Monday 8th September - food fail, food win

 The BBC goodfood site has a brilliant slow cooker belly pork recipe: 

• 900g–1kg/2lb–2lb 4oz pork belly strips
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 15g/½oz fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
• 75g/5 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• generous pinch Chinese five-spice powder
• pinch dried chilli flakes

Cook the pork slices in the pot on high, just lay them in, for three to three and a half hours on high and then fish them out and drain off the liquid and bits from the pot.

Make a barbecue sauce from everything else. Put the pork back in the pot, pour over the glaze and gently turn the pieces over and over to coat them. Cook for another one to one and a half hours on high. Mmmmmm. 

I made some on Saturday to reheat for Sunday lunch, to have with airfryer baked potatoes. But, horrors, one of the potatoes was still too firm. We shared the other, contented ourselves with a very modest helping each.

Fortunately the slow cooker was in action again during Sunday morning, cooking a slow cooker apple crumble. It's the usual recipe; I used four moderately large apples from our tree which is some kind of Cox, we think. Then 'half fat to flour; 4oz plain flour,  2oz butter, about 1-2 oz sugar and a 1oz oats rubbed together. The apples went straight into the pot, followed by the crumble mixture. Lay a clean towel or some kitchen paper under the lid to soak up the condensation, and cook for three hours on low. Remove the lid and cook for a further half an hour, uncovered, on low.

I prefer not to add lemon or orange or cinnamon or ginger, and to rein back the amount of sugar because our apples taste so good on their own.

Apple crumble and cream made up for the potato fail! I saved the potato for another day.

In the afternoon a friend came round, and we had tea, cake, and started learning the basic granny square. We're taking it very slowly as she's never tried crochet. 

Besides, it's hard to crochet with a piece of cake in your hands!

We covered 

The Slip Knot

Other Unexpected Knots

Chain Stitch

Joining The Chains To Make A Circle

Treble Crochet Into the Circle

Treble Crochet Not Into The Circle

Pulling Out Everything

Starting Over From Scratch

She's taken a hook and a length of yarn home to practise with. 

And also a bag of apples!