apple pie and custard

As you know at weekends I do the cooking to give Mrs Claus a break and this is not usually an issue. I have my range of stand by menus and a couple of "specials" that always go down well even with the elves, Bodybuilder and JetSki boy and of course Hugh the reindeer has to have his share. To all intents and purposes yesterday was no exception, just an ordinary meal, succulent pork steaks with roast potatoes carrots and brussel sprouts with a few beans on the side for the elves followed by apple pie and custard. Well ! that's when the trouble started. Mrs Claus is having a party soon to celebrate her XXXth birthday and in anticipation is having an early spring clean. Everything has been moved, cleaned, polished and put back but not necessarily where it came from. I have found some of my DVD's in the most peculiar of places and the Hugh's food has been banished to a cupboard under the stairs and at one time I thought I had lost the reindeer. Yesterday was "kitchen cleaning" and just in case there was any doubt about what retribution awaited anyone who subsequently messed it up, not only were there stern warnings to all and sundry but a Facebook post just to make sure EVERYONE got the message. But you can't cook (at least I can't) without making a little mess, particularly when your favourite saucepan has disappeared, the microwave is at the opposite end of the house and the vegetable racks have been cleaned within an inch of their lives. Still, cook I did and between main course and pudding Mrs Claus indulges her Facebook addiction and starts making sarcastic remarks about where is the pudding. At which point the whole world became involved with 33 posts at the latest count and people threatening to come from as far away as California to steal my custard. Now custard is not my forte at the best of times so I considered a switch to rice pudding and still there is a queue at the door, Hugh fighting people off for his share of the milky puddings. And for those of you who have been following the plot the ginger syrup sponge was too moist, and was just beginning to burn on top by the time the centre had risen and become firm. Eating was good though
Then there was the event this morning. Hugh and I were out with the dawn and the thermometer showing -5, a hard frost and thick ice on the ponds. He was in his warm red coat and I had my woolly hat on so that was OK. For those of you still on the old scale this is -5 Centigrade although I have been on the shores of Lake Michigan when the temperature was -3 Farenheit!
We came down the path past the heron pond to the stream and pond nearest to the sleigh park and in the water was a black labrador up to his shoulders in icy water. I asked the owner is he stuck (I wasn't offering to go and help) or stupid but apparently this is what the dog loves to do. He chases his ball across the ice, throwing himself down on it to break it then swimming forwards to chest the ice out of the way like an ice breaker. But this morning the ice was over half an inch thick (and no I don't do centimetres) and he was having great difficulty breaking it. He had his front paws on the solid ice in front of him but was out of his depth in the cold water and could get no purchase on it to bring his weight to bear. So he reared up and brought his two front legs crashing down on the ice until he broke through, swam into the gap and then repeated the process until he reached his ball. His next problem was that the ball had frozen to the ice so he had to climb up onto the surface to lever it off with his teeth and this time it was a good thing that it was thick enough to carry his weight. Having successfully retrieved the ball he swam back to the bank and happily shook icy water over both of us before trotting off with his wagging tail held high.
Noel Coward used to sing about Mad Dogs and Englishmen but they went out into the noonday sun rather than into icy pools
Talking of dogs there is a lovely video animation on You Tube at the moment. Just search GodandDog into the search bar or paste this link http://www.godanddog.org/.
Enjoy