tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27187011458038482522024-03-14T14:09:20.915+00:00Recipe Junkie and the attack of the custard creamsFamily food, cake & the odd showstopper all washed down with the chaos of daily life, & a large G&TAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.comBlogger561125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-35021041230849810172016-10-04T22:56:00.001+01:002016-10-06T10:01:30.674+01:00Thyme-roasted belly of pork, cider apple sauce - and an 'au revoir'<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Summer has inexorably ebbed away over the last few days. Chillier mornings are here, that beautifully clear light that comes on a sunny Autumn day, the undeniable yet indefinable 'smell' of Autumn that's there as you breathe in. The trees are heavy with apples, and overhead, the geese are forming and re-forming their skeins, honking loudly as they make pass after pass over our house from the estuary, and our top field is strangely quiet as the pigs that arrived in late Spring were dispatched early last week only to return, butchered and bagged, ready for the freezer.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKGMHwpPbKk1GZ8HpAai7HfG3zF-Oh10tN-V3rCugbC_2ErTHom0AKqCtMPzoZzKwWNik4YGNeuErxgvgI1jWsrATTsWJi9gwF8G5kIwZgFb36Upn2jA6xUdWuBXITpRJJzfWqodE4a3-/s1600/20160911_075452%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="pigs in their stye" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKGMHwpPbKk1GZ8HpAai7HfG3zF-Oh10tN-V3rCugbC_2ErTHom0AKqCtMPzoZzKwWNik4YGNeuErxgvgI1jWsrATTsWJi9gwF8G5kIwZgFb36Upn2jA6xUdWuBXITpRJJzfWqodE4a3-/s320/20160911_075452%255B1%255D.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You only really know how big a pig is when you try and fit it into your freezer. That's not a euphemism. As the pigs got fat snuffling around, rootling through the ground, churning it up, wallowing and generally enjoying about the best life a pig could have, I became increasingly concerned as to quite how our portion of pork - the rent, if you will, as the pigs were not ours - would fit into our array of white goods. For weeks, we've been eating our way through the boxes, tubs and bags stashed away in months gone by - in many instances playing freezer roulette as a result of my apparently frequent labelling lapses. And each time it was my responsibility to feed the pigs, my anxiety would return. 2 buckets of feed morning and evening each day became three and then five, along with plentiful windfalls and other treats. I had to employ increasingly tactical strategies to get over the fence, into the pen and emptying said buckets into the feeding troughs without getting knocked into the mud and trampled all over by 8 eager, hungry and enormous pigs...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fortunately, our efforts eating through the freezer were rewarded and the 70kg that came back on Friday all fitted in, along with 10kg of sausage. That, along with some lamb that also originated on our land earlier in the summer, and some fantastic grass fed beef from <a href="http://pastureperfect.co.uk/">Esgair Farm near Carmarthen</a>, means that we're pretty much sorted for meat for the next few months. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, we couldn't resist trying the pork this weekend: when you've spent 3 months anticipating meat that has grown up within 100 feet of your house, meat that you know has had a fantastically happy life, free to root around, free to wallow in mud, free to play football (stop press - pigs play football) and to run around having mad half hours - you just have to try it. I defy any meat eater to do anything else.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujK-CEj4mlvh3M6Dh6pTKchqMzvOrF7RtRVgO6gI47XUDQOG2cSBTL5FrDYwxGEL6TWf_JC76bksB6uwCnBa6ukAXINxM51WwYFuLB1ytQkRz_qxj2_OR2lqUYN-QhAUVLm29Pj2c2FIs/s1600/20161002_164635%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pork joint ready for the oven with thyme and salt rubbed into the scored skin" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujK-CEj4mlvh3M6Dh6pTKchqMzvOrF7RtRVgO6gI47XUDQOG2cSBTL5FrDYwxGEL6TWf_JC76bksB6uwCnBa6ukAXINxM51WwYFuLB1ytQkRz_qxj2_OR2lqUYN-QhAUVLm29Pj2c2FIs/s320/20161002_164635%255B1%255D.jpg" title="Thyme-roasted belly of pork" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Browsing through Diana Henry's Food from Plenty, I found the perfect recipe - nothing too heavily flavoured that would mask the pork, a simple treatment - and simple is often the best. Thyme-roasted belly of pork with baked apples did the job perfectly giving incredible crackling, melting meat and some rather tasty apples to go with. Apples which had grown in our garden too, along with the thyme that I rubbed into the scored skin, along with salt and pepper, in readiness for the oven. Even better, the baked apples recipe made use of some of the Husband's rather challenging home brew cider... A</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lthough we're in no position to give it <a href="http://www.sallysellwood.com/">our day jobs</a> and immerse ourselves in smallholding and self-sufficiency, there's a certain sense of satisfaction to be felt from eating a meal where the meat and a significant part of the accompaniments come from your own garden.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kwoS5dEaxanLeuqOk-uRF63Lc0OrmsZY46w43cIJRLMbldJA-SUmj8UAWWW8e29cr5s5Sh-PI6gNAeImgiX5zCTE0aAg_BzeYNoSCj44BN_lxt5pZ8WkApFVynwnFI8Y2znoxCwUyMRf/s1600/20161002_183035%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="roasted pork with amazing aromatic and crispy crackling" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kwoS5dEaxanLeuqOk-uRF63Lc0OrmsZY46w43cIJRLMbldJA-SUmj8UAWWW8e29cr5s5Sh-PI6gNAeImgiX5zCTE0aAg_BzeYNoSCj44BN_lxt5pZ8WkApFVynwnFI8Y2znoxCwUyMRf/s320/20161002_183035%255B1%255D.jpg" title="Diana Henry's thyme roasted belly of pork" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Caring for the pigs, deputising for our neighbour who they actually belonged to has been a big part of what has been a bit of a funny summer, what with one thing and another. Life has thrown a number of curved balls our way - nothing insurmountable, but each requiring time and attention. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I was blogging regularly, engaging and participating in the blogging community, I'd occasionally come across a blog which just seemed to have 'stopped'. One day, a blog post, one of a regular stream, and then - nothing. I used to wonder what had happened to those people - people obviously like me who had cared enough about what they were interested in to post regularly. Had something happened? Had they got bored? Worse? I often feared for the worst - after all my own blogging had started out of my son's serious illness - and I often imagined something of those proportions might have happened, intervening with their blogging. And then, at some point over this crazy summer - I realised that my blog was one of those - simply abandoned. Nothing to indicate the state of play, one day a post, then nothing... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've thought about it a lot over the last few weeks, and what I've realised is that, this blog, this blog that I've loved writing, loved the comments, loved being a very small and insignificant part of the food blogging community, this blog has done its job. I started it at a time when my life was in chaos, and it gave me a focus, something I could do for me when every other moment was full of caring for a child with a life threatening illness and a baby. This year, though, with all its trials and traumas, all its highs and lows hasn't really given me any cause to sit down and blog. Fred the dog had to be put to sleep, Brexit threw me off kilter for weeks, Blue broke a foot bone, kiboshing much of our summer . On the plus side, some amazing camping and walking trips, days on the beach, sailing with dolphins, catching lobster in our own pots... and yet none of it made it to the blog. The cooking for solace and celebration - and life in general - it's all been going on, but nothing I just haven't needed to share in the way I used to feel so compelled to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And Blue and Pink who gave me so much fodder for the blog - being as much of my cooking that formed the heart of the blog was aimed at feeding them healthy, varied, homecooked yet easy food - have all of a sudden grown up. I no longer feel comfortable calling them 'Blue' and 'Pink'. Blue, almost 13, is taller than me, and is as strong as an ox, enjoying life at secondary school. Pink is a maelstrom of hormones, already comfortable in the kitchen herself, and working her way through a collection of Sam Stern recipes and the children's Silver Spoon cook book. Even more significant, I can pretty much put anything on the table, and it will be eaten up. Salads, lentils, curries, fish. My work here is done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So to those of you who came with me on my blogging journey, thank you and goodbye - well, <i>au revoir</i>. I'm still lurking about on Twitter and Instagram, There may also be another blog on the horizon, so watch this space (or, at any rate, a similar blog space). And if you just came across this blog and wondered what happened, well, I just moved on. I've said all I have to say about food - from now on, I'll just be cooking and eating it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All that remains is for me to leave you with a recipe for cider apple sauce - a great way to use up cooking apples and challenging bottles of home brew cider. W</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ith the bulk of the pork in the freezer, I actually had space left - space to fill with apples. Faced with the rest of the bottle of challenging home brew cider from the baked apples, and a pile of cooking apples, I cooked up a huge batch of cider apple sauce, which is now frozen in portions alongside the pork. It's going to be a good winter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cooking apples</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Depending on how big your pile of cooking apples is (I reckon I had at least 20) take a big, thick bottomed pan and tip about 1cm of cider into the bottom, plus around 50g sugar. Turn on the heat to low.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Start peeling, coring and slicing your apples, adding them to the pan as you go. Stir the apples occasionally as they cook down and as you add more apple slices in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taste as you go and add more sugar as needed (this will depend on how tart your apples, and your cider, are...)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If the mixture looks like it's drying out, add a slosh more cider and basically keep going till you've used up your apples, and they are all cooked out and it all looks like a big pan of apple sauce. If you like it a little chunky, take the pan off the heat before the last apples have fully cooked down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leave to cool and then portion up and freeze.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-31589634208788172352016-02-12T18:43:00.000+00:002016-02-12T18:43:00.725+00:00Cardigan Bay Bakers - Valentine's Breakfast<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cardigan Bay Bakers met earlier this week. Sometimes we meet as the Cardigan Clandestine Cake Club but strange as it may seem, we decided some time ago that we didn't always want to bake <i>cake</i> within the remit provided by the Clandestine Cake Club, so sometimes we meet as the Cardigan Bay Bakers. This week was one of those times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You might have thought that a theme of Valentine's Breakfast would be tricky seeing as how we meet in the evening, but as I'm sure you'll agree, everyone rose to the challenge. We had a great mixture of savoury and sweet from a bacon platter - candied bacon, chocolate coated bacon (yes really) and bacon jam, served with a side of chocolate coated strawberries, individual smoke salmon 'crustless quiches' and some delicious savoury scones packed with sundried tomatoes, maple syrup and rosemary - to cappucino muffins, heart shaped flapjack, oat and raspberry muffins and lemon and marzipan buns.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were hosted by a new venue for the club - the recently re-opened <a href="http://www.thepenrallthotel.co.uk/" target="_blank">Penrallt Country House Hotel</a> which perches above the coastal village of Aberporth. We were warmly welcomed, and very much enjoyed hanging out in their conservatory/terrace while we shared our stories and our bakes for the evening. Hopefully they will have us back on another occasion - we were too busy talking and eating to snoop around the refurbished rooms this time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My contribution was the Lemon & Marzipan Buns. A Dan Lepard recipe from Short & Sweet. Delicious. There recipe's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/mar/04/foodanddrink.recipes1">here.</a> No need to thank me...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-50826303720476001732016-01-31T21:11:00.000+00:002016-01-31T21:21:27.661+00:00A Modern way to Cook by Anna Jones<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Always last to jump on a bandwagon (or anything for that matter - I didn't realise I had to do anything with my eyebrows until I was well into my 20s, and dealing with bushy eyebrows is no bandwagon issue), I have only recently come across Anna Jones. Friend and erstwhile employee of Jamie Oliver; Slender of leg, blonde of hair, vegetarian wholefood enthusiast...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqG_7NE2IWTYkip5KBbv2sWNwk1PB2EhXMRfE4_FChfWhLoAj1iRLl4x_W_qYtLkNhEfKH-2HYPcMunZexA4vQNvf_P4KTLcwa1LxvgQL_a3GB7lwOgkF68-gnJe41sOnKY6GH1SuzQRn/s1600/20160131_185353_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Anna Jones A Modern Way to Cook" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqG_7NE2IWTYkip5KBbv2sWNwk1PB2EhXMRfE4_FChfWhLoAj1iRLl4x_W_qYtLkNhEfKH-2HYPcMunZexA4vQNvf_P4KTLcwa1LxvgQL_a3GB7lwOgkF68-gnJe41sOnKY6GH1SuzQRn/s320/20160131_185353_resized.jpg" title="A Modern Way to Cook" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You might have thought I'd be more than a little dismissive. I am, after all the person who sent Deliciously Ella back whence it came (my mum) a few short months ago for reasons too numerous to mention (oh, OK then - I found it irritatingly smug, couldn't connect to the writing style or the writer, there was, frankly, far too much quinoa in the first few pages for her to be credible, and what I really wanted was Diana Henry's 'A Bird in the Hand' but obviously I hadn't been hinting hard enough.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But we're not talking about Deliciously Ella or A Bird in the Hand (although I will return to Diana Henry in a later blog). We're talking about Anna Jones and A Modern Way to Cook and, swoon, my latest food crush.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm never going to be a vegetarian but I flirt with reducing the amount of meat in our diet for numerous reasons. I am conscious that there are calories and there are <i>calories</i> and I need to make them count. A Modern Way to Cook seems to tick both boxes. There are many vegetarian cookery books that I've tried and enjoyed but are very cream and cheese laden, thus defeating the object of my latest quest <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/cauliflower-couscous.html" target="_blank">to make my calories count in the right way</a>. Anna Jones' approach to food seems to be easy and straightforward. Ditch the refined sugar, choose alternatives to dairy, cut out the meat. Yes, my cupboards now groan with a wider selection of pulses and unrefined sugar options (Agave syrup, anyone) but get your head around that and you're laughing. And feeling lighter and generally more energetic. Really. Couple this shift in culinary preferences with a surprisingly successful Dry January and I'm feeling perkier than I can ever remember for this time of year which usually drags me right down. To top it all - and probably crucial to this feeling of well being - is that I don't feel like I've been hard done by in the food department. AND I'm half a stone lighter than I was at the end of December.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what have I cooked? Admittedly, I've majored on the baking section in A Modern Way to Eat - I am after all trying to lose a bit of weight, but I love a treat, so if I can make the contents of my cake tins healthier, that's got to be a good thing. There's a totally divine 'Ultimate Pecan Banana Bread' combining bananas, oats, pecans, maple syrup - as a connoisseur of banana loaf this comes in very close to the top of my list of banana loaves to bake; </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisihN5PcXp1Fq6PEzE9eL-70J5D0KqJJsgaRtBjfcsCnGgcdU_mWMsqxgN8KXcN-HhMGF86hCdaH7KAfpKQ94QHv0OFneKec59p2bjere0K5-neSU8CxzvBrJIvMkQCoh8ydJ-GFVH_HRX/s1600/20160122_091032_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A Modern Way to Cook Banana Bread" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisihN5PcXp1Fq6PEzE9eL-70J5D0KqJJsgaRtBjfcsCnGgcdU_mWMsqxgN8KXcN-HhMGF86hCdaH7KAfpKQ94QHv0OFneKec59p2bjere0K5-neSU8CxzvBrJIvMkQCoh8ydJ-GFVH_HRX/s320/20160122_091032_resized.jpg" title="Ultimate Pecan Banana Bread" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Carrot Cake Flapjack which somehow combines the best of both carrot cake and flapjack without eggs, flour or refined sugar; </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dark Chocolate Goodness Cookies - who would have believed you could use cannellini beans to such amazing effect?! If you've read any of my blog before, you'll know how much of a cake fan I am. Of course, these don't taste the same as my usual bakes, but different is good, and I am converted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I served up celeriac, bay and mushroom ragu the other evening - it disappeared. And if comfort food is what you need, rhubarb apple and maple pan crumble is a revelation - scrummy crumble topping with none of the heaviness to leave you groaning afterwards for hours...