Roast dinner and left overs

It's been a long time since I've done a full roast dinner with roast potatoes, parsnips and yorkshire pudding, so it didn't come that easily on Monday night when doing one for 10...I only had one small panic attack whilst trying to figure out how to get the meat out of the oven and bump up the temperature for the yorkshires (oh what I'd have given for a double oven).  However I managed with plenty of foil and some tea towels to wrap the meat up and keep it warm.  Overall the outcome was a good one with homemade gravy to boot :)  So glad I did a lot of the peeling a couple of days before so I didn't have to struggle too much although my timing was still a little off ah well there are more goes.  In an effort to make sure there would be plenty of food and fearing I wouldn't have time to make more roast potatoes I threw in some mash.

The total result was plenty of food left over to make into sheppards pie the last night, using the last of the gravy and adding a bit more of my own, some carrots, the last remaining parsnip in the fridge and the last stalk of usable celery (it had been in the fridge just over 2 weeks, foil does work miracles).  I used the last of the roasted veggies to mash in with the potatoes for the topping and added an egg to that mixture.  I also added a little thyme, a bay leaf, some wine and a little mustard, the girls were happy to eat this with a little encouragement and the overall effect was a good meal :)

I do so love winter and I love all these great comfort foods that I just won't cook during the summer.  It's funny how over the last couple of years how our diet has become far more seasonal.  I remember when I was growing up we had no choice but to use seasonal veggies, the wonders of global trade have meant that we don't get so much in the way of seasonal foods and for many years I was just cooking what I felt like.  However just the last couple of years or so I've been just tailoring my recipes more.  Winter I can have the oven on, so slow cooked meats and roasted veggies, summer grill and lighter fair because who wants a hot  comforting meal in the middle of the summer heat wave?  This year I'm partly obsessed about soups, I'm actually trying to incorporate one or two in the menu a week and attempting to make enough for left overs for another meal so I can have a break in the kitchen.

Eating out...we so rarely do it now it's funny it's become again the treat rather than the norm.  Take out...what is that?  Seriously what is that?  I can't remember the last take out we did and I think a lot of that is down to I think I can cook a better meal in the time it takes to go and get the food or have it delivered.