Clotted cream and the turkey challenge

 I'd got 2 pots of cream, 1 single, 1 double, left in the fridge since before Christmas, they had both just gone beyond the use by date - we just hadn't eaten much in the way of puddings.  The last time I had a surplus of cream, I used it to make butter.....this time, as the creams were beyond their use by date, I decided to 'cook' them and make clotted cream.  I did check the creams first, by smell and taste, they were both fine.  Upon googling, I discovered clotted cream could be made in a slow cooker on the low heat for a few hours, so that's what I did.  After leaving it to cool in the fridge overnight, this morning I spooned it into a lidded bowl - oh wow, it's thick and rich and gorgeous.  It did leave a little very thin watery cream, whey I suppose, behind in the slow cooker.....apparently this can be used for baking, putting in quiches, etc, but I didn't (stupid of me, I wasn't really thinking straight this morning, I could have used it for scones!).  So I will make some scones today or tomorrow to use a bit of the cream, and freeze the rest.  So it looks like our back to low carbing will have to wait a few more days.  We still have some crisps and chocolates left - the crisps will get eaten but neither of us fancy eating any more chocolate, so that will just stay in a cupboard in the utility room.  

It's so mild again here today, with a lovely blue sky.  Still quite breezy though.  Loads of bulbs coming up, and when we were out in the car the other day, we even saw a couple of trees with blossom on.  It's so odd, isn't it - winter has really only just started, but there are early signs of Spring all around.  It's supposed to get colder this week though, I think.

We're having roast turkey today, the large crown I bought weeks ago when the media was first panicking everyone by saying there'd be a shortage of turkeys at Christmas....that turned out to be rubbish didn't it, just like most of what they say.  They'll come out with anything to sell papers.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm going to challenge myself to see how many meals I can make out of this turkey - the wrapping says it serves 8-10.  Today will be a more or less traditional Christmas dinner, with homemade sausagemeat stuffing, pigs in blankets, homemade cranberry sauce, roast spuds, parsnips and carrots, sprouts with chestnuts, red cabbage braised with apple.  As well as the turkey, there'll be loads of leftovers of everything else, I'm deliberately cooking loads.  I intend to make a turkey dinner pie tomorrow, I'll make hot water crust pastry to hold up better, as it'll be a deep filled pie.  I'm intending for the pie to serve 6, so four portions will be frozen.  The obligatory turkey curry will be another meal, that'll probably serve 4 so another 2 portions to be frozen.  We'll have some of the turkey cold, with leftover pigs in blankets, salad and pickles, that'll be for Tuesday I think, as we'll be out most of that day (going to Ikea then).  I could make a cottage pie or pasta bake or risotto with chopped turkey.  I'll also boil up the carcass and skin (there's a bag of chicken bones in the freezer to add to it) for stock, that'll make a soup or stew with any remaining bits of turkey off the bones.  I could make it a 'cream of' soup with some of my clotted cream added, that'll be yum.

Right, off to get started on the veg.