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkrRK8f7ndg54fSbjECCVsS-DxffJU2N9YildVfwOH98HY9cSMh_gf3vY4STrvEYhhN_fEiI5WhmUuq4jRI7UKTEG0hV3shhK96Oyw8e-Vq62bteRgY3kJD3H1i8wkvQmM5Dgrdhvc8t9/s1600/IMG_20160131_182033_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rhubarb Apple Maple Pan Crumble Anna Jones" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkrRK8f7ndg54fSbjECCVsS-DxffJU2N9YildVfwOH98HY9cSMh_gf3vY4STrvEYhhN_fEiI5WhmUuq4jRI7UKTEG0hV3shhK96Oyw8e-Vq62bteRgY3kJD3H1i8wkvQmM5Dgrdhvc8t9/s320/IMG_20160131_182033_resized.jpg" title="A Modern Way to Eat" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPYCyDTvnQgRQmIHg7TPsZ7K57_XABLefL5Vk5HnW8yAMvXzqP_n-OuQhcfq01Ei_AISGWfigonWBC3_bKlmczNeSX1-tG7yAsDzuZQvZqwNF6pdPOKambLvj11DeNNZXmhlIlxykY0Bc/s1600/IMG_20160130_173552_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Honeyed rye loaf" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPYCyDTvnQgRQmIHg7TPsZ7K57_XABLefL5Vk5HnW8yAMvXzqP_n-OuQhcfq01Ei_AISGWfigonWBC3_bKlmczNeSX1-tG7yAsDzuZQvZqwNF6pdPOKambLvj11DeNNZXmhlIlxykY0Bc/s320/IMG_20160130_173552_resized.jpg" title="A Modern Way to Cook" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Honeyed rye bread was delicious (despite a slightly over-enthusiastic crust - it's a few months since I've baked bread and I need to get my mojo back) especially topped with avocado and roasted tomatoes with a cheeky fried egg on the side.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzlDybnYIWyQx2TWsCOYZzYBkD7gQgmYb7lRMwJ4eKW6ppC6b2daPHqFHA03oZCF1h7ZraMNQGuc7besYUodwI5xYMTWh7edWNL8wtafLk-G5z0FOJ9GrBm8yXwFmSZbIe03BeYtTNL81/s1600/20160131_121243_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Honeyed Rye Bread Avocado and roast tomatoes" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzlDybnYIWyQx2TWsCOYZzYBkD7gQgmYb7lRMwJ4eKW6ppC6b2daPHqFHA03oZCF1h7ZraMNQGuc7besYUodwI5xYMTWh7edWNL8wtafLk-G5z0FOJ9GrBm8yXwFmSZbIe03BeYtTNL81/s320/20160131_121243_resized.jpg" title="A Modern Way to Cook" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And if this is all seeming like it's too good to be true, well, I have had one disaster. I made some lush kale pesto (inspired by lunch in a local cafe, of which more another time) and decided to 'knock up' some chick pea pasta - from A Modern Way to Cook - to serve it with. The very idea of 'knocking up' fresh pasta, chickpea or otherwise, on a week night when I was tried from work and had hungry mouths to feed, shows just how much confidence Ms Jones had instilled in me. Of course I ended up with a sticky unworkable disaster that I had to chuck away before reaching for the dried pasta. But I feel this was probably more down to user error than anything else. My chickpea flour was somewhat old, and I didn't have ground flax seed as required, so tried to whizz up ordinary flax seed in a food processor to use instead. Disaster, disaster, but I will try it again another day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are still plenty of the recipes in A Modern Way to Cook that feel a little too worthy for me, a step too far down the road to kale oblivion, but I'm getting over that. Anna Jones puts together really delicious flavour combinations, and her useful charts suggesting combinations for salads and the like are worth digesting (pun intended). My meal plan for this week includes lentils with roast tomatoes and horseradish, and I can't wait to try frying pan Turkish flatbreads with spoon salad. Some of the ingredients are something of a challenge to locate here in very rural West Wales, but there are ways around that. In the same way that Nigella seems to instil the confidence to experiment, so I feel I can enter our local health food shop, Go Mango in Cardigan, with my head held high and ask if they might possibly stock freekeh...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, in conclusion, A Modern Way to Eat - definitely worth a read. Certainly worth an experiment. A worthy addition to any shelf of cookery books. But you probably already knew that, didn't you...</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-17728366919400122602016-01-14T20:35:00.000+00:002016-01-14T20:55:57.561+00:00Cauliflower Couscous<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another new year, another round of self-flagellation in the Recipe Junkie household... And when you're making cauliflower couscous, you know it's got to be bad...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The age crisis that I blithely ignored as I turned 40, feeling full of the joys, life beginning and all that. Well it all came crashing down around me in the car the other day on my way to Carmarthen. I was heading for an appointment to see an absolutely gorgeous and lovely <a href="http://bowenbyhefinaevans.weebly.com/" target="_blank">practitioner of the Bowen technique</a> in a bid to sort out my ever problematic back. If you're in the area and need sorting out, I recommend her. But I digress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I avoided the floods and negotiated the broken roads (where the floods had receded) a voice echoed around my head: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<i>This year you will be 44</i>". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>44</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have no idea where the voice came from, and there's no good reason why 44 should be any different to 40 - but then it's only 6 years to being 50 and where does that leave me?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being the person that I am, I have given myself several good talkings to since, and thought I'd got over it. But no! Another 'old' moment befell me at the optician when, during a routine eye check, the young whippersnapper (who tried to sympathise with me by telling me that he'd be turning 30 this year - I had to stop myself for trotting out all the trite guff about how great being 30 is...) advised me that "<i>Not this time, but probably in a couple of years we're going to have to think about varifocals</i>!".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>VARIFOCALS!!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I might as well just go out and shoot myself now...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I found my copy of "When I am old I will wear purple" and decided that it wouldn't be all bad, as long as I don't just let old happen to me. I know people who have done this - become old, adopted an old mindset, determined that they couldn't do anything to improve the situation, and metaphorically, if not actually, walked themselves to the old people's home and bolted the door behind them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This of course will not happen to me. I cannot do anything about the numbers (or, perhaps the varifocals) but I can prevent the 'old'. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being the new year and all that, in a bid to stave off being old as long as possible. I have taken the opportunity to once again resolve to eat better, make sure I get enough exercise - drink 8 glasses of water a day. I am even doing Dry January - but that has as much to do with an ill-judged strawberry daiquiri on New Year's Eve as anything else (there are some parts of my life where, it seems, I will forever be 17).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am currently contemplating A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones and Diana Henry's A Change of Appetite. Interesting reading. I even have a jar of coconut oil in the cupboard - and yes, I have been using it to bake with. (Incidentally it's also fab as handcream - I have some lush stuff fragranced with lemon balm. Heaven).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as always the case, there are pounds that absolutely MUST be shed. Not many, but I am conscious of them creeping back on and being harder to shift when they do. Not doing much for my self image, and I can't afford a new wardrobe. So back to my old favourites - spinach soups fragrant with lemon grass, ginger, chilli and not much else; carefully measured portions of porridge, making sure I scrape away any leftovers fom the kids plates IMMEDIATELY. In a bid to livening things up (!) I have even stooped to making couscous out of cauliflower. Not adding deliciously roasted florets to a chunky couscous rich in good things like chorizo, olive oil and the like. Not that at all. Rather, that thing that was all the rage with the 5:2ers (oh yes, that was me, briefly, wasn't it...) where you whizz up cauliflower and pretend its carbs. Cauliflower couscous. And surprisingly, it was very tasty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't promise that I won't be reaching for Chef Fatboy's 'Cooking with cream, cheese and extra butter' shortly (you mean you haven't got that one? It's very good). But for now, a bit of restraint and plenty of chilli and lime is doing wonders for me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cauliflower Couscous</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This is based on a recipe from the Abel & Cole Veg Box Companion by Keith Abel.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serves 2-4 depending on whether you're eating it on its own - I ate about half of it with some cooked mushrooms for my supper and will have the rest for lunch tomorrow...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g sunflower seeds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 reasonably large cauliflower</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 fat garlic clove</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground cumin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground coriander</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp ground ginger</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp cinammon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zest & juice of a lime</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seeds from a pomegranate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good handful of parsley</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toast the sunflower seeds in a pan until golden and nutty then set aside (remember that if the pan is too hot, they might burn even off the heat, so tip into a bowl if necessary)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trim the leaves from the cauliflower and roughly chop into florets. Peel the garlic and deseed the chilli.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chuck the florets, garlic and chilli into a food processor and whizz up till it looks like couscous, then tip into a big bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprinkle over the ground spices and stir through the cauliflower along with the sunflower seeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stir in the lime zest and juice, the pomegranate seeds and finally chop up the parsley and add that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leave it for a few minutes - I was worried that the ground spices would taste a little 'raw' but they mellowed for being left to marinate - and then eat!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-21190665543225762892015-12-01T21:03:00.000+00:002015-12-01T21:03:36.442+00:00Issy's Food Blog<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I've said before, one of the fantastic things about the internet generally and blogging particularly is that it gives a voice to anyone who wants to have one. I don't always agree with all the voices I 'hear', but I can choose those I want to listen to. (Even though much of the internet is written, I think you can often hear the voices that are speaking, not in a weird, spooky way, but through the tone and the words that are chosen, you can imagine a voice speaking the words...maybe it's just me). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the voices I choose to listen to is Issy. I'll declare my interest now, Issy is the daughter of one of my oldest and very dear friends, and as such, I've known her since she was a twinkle in her parents' eye. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For her summer project this year she could choose anything she wanted to do - I'm not quite sure of the parameters, but I remember her mum telling me that they could pretty much take their pick - and <a href="https://issysfoodblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Issy decided to write a food blog</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHva8A98sPsoxM12wiw5B5mpviglnATAQyjRuHF1-NMtfCUxsbcyBzf2pDwrFGi5GRxbFPJv9qMCj61xKhF1OzjlDaMr_tTIN3B5wjdhAbyjOEb5WZtQ_vAiYtIlC3cSNgTWOr7RL26zfP/s1600/Issys+Food+BLog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHva8A98sPsoxM12wiw5B5mpviglnATAQyjRuHF1-NMtfCUxsbcyBzf2pDwrFGi5GRxbFPJv9qMCj61xKhF1OzjlDaMr_tTIN3B5wjdhAbyjOEb5WZtQ_vAiYtIlC3cSNgTWOr7RL26zfP/s320/Issys+Food+BLog.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I love about Issy's Food Blog is that I can really hear Issy's voice. This is no pretentious pre-teen blog, just a lovely girl enjoying the kind of cooking that you'd expect a nearly 11 year old to be cooking at home. I also love the little stories that she conjours up reflecting the food in its context - <a href="https://issysfoodblog.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/grandpas-breakfast/" target="_blank">Grandpa's Breakfast</a> cooked for a much loved grandparent who'd been in hospital, <a href="https://issysfoodblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/really-easy-pasta/" target="_blank">Really Easy Pasta</a> inspired by a Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe but in true good cook fashion, adapted to suit what she found at home, and of course <a href="https://issysfoodblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/wonderful-welsh-cakes-or-should-i-say-cacennau-cymreig/" target="_blank">Wonderful Welshcakes</a> - yes, they came to visit in the summer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course I'm biased, but I think it's brilliant that the internet has given Issy and her exploits in the kitchen a voice - why not check out her blog and leave her a comment?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-48506363750083751052015-11-13T17:32:00.000+00:002015-11-13T17:43:58.567+00:00Printed Chocolates<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let me talk to you about chocolate (never a chore). More specifically, </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.printedchocolates.co.uk/index.php" target="_blank">Printed Chocolates</a>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTobc0vwUl_zCVhBxqHG6zuOdluN-25i-rF_DFY8VX_sTqZu_jIJLFEJGFtiD3D0mbRCrnJpu6XaDHOTaEh283_oAS-YQ9OygKtf-9yOmpO9KCzLqw3mnhNCu0D7mfPBSnQgjSBFQO2uZv/s1600/IMG_2041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTobc0vwUl_zCVhBxqHG6zuOdluN-25i-rF_DFY8VX_sTqZu_jIJLFEJGFtiD3D0mbRCrnJpu6XaDHOTaEh283_oAS-YQ9OygKtf-9yOmpO9KCzLqw3mnhNCu0D7mfPBSnQgjSBFQO2uZv/s320/IMG_2041.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJSmun2aTwbFHX_4EXdbcXBAKDODOnIdTpFszzy5YjOVtTBFAXcGLf5nfHrfAAp1IQBfH38C_g68XUgcfAuWdWKPrc_eIUxBMXC84rH4Z13P903mUE51rD1pv-HG2YvaaaYj14Jvo5jYB/s1600/wedding-triple-pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJSmun2aTwbFHX_4EXdbcXBAKDODOnIdTpFszzy5YjOVtTBFAXcGLf5nfHrfAAp1IQBfH38C_g68XUgcfAuWdWKPrc_eIUxBMXC84rH4Z13P903mUE51rD1pv-HG2YvaaaYj14Jvo5jYB/s320/wedding-triple-pack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pretty cool - and pretty tasty too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Good quality Belgian chocolate - milk, dark, white - and great flavours such as salted caramel and a delicious mint filling. It's already a winner in my book but what makes Printed Chocolates really interesting is the 'printed' element. Edible ink printed directly onto the chocolate sets </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Printed Chocolates apart from other novelty bars that you might have come across.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The other great thing about Printed Chocolates is the thought and imagination that has gone into them. In the run up to the General Election, Ipad-sized bars, a specific flavour representing each prime ministerial candidate... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD07UJ_7UuF-Tr3PKa8uLHQE8gVT0F5vhW7D9j-yWBqAOjZr6gRZQa69kbSCfov_IJI_W-avwEJ7Z7MJrlP2BCzBCfWpFWErWTVwq8uRu7xW79rbKNxHdx19cTYZXjE09BZ5dSwzTR67kV/s1600/clegg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD07UJ_7UuF-Tr3PKa8uLHQE8gVT0F5vhW7D9j-yWBqAOjZr6gRZQa69kbSCfov_IJI_W-avwEJ7Z7MJrlP2BCzBCfWpFWErWTVwq8uRu7xW79rbKNxHdx19cTYZXjE09BZ5dSwzTR67kV/s320/clegg.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the recent Rugby World Cup (did you miss it? such things are not possible here in Wales), each member of the Welsh squad received a commemorative bar. if you're running a business and looking for something different to the average business card, well, how does a chocolate business card sound? The other great idea is to use Printed Chocolates as wedding favours or thank yous. I just wish they'd been around when the Husband and I got married...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoIIaOYhR2S9Dj66Zdq5u8IiW-4Mz2QRNzT3dfIU5AE5swVeC4bwI8dEcfg91p1f3jjwswolrXwfm3f5XPfi1wNreNmigId6vZb6rs21TMa4ZBpdbtHL7YgLJGGZnnFAFV9aq7I0Imw25/s1600/lollipop-wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoIIaOYhR2S9Dj66Zdq5u8IiW-4Mz2QRNzT3dfIU5AE5swVeC4bwI8dEcfg91p1f3jjwswolrXwfm3f5XPfi1wNreNmigId6vZb6rs21TMa4ZBpdbtHL7YgLJGGZnnFAFV9aq7I0Imw25/s320/lollipop-wedding.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The force behind Printed Chocolates is Lee Ann Smith who has re-ignited a passion for chocolate making that she's harboured since childhood in South Africa. The less clement climate of South West Wales, where she's made her home, led her to retreat to her kitchen where Printed Chocolates was born. I met Lee Ann through the Women in Rural Enterprise networking organisation, and when she asked me if I'd write a blog I was only too happy to oblige.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33qLJHgqV5ycQ9unYYhyphenhyphenYJXhyphenhyphenOcPCfV-kYSxI05BZSKjodrW3F7eIGx00wexJVVrzV2FqrCWC2C4FTNZ23_l3icf1K19vKHhhJUQvBylQ14PfKqoNYKAtvLqnvff-rwOCRCFLg5uEnsIr/s1600/triple-bar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33qLJHgqV5ycQ9unYYhyphenhyphenYJXhyphenhyphenOcPCfV-kYSxI05BZSKjodrW3F7eIGx00wexJVVrzV2FqrCWC2C4FTNZ23_l3icf1K19vKHhhJUQvBylQ14PfKqoNYKAtvLqnvff-rwOCRCFLg5uEnsIr/s320/triple-bar.