So ...yesterday I (again) got creative in the kitchen. I usually check out Tesco's half-price shelf first thing when I shop there. They are constantly adding to it and there are some real bargains. 500g of lamb/mutton mince was at half price so I snapped it up and started checking out recipes.
What I decided upon was Moroccan-style kofte (flattish meatballs) with Ras El Hanout seasoning, fresh chopped parsley, onion and pine nuts. (Autocorrect just decided I couldn't have meant "kofte" and changed it to "kaftan". I can guarantee you that not only did I not serve a kaftan, I didn't even wear one while cooking.) I mixed up my own Ras El Hanout from a recipe on the Internet. It has 13 different spices, and none of them is salt!
Along with the kofte I served wheat bulgur pilaf with sautéed onion and red and yellow pepper strips, seasoned with more Ras El Hanout, lamb broth, lemon and ground sumac. The flavors blended beautifully together. A and I groaned with gustatory delight and savored each bite.
Why am I bothering to blog about this?
Because food preparation and presentation is one of the many things at which I excel, but for which I receive no financial remuneration! I spend much of my time these days thinking about, learning Brit's ways with, collecting recipes for, cooking and eating FOOD. This used to be a sideline hobby, but now that I have time to indulge, it has become perhaps more absorbing than it ought.
I didn't want to get a job and then ask to take a week off right away, so I put off actively seeking part-time employment until after my kids had come and gone, which they did last week (and a wonderful time was had by all, even though it was perishing cold). We toured Shaftesbury, Bournemouth, Poole and Salisbury, visited with A's parents, ate proper fish and chips, and celebrated a great Thanksgiving dinner together.
Now it is approaching the Christmas season, and there are no notices for help needed up in the shop windows. I have always loved to bake for Christmas; but there are now only 2 of us, we have not yet formed real friendships with anybody here, and if I baked like I normally do we would both be elephantine come end of January. What to do?!
I have decided (deep breath) to offer homemade European-style Christmas cookies for sale at 15 BP/kilo and see if I get any takers. These days so many people no longer have time, inclination or, let's face it, a talent for baking, yet would rather not simply put out a tray of store-bought. I realized I can offer something different from the usual suspects here at Christmastime, which seem to be primarily mince pies, Christmas fruitcake and iced cut-out cookies. I lived in Austria for 30 years and have lots of authentic recipes from there, around Europe and the USA, none of which are common here. I know how to arrange an attractive serving tray of several different types of cooky (biscuit, in Brit) and confectionery. And if I sell by weight, it balances the more-expensive-to-produce cookies out with the less so, ensuring a profit for yours truly.
So I checked out the Internet as to what prices were being asked for home-baked goods, and have also kept an eye on the Farmer's Markets. Often 6 mid-sized cookies sell for from 2.10 to 2.50, which would mean that for 15 BP, they would only get 16-18 cookies! A kilo of cookies will certainly be more than that, numerically, so it is a fair price. (Of course one could simply shop Tesco's mass-produced 3-for-a-pound and be done with it, but this is a luxury item.)
I figure if I advertise on Facebook and ask to put up a notice at church, I may get enough orders to make it worth my while. I would want to be baking anyway, and there is nothing else much to take up my time until I am employed, so why not give it a whirl?
Wish me --luck? good fortune? blessing in my endeavors? SUCCESS!
