Jo's letters to Belle Vie
January 2 2011
Happy New Year to you,
Just wondered if you might know of anyone looking to rent a house???
- might as well fill up the rest of the space because Charlie and I
are spending all of our time in the kitchen. Perhaps you have heard
my whistling and singing.
I have had many successes and today tossed my first total failure -
no fault of the Aga, just a dinner roll recipe that I had tried to change
a bit. I have not settled on the perfect bread recipe yet, but neither
have I purchased a store loaf since "ignition". I would love
to find a good recipe for a single loaf. Tonight the "girls"
are coming and I am serving a little stuffed loin pork roast, baked
potatoes, root vegetables, cheese biscuits and a lovely apple cake from
the Mary Berry cookbook. I simply cannot describe the satisfaction,
comfort and pleasure that comes to me via my Aga. Charlie is content
in his little spot too. AND I love the look of it. Particularly nice,
is the ease in which my kitchen functions. I am seriously considering
leaving the doors off the new cupboards as I have put a temporary bookshelf
there and it is wonderful to just grab the core ingredients without
searching, bending or reaching.
Well, not wanting to take your time, just to let you know that all is
well in this house!!
Thanks so much. Hope 2011 is a great year for you, Maria and Wout.
Yours from the kitchen,
Jo
January 4 2011
Good morning Maria,
Yes, the kitchen is cozy, as Charlie will testify - he sleeps with his
back to the Aga. I eat all my meals there and the girls were certainly
comfy, in fact I could hardly get them to migrate to the living room
after our meal. And when they were leaving, there was a further delay
of thirty minutes as they leaned on the Aga and continued chatting -Wonderful!!
My meal was fabulous if I do say so myself. I used my mother's platter
and arranged the sliced pork, stuffing, baked potatoes, carrots, Brussels
sprouts and parsnips, in groups, on it. The colours were spectacular
and the payoff for me, besides the fact that they licked there plates
clean, was the gasp as I placed the platter before them. The apple cake
(Aga book) was wonderful also. I just cannot express my overall pleasure.
I was not familiar with the European method of bread making, and in
fact, the one I am making today says to put all dry ingredients together,
and I just assumed they forgot to start the yeast. I would really appreciate
any recipes you send me.
Feel free to use my words and if anyone ever wants to talk to me, I
will do my best to sell your Agas.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for getting back to me.
Yours from the kitchen,
Jo
January 6 2011
Good morning Maria,
Thank you so much for your recipes. I am going to try the Italian loaf
first. I appreciate the titles and covers so that I can track one of
the books down. I am truly enjoying toast on the Aga.
I also received the book I ordered "The Saga of the Aga" which
is perhaps a little frivolous, but fun to have the original booklet
used for sales and promotion and to see my cooker, just the same so
many years ago.
Have a pleasant day and if you don't mind I will keep in touch as my
learning curve straightens out.
Sincerely,
Jo
January 7 2011
Good morning Maria,
Well, I have some wonderful looking bread dough working away. I allowed
it the overnight raising for the sponge. It even smells delicious. Yes,
I would love to drop in, but I will warn you first. My flour supply
is disappearing.
Of my "love affairs", and there have not been that many, ,
the Aga is scoring tops!
Yesterday, I received the copy of the Saga of the Aga and it is so neat
to see the identical cooker right down to the toaster, and so many years
ago.
My electrician was here yesterday and he said the way Rick left my ceiling
is disgusting and he has a guy who is going to come a have a look. Honestly,
I am so busy cooking and admiring I seldom look up, but it could look
much better than that roughly cut tin etc.
Thanks so much for your ongoing support Maria. If you ever have an Aga
cooking class, sign me up. It really is not that difficult to adjust
to, just have to think things through a little and lots of trial and
a bit of error. But so much fun!
All the best to all at your house.
Jo
January 4 2011
Greetings fellow "Aga" enthusiasts,
I truly hope you are able to open this little pic, (worth a thousand
words). Perhaps you can smell the cookies as they come out and maybe
even get a whiff of my homemade bean and bacon soup. The good old Canadian
winter is blowing up a storm, but Charlie and I are completely oblivious
to it. We are so cozy. I love it!!!
Scrumptiously yours,
Jo
p.s. I might try to send another shot which gives a more accurate colour
hue.
January 15 2011
Hi Maria,
It was so nice to hear from you again. As I am sure you can tell, I
am having quite a love affair with my Aga. All my small appliances have
been relegated to the basement to be boxed up for the Salvation Army.
My meals are effortless and Miss Aga is very very forgiving. I have
enjoyed wonderful fish, chicken, pork, meatloaf, stews and I am so enjoying
the flavour of all the root vegetables at this time of year. I still
do a little guessing when it comes to baking, usually because I am not
sure which oven to use. My bread seems to be hit and miss, but thanks
for the tip about not using the overnight process.
If the weather holds, I need to come to Arva sometime this week. My
flour supply is dangerously low.
I was in Tavistock and picked up a lovely half, eye of the round (about
2 1/2 lbs). How would you suggest cooking it? You will likely have difficulty
relating to such a small cut of meat with your large family.
Well, Maria, Charlie and I are going to crash for a bit now.
Thanks again for your expertise and kind suggestions. You certainly
do have an eye for kitchens. Being a mother and a professional puts
you ahead of any cupboard salesman for sure.
All the best.
Jo
p.s. If I get over to Arva this week, I will let you know ahead
Ron's letter from near Toronto:
Wouter,
We got the exhaust pipe installed and we are cooking. Haven't done
much until today when I made my 'famous pasta'. That is what I like
to call it.
I boiled the pasta in the bake oven and then also, for a bit longer
boiled my homemade sauce.
I was very skeptical of my skills and thought that my first attempt
would be a disaster but I pulled out the pasta and it was perfectly
done even though I didn't time it at all.
I then got my sauce out and me and Ryan (my son) at away.
It was amazing and extremely flavorful!
I can't believe it. It has far exceeded my expectation. I am really
surprised at how easy things will be for me now.
Yesterday I made Sukhy pancakes for Mother's day and it took about 3
minutes and they were perfect even the first one.
Thanks again.
Ron
Letter from Jan near London:
Thanks, Maria. I have been doing wonderful things with the Aga. Chase
is out of clean underwear and Maggie wore mismatched socks to school
today because the laundry just keeps mounting, but boy the pancakes
were good this morning!
Jan