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, what you're really wanting to know is how do they taste? Well, they taste great. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's no flavour from the edible inks that are used to customise the chocolates, so all you get is a chocolate hit. The flavoured bars I tried, salted caramel and mint, were balanced well so the chocolate casings and fillings complemented each other rather than one flavour overwhelming the other. I enjoyed them a great deal. I also very much enjoyed the little bag of truffles Lee Ann sent me to try along with the bars. Inspired by something she'd seen on Australian MasterChef, she'd created a dessert she hadn't been that happy with but turned into truffle form and rolled in crumble topping - bingo - something very delicious indeed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFdeHlEhGMEZWd0FazAe5d4qNmfSIF1y9YYjyogowdnMN5zGrtDqhfOqV6NXF0HXHNXuGzZ_m69yXff55Vv4EILMYlgphBFOZqrP7FpkKqQwOajwgUd8pV6HGzD-vhAhcC5a64FxzrHHm/s1600/IMG_2005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFdeHlEhGMEZWd0FazAe5d4qNmfSIF1y9YYjyogowdnMN5zGrtDqhfOqV6NXF0HXHNXuGzZ_m69yXff55Vv4EILMYlgphBFOZqrP7FpkKqQwOajwgUd8pV6HGzD-vhAhcC5a64FxzrHHm/s320/IMG_2005.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you're in business and looking for a quirky, chocolatey promotional vehicle, or if you're looking for a way to give a personalised gift for an event, these are a fantastic option! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-8437188871907389112015-10-15T07:30:00.000+01:002015-10-15T07:30:00.970+01:00Pollo Alla Cacciatora (or Hunters Chicken - with apologies to the hunter, the chicken, and Nigella Lawson)<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooking to the clock - not for me. I can rarely put a meal on the table at the time I've estimated to allow everyone else to get on with other things. All these challenges - Masterchef, BakeOff - where you have to produce your finest in a set amount of time? Putting aside the fact that I don't generally watch them and don't really approve of them, I could NEVER do that. I'd be completely rubbish. May be that's why I don't approve. But I digress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You'll remember, perhaps, my fling with <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/30-minute-meals-revisited-bloody-mary.html" target="_blank">Jamie Oliver and his 30 Minute Meals</a>? Definitely stressful, even if the dinner that resulted was rather delicious - and (here's the crux of it) NOT AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE AT ALL. Flinging stuff around, feeling up against it. Cooking is something I genuinely use to relax. It sounds so trite, but all that chopping, stirring, tasting - I love it. But the more time pressure there is on me to get food on the table, the less I enjoy it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have, in fact, been feeling very much up against it recently in various elements of life. Combine that with my ridiculous need to cook proper food for the kids (and the Husband, although he's away this week) every night, relaxation or not, and it's not a happy picture. In my last menu planning session, I turned, for inspiration, to Nigella Express. I haven't paid that much attention to Express apart from a rather fabulous <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/blackcurrants-reckless-cheesecake-and.html" target="_blank">cheesecake</a> offering that's graced a number of our smarter occasions in the last few years. Pollo Alla Cacciatora caught my eye (it's on page 296 of my version), and onto the meal plan it went. When you're feeling under pressure, and Nigella says you can have "<i>tea on the table from scratch in comfortably under half an hour</i>" well - it's almost irresistible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, I had failed to have on hand some of the ingredients that meant the meal could in fact achieve that golden 30 minutes, and I added in some extras, but, as Nigella says, the fact that this is an old recipe "<i>grants a certain amount of licence</i>". Anyway, it was delicious. I'm sure the hunter would have approved. I hope Nigella would too. And it did only take a smidge longer than 30 mins...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pollo Alla Cacciatora</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serves 4</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 fat clove of garlic, peeled & finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 medium onion, peeled and quite finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g pancetta cubes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 sprig of rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3-4 pieces</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">salt & pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">125ml red wine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 bay leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 x 400g cannellini beans</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add a slug of olive oil (about a tablespoon's worth) to a large frying pan, and add the chopped onions and garlic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sweat the onions gently for 5 mins or so then add the pancetta and rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the chicken and sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt and grinds of pepper, then tip in the wine and bring it up to a bubble. Bubble for a couple of minutes then add the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn down the heat and simmer for a good 20 minutes or so till the chicken is cooked. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drain the cannellini beans and stir into the sauce. Leave for a couple of minutes to heat up</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serve.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-49721934101378275362015-10-12T23:04:00.001+01:002015-10-12T23:04:42.010+01:00Rainbow Cake<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does the colour of food make or break a dish? I'm quite a fan of colourful food, but only in the sense that its the ingredients that have made the colour - pink from beetroot, green from spinach, rich orange from chorizo and smoked paprika... On the other hand, the seemingly inevitable brown-ness of most of the curries I make doesn't put me off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know if I've mentioned it before but there is a family story - part of the folklore of my father's childhood, in which he produced blue macaroni cheese when it was his turn to cook. No one could stomach it and he was henceforth relieved of cooking duties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink seems to be following in her maternal grandfather (Grumpy, as he is affectionately known)'s footsteps with her love of artificially coloured food. I suppose it's all part of experimenting, perhaps even the same part of her that is currently fascinated by make up and leaves me silently weeping in Boots as I try and dissuade her from spending her pocket money on slut red lipstick with out using the words 'cheap' 'common' or 'tart' - she is only 9, after all...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I'd rather garish food than garish lipstick any day over the week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And on that note, on Sunday, we made <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3028705/rainbow-cake" target="_blank">Rainbow Cake</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink did most of it - it's a pretty straightforward sponge recipe but she needed help with all the faffing about dividing mixture between bowls. From the child who used to say, when invited to bake "<i>Just call me when it's time to lick the bowl. Mummy</i>", this interest in baking is one I do now find myself wishing to nurture (I make no secret of the fact that I used to hate cooking with the kids). In the wake of her setting to and producing a green nutella cake single-handedly a few weeks ago -</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(flat and rather solid, but strangely tasty for all that it was a rather lurid colour), this was an opportunity to let her play fast and loose with the food colours. She was especially pleased with the rainbow stripes of cream cheese frosting across the top. We followed the recipe and used Squires Kitchen gel colours - my mum had bought a set and made the same cake a few months ago for some event; and as she was never going to make it again, she passed the colours on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only deviation from the Good Food recipe was that we used cream cheese frosting which included butter rather than the simple cream cheese and icing sugar frosting in the original recipe - my mum had found this frosting quite slimy and the towers of cake had slid around a bit...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, it's pretty spectacular. Doesn't taste brilliant, but, hey. Fur coat and no knickers isn't always a bad thing...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-27872743113615927922015-10-05T20:21:00.002+01:002015-10-05T20:38:01.510+01:00Raspberry & Chocolate Blondies<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brownies, blondies, from one bake crush to another. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JoeEZJqkPW_j_MF70LGfmvNOBvixut16v9G3gfDkSkL3ZTAtLKSOE2UEaL7Co1piJ8JFlE3nNV9wHgMc0clXexSkeD39P0xjm3O61ajeqVlQWjWHyK5uFHJnuakfwphtoOGTltFcmAxy/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JoeEZJqkPW_j_MF70LGfmvNOBvixut16v9G3gfDkSkL3ZTAtLKSOE2UEaL7Co1piJ8JFlE3nNV9wHgMc0clXexSkeD39P0xjm3O61ajeqVlQWjWHyK5uFHJnuakfwphtoOGTltFcmAxy/s320/IMG_1712.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other morning, Pink asked me if I was "<i>On energy saving mode, Mummy?</i>" To be fair to her, I had made a comment to the effect that I hadn't yet done something that morning (I forget what - it was undoubtedly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things), and she was relating this in the context of a discussion she had been having at school with a friend about how to counter an allegation of laziness. I thought it was quite inventive, and actually, I rather like the idea of being on energy saving mode, particularly now that the Indian Summer has come, rather abruptly, to a close, the mellow blue skies and hazy warmth of the last couple of weeks replaced by a rather fitful, sullen wind and rain that can't decide whether to spit, shower or torrential downpour (we've had all 3 today). That plus the fact that in the 2 days since Friday, all of a sudden, 6.30 a.m. when we are dragged from our slumber Monday to Friday, is now very dark. Yes, energy saving mode seems very attractive, as does curling up on the sofa in front of a fire and not doing much till Spring...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But life of course goes on, despite the onset of Autumn. There is work to be done, a dog to be walked (whatever the weather) and children to provide with packed lunches and to welcome home from school. These latter activities can of course be done without fancy kitchen activities when you have juggled enough and are 'in energy saving mode' (that's what shops are for, as I have come to appreciate). However, if you too feel like being in energy saving mode, yet also fancy a rather delicious home made bake every now and again, this is for you, particularly if you have a food mixer and can delegate the beating element. There's nothing innovative about the raspberry/chocolate combo, but let's face it, just as this is the time of year for apple and blackberry, plums and star anise, casserole and dumplings, why try to be adventurous? And let's face it, anything with a tin of condensed milk in it has got to be a good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Raspberry & Chocolate Blondies</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adapted from the Nigella Lawson recipe in Kitchen, you could play about with the chocolate/fruit combo. White choc and blackberries might be quite good...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">200g oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp bicarb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g unsalted butter (try and take this out of the fridge beforehand)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g soft light brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tin of condensed milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 large egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g milk chocolate chips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g raspberries</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Line a brownie tray with foil or greaseproof paper</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the oats in a bowl and sift in the flour & bicarb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beat together the butter and sugar until very pale and creamy then pop the condensed milk and beat that in until well combined.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reduce the speed, then tip in the oats & flour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beat in the egg, then mix in the chocolate, then lastly, and swiftly the raspberries. You could fold these in carefully but I quite like the raspberry ripple effect a quick beat gives the batter. And honestly, I couldn't be bothered to find a spoon...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scrape the batter into your tin, smooth it down and bake for 35-40 minutes. Use your judgement - as with brownies, you want to take this out of the oven before it's solid. The surface needs to be cooked, but with some (but not too much) wobble underneath which will solidify as it cools in the tin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once cold, you can slice it up. Apparently it freezes very well, but why would you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-52736549473659668102015-09-28T09:56:00.000+01:002015-09-28T09:56:35.634+01:00Welsh Mussels cooked in English Cider<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a strange thing, living abroad. Before we moved, I never really considered that I was moving to another country - I mean I knew Wales was distinct and had a border - hell, you even have to pay if you cross it at the Severn - but a different COUNTRY? Really?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, yes, it most definitely is. My own ignorance has had more than a couple of sharp metaphorical slaps administered over the last 18 months, particularly here, out on the West Wales coast, where you hear Welsh spoken all the time, where most primary education is in Welsh and the best thing on TV at the moment (Y Gwyll) comes with English subtitles. Yes, it's very clear that we are living in a distinct and separate country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if you ever make the mistake of thinking Wales is just a small part of Britain, think again. Just come here when Wales are playing England at the rugby, and you can be in no doubt that you are most definitely in another country. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are of course, great swathes of rugby playing in England, but here it is religion; and it is national and all encompassing. No moaning rugby widows here, oh no. Rugby seems to define the mood of the nation far more than any other part of Welsh life. Wales is, of course, as diverse as England - areas of wealth and poverty, cities, and villages, mountains and coast - and so naturally there are divisions. People have different politics, different attitudes to Europe, to the issues of the day, but mention the R word, and you will have utter unity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find the Welsh love of country fascinating and something to be immensely inspired by. It seems to come from a deep and abiding pride in and love of Wales, rather than hatred of others. The only English people I have seen express similar love of their own country seem to be motivated by hate, and this is not the case in Wales - except, perhaps where the rugby is concerned. Of course, there is still the national passion and pride supporting the Welsh rugby team - but if ever there was a time when a love inspired by hate might become apparent, it is when the boys are playing England at rugby. For days, my Facebook has been full of posts like "<i>I'm supporting Wales in the #RugbyWorldCup - and anyone playing the English</i>". And really, Saturday night, it was just as much about hiding chariots where the sun doesn't shine, about crushing the English as it was about the great game that the Welsh rugby team played. And really, it seemed like the whole of Wales (as evidenced by my Facebook) was watching. A whole country united behind their team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's all water off a duck's back to me - born in England and lived there all my life (apart from various sojourns in France) until now, and not particularly interested in the outcome of any sporting competition, I know I have enough Welsh and Scottish blood in me that I don't feel that this hatred of the English is really about ME - although I probably wouldn't argue the toss with one of my Welsh friends. The fact is, that whatever I feel, I'll probably always be 'English' in the eyes of my Welsh friends here. The Husband, well, I think he'd have preferred not to have to go into work this morning, but he took a deep breath and manned up, practising saying "<i>Well, we've got to let you win sometimes</i>" in the least bitter tone he could muster...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, we watched the game. And (don't tell the Husband) I'm glad Wales won. I love the support the team has, the unfettered pride in watching a good team play brilliantly, and of course, the way the victory is celebrated - by the way, have you seen the video of Ioan Gruffudd dancing around in his pants? If anything is worth a Welsh victory, that is...