Charity, Sales, Balconies

Me, being me, would love to give to all the animal or environmental charities that email me constantly. I used to donate to the World Wildlife Fun regularly but these days I just cannot afford to do so any more. I've never donated to "human assistance" charities because I have always figured there are plenty of people to do so and not as many to support wildlife.

I am also very delighted that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now gone although I am sure some of the companies will be extending their sales. I had dozens of emails labeled to attract my attention. They did, they attracted the Delete button. Some of my friends apparently found some good bargains on laptops etc. but as I am not in the market for anything like that at the moment my feeling was "leave me alone". Of course I get lots of recipe emails, but I like those.

I am surprised how many people around here have put up their outside decorations and, I assume, their inside ones as well. It isn't even December yet. I made a tentative suggestion of doing ours next weekend and got a grumbling response. We'll see.

I visited a neighbour today who's new balcony is in place. The deck surface is actually rough not smooth as it looked from a distance. But you can also see the marks of the workmen's boots!! My neighbour told me the glass part is 9 inches. There is drainage under the walls.

Whilst there, I took a picture of our balcony from hers.

Ours is the first one you can see with a hole in the wall. Below us all the floors have no balconies at all. The window on the right is where I am right now.

This may well be an easy dish to have on hand when you are so busy with everything else at this time of year.

Slow cooker cheesy chicken bake

Essentials recipe Slow cooker cheesy chicken bake is a great family recipe made with chicken thighs, mushrooms and cheese. This recipe uses chicken thighs, which are a cheaper cut of chicken but are so tender, meaning you'll save some money with this easy midweek recipe. Make a double batch and

freeze one, which you can cook from frozen another day

8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs
2 tbsp seasoned flour
1 onion, sliced
250 g button mushrooms, wiped clean
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
200 ml hot chicken stock
2 30g bag unsalted crisps (bag of chips)
100 g Gruyere, grated

1. In a bag, shake the chicken with the seasoned flour until well coated. Put in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Pour over the hot stock and cover, set the slow cooker to medium-high and leave for 3-4 hours.

3. Once cooked through and tender turn off the cooker and divide the mixture between 4 foil dishes and allow to cool. Once cooled, scatter over the crisps and cheese, cover with a lid and freeze. Or eat as a casserole with mash.

4. Cook from frozen at 160C, gas 2 for 1 hour. Or decant the casserole into a baking dish, add the crisps and cheese topping and bake for 30 mins at 200C, gas 6.

Servings: 4

Tips
If you don't own a slow cooker you could try this recipe in a casserole dish in the oven on a low heat

Source: GoodtoKnow

Have a great day