Using a storm kettle

Pete, Nicola, Lola, 9, and Nell, 6, spent three happy months during summer of 2007 traveling around Britain. Now we’re home, but the travel bug is still there. Join us for the occasional sightseeing plus tips on how to shrink your carbon footprint. This post is from Nicola

Inspired by our oven and hob breaking (a boring detail which was easily mended once the loose plug wires were coaxed back into place) we had a weekend breakfast in the garden. Porridge was cooked on the emergency gas ring which is a very sobering way to see how greedy for energy the hob can be. But our new storm kettle (see flaming pic on the left), a really useful xmas present for Pete, proved to be star. It was easy to light and boiled fast even though we only fed it with bits of unwanted weekend supplements and some green twigs.

The oven's all fixed now, but I think we might try boiling up a brew again - not least because it gives us some crisis cooking practice while our hens enjoy some supervised exercise in the garden.