</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welsh mussels cooked in English Cider</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent the morning on Saturday before the match foraging for mussels. We're in the grip of the most gorgeous weather at the moment, so we took the opportunity to collect a couple of kilos from <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/moules-marinieres.html" target="_blank">a local beach</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our intention was to make something called 'eclade' which we've seen Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall prepare - you cook the mussels by burning pine needles over the top of them and then stir the pine infused mussels into a concoction of shallots and spinach. So while the mussels soaked in sea water, we spent the afternoon trying to find pine needles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easier said than done. We were thwarted, so instead, we cooked the mussels in cider. And very good they were too. We ate them in front of the TV watching the rugby. Welsh mussels cooked in English cider - culinary harmony, if not mirrored on the pitch.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW929Y5pIBRk3_GsaUHfmq-X-tbJ_awaGH6zu3RyX3H-XqcpbPuxipwKctAuNP2ImtbARjkNU_lmWUWOGSzjZLUEwxrOyZNiztPOcxdPNAHzjM5JL7iQ-FrT_45JsIOEPA7CJ71gihn6fs/s1600/IMG_1669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW929Y5pIBRk3_GsaUHfmq-X-tbJ_awaGH6zu3RyX3H-XqcpbPuxipwKctAuNP2ImtbARjkNU_lmWUWOGSzjZLUEwxrOyZNiztPOcxdPNAHzjM5JL7iQ-FrT_45JsIOEPA7CJ71gihn6fs/s320/IMG_1669.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About 2.5 kg mussels - cleaned and debearded</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">good knob of butter and a splash of olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 echalion shallots, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 clove of garlic, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 500ml bottle of cider</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">about 50 ml double cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">freshly ground pepper</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You also need a large heavy pan with a lid</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Melt the butter in the oil, and gently sweat the shallot and garlic until soft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tip in the cider and bring up to the boil before tipping in the cleaned, de-bearded mussels and putting on the lid tightly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cook for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the mussels have all opened, stir in the cream, and then leave to sit for a couple of minutes (if you can wait) - apparently this allows any residual grit to sink to the bottom of your pan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ladle mussels and the cooking liquid into bowls and serve - they are exceptionally good with skinny fries and decent mayo on the side, belgian style, or if you prefer, crusty bread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-21598418061365841302015-09-25T00:06:00.000+01:002015-09-25T07:14:29.524+01:00Biscotti - or what not to bake during a homework crisis...<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Failure. It's a big thing at the moment. We have to let our children fail. They fail at the little things, they learn, they become stronger, more resilient and more able to cope with adult life.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOSzU8Ie8K1BluhpwlZhpoPkK3qCBqOGo9b_VAQ7oPHqiW2WxOuMpO2YDphq8e3FTx-dwQQs1HGQPeSZkwCpWh0RcTTwhc63N2Mq7Vgilir8BB2hVcjzbMkwzXOIW9Obob6hZP9W0bYu5/s1600/second+bake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOSzU8Ie8K1BluhpwlZhpoPkK3qCBqOGo9b_VAQ7oPHqiW2WxOuMpO2YDphq8e3FTx-dwQQs1HGQPeSZkwCpWh0RcTTwhc63N2Mq7Vgilir8BB2hVcjzbMkwzXOIW9Obob6hZP9W0bYu5/s320/second+bake.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wholeheartedly agree with this approach to life. I do believe that my role is to love my children, to support them, to be on their side, and to protect them, but that as they get older, the way I do this changes and develops. They need to understand that they have responsibilities as well as the rights they are always telling me about, and that their actions have consequences. For toddlers this could be learning that not getting into the bath by the time I count to 5 means no stories (one of my least favourite evenings, that one, believe me). For 10 year olds who mess about in the morning it could mean having to get dressed in the car on the way to the bus stop (I was tempted put him on the bus in his pyjamas but decided that could wait for the next time - there wasn't one)...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far, the actions and consequences have been relatively clear cut but Blue is now at secondary school, and the world has suddenly become a more complicated place. The possibilities for failure are many, and the consequences now include such things as detentions, missing the school bus that goes from the end of the road, completely flunking school, and, most serious of all, driving his mother to COMPLETE and UTTER distraction with keeping her counsel while he works it all out</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of course, let him, I must - let him work out how to manage, how to get himself organised - and then offer support and help only when it's asked, all that good stuff. I find it incredibly stressful though - especially when he asks for help with something </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when it's most inconvenient - like while I am trying to get dressed, drink a cup of tea or even indulging in a spot of late night biscotti baking in advance of a coffee date with a friend the following morning - </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">because he left it to the last minute ...This means biting my tongue when he doesn't get out of bed till 7.30 when he has to leave for the bus at 7.55; when he leaves his homework to the last minute; when he dashes off his homework the night before it's due so he can watch old episodes of Top Gear or Scrap Heap Challenge (why? WHY???) and then reappears at bedtime worrying that he hasn't done it very well...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This last was this evening's little joy. And on inspection, he really hadn't done his homework very well. I won't go into details, but it was rubbish. We have already said to the kids that the important thing is that they do their best. And this most definitely wasn't his best. In the most reasonable tone I could manage, I said it was too late and he could either ask the teacher for extra time to finish the homework or hand it in as it was and take the consequences. He didn't take it well, and in the interests of everyone's peace of mind, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we compromised. He went to bed and hour later than normal, but a lot happier. Did I do the right thing? He produced something that was much improved and has, I hope, learnt a lesson. And I managed to keep the tirade about taking responsibility and not wasting life away in front of the TV to a minimum, and mostly - ahem - offered astute observations about how things might be achieved in a less stressful manner next time. I also over-baked my biscotti while delivering my unvitriolic advice ... Not too much, but you know, if I'd been paying more attention, they might have been a little better. Still, I think they were OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cranberry, Macadamia & Hazelnut Biscotti</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">200g mixed pack of cranberries & macadamia nuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g whole hazelnuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">250g strong white flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">grated zest of a large lemon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 large eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp rum (or you could use vanilla extract if you were feeling less stressed)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">icing sugar for dusting</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pre-heat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line a baking sheet with baking paper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a food processor, pulse the nuts and fruit a couple of times to chop them up a little.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sift the flour & baking powder together, then add the sugar, nuts & fruit and lemon zest, then combine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beat the eggs and rum together, then stir into the flour mixture and combine to form a biscuit dough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dust a work surface with icing sugar and turn the dough out. Divide it into 3 and form each piece into a log shape and place on the baking sheet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the logs on a board and slice up into 1cm biscuits - sliced on the diagonal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lay the slices back on the baking sheet and pop back into the oven for 5 -10 minutes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't engage in a discussion with your son about the best time to do his homework, and the benefits of doing the best job you can first time round. But if you do, and end up leaving the biscotti in the oven for 20 minutes they will probably be OK...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-85560557074599078102015-09-15T18:00:00.000+01:002015-09-15T18:00:00.887+01:00Chicken & Chorizo Couscous<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I know, I know, another <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/ultracomida-moor-ish-or-more-ish-corner.html" target="_blank">chorizo</a> recipe. But I was talking about this recipe on a Facebook group I'm part of and was looking to see if I'd posted it on this blog as an easy way of passing the recipe on, and I realised that I hadn't - or if I had, I couldn't find it. So here it is. Chicken & Chorizo Couscous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not a great fan of leftovers of cold meat, but for reasons of economy and saving the planet, it is better to buy a whole chicken and use it up scrupulously, down to the boiling of bones to make stock, rather than buying portions (although I do admit to buying chicken thighs occasionally). This dish has almost become a reason to have a roast chicken at the weekend in itself. It's a ridiculously easy and tasty midweek dish and if you are roasting a chicken this weekend, I suggest you keep back enough cooked meat, and boil up your bones, to knock this up early next week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is of course open to various adaptations depending on what you have in the cupboards, and I freely fiddle with quantities and ingredients. I have used tamarind paste in place of harissa, and made it veggie too. You definitely need spice of some sort, though, A bit of a kick, otherwise it's just a bit bland, especially if you're leaving out the chorizo (although why would you?). I also recommend serving with your favourite chilli sauce. Tabasco is good, as is <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/hot-smoky-bd-chilli-sauce.html" target="_blank">Hot Smoky Bastard</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And finally, seeing as how we're bring scrupulous, I believe this once came from a Good Food magazine. I can't find it on the Good Food website any more, but the index card I meticulously copied it on to (obviously when I was going through an organised phase) has the initials 'GF' by the recipe title. Anyway, I'm sure they won't mind me repeating it here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Chicken & Chorizo Couscous</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">serves 6 (allegedly - but don't bank on it if folks are hungry)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">350g couscous</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">350g cold cooked chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g cooking chorizo, skinned if necessary and diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 medium tomatoes or equivalent cherry tomatoes, chopped up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a couple of handfuls of frozen peas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">900ml hot chicken stock </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp harissa paste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">generous pinch of saffron (if you have)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground ginger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground coriander</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tbsp olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chopped fresh coriander to serve (optional - more often than not I don't have it but parsley works, or just go without).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160 fan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine the couscous, chicken, chorizo, tomatoes and frozen peas in a large dish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stir the harissa paste spices and olive oil into the stock, then pour the spicy stock mix over the couscous mixture and stir together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cover the dish with foil - or, if it has one, a lid - and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Fluff up with a fork before serving.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuODyb3GAb_Dui6q6C7feGS6Yw48CFdZhJwdolvOOhWWpMq87Mi-TNLArN7-SWYGSNo8aSKvDQlSBcHNj-n18c_l1FNJFH-4xVlUS5vPHTgGqOxB6cC28Viwpc0JBMu2vgCDCFPFqFQ22t/s1600/IMG_1388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuODyb3GAb_Dui6q6C7feGS6Yw48CFdZhJwdolvOOhWWpMq87Mi-TNLArN7-SWYGSNo8aSKvDQlSBcHNj-n18c_l1FNJFH-4xVlUS5vPHTgGqOxB6cC28Viwpc0JBMu2vgCDCFPFqFQ22t/s320/IMG_1388.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It really is that simple, and believe me when I tell you it's utterly delicious. If there are leftovers, they are great cold, the next day for lunch.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-71906843201786662142015-09-10T18:00:00.000+01:002015-09-10T18:00:00.679+01:00Caldo Verde<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It may not have escaped your notice that I was unable to leave <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/ultracomida-moor-ish-or-more-ish-corner.html" target="_blank">Ultracomida</a> empty-handed last week. Olives, sliced meats and some cooking chorizo which, in my defence, was already on the shopping list.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilppPWvDGf9_-nLert_flwcraTcneAwV5_BF5ZK9MtLaUq0p9fWgaz6i0CHZSu-AaVDCc6_B9A2qZ028KhYvEa_3WRt35Uovfui_O6DOtepSgKE1K3iw9aQ4626r2ybPzcOyrOALBWMsCl/s1600/IMG_1330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilppPWvDGf9_-nLert_flwcraTcneAwV5_BF5ZK9MtLaUq0p9fWgaz6i0CHZSu-AaVDCc6_B9A2qZ028KhYvEa_3WRt35Uovfui_O6DOtepSgKE1K3iw9aQ4626r2ybPzcOyrOALBWMsCl/s320/IMG_1330.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My love affair with chorizo continues, It may no longer be the darling of the food scene, trends move on of course (unless it's <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2015/09/britains-best-burger-recipe-and.html" target="_blank">burgers</a>) but I am (as I never hesitate to remind you) firmly of the opinion that chorizo is one of the finest things to grace this good earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And on a late summer afternoon, the sun warm, but the light removed of the harshness of hotter days, lending a lovely mellow glow to proceedings, chorizo is the perfect addition to a soup. This isn't too thick and chunky to feel wintry, more sustaining and likely to contributing a feeling of well being to your soul when you know you have more paint to apply to a small girl's bedroom - or some such travail...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found the original recipe in my slow cooker book, which tells me this is Portuguese in origin, although the name sounds distinctly Italian. Indeed, Google translate thought it was Italian too - <i>green soup</i>. Ironically didn't have the time to make it in the slow cooker, and so made it on the hob. Also, despite the addition of the cabbage at the end, this looked more like <i>zuppa arancione</i> - or <i>sopa laranje </i>(orange soup - whether Italian or Portuguese - what with the spicy chorizo and carrot). But I like the sound of Caldo Verde, so caldo verde it shall be. Just remember that this isn't a soup that you whizz up, so make sure you chop the veg into suitably small pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Caldo Verde</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good slug of olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 onions, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 fat cloves of garlic, also finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 medium sized carrots, peeled and finely diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g cooking chorizo, peeled if necessary and diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">500g potatoes - I used little baby potatoes that had been growing in the compost heap, of all places - diced into appropriate sized chunks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon of smoked paprika - I used my favourite, Chinata hot smoked paprika</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.2 litres hot chicken stock</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">125g sweetheart or savoy cabbage, finely shredded.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8T9OarfV_QNlIXkQqiU5wkSzr0mpI_OZ5bmLAYWfuj97NtlRQBma1bx_XWQ70w9en-jif70TtA65J13EW8rrg9EvZQw02jPzB7DmK4n62MyQS-dIJdibdpQZydt_5EMtRUBSkUidxwma/s1600/IMG_1337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8T9OarfV_QNlIXkQqiU5wkSzr0mpI_OZ5bmLAYWfuj97NtlRQBma1bx_XWQ70w9en-jif70TtA65J13EW8rrg9EvZQw02jPzB7DmK4n62MyQS-dIJdibdpQZydt_5EMtRUBSkUidxwma/s320/IMG_1337.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heat the olive oil in a large pan, then gently fry the onions for 5 minutes or so until starting to soften.