Boxing Day here in Sheffield. It was dry, quite mild and quite sunny so in the early afternoon we set off down to our local park with Frances, Stew, Phoebe and Margot. It is called Endcliffe Park and it's much loved by residents of the S11 postal district.
There were plenty of people around - at the cafe, by the duck ponds and in the children's play area. I guess they had all had the same idea - to get outside while they could after the excesses of Christmas Day feasting.
Phoebe is now a connoisseur of children's play areas and enjoyed this visit as much as all the previous ones even though she has recently been a bit under the weather.
Walking back past the cafe, we bumped into John and Irene - two friends from way back. They were sitting at one of the outdoor tables cradling hot coffees. I have known John since 1978 - over 45 years. It was I believe in that very year that I rode on the back of his motorbike all the way down to Earl's Court in London to watch Bob Dylan in concert.
Whenever I meet him and his wife Irene who I have known for over 40 years, we natter away like there's no tomorrow - as if the conversation had just been paused. Before parting our ways again, John said he was going home to make "bubble and squeak" from yesterday's leftovers and admitted that he usually enjoyed the Boxing Day dinner more than the Christmas Day feast. I laughed because I was going back to Frances and Stew's house to do just the same.
If you don't know what "bubble and squeak" is, I will tell you... Put all of the uneaten Christmas Day vegetables in a large bowl and mash up. Ideally there will be some mashed potato there. Roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots etc may require some extra chopping with a knife or crinkle cutter.
Then put all the mixture into a baking dish and flatten down. A couple of knobs of butter on top and perhaps seal the dish with kitchen foil for half the oven time. Bake for approximately 45 minutes at 200C - depending of course on the volume of your leftovers.
We ate ours with cold turkey, gravy from Christmas Day, leftover stuffing and garden peas. Waste not, want not as they say - but very tasty too.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/Sek1fKv