Sunday Scribbling #26 - Instructions

I love to cook and bake, especially in a clean and organised kitchen with great music playing and a plan in my head. I had home economics in high school for 2 years and my mother taught me quite a bit about cooking, although she never really left me to cook alone so everything ended up tasting just as it would have if she´d cooked it. When I lived with my mother in law for a year while my children were young, I learnt how to cook traditional Austrian food on a wood burning stove for a really big farming family and I really enjoyed it but the thing that got to me was how fussy the men were and how compliant the other women were.
Now when I work in the kitchen I have a view over the Lavant Valley. I see right down to the main road where I often catch a glimpse of the school bus bringing Stefan and Markus home and I can also watch the train that Daniel comes home from school on.
Here are the instructions for one of our favourite meals, One Pot Chicken;
I use a glass baking dish with a lid for this. Sprinkle a whole chicken inside and out with a paprika based chicken seasoning and place in the baking dish, put the lid on, place in the oven and turn oven on (180° celsius). After 30 minutes, add 10 medium sized peeled potatoes, carrot and pumpkin pieces to pan and bake for a further 60 minutes. Then take the lid off the pan and bake for a further 15 minutes. Veges should be tender and lightly browned, chicken should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Place veges on a serving platter, cut chicken into pieces and place around the veges. Add 150mls of thin cream to the pan juices to make a sauce. Serve with white bread and green salad. MAHLZEIT!