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the garlic, carrots, chorizo, potatoes and paprika and cook for a few minutes more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pour in the hot stock, season, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the potato is cooked. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add the shredded cabbage into the pan to cook.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcoR-MDpt8HyN1Ci6YLh8czXVhdThkRC3qDC9m18CpX6CO5TOvjZGizK2EH5QeW19JTuPMafherIJYCDcruOHO0fS5NC1pKX0dagS1_biwiMyGEtAC2VQI2RBNCKrhBIZiV_t4qwXSEYi/s1600/IMG_1351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcoR-MDpt8HyN1Ci6YLh8czXVhdThkRC3qDC9m18CpX6CO5TOvjZGizK2EH5QeW19JTuPMafherIJYCDcruOHO0fS5NC1pKX0dagS1_biwiMyGEtAC2VQI2RBNCKrhBIZiV_t4qwXSEYi/s320/IMG_1351.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serve, slurp and feel restored.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-88172324983833557382015-09-08T15:35:00.001+01:002015-09-08T15:35:47.587+01:00Ultracomida - a Moor-ish (or more-ish) corner of Pembrokeshire<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The skies took on that beautiful soft blue, the sun shone, the geese started massing on the banks of the River Teifi and September was here.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO46rnH50GrpDiC7kjwnSky7_pFYroBdC7PcnDQC2KlbFbZsVSx4CfJYYtQyjoS3HBhKmVPZ95TJ679_Yi-eJRo-Pxfc5PTG9KSNRslZALZIYwzazOEd7A1U02u-70PHgM27PptMLvR5Iy/s1600/IMG_1312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO46rnH50GrpDiC7kjwnSky7_pFYroBdC7PcnDQC2KlbFbZsVSx4CfJYYtQyjoS3HBhKmVPZ95TJ679_Yi-eJRo-Pxfc5PTG9KSNRslZALZIYwzazOEd7A1U02u-70PHgM27PptMLvR5Iy/s320/IMG_1312.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rSeOi824tyVt0qG095E2f8K9XKW_Yewba0kDvsV8VT2EN1aIq_UEHvLPC0hyBhV5sxWK8VP_dnNM9HSDtare3TngwPogo1mpTYvoJ-DDOorU1OFrAnOpJd_Z6MXptUGdTvoDNX-Tq70-/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rSeOi824tyVt0qG095E2f8K9XKW_Yewba0kDvsV8VT2EN1aIq_UEHvLPC0hyBhV5sxWK8VP_dnNM9HSDtare3TngwPogo1mpTYvoJ-DDOorU1OFrAnOpJd_Z6MXptUGdTvoDNX-Tq70-/s320/IMG_1320.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hedgerows are heavy with sloes and blackberries and the house fell quiet as the<strike> slave labour </strike>children went back to school leaving me alone to harvest.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7-i0Tu3GD6mjp-vs3jj2JsxC4wCiIdHx4KcxwnA5DTqXykel_u-e7pAj2N39p8kVVdRZ8mYg4MBP042dAq3YIa1i8la97D3u0DBTomwgXVZWhht15IgyngtOEXuFNnY8C2i0aDLItI4k/s1600/IMG_1302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7-i0Tu3GD6mjp-vs3jj2JsxC4wCiIdHx4KcxwnA5DTqXykel_u-e7pAj2N39p8kVVdRZ8mYg4MBP042dAq3YIa1i8la97D3u0DBTomwgXVZWhht15IgyngtOEXuFNnY8C2i0aDLItI4k/s320/IMG_1302.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a bit of a first for me, I engineered to have a day with each of Blue & Pink on their own before they went back to school. 'Quality time' if you can bear to call it that - although I'll come clean and admit to dressing up ' making sure both of them were in all respects complete kit-wise for the new term' as 'quality time'. I was particularly keen to spend some time with Blue who has been growing up at a frightening pace recently and (gasp) has just started secondary school. Good job I did the kit check though, as I had completely forgotten to get him rugby boots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Pink's outing of choice was a perfectly easy trip to the lovely Peapod Junction, a pottery painting cafe and shop stuffed with lovely things, situated north of us, and rather delightfully in the middle of nowhere between New Quay and Llangrannog, Blue chose a slightly longer trip down to Pendine Sands, home of the <a href="http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/home/residents/theatresartsmuseums/museums/museum-of-speed/#.Ve7s4_lViko" target="_blank">Museum of Speed</a>. Pendine Sands is, of course, at low tide, a vast expanse of flat beach on teh Carmarthenshire coast which gained notoriety for a short period in the 1920s as being the international home of the land speed record. This before speeds starting getting really silly - over 200mph for all you petrol heads that follow this blog - and the action moved to the States.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, to Pendine we went, Blue and I. A land of caravan parks, cafes and a huge MoD range. If you're in the area and have 15 minutes to kill, I thoroughly recommend the Museum of Speed. Marvellous value (it cost me £2 for both of us), and despite Blue's slightly bewildered pronouncement "<i>Well, it's only got 1 car and 4 motorbikes</i>", it did that car and those motorbikes very well. There's a good little film about the heyday of Pendine as the venue for record breaking, and just enough to occupy you (even someone like me who, let's be honest, has zero interest in cars other than knowing that they can get me from A to B) before you get bored.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">15 minutes is all well and good, but what to do for the rest of the day? Well, about half way from our house to Pendine is the gorgeous Pembrokeshire town of Narberth - lovely shops, lovely cafes and home of the utterly fabulous <a href="http://www.ultracomida.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ultracomida deli & tapas bar</a>. There's a branch in Aberystwyth too, and quite simply if you have any affinity with Spanish flavours at all, it's a 'must visit'. Blue is about as big a fan of chorizo and manchego as I am, so it didn't take much to persuade him that what he really wanted to do, given that we'd exhausted Pendine pretty quickly, was to see if we could grab a spot of tapas on our way home.</span><br />
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Ultracomida is a veritable treasure trove for foodies. Stuffed to the gunnels with all manner of moorish treats, food, drinks, oils, vinegars.... sigh...<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Up till now, I've only managed forays into the deli for cheeses, chorizos and salamis, and just fabulous Spanish almonds which I could eat till they came out of my ears and I start rattling. On previous visits to Narberth, I have been thwarted either by time, or a heaving mass of people in the tapas bar, and have had to withdraw, clutching my deli counter prizes for treats at home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arrive at 11.30, however, and the breakfast crowd has departed, the lunch crowd not yet arrived. And while the full tapas menu isn't available till 12, we settled down to a platter of '<i>Embutidos</i>' (cooked meats) and a <i>'Platter de quesos</i>' (cheeses) plus complimentary olives cornichons and divine, nutty bread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's not much to say about it other than it was exactly what I was hoping for - and Blue loved it all too. It's a great thing to be able to share this love of food with him. The only thing he was slightly ambivalent about were the crisp rosemary flatbreads that came with the meats and cheeses, but I thought they were perfect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's a really convivial atmosphere promoted by the seating arrangements - no individual tables for 2 or 4, simply a couple of big tables where you grab a seat, plus a bar with high bar stools, which reminded me of the tapas bars I visited in Barcelona many years ago... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deeply satisfied, we perused the deli and chose a selection of meat to take home for the Husband and Pink to enjoy too, plus a tin of olives and some cooking chorizo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A thoroughly successful outing - and, calling in on the off chance, we even managed to score some rugby boots on sale in the sports shop in Cardigan, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-58202654212847408912015-09-03T09:21:00.002+01:002015-09-03T09:27:28.926+01:00Even better Brownies<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well hello there. Long time, no see. Hope you've been keeping well? And how was your summer? Grab a coffee & a piece of brownie and tell me how you've been.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over here at Recipe Junkie HQ it feels like it's been the summer of many things. The summer of all things Dutch, as we headed East for the Haarlem Jamborette, an international scout event that takes place not far from Amsterdam every 4 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, when we went 4 years ago, I'd just started this blog... As well as chaperoning 20 fantastic scouts & explorers for 10 days of 'scout type' fun and adventure (lighting fires, hiking, singing, camp firing, water games, plenty of outdoors), we visited Amsterdam and Utrecht, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">visited a big Dutch theme park called Walibi World, and consumed vast amounts of Dutch mayonnaise, Vla ( a type of flavoured custard that is just ambrosial) &amp Sprinkles, and prawn crackers (don't ask).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vla & Sprinkles. A true delicacy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back home, it's been the summer of</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> sheep, as we welcomed 26 woolly lodgers of the Shetland and Herdwick varieties to act as ovine grass cutters, and general providers of amusement with their surprisingly idiosyncratic sheep-like ways - especially their propensity to escape and nonchalantly stroll around the garden nibbling the roses & looking for human company...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you see why we needed the grass cutting?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been the summer of seizing the moment, and heading to the beach whenever possible - of the children choosing to go to the beach as 'the best thing ever', </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of seeing dolphins, of the exhilaration of the waves, the joy of watching everyone else go home and know that you have the beach to yourselves; </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The summer of the ghillie kettle</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiw7q55Wex98sgUayFzs28CJLWw4JzqAoQDIdatqdVe5cLgWAHDX15KuNm4a8ot-XcNnX3lEwCeUPyp89XRHRbLB8pTeUqlAgF2nuOOEoaNDuMuSoD0xLldvB-MU1VYNtBCsGt_zVFk8OI/s1600/IMG_1141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiw7q55Wex98sgUayFzs28CJLWw4JzqAoQDIdatqdVe5cLgWAHDX15KuNm4a8ot-XcNnX3lEwCeUPyp89XRHRbLB8pTeUqlAgF2nuOOEoaNDuMuSoD0xLldvB-MU1VYNtBCsGt_zVFk8OI/s320/IMG_1141.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turns out that brewing up on the sand after a swim, usually wrapped up in a fleece (it may have been sunny, it hasn't always been warm), and then drinking it with a home made welsh cake or other bake, is one of my favourite things (funny that).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been the summer we finally made it up Cadair Idris - not the highest mountain in Wales, but one that's been on the Husband's bucket list for sometime. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A view!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which way?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it's been a summer of sunsets</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunset over the River Teifi</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a summer of family and friends as people finally sussed out that we really do live in a fantastic place, and we've welcomed visitors - some for an hour, some for a week and everything in between.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a summer of fruit as the garden we have inherited has revealed gooseberries, red currants, blackcurrants, plums and now apples. The greengages are on the way too. There has been much rejoicing and jamming; stoning, freezing and the promise of crumble to come as Autumn creeps in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's also been a summer of community - starting to get to know our neighbours; working out who can sell you eggs in your hour of baking need; knowing that in times of crisis, like if you get the lawnmower stuck & set fire to the grass, at least 3 people will come running with buckets of water (ahem); working out how you can help them back; and the summer of understanding that there's stiff competition in the village in all things produce related.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And on that note, it has been the summer of the brownie. Not just any brownie though - the summer of my even better PRIZE WINNING chocolate brownie. Indeed. 2nd prize in the Ferwig Show. The final detail of flaked almonds on top came after the show. I'll nail it next year (not that I'm competitive or anything). Sadly, my jam came nowhere...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Chocolate Brownie</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to a dinner party earlier in the summer when we had a coeliac amongst our guests, I had a bag of gluten free flour in the cupboards and have been experimenting. I'm not sure if it makes any difference, but it's good to know that it works supremely well in this bake - bring on the gluten free! What undoubtedly does make a difference is the presence of ground almonds which adds to the squodge factor in a most delightful way. After all, there's not much more disappointing than an insufficiently squodgy brownie - at least in culinary terms. Finally, the combination of milk & dark chocolate nails this recipe, as it means it's chocolatey enough for me, but not so dark that Pink won't eat it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">375g unsalted butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">200g milk chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">175g dark chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g gluten free (or just plain) flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">125 g ground almonds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a good pinch fine sea salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 large eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tbsp vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">350g caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">50g flaked almonds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your tin needs to be approx 33 by 23 cm and around 5 cm deep.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Line the tin with greaseproof paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if you're using blocks of chocolate, chop them up quite finely - or buy drops. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the butter & chocolate in a large pan and melt gently together, then leave to cool for a couple of minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sift the flour and combine with the ground almonds and salt.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the melted butter & chocolate has cooled for a bit, beat in the egg mixture, then the flour mixture, making sure everything is combined.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scrape into the prepared tin, sprinkle the flaked almonds on top, then bake for 25-ish minutes, but check at 20 - you don't want to over cook these beauties. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You're looking for light and a little cracked on top, but still dark and dense underneath. if you're a brownie virgin, I'd recommend making these a few times, just to get the hang of it, you understand...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way - a good tip for slicing these babies - put the cooled brownie in the fridge, and then after it's cold, use a hot knife to slice cleanly through. A great tip that I pinched from the fabulous <a href="http://vicnorth.co.uk/" target="_blank">Vicky North </a>- who also planted the idea of using the ground almonds in my head...</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-443071057371157942015-07-07T17:22:00.003+01:002015-07-07T17:22:35.453+01:00On being a stem cell donor<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll try and explain succinctly, but I have been oddly reluctant to post this, but here it is - it's now or never: I'm going to be a stem cell donor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not just sign up on the register. Actually do it. I'm a match - for a person - someone in the States as it happens - who needs stem cells. Incredible. I'm a 1 in 33,000 chance for someone. Another human. Incredible that after everything we went through with Blue (who didn't need stem cells, but I can tell you I would have sold my body to the highest bidder to get them should he have done so), that I can do this. Incredible that medicine has advanced so much that this is possible, that I can help someone like this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course it's not at all about me. Sure, I feel elated, emotional and just a little bit proud that it's me, but this is really all about </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the many people (and their families) struggling with vile, insidious diseases, desperate for a glimmer of hope. After everything that happened with my boy, even though he didn't need a transplant of stem cells, bone marrow or otherwise, I think I am qualified to say that I know a little bit what this person and his or her family are going through. Not perhaps the specifics, but I have been in the situation where you know you would do absolutely anything, give anything, to make the person you love better, and have felt the desperation that comes with being essentially powerless, unable to do anything except rage and pray and hope that it will all come good. So yes, jolly good of me for putting my name forward, and for going ahead, yes, well done. But the reason I'm writing this is because if it means one more person signs up to the<a href="http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/" target="_blank"> British Bone Marrow Registry </a>as a result, that's potentially another family who will have that hope.