Actual cold weather arrived. Amazing. Must cook.

Yesterday was the first day I had to scrape my windshield before I could drive, but today was cold and I guess it's actually winter at last.

Good day to stay home and stitch and make stuff and cook. If you want to know more about the stitching, go here.  Cooking warms the house and my spirits, too.

So I roasted two large chicken breasts, seasoned with simple pepper and salt, but with chopped chestnuts all around.  

They'll make a few meals, what with just eating chicken with vegetables, and then some in soup, and some for chicken salad, but not today. The chestnuts were a very nice sort of starch to serve for lunch with the chicken slices, along with green peas.

And I needed a little something for afternoon tea, since I was listening to an Agatha Christie while stitching my wool on wool,  so I baked a sort of teacake thing. Very British!!

That nonstick pizza pan thing is getting a terrific workout.  I use it all the time for baking everything on, and roasting various items, too. Today it came into play for the hot biscuit recipe from Silver Palate which I make all the time -- 12 minutes from getting the idea to eating it hot, perfect -- but added in golden raisins, golden delicious apple chunks, and chopped walnuts.  It needed baking a bit longer than the statutory 10 minutes, owing to the extra liquid in the additions, but came out a treat.  Nice for breakfast, too, always a plus, not sweet, I don't put sugar in.

I like to have a little something in the house, because people do stop in now and then.