Is there a chef in the house?......

My mother always said that if she ever won a large amount of money the first thing she would do is hire a personal chef. 

She hates to cook every night!

I'm very lucky as I do have a personal chef as The Knight is a chef and Beauty and I are spoilt with beautifully presented and tasty meals served to us every night.

Last night The Knight put his serious face on and declared that from now on Wednesdays and Thursdays are his nights off so it's up to me to cook.

Unfortunately I suck at cooking.

I can't time it so that every thing is cooked and ready at the same time or I place the potatoes in the pot and sit down to write a blog and forget all about them or I use to much curry or or or....

I'm hopeless.....

But I am determined to try and get it right at least 2 days a week so I have enlisted some help in the form of 3 cookbooks.

Maybe Jamie Oliver and the masters of french cuisine can help me or maybe I just need to pray.

Please God let me produce two edible meals a week!!!!

Oh no..I'm out of coffee.....

As you know I love my Nespresso Coffee Machine.

This morning I woke up and as usual the first thing I did was stagger into the kitchen muttering coffee, coffee, coffee. I reached into the container to pull out a sachet and OH NO! It was empty.

After a few muttered shit, shit, shits I starting searching through the pantry for a jar of ANY coffee and found a jar of an old favorite Moccona.

It was actually great to have a change of taste and smell.
Thank-you Moccona, you saved me.

I don't want to cook tonight....

It was my turn to cook dinner last night and I reallyyyy didn't want to.

I walked into the kitchen and gave a big sigh!

I opened the fridge looked inside and closed it.

I opened the pantry looked inside and closed it.

I took pots and pans out of the cupboard, put them on the stove and then put them back in the cupboard again.

I then stood at the kitchen window and stared out at the garden for five minutes.

I was still standing there when Beauty walked in.

She said "thinking about dinner yeh?"

I said "trying not to"

She said "Platter time!"

(I did a little happy dance)

Waste not, want not

Today I could buy two bottles of Lipton ice tea for Beauty and The Knight.

or I could learn to make my own ice tea and buy this set of 4 French Fleur de Lei magnets to take to Italy with me.

Winner-French magnets. Cost $5.95

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Summer Ice Tea

Ingredients

• 8 Tea Bags
• Ice Cubes
• Lemon Slices
• Water
• Fine Sugar (optional)

Method

• In a large saucepan, bring 4 cups of cold water to a boil.
• Remove water from heat and add tea bags. Cover and let it stand 5 minutes.
• Remove tea bags and pour the water into a pitcher.
• Add 4 cups of cold water to the pitcher and stir.
• Add sugar and lemon according to taste.
• Add ice cubes and stir well.
• Ice Tea is ready to serve.

Give the dog a bone.

As I will be spending every cent I own on the renovation of the villa next year, some of the treats I take for granted are going to have to be reined in and that includes dog treats.
No more Smackos or cheese treats as they will be too expensive.
I don't want to spend $20-$30 a week on biscuits for 4 dogs when that money could buy me a tin of paint or 6 lavender shrubs.

So even though I am a terrible cook I have decided to make my own dog biscuits in Italy. I purchased this cookie cutter today in the shape of a dog bone and did some research on google for some great recipes.
As my dogs love cheese, this first one was the pick of the bunch with the second one a Must Have!

Cheese Bone Dog Cookies

2 cups - Unsifted all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups - Shredded cheddar cheese
2 cloves - Garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cups - Vegetable oil
4 1/2 tb - Water (up to 5 tbs)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Make a cardboard pattern of a dog bone, 10 cm long or use a dog-bone cookie cutter.
Combine flour, cheese, garlic and vegetable oil in container of food processor. Cover, whirl until mixture is consistency of coarse meal. With machine running, slowly add water until mixture forms a ball.
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to 1cm thickness. Cut out bones. Transfer to ungreased cookie tray. Do not re-roll scraps.
Bake in preheated hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are lightly browned. Carefully transfer bones to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate in airtight container.

Homemade Dog Treat Recipe
Bad Breath Banishers

2 cups brown rice flour
1 Tablespoon activated charcoal (find this at drugstores, not the briquets!)
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup low fat milk

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Combine flour and charcoal. Add all the other ingredients.Drop teaspoonfulls on oiled sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 15-20 minutes. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.