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of course, it's also about that one person who I match - who may still not be well enough, in the end, to go through with the transplant. But it's getting closer, and I'm hopeful that the chance can be seized, that the donation and subsequent transplant can go ahead, that there's a future for this person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I live my life based on the fact that if I worry about something enough, it just won't happen. It doesn't always work in reverse - I've never, ever worried about winning the lottery, and, you guessed it - no jackpot rollover for me (although the fact that I never buy a ticket might have something to do with that). But the Husband has never been killed in a terrible motorway pile up, for example. I have never been raped and murdered in my bed. I have never, EVER been attacked by the monster of unspecified nature that lives in the wardrobe (although I am careful to always close the wardrobe door before I go to bed...)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the flip side, donating my stem cells? Never gave it a moment's thought. As I've said before, I'm relatively embarrassed that I didn't make more of an effort to give blood before <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/an-amazing-reason-to-eat-dark-chocolate.html" target="_blank">Blue was diagnosed with leukaemia 9 years ago</a>. Once I was able to donate, after Pink was born, I have donated whenever I can. During one of those donations, I must have signed up to the bone marrow registry, but it's never been something I've thought much about. All the publicity makes it clear that they really, REALLY need donors from other ethnic backgrounds to my bog standard White British, and really, it never crossed my mind that I might actually be called upon. But called upon I have been, and given that I have a voice, albeit quiet a small, quiet one, I thought I'd use it to try and spread the word a bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what's happened? Well since the initial </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You're a possible match</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">" contact, ov</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">er the last 8 weeks, I have had a whole series of blood tests from the initial </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tests that confirmed I was the best match for this patient, through to tests and a medical to making sure I am fit and healthy enough to donate (I am - whoop! - I was even described as YOUNG and healthy. How good was that?!), and more blood tests - a whole 15 vials which made the nurse at the doctors' surgery here in Cardigan blanch slightly first thing on a Monday morning a couple of weeks ago, to be sent off in 3 different courier kits... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now I am waiting. The final arrangements in place, and assuming the patient has started his or her 'conditioning therapy' to prepare to receive the stem cells, I will be visited by a nurse starting on Thursday for a series of daily injections to persuade my stem cells to poke their little powerhouses from above the parapet of my hip bone and start circulating round my blood stream. Then on Sunday I head to Bristol for an 8.15 am appointment on Monday morning where I will be hooked up to a machine for the donation process. My blood will be taken from my left arm, fed into a machine which separates off the stem cells and then returned to my right arm. I've been told it will take around 4-5 hours - so I've got my kindle loaded up... And my stem cells, well they'll be loaded up and packed off with a courier on a plane to somewhere in the USA. That's all I know - and all I will know for a couple of years at least. But I'm really hopeful that in a couple of years time, I'll find out that it worked. That someone got to live because I'd signed up to the Bone Marrow Register.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been brilliantly supported by the lovely ladies and the Bone Marrow Registry in Bristol - who have answered all my questions, sorted me out train tickets and made sure everything runs smoothly. if you're worried about how this might impact on your financially, the procedure is fully expensed, even including expenses for a partner who has to accompany you, and - in my case, when I went for my medical, a day of 'dogsitting' for Fred the dog. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what more can I say? Don't leave a comment saying '<i>wow how brilliant</i>', or '<i>good for you</i>' - leave a comment telling me you've signed up - and I know not everyone can donate blood, but if you can, please do. Please make room in your life once every 3 months to <a href="http://www.blood.co.uk/" target="_blank">donate a pint</a>; and sign up to the bone marrow registry. You may never be called. But you just might. You just might be able to save someone else's life, to give another family some hope - and all for just a little inconvenience in your own life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find out more about the British Bone Marrow Registry <a href="http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/index.asp" target="_blank">here</a>. If you register you become part of an international community of possible donors - my stem cells will be going to the States, which is unusual but as there was presumably no one on the US registers, the search was widened internationally, which is reassuring because if you or one of your family needed a transplant, there's a potentially wide pool available. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So go on - if you can - and do it. Sign up and tell me you've done it. Make the pool even bigger. You never know who might need it.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-89874668342011755582015-07-01T20:01:00.000+01:002015-07-01T20:01:00.844+01:00Lemon Orange and Elderflower Marmalade<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was saying the other day, (in a round about sort of way), it's the start of the season of fruitfulness, gooseberries in the garden, elderflowers sprinkling the hedgerows with their intoxicating scent, strawberries and redcurrants ripening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made elderflower cordial last week, and reluctant to chuck away the sliced lemons and oranges, cast about for a means to use them up - after all, it's not as if they'd been boiled for hours or anything, simply steeped in elderflower infused sugar syrup.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend had already offered Darina Allen's very sensible use for the lemon slices - freezing them and using in G&Ts, but I recalled a marmalade that I've made before, and wanted to recreate it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a lovely, floral marmalade - I<i> </i>really can't recommend it highly enough. If you've made <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/elderflower-cordial.html" target="_blank">elderflower cordial</a>, it's pretty easy to make - and quite forgiving. Life kept intervening so it took me the best part of 3 days to get from infused slices to jars of marmalade, which finally materialised on Sunday morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't made elderflower cordial, you'll have to find a different recipe. Obvs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lemon Orange and Elderflower Marmalade</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 lemons and 3 oranges, thinly sliced, retrieved once you strained your <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/elderflower-cordial.html" target="_blank">elderflower cordial</a> into bottles. You can bin the elderflowers though - they will have had it by now.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8siKxgJDVbNTUIa5xL5v-jy2ck9qxfpbpyWDWrwVunjfjZReAHWQxZoRrQG4GdotRTKwNJbwgkmOEhwOWmw_aO4JBqHDwALo96HoVjaVGJqn9b6vAqanoktjmjQINyi8V0hWMuF4XgW_F/s1600/IMG_0544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8siKxgJDVbNTUIa5xL5v-jy2ck9qxfpbpyWDWrwVunjfjZReAHWQxZoRrQG4GdotRTKwNJbwgkmOEhwOWmw_aO4JBqHDwALo96HoVjaVGJqn9b6vAqanoktjmjQINyi8V0hWMuF4XgW_F/s320/IMG_0544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1kg (give or take) caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">300ml elderflower cordial</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4-5 sterilised jars</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the sliced fruit into a pan, just cover with water and bring to the boil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simmer gently until the peel is really soft - it took about an hour but it could take up to 2.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strain and reserve the liquid, and chop the fruit up as finely as you like, taking care to remove any pips as you go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weigh the fruit and then measure our double the amount of sugar. I had approximately 500g of fruit, so I used 1 kg of sugar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Measure the reserved boiling liquid and add the 300ml of cordial. If necessary make the amount up to the equivalent liquid measure as the sugar using tap water - so for my 1 kg of sugar, I had 1 litre of liquid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put the chopped fruit, sugar and 1 litre of liquid into a suitable pan, bring to the boil and keep going till you reach setting point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How you test to confirm this I leave up to you - jam thermometers, cold plates. I suffer terribly from what I call 'setting point stress' and usually combine at least 2 methods. In this case, 105C on the jam thermometer and cold plate worked.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoAWwdYWih8Nj1F5MeFC8km9fjfqCZSPfoY1FIxFhJqHIXo8uTJo7voN-gRYFfAdylNpyKToyF3ipAb2jjTimZae0RoyBZl0ZA_C5jhp9fvZXjez_CQsosI3ZMffHeSjr9gXlUlB_DsfO/s1600/IMG_0559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoAWwdYWih8Nj1F5MeFC8km9fjfqCZSPfoY1FIxFhJqHIXo8uTJo7voN-gRYFfAdylNpyKToyF3ipAb2jjTimZae0RoyBZl0ZA_C5jhp9fvZXjez_CQsosI3ZMffHeSjr9gXlUlB_DsfO/s320/IMG_0559.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Decant your marmalade into jars, and Bob, as they say...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZdQWlFr2RTpF4MtHCgihgbM1rEqO5FkdnyvcbZ9nEZ2xlBx1Uo9ArWiJTxM5TYVsbnuhcxd7Zooex7jkbCnD7X0PanxBbFHK709h8kkHw703UgaVHShRd9VwCE4_96DZ81Fa-Ts9STCe/s1600/IMG_0560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZdQWlFr2RTpF4MtHCgihgbM1rEqO5FkdnyvcbZ9nEZ2xlBx1Uo9ArWiJTxM5TYVsbnuhcxd7Zooex7jkbCnD7X0PanxBbFHK709h8kkHw703UgaVHShRd9VwCE4_96DZ81Fa-Ts9STCe/s320/IMG_0560.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-13945793540191282602015-06-30T23:17:00.000+01:002015-07-01T20:01:45.435+01:00Elderflower cordial<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The children have introduced a new game to our in-car entertainment repertoire. Not one to be dragged out by us parents at the first "<i>are we nearly there yet</i>" to a chorus of groans. Oh no.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This game has captured their imaginations and taken over even our shortest journey. And the name of this game? "Yellow Car". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heard of it? I'm sure you will do.</span><br />
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Now, you might think a game that is so absorbing would be a winner, but let me tell you, if you're not already familiar, it absolutely is not. The premise is that every time you see a yellow car you punch/pinch the other passengers and shout "<i>Yellow Car!</i>". Not exactly rocket science. The problem is that we've become completely obsessed. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And there are more yellow cars on the road than you might think, leading not only to yellow cars, but also to a preponderance of purple upper arms where the bruises are...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have ridiculous arguments about orange and gold cars. Do diggers count? (Cue "<i>We're not playing yellow VEHICLES...</i>" in an outraged tone). I understand that there is a variation called 'Yellow Everything', but, reflecting that every car journey would turn into some kind of out of control slap-fest due to there being yellow dandelions, buttercups and celandines adorning the roadsides, yellowing fields, yellow painted houses (Cardigan is a town of brightly coloured dwellings), I have banned it.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yellow Car remains, though, and I find myself mentally playing the game when I'm in the car on my own, clocking where yellow cars are parked, retaining the intelligence for later in the hope of gaining the upper hand. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that I'm competitive or anything. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week, not only was I frantically on the look out for yellow cars, I was also keeping my eye out for elderflowers, and feeling increasingly frustrated as I either managed to miss the bushes (too pre-occupied with the cars) or didn't have anything to harvest the frothy, intoxicating flowers. Ridiculous, as it turns out we have 3 elderflower bushes in the garden.</span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many, many recipes for elderflower cordial around. I started with Sarah Raven's version in her Garden Cookbook, but made free given that I didn't have any limes (an unusual addition that I haven't seen in many other recipes) and Cardigan was all out of citric acid...</span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Elderflower Cordial</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20-25 heads of elderflower</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 oranges</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 lemons </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.5 kg sugar</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gently wash the elderflowers to remove any little bugs that have come home with you.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dissolve the sugar in a large pan with 1.5 litres of water, then bring to the boil. Add the flowers to the pan, then when the water has come back up to the boil, remove the pan from the heat.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinly slice the oranges and lemons and put them in a large bowl, then tip the hot syrup and the elderflowers on top of the fruit, stir then cover with a tea towel or somesuch. Leave to steep for 24 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of the 24 hours, strain the cordial into sterilised bottles or suitable freezing containers (it freezes very well), then enjoy. Oh, and don't discard the oranges and lemons - I've got <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lemon-orange-and-elderflower-marmalade.html" target="_blank">something you can make with them</a>...</span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are many uses for elderflower cordial besides just diluting it with cold water (which is wonderfully refreshing). It tastes fabulous with gin, and is a great addition to any gooseberry dish you might be thinking of - and you should given that gooseberries are also in season.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-57057626956254579312015-06-23T19:14:00.001+01:002015-06-23T19:18:21.975+01:00Carrot SaladAs vegetables go, I'm not a huge fan of carrots. I know they are cheap and easy to prepare but I prefer my veg green. I also have a problem with carrots if they have been cut into rounds rather than sticks. Ridiculous. I know. But think back to when you had school dinners. I can't claim this as fact but I'm fairly sure my hallowed halls of education subjected us to tinned carrots cut into rounds. Bearing little resemblance to what any sensible person now understand as a carrot, I think this is where my prejudice comes from...<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xEL8T4gX_BD5cGmvp2vT6mpdLWqU9heBR1asutIFkxbtkRsfSguWQGa68nVDC8mGlXV_xR5yO9AXuUqtMJ0qaWjUsp3vTaDTZb1eaCqmBqcjh9gr1VltCZCqQvc98qsi5lxvfUoGCIdR/s640/blogger-image--1953646866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xEL8T4gX_BD5cGmvp2vT6mpdLWqU9heBR1asutIFkxbtkRsfSguWQGa68nVDC8mGlXV_xR5yO9AXuUqtMJ0qaWjUsp3vTaDTZb1eaCqmBqcjh9gr1VltCZCqQvc98qsi5lxvfUoGCIdR/s640/blogger-image--1953646866.jpg"></a></div><br><div><br></div><div>I always have carrots knocking around - great for packed lunches for the kids - easy veg when there are additional small people for tea, soups etc But rarely have carrots been the star of the show. </div><div><br></div><div>Recently however that has changed, thanks to a recipe that I believe originates with Leon. Having had the opportunity to peruse the actual recipe, my version ( or versions - this is very adaptable) aren't actually much like the original Happy Carrit Salad, but it has made me see carrots in a whole new light - and this, or a version thereof, has featured at least once a week for the last few months. </div><div><br></div><div>Not only is it delicious, it is also so sime that it will definitely make you happy. And if it doesn't, it will at least perk up your dinner. You will, however notice, that the carrots remain in sticks. Just don't try it with rounds.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Carrot Salad</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>6-7 biggish carrots, peeled if necessary and roughly grated. I use the grater attachment ony trusty food processor which keeps a certain texture to the carrots.</div><div><br></div><div>100g pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted till they start to pop</div><div><br></div><div>Juice of 1 lime</div><div><br></div><div>2 tbsp smoky chipotle chilli sauce (or sweet chilli sauce)</div><div><br></div><div>1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil</div><div><br></div><div>Combine the carrots and pumpkin seeds in a dish.</div><div><br></div><div>Mix together the lime juice, chilli sauce and oil.</div><div><br></div><div>Dress the carrots.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMxYWZ_aFRPRxt-wBlHiES56lFmkvzjqmmTBS-ulZ3zAI7029IJtZC_tL16nAQYr8Ekv2dU_ddhcdVDGPvNTZ4MI9siEGM2N-wUeZ9Q7mMAgt2kcsfopBc9ZX2YzyU6h3oL1kuykz-rwp/s640/blogger-image-1859443916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMxYWZ_aFRPRxt-wBlHiES56lFmkvzjqmmTBS-ulZ3zAI7029IJtZC_tL16nAQYr8Ekv2dU_ddhcdVDGPvNTZ4MI9siEGM2N-wUeZ9Q7mMAgt2kcsfopBc9ZX2YzyU6h3oL1kuykz-rwp/s640/blogger-image-1859443916.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Simples.