Cold and slushy mornings are never a joy to wake up to. This morning was no exception. The kids decided to lay the pressure on with an anouncement of a school trip.
“Oh how lovely, when are you going to this nursery garden”, I say.
“Today”, says George, “and we need a packed lunch, waterproofs, warm cloths and a water bottle.”
He looks at me as if all this is possible with only 10 minutes before the school bus comes.
When you are always banging on to your kids about healthy eating and organic ethics, a jam sandwich just doesn’t cut the mustard. So without appearing too overwrought, I throw together a passable packed lunch, find a pair of waterproofs from the bottom of the cloak room (which thankfully don’t smell of cat pee), and pack them all into an organic cotton bag. The impossible it seems is doable, just don’t ask for a miracle before I have had 3 strong cups of coffee.
With all the rushing I actually arrive at work early, which is fortuitous because a lovely gaggle of walkers (what is the collective noun for walkers?) are coming in this morning for coffee and scotch eggs. Homemade scotch eggs are hardly diet food, but once you have had one you will be addicted. Come to think of it they would make excellent pack lunch fodder.
Scotch Eggs
- Hard boiled organic eggs, shelled, 1 per person
- 150g of sausage meat per egg. Make your own or buy very good butchers sausage meat, organic if you can get it.
- Beaten egg
- Homemade bread crumbs (its best to keep a supply in your freezer as you can use them from frozen)
Mould the sausage meat round the egg so it is completely covered, quite a sticky job.
Dip the raw scotch egg in beaten egg then coat in bread crumbs. Repeat this with all the eggs, then shallow fry in hot vegetable oil turning regularly until the balls are dark golden all over and the meat is cooked all the way through.
Serve them hot or cold with homemade chutney.
I have one for breakfast with a double shot latte, there goes the diet. Tomorrows another day!