear jet. Lord knows, the other one must've been raised in riches for her never to have seen the kitchen). Anyway, Once you have trimmed the crusts from the bread (pic 1 if you're keeping track), you need to put the bread into a dish and pour on enough milk to soak the slices sufficiently. While that is happening, you need to peel your onions and chop them. As you can see (pic 4 if you're lost), I prefer not to do fine chopping by hand and take great pleasure in using shortcuts whenever possible. Two seconds of whizzing and my onions are reduced to a far more user friendly size and soon tipped into the dish with the mince. I should warn you though that this will make you cry just as much as if you did it by hand. Both of my somewhat... how shall we put this? Useless? No, that is too cruel. Let's just say that both of them ran from the kitchen pleading other commitments, yet were back as soon as the onion had been safely added to the bowl. Convenient?

Right, now you need to get back to the bread... Yes, the bread that's been soaking in the milk. This is done to make it easier to mix in with the meat and as for why we do this... well, it helps to make the meatballs "stick" together. Now, take the bread out of the milk and carefully squeeze out as much of the fluid as you can and then add that to the bowl with the onion and meat. Then add your selection of spices - salt, pepper, etc, etc. Take your pick... it's your meal after all.

I also added garlic paste (from a tube), so it looks almost like a small white worm has taken up residence on the top of the mix, but I assure you that it is all in good order. Next, I chopped the parsley. If you don't have a nifty double blade, a simple knife will do. Again, you can choose to chop it as coarsely or as finely as you prefer. I did it finely as that is my preference. The other one turned her nose up at it... she didn't see the need for green, but as she is sitting at a distance merely watching the proceedings, I'm afraid she doesn't get a vote.

Next, as you will see from the pics above (see, I've made it fairly idiot proof for the other one. Miss Twinset has already proven that she has some cooking skills), it is now time to get your hands dirty. I did ask one of the others to give it a go, but the other one muttered something about an important call before rushing off and Miss Twinset apologised most profusely, but she'd just had her nails done (with real Swarovski, Iif you don't mind), so we had to hurriedly find a "stunt hand" and I'll tell you that the pay involved for this job was quite unreasonable. It was only a little raw meat and egg... the worst that could happen was to get sticky... I mean really. What babies!

When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, it is time to form the mix into balls (Oh grow up and get your mind out of the gutter!). For a burger, a large handful should do it. These are then dredged (covered) in flour, before being placed into the frying pan and pressed down lightly to form a "patty" shape. When they've had about 6 - 8 min on each side (Don't be daft... I certainly did NOT sit watching with an egg timer... it was a guess. I have a life after all and no need to sit watching oil heat up), remove them from the oil and place them on some kitchen roll to drain. This is entirely optional... I just prefer to have less oil on my meatballs :-)

The final part of my comfort cooking (and eating... 'tis true) was to whack - yes, it's a technical cooking term - two of them on buns and add some cheese! Of course, after the camera had been shut away, I added that dreadful tomato sauce for heaven knows I cannot live without it on a burger, heathen that I am :-)

So there you have it. The kitchen is a total disaster zone and I shall of course ignore the washing up until at least tomorrow. There are enough left for lunch tomorrow or perhaps a late night snack and somewhere... hidden in the back of a pantry.... I may even have some chocolate!

So let me love and leave you all. It's time for me to make some chamomile tea and lament the fact that my greatest furry feline fan is not here to hear this latest post. Oh, how she is missed. (The other one I'm sorry to say, was not missed and only returned from her "very important call" after dinner and I was quite surprised to see her).

Until next time...