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-74950693006745992932015-06-22T23:31:00.000+01:002015-06-22T23:31:03.789+01:00Macaroni & Cauliflower Cheese - with crispy bits<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday, I had a rare day with Pink. Just her and me, and an important mission. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, not macaroni cheese. We'll get to that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A rite of passage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The piercing of the ears. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She's only 9 - and to be honest, I'd have rather waited for a couple more years (after all, </span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I</i></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> had to wait...) but in the end, there are probably bigger battles to fight, more traumatic ground to stand firm on, and I'd managed to defer the deed for over a year in a fairly amicable way and without actually lying about anything... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was her birthday present back in May, and although we had agreed to wait until the beginning of the summer holidays to avoid plasters over ears during PE lessons etc, in the end, the opportunity presented itself this weekend, so we did it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now if you have daughters (or sons) of ear-piercing age (whatever that might be in your house) there is then a decision to be made - where do you go? There is a certain chain of high street accessory retailers who shall remain nameless, which appears to have cornered the market in ear piercing, but don't have much of a reputation to go by. Pink was fairly set on this option, but when I called up the branch in Aberystwyth, I was distinctly underwhelmed and decided to think again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking again offered me an alternative - but one, I have to say, that I baulked at. When the choice is Claire's Accessories (whoops) or a tattoo parlour, what would you do? I thought to myself, "<i>What shall I do?</i>", and called the establishment concerned. Tattoo Man sounded very knowledgeable on the phone and told me all about how he pierced ears (and anything else - I had to be very clear that I was bringing my <b><i>9 year old</i></b> for her <b><i>ears</i></b> to be pierced). Pink was remarkably sanguine when I told her where we were going, too - she's into conforming at the moment, and I was prepared for an onslaught of the "<i>But Mummy, everyone else went to Claire's Accessories</i>"s but it didn't come, so that settled the matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having never visited a tattoo parlour before IN MY LIFE (I have had a very sheltered life, despite what I like to think), I had no real idea what to expect. Suffice to say that it pretty much lived up to most of the wild imaginings of my brain. The Tattoo Man was tall with wild grey hair, a few teeth missing, tattoos down to his wrists (but not on his face) and sporting <i>eau de stale fags.</i> He also sported dubious taste in interior decor, limited patience with neurotic mothers, and a consent form which included a statement regarding genital warts (if relevant to the piercing required).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<i>Mummy, what are genital warts?</i>"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's one of those defining moments as a parent, isn't it - how you react to something like this. I digress for a moment, but all things sex are very much on our agenda as Blue's year 6 class are due to have THE TALK (as he keeps referring to it) in a couple of weeks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early on as a parent, I took the decision to be as honest as possible with the kids and to talk without embarrassment or judgement about sex and all things related. To try and give them the facts but in a context. It's not always been easy - but when Pink, at the age of about 3 asked "<i>But Mummy how does the baby get in to your tummy? Is it down your throat?</i>" I knew that I couldn't just fob it off. The result is that, despite having to repeat the mechanics of sex on a number of occasions, and my perhaps over engineered attempts to put it all in the context of loving relationships (be they hetero or homosexual), about being safe and respecting your bodies, and all that stuff that I wish someone had talked to me about earlier, they both understand what happens. And I'm glad - because when Pink asked the genital wart question, and Tattoo Man raised his eyebrows at me, I could just say quite matter of factly (I like to think) that they were nasty things a bit like verrucas that people sometimes get on their 'bits' (to be honest, I'm slightly hazy as to what genital warts actually are), and all she said was "<i>But do people want to get their bits pierced? Urgh, that's DISGUSTING</i>".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Tattoo Man was impressed (although obviously not with the likelihood that he'd lost a future genital piercing customer). Not only that, but he popped his specs on and was super careful to mark Pink's ears so the earrings would be in the right place, meticulous with the cleaning of everything, and lavish with his praise of how brave she was (I mean she was, but it's always nice to be told). It was also, I have to say, significantly cheaper than the high street chain. Make of that what you will. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we walked out, rather than mourning the mutilation of Pink's beautiful ears, I felt elated, like I'd stepped out of my comfort zone and won - questions about genital wart answered, and hopefully a seed sewn that will prevent any more dubious piercings in the future. My work here is done etc etc. And to be honest, her ears do look very pretty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We returned from the sprawling metropolis that is Aberystwyth (well, they do have 3G) back to our haven, and to less sophisticated matters. Pink wanted to camp out, and we'd decided that we'd have macaroni and cauliflower cheese for tea - with extra crispy bits (not the kind of bits that get genital warts, I hasten to add).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as much as the ear piercing was a bit of a mother-daughter bonding experience so was sharing this dish. It's pretty much everything that Blue hates, food-wise</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and the Husband prefers it with bacon, but for the girl and me, just as it comes is just fine. Not too much sauce, and crispy on top.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Macaroni & Cauliflower Cheese</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">150g macaroni pasta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 small caulflower, cut into florets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">25g or so unsalted butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 heaped tbsp plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">semi-skimmed milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">75g cheddar cheese (or to taste), grated</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">freshly ground salt & pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 slice bread</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">25g parmesan or grano pardana cheese, finely grated</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pre-heat your oven to 180C.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bring a large pan (preferably one with a steamer attachment) of salted water to the boil. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the macaroni and cook according to the packet instructions, steaming the cauli over the top till just cooked. If you don't have a steamer attachment, chuck the cauli in with the macaroni about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the macaroni is cooking, melt the butter in a small pan, then stir in the flour to make a smooth paste, and cook for a few seconds. add a little milk and stir, the gradually add a little more and a little more until you have quite a thick, smooth sauce - you want have a huge amount of sauce, no more than necessary to just coat the cooked pasta and cauli.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the grated cheddar and a grind of salt and pepper and cook out for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grease a shallow oven proof dish, add the drained macaroni, and the steamed cauli, then pour over the cooked sauce and stir it through the pasta and veg, making sure everything is coated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whizz your bread into crumbs and combine with the parmesan, then sprinkle this over the top of the cheese pasta, then pop in the oven and bake till the pasta and cauli are hot again and the topping is crunchy and golden.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate it outside in the midsummer evening, then lit a fire, drank hot chocolate and spent a night in the tent. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsy5vsp2Wcld6yn04vujd7YCQUgQVTlhvlzPnPiSv0kFTleoh0qYMSlOQfwAc0R0IFh23QEL-FNPQP8t0UtuCdJZxLsqV5Yz-i3KGZjczSb0OWVm0vQ93EPgt6vj7JUahA9GwNP9Ct1gYt/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsy5vsp2Wcld6yn04vujd7YCQUgQVTlhvlzPnPiSv0kFTleoh0qYMSlOQfwAc0R0IFh23QEL-FNPQP8t0UtuCdJZxLsqV5Yz-i3KGZjczSb0OWVm0vQ93EPgt6vj7JUahA9GwNP9Ct1gYt/s320/IMG_0477.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Girl power.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-89818766645463713672015-06-12T23:16:00.000+01:002015-06-12T23:16:52.327+01:00Baked Scotch Eggs<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was, apparently, Eleanor Roosevelt that said "Do one thing everyday that scares you".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do I agree that this is a basis for a life well-lived? I think, on balance, yes. I scare myself every day, in negative (</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">driving too fast down narrow country lanes to get the kids to the bus in the morning) and positive (putting myself out there for work - in fact, being freelance scares me low level all the time in a "<i>what if no one wants me to work for them</i>" kind of way then realising that people do want me to work for them) ways, and on balance, I think scaring yourself in a positive kind of way is a good thing. The negative kind of scaring, where nothing positive comes out of it at the end (apart from getting the kids on to the bus, thereby avoiding an additional 20 minutes drive) is not so good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this is all fairly pointless pondering for the moment. I don't have to scare myself any more for at least 6 months, because last weekend, I went coasteering and scared the complete bejesus out of myself - in an exhilarating and positive "<i>definitely do it again</i>" kind of way. And this kind of scaring yourself is something I'd totally recommend, and makes me understand exactly what Eleanor Roosevelt was talking about. About stepping out of your comfort zone - in this case, quite literally: 12 m jump into the Blue Lagoon anyone - and surviving. Feeling the fear and doing it anyway never felt so real or so amazing. And when your 9 year old daughter has done it first, really, there's no option...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtq5kgtF_uZF0KdGr2I3IDkTdGDTty9rwK3fnR9_6fh4k9qiknr4AH_plRJ5-1Ekk53YrIp68GGoRHrqG8ky_2mA4OUrSf5Y02CJas4w2K_mwrt17lnvu26JsTf2gx1a6FdL1npQW-9WYz/s1600/P1160309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtq5kgtF_uZF0KdGr2I3IDkTdGDTty9rwK3fnR9_6fh4k9qiknr4AH_plRJ5-1Ekk53YrIp68GGoRHrqG8ky_2mA4OUrSf5Y02CJas4w2K_mwrt17lnvu26JsTf2gx1a6FdL1npQW-9WYz/s320/P1160309.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>(this is me, btw, not the daughter)</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I've wittered on <i>ad nauseam </i>on here, the coastline where we live is completely stunning, and what better way to enjoy it than kitted up and with the full immersion of clambering over swimming round, leaping off and generally enjoying the coastline a little bit further away from the madding crowd. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abereiddy, Pembrokeshire was our destination</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRjpdX5Gkd8n0oRc6bqhPtxFpgreH-1QTLWY8xT7vumgSOiyytwnSDfaqZOsSNOfFjRDLcBq3U1pp3F0aAs3K-SW_wQ9spopkhYcbxmigRwCuPDMbKbUOjSMyyP7zG9yJIUfPR9cTJlHT/s1600/IMG_0367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRjpdX5Gkd8n0oRc6bqhPtxFpgreH-1QTLWY8xT7vumgSOiyytwnSDfaqZOsSNOfFjRDLcBq3U1pp3F0aAs3K-SW_wQ9spopkhYcbxmigRwCuPDMbKbUOjSMyyP7zG9yJIUfPR9cTJlHT/s320/IMG_0367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.celticquestcoasteering.com/" target="_blank">Celtic Quest Coasteering</a> our amazingly fun, competent, utterly confidence-inspiring guides as we donned wetsuits, helmets, bouyancy aids, gloves and set off for one of the most brilliant and terrifying afternoons I've had for a long time, albeit that I had to spend quite a lot of time trying not to lose my contact lenses....</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx1M92DhzOyijXOMdXu0HXAoxFBAyH9ZWJZ-0_EJ0CTw1yMI4G8x6FtuFKlIDMvepbWadp8t_bI2vdvGOw6mQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And to fuel this afternoon of adrenaline, baked scotch eggs: lovely eggs from our new neighbours' chickens, sausage & bacon from the butcher, my latest chilli sauce discovery, from <a href="http://www.estellesgowergoodies.co.uk/" target="_blank">Estelle's Gower Goodies</a> and some homegrown chives... And because they are baked, they are healthy. Or less bad for you than the deep fried variety. Not very scary, but hey, you can't have anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Baked Scotch Eggs</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for 5 Scotch eggs</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnfOEU15Gke9pnzd3LRUCcuTsSq2GQ808J7ZQ1y8CVum67y-hw601XfrOIGDSPsGeHusHdKyqRizck6980wEmcyPVltemR5wCNlR6ViBpgUkwsmfLFa2bjhvhM9PUTvS1bVPrvv5W2wi1/s1600/IMG_0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnfOEU15Gke9pnzd3LRUCcuTsSq2GQ808J7ZQ1y8CVum67y-hw601XfrOIGDSPsGeHusHdKyqRizck6980wEmcyPVltemR5wCNlR6ViBpgUkwsmfLFa2bjhvhM9PUTvS1bVPrvv5W2wi1/s320/IMG_0389.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 large eggs - free range, organic, from your neighbour, if possible...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 shallots, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 fat pork sausages, skinned (about 350g sausage meat)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-2 tablespoons chilli sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 slice of brown bread, turned into breadcrumbs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">good handful of chives (or parsley), finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 slices of streaky bacon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You also need a muffin tin - one with deep holes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hardboil your eggs - I do this by putting the eggs in a pan and covering to about 1 cm depth with cold water. Bring the water to the boil, then simmer the eggs for around 6-7 minutes. If you over cook them you start to get horrid black lines round the yolk, and also I like the yolks being not quite solid. But if you're pregnant or cooking for babies or small children, you probably wan to simmer for 8 minutes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once cooked for the requisite time, plunge the eggs into cold water to stop them cooking, and leaving the shells till needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn your oven on to 200C/180 fan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gently sweat off the shallots in a little olive oil for 10-15 minutes, then set aside to cool a little.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine the sausage meat, cooled shallot, chilli sauce, breadcrumbs, chopped chives and a good grind of pepper until well mixed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peel the hardboiled eggs (one of my favourite cooking things to do).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Divide the sausage mixture into 5 and then flatten a portion of sausage into your hand and wrap an egg in it, squidging and shaping as you go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When all eggs are wrapped, cut the rashers of bacon in half, then stretch each half with the back of a knife and wrap each sausage-coated egg in a piece of bacon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pop each bacon wrapped, sausage coated egg into a hole in the muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove from the muffin tin onto some kitchen paper to get rid of any more fat which hasn't drained into the bottom of the muffin tin, then l</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eave to cool and enjoy as if it were your last meal, before heading off for adventure...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Linking this up with the <a href="http://www.belleaukitchen.com/2015/06/simply-eggcellent-4-anything-goes.html" target="_blank">Simply Eggcellent</a> challenge on Belleau Kitchen where for June, 'anything goes'...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-31363476770521948032015-06-06T22:43:00.001+01:002015-06-06T22:43:45.989+01:00Salmon on a board<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food, like music, is something that can instantly transport me to a time or place, intricately associated with feelings - usually happy ones, I have to say - I don't have many bad memories associated with food (apart from <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-tripe-will-out.html" target="_blank">tripe</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My memories of 2 trips to the States, for example, are chiefly those of the $10 lobster dinners, corn dogs, and frozen margaritas the Husband and I enjoyed on our first proper holiday together to New Orleans, and of a fabulous salad with deliciously cold white wine my friends and I ate on a roof top garden in Manhattan - very Sex and the City, although we were none of us searching for love, only enjoying each others company for a long weekend...