Bless me readers for I have sinned, it has been a while since my last post. I have been elbow deep in paint for what seems like an eternity. Mr. Boo thought it would be a great idea to paint the hall, stairs and landing. Now I only suggested this last summer, you know, a sensible time of year to undertake such a task. Longer daylight hours make it easier to paint in the evenings and I am just generally in a better frame of mind for tasks such as this when the sun shines and temperatures fall somewhere above zero to accommodate windows being thrown open to allow the toxic paint fumes to escape the house. He took on board my suggestion and then mulled it over for approximately 6 months before declaring on January 2nd that we should go buy the paint and just get stuck right in.
I have to be honest and say that with my belly still full from the over indulgence of Christmas and while nestled snugly on the sofa with a giant box of chocolates for company the last thing I wanted to do was paint anywhere in the house. But the hall, stairs and landing! That is the most awkward space in the house to paint and I still have nightmares from the 1st time we did it. I had no choice though, if I don't do these things when he suggests well then I can forget about it for at least another 6 months.
As we stood there in our painting clothes, brush and roller in hand I gave him his warnings, "take your time and don't hit the ceiling". "OK", says he and off he goes. I was on cutting in duty and he was on the big in between bits. We assume these rolls because I'm the neat painter and he is the messy one so I try to keep him away from door frames and the ceiling. As I diligently and pain stakingly cut in with my little paint brush he declared he was flying and moving on to the next wall. I turned to look at his progress and there, on the crisp white ceiling was a big thick line of lovely fresh Antique Cream paint.
Me: "Erm, I thought I said to be careful not to hit the ceiling?".
Him: "I know, I didn't",
Me: "Well then, what's all the paint on the ceiling there?".
Him: "It must be from the last time".
Me: "Well considering the walls were pale green and that is cream paint I'm guessing you did it just now".
Him: "Oh right, sorry, I'll be more careful".
In fairness he was more careful. Careful to ensure that he consistently splodged paint all over the ceiling so that it had a lovely cream border. We had to pay someone to come in and paint the ceiling, well I say we, I mean he. He offered to paint the woodwork for me. I thought it would be quicker and cheaper to do it myself. He returned home on Saturday with the paint required and I got stuck in. In a moment of madness I decided it would be a great idea to paint the spindles of the banisters and the sides of the stairs not covered by the carpet runner. By the end of day one I decided that wasn't my best idea to date. By the end of day two I felt it would have been quicker and easier to just move house. By the end of day 3 I wanted to cry and to bake, I didn't have the time or the energy to do either. By the end of day 4 while I was still standing with brush in hand at midnight I wanted to kill my husband who felt it was necessary to pop his head into the hall every now and then to say, "God that looks great now, I'm glad we did it". WE?! WE?! At 7am on day 5 as I crawled out of bed to finally finish it I was also rather glad that we did it, it is now a bright and airy space. Perfect to brighten the January blues and clear the fuzziness from my brain. Now I feel ready to get back to baking and blogging.
I have a little revised recipe today to ease back into things. When the snow trapped me indoors recently and travelling to and from shops other than my local store was knocked on the head I felt I had to adapt certain recipes as I couldn't always get the ingredients needed. One of the things I bake pretty much constantly is the Organic Spelt Soda Bread recipe that I acquired from Lorraine Fitzmaurice at an event in Bord Bia last year. Unfortunately my local store didn't have any natural yoghurt in stock but did have buttermilk so I decided to give it a bash with this instead. You can find the original recipe here. I simply substituted 700ml of buttermilk for the milk and yoghurt required in the original recipe. I found that it produced a more moist and doughy bread. The crust on the sides and base of the loaf also didn't crisp up quite as much as in the original recipe. Apart from that I was very pleased with the texture and flavour of the bread. Next time I am forced to substitute buttermilk for the yoghurt I may bake the bread for at least 45 mins, or maybe even a little longer to see if this will yield a more crispy crust but for now I am happy that when the next cold snap hits I will still be able to whip up my favourite bread to accompany the hearty stews and soups needed to keep the freezing temperatures at bay.
I recently tried the bread with this delicious Beef, Bacon and Bean Soup, from Irish Beef.co.uk. It was really quick and easy to throw together, perfect for a cold day when I would much rather be wrapped up on the sofa than slaving away in the kitchen. Once I had chopped up the ingredients and popped them into the pot I just left it on the hob to bubble away and do it's thing. It was a really hearty and warming dinner and the flavours were so delicious, almost like a Mediterranean style Irish stew. Topped off with a thick slice of bread smothered in melted cheese it was unbelievable moreish and I was very happy to have enough leftovers for lunch the next day. As the weather turns frosty again this would be the perfect dinner to warm you right to your toes and also a nice way to enjoy comfort food while still trying to stick to those healthy new year resolutions. Enjoy!
