Good Life - Fat Cats Patch

25 July, 20202 August, 2020

Homemade bacon

A piece of dry cure bacon that has been cut in half.

Over the years I have tried many different types of self-sufficiency crafts, whether this be home brewing, beekeeping, grow your own or butchery. I have done a bit of curing now and then too, my homemade chorizo didn’t give me botulism. The proscutio was edible, the salt beef was rather good but the pastrami still needs a bit of work. My least successful attempts have been at homemade bacon, although in my defence they were my earliest.

So in the spirit of practice makes perfect I had another go.

13 July, 20202 August, 2020

Living with Monsters – Kids Treehouse

As ever I berate myself for not updating my blog often enough and must do better. This week has seen real movement on household projects. One of these, the new kids Treehouse, features heavily in our “Summer with the Monsters”.

24 April, 202027 April, 2020

Spring is in the air

So spring is most definitely here and here in wettest South Wales we’ve had an unheard of 3 or 4 weeks without any significant rain. The garden has really sprung into life in that preiod early flowers and apple blossom in abundance.

26 March, 202026 March, 2020

Trapped With Monsters: Treasure Hunt

A hastily drawn felt tip treasure map on squared paper.

All work and no play makes the little monster irritable. So at great request we had a Treasure Hunt inspired by the 80’s classic of the same name. As Gamesmaster I therefore provided the required map and clues whilst EmmCee sorted out the required treasure.

23 March, 202026 March, 2020

Living La Vida Lockdown

So at the time of writing the Great British Lockdown is imminent. The international CoVid-19 pandemic is striking us all and we at Fat Cat’s Patch are no different. A-Bomb and the Terminator have been off school a week already because one of them had a cough. Now schools have closed with no clear view as to when they will open again. So the responsibility has mostly fallen on EmmCee to do some home schooling, which is no easy thing. EmmCee and I are both working from home and our productivity has dropped a fair old bit. Having two children in the house requiring attention tends to do that.

26 January, 202027 January, 2020

Chinese New Year

EmmCee and I decided to celebrate Chinese New Year with the monsters by cooking a few Chinese styled dishes. Continue reading “Chinese New Year”

18 January, 202026 January, 2020

Wassailing With Monsters

So EmmCee and I enjoy doing things that are “different” just for the fun trying something new and Wassailing seemd to fit the bill. We have watched the like of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and others Wassail orchards. We have our own modest little orchard and have made our own cider from it. So a little Wassialing seemed like a great activity for the weekend. And one in which I was sure the Monsters would be happy to take part.

17 November, 201920 January, 2020

Home Brewing – Scrumpy Apple Cider Part 1

Roughly chopped apples in the scratter hopper.

The autumn has come to a close and the glut of apples lies o the ground. In which case it’s time to make apple cider.

2 November, 201920 January, 2020

Homemade BBQ Beans

A pan with cooked homemade baked beans part way through serving

So I had planned to do another Cooking With Monsters and make Homemade BBQ Beans over a wood fire in the dutch oven outside and get A-Bomb and the Terminator to help me. But the reliable British weather saw fit deluge the country the entire weekend and I wasn’t that motivated. So instead we have GymCee cooks beans in the warm and dry.

I did a fair bit of research online into baked and bbq beans recipes, mostly American in origin and mostly very very sweet sounding. So in the end I decided to cook as I so often do by general instinct with the idea of recipe informing my decisions.

14 August, 201914 August, 2019

Cooking WithThe Monsters – Courgette and Goats Cheese Soup

A chopping board with knives courgettes and some chopped garlic

As previously mentioned I occasionally have the bright idea to involve my darling children, A-Bomb and the Terminator, in cooking a meal. So this week I thought I’d try courgette and goat cheese soup. This recipe is from a cookbook The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It’s a really nice cookbook, Although there are only a few I use from it. The recipes are themed on an annual cycle split by month, this recipe is from August.