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">France is enmeshed with a series of memories for me - lusciously ripe peaches and tomatoes purchased from road side stalls on the south west Mediterranean coast, the freshest tower of <i>fruits de mer</i> eaten in a restaurant on a harbour wall somewhere on the Cherbourg peninsula - the crabs being fished to order out of the sea, snails eaten in various guises, the first - and only - meat fondue I've ever had, at the age of 16, the day after I arrived for an exchange visit with a family that I am still in touch with nearly 30 years later... And salmon, nailed to a board and cooked over a fire, Finnish style, when I was an au pair in my late teens, early 20s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The salmon always fascinated me. The family I was helping out had moved to an old farmhouse that was being renovated. The kitchen was out of action and we were BBQ-ing most days. The father of the family, Bruno, would appear home from work with various delicacies, and one evening, announced we would be having <i>saumon Finlandais.</i> I can't remember what it tasted like (unusual) but the mere fact that it was cooked in such an unconventional manner and was edible, amazed me. At that point, I hadn't done much in the way of camping...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it's always been on my mind to recreate this, and it turns out the Husband wanted to try it too, and eager to create some memories (not necessarily food-related) for the kids, we headed down to our local beach, Mwnt, for some late afternoon bodyboarding and a cookout on the beach. I'd like to say we caught our fish but we didn't, but you can't have everything, can you...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And literally, all you do is get a decent piece of wood - we had some oak board, nail your piece of salmon to it,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and wedge it next to your fire while it cooks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can always cook some sausages while you're waiting...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd love to be able to include beautiful shots here of the food on the beach, perfectly styled, but this is what really happened, - beach food, that we ate...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And another food memory - 6 months pregnant with Blue, in Winchester with the Husband's amazing Great Aunt visiting from Australia, eating juicy cherries in the Cathedral grounds on a blazing hot day. Every time I've eaten cherries since, I've thought of that moment. But we had cherries this evening, after the salmon, bought from a local market garden, <a href="http://www.glebelandsmarketgarden.co.uk/" target="_blank">Glebelands</a>, this morning. We ate them as the sun finally dropped behind the 'mwnt' itself...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think perhaps cherries will trigger a new memory from now on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-40104855004202494572015-06-01T21:33:00.000+01:002015-06-01T21:36:18.285+01:00The Silver Spoon for Children - and easy garlic & olive 'focaccia'<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/cooking-with-kids.html" target="_blank">hatred of cooking with the children has been mellowing apace,</a> and half term week last week was an opportunity to poke that little bug bear of mine and find it less irritating than it has been, and actually rather enjoyable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has come about that with the move to the new house, we no longer have a dishwasher. Well, actually, we now have 2 new and incredibly reluctant dishwashers, Blue and Pink. Based on the rule that operates in the Recipe Junkie household that if you don't cook, you wash up, there has been a veritable stampede towards the kitchen pre-dinner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breakthrough for me addressing my horror of cooking with the children has, I think, been the move away from baking WITH me, from Blue wanting to concoct utterly over the top and unrealistic creations and Pink with her "<i>call me when it's time to lick the bowl</i>" approach, to them both wanting to cook actual meals, WITHOUT me . Baking is my solace, my relaxation, my treat, whereas I cook meals every day of the week, and much as I enjoy it, it's nice to have someone else do it every now and again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so here we are, and while on one hand I am wishing time would stand still, that they wouldn't grow up, that Blue wasn't starting secondary school in a mere 3 months' time, that Pink wasn't obsessed with pop stars and needing me to have Mother-Daughter chats about growing up, on the other I am positively delighted that in this area, they are becoming more confident. Both still require a certain amount of oversight/supervision/intervention in the kitchen, especially when it comes to such things a draining hot pans of pasta, but I'm trying really, really hard not to take over, to take a back seat and to let them get on with it, and the results have been pretty impressive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Blue has been perusing more adventurous recipes, fuelled mainly by the constant ravening hunger of an 11 year old boy, Pink, who's a stickler for following instructions for things like this, has been keen to find 'children's recipes' and I've been particularly impressed with The Silver Spoon for Children book which she was given for her 9th birthday recently. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">40 recipes taken from the adult version of this seminal Italian cookery book, simplified and </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">aimed for children as young as 9 to be able to manage with minimal supervision. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a big, colourful and sensible book with real food in it, good basics as well as some good 'techniques' to learn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food-wise, the book includes 4 sections, lunches and snacks, pasta and pizza, main courses and desserts and baking. The recipes are lots of good basics, and recipes that build on each other - for example pizza dough, then pizza margherita, followed by pizza napoletana and sausage pizza. It might not seem very adventurous, but it's a good sensible approach and for kids trying to cook on their own, very straightforward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only things I'd like to have seen would be a list of equipment for each recipe alongside the ingredients ("<i>Mummy! I need a LID for this PAN</i>") and also a time estimate at the outset, but in fairness, it's good for encouraging children to read through the recipe all the way to the end before even donning an apron. Pink also found it difficult to follow the recipe steps across the double spread, which meant she kept jumping from step 3 to step 7, rather than crossing to the next page for steps 4, 5 and 6, but the pictures/steps are numbered, so that probably says more about her than the book...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink has so far selected to make a tomato and mozarella salad - hardly rocket science, but lots of tomato slicing and talking about ingredients, and then yesterday, a 2 course meal: spaghetti with tomato sauce followed by stuffed peaches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, my phone died so I can't bring you pictures of the finished article, but it was delicious. Both the spaghetti and tomato sauce, and the stuffed peaches for dessert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was particularly dubious about the peaches, requiring as it did, the stones to be removed fairly neatly, eggs to be separated and various bits of fiddling about, but she managed it pretty much single-handedly. And did I say everything was pretty fool-proof and delicious? It is. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd definitely recommend this if you're thinking of buying a cookery book for a 9/10 year old who's interested in cooking proper food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what did I add to proceedings (apart from being sous-chef, occasional crisis manager and sauce stirrer?) well, to stop myself from interfering too much, I made a quick 'focaccia' type bread to go with the spaghetti and make it more of a Sunday dinner. I am not in any way claiming this to be a genuine focaccia - for a start it doesn't have nearly enough olive oil in it - but it's a good filler and pretty darn tasty, as well as being quick and easy to knock up. It's also good with a sharp cheddar cheese the next day...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Olive & Garlic sort of 'Focaccia'</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 sachet easy blend yeast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">400g strong white flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100g semolina flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp fine sea salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3-4 fat cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">black olives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">leaves picked from a good 5/6 sprigs of thyme</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sea salt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You'll also need a tray bake tin around 30 by 23 cm with sides around 4 cm, and some good olive oil or rapeseed oil</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Measure around 325 ml hand hot water into a jug, stir in the yeast and sugar and leave for a few minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine the flours in a large bowl with the salt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gradually stir the yeasty water into the flours to make a rough-ish dough, then tip out onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes or so till you have a smooth dough. You can also knead in a mixer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leave the dough in a warm place to rise - it shouldn't take too long, may be 30-40 minutes, then take your tin and generously lug olive oil into the bottom - may be a tablespoon's worth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shape the dough into a rectangle in the tin, cover and leave for another 20 mins or so, and get the oven on to pre-heat to 230C.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the dough is on its second prove, peel and finely chop the garlic (bash the cloves first with a rolling pin, it makes it easier to peel them - a tip I learnt from The Silver Spoon for Children), chop up the olives into halves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After 20 minutes or so, stick your fingers into the puffy dough to make lots of dimple-like indentations then scatter over the chopped garlic and olives, the picked thyme leaves and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Glug some more oil over the top, then pop in the oven and bake for around 15-20 minutes till golden and delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-42091488185215598752015-05-27T16:44:00.000+01:002015-05-27T16:44:48.889+01:00Hotter shoes - Finding my 'perfect pair'<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In which I am introduced to the world of Hotter Shoes and skip off to live happily ever after with my #perfectpair...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader, let me lead you away from the kitchen, away from my comfort zone, to the wardrobe, a place of anxiety, of insecurity, a place where I stand and fret - not about having nothing to wear, but simply what to wear. Particularly where shoes are concerned. I don't buy shoes that often, but when I do, it's often an impulse - shoes that I like the look of, but that don't fit me quite right, or don't quite give me the versatility that I need, and certainly aren't comfortable enough to wear more than once. My shoe wearing history is littered with footwear that my feet start to scream if I so much as look at them. "<i>Don't put THOSE on</i>" they scream at me. "<i>Remember last time?" </i>they wail. "<i>The blisters? The back pain? The AGONY</i>"...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only that, but at 43, I frequently feel ill-equipped for the various sartorial challenges life throws at me. In preparation for the occasional smart occasions I am required to attend, I find myself whispering "<i>Don't forget earrings</i>" to myself at increasingly frequent intervals, and panicking about whether I can get away without wearing tights, from about 5 p.m. onwards, fretting about not having the right shoes, only to pull on my boots of last resort which "<i>will do</i>".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secretly, I think a lot of why I love living out in this most rural of places is that no one expects anything other than comfy clothes, and practical shoes most of the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I do crave elegance, I crave style. I crave gorgeous shoes. And one day, just ONE DAY, I would love to feel both properly dressed for the occasion, and deeply comfortable not only with what I was wearing, but actually comfortable too - outfit, shoes, bag, the works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I say one day, but it actually happened, this weekend. I was at a wedding. I felt glamorous, I felt well-dressed. I remembered my earrings. And reader, I was wearing knock out shoes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80IM53PENxt3uIhMywLUr1U8Zx5o_GwFtqbTuaMF_JBtqEJcOQ5IwDgRUjRzhondMmavhTVljFoMxmX_lwg56psyTtYXRrp4WaUbmq2SUKng4ARHFaftHMEXYA2PloLDHe6UTZzlsoDvi/s1600/IMG_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80IM53PENxt3uIhMywLUr1U8Zx5o_GwFtqbTuaMF_JBtqEJcOQ5IwDgRUjRzhondMmavhTVljFoMxmX_lwg56psyTtYXRrp4WaUbmq2SUKng4ARHFaftHMEXYA2PloLDHe6UTZzlsoDvi/s320/IMG_0089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shoes that made my feet feel dainty (I rock a wide fitting size 7). Shoes that complimented my outfit. Shoes that had a heel. Shoes I could walk in - run in even; shoes I could (exhausted children notwithstanding) have barn danced in all evening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hotter Shoes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now you may have dismissed Hotter shoes as shoes for old ladies with bunions, and indeed, in the Hotter Shoes range, there are plenty of comfortable sandals available. However, do not be fooled. There are also a significant number of awesome shoes; shoes to totally fall in love with. Shoes that fit properly, yet look fabulous and feel great. Shoes that you can wear all day and wake up the next day without feeling totally crippled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was invited to attend a Hotter Shoes blogger event organised at the Carmarthen store - plenty of lush nibbles, some Welsh bloggers to meet, as well as the Hotter Shoes PR ladies, Mel and Jenny, and the Carmarthen Hotter store team - all very lovely people. A great opportunity and what's more, I knew I was going to be able to choose a pair of shoes to take home with me (yes! a pair of shoes!). Fed up with my failure to have the right shoes for the right occasion, I went with the forthcoming wedding - and a particular skirt - in mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rather than struggling to find one pair that would be right (as I feared might be the case), it was actually difficult to choose only one pair.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaoEh9e6mnLF7ZA-wNT8H2XyE4MZ8P9sYNuNLttSXuFETfyD2w9fod6HMCrZ5Uczpw3q8K68M0IwQ751x81UJZc36qguY09d4ZlZDFSZi90sKXCHiK0UKoB6yPM2OBYO7LssDDPOv3M01y/s1600/IMG_9976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaoEh9e6mnLF7ZA-wNT8H2XyE4MZ8P9sYNuNLttSXuFETfyD2w9fod6HMCrZ5Uczpw3q8K68M0IwQ751x81UJZc36qguY09d4ZlZDFSZi90sKXCHiK0UKoB6yPM2OBYO7LssDDPOv3M01y/s320/IMG_9976.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After much deliberation, and trying on, much marching up and down, discussion, humming and hah-ing, I chose a pair of navy patent and suede 'Michelle' shoes - a cute heel, and yes, very versatile. It was a tough decision - I did feel torn: I was also very keen on a rather lovely pair of pink Antoinette shoes, some flowery Hattie wedges and despite my determination to come away with something pretty, I did keep getting distracted by the range of sandals and walking boots available ( you can take the girl out of the country...).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Decision made, and wedding duly attended, I can honestly, hand on heart tell you that these are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shoes went on at 10.00 a.m. and were still on at 6. They would have stayed on longer but the kids flaked out and I drew the short straw and had to bow out of the barn dancing. But I have absolutely no doubt that my shoes would have seen me through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the brilliant thing is that they don't look like comfy shoes. They look like (and they are) lovely shoes. They go with trousers, with skirts and they make me feel smart and elegant, but also able to walk, run, go about everything I need to. As a trial run, I wore them last week while delivering a training course, quite a stressful scenario and not one that awkward new shoes would have enhanced, but it simply wasn't an issue. First wear - no blisters, no rubbing, no problems. And a friend who had been less then complimentary about Hotter shoes when I told her I was going to the Carmarthen event, and who I saw the day of the course, said that she had totally changed her mind and would be visiting...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzcarI8D6KvTsCuOFqq8fE1XCzDiLx9cmjEXb_D9n_Oub13AHMOGAe_GhuPqAPJLA29EEknzh7qz9xFWbZxgD2_IJawxwMdmPUimElY34t8ug9npzAIV3XSK4YmfgqGbvyCZB5FzsTWtB/s1600/IMG_9978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzcarI8D6KvTsCuOFqq8fE1XCzDiLx9cmjEXb_D9n_Oub13AHMOGAe_GhuPqAPJLA29EEknzh7qz9xFWbZxgD2_IJawxwMdmPUimElY34t8ug9npzAIV3XSK4YmfgqGbvyCZB5FzsTWtB/s320/IMG_9978.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly there's been a huge amount of thought gone into the technical design of the shoes, including air bubble technology in the soles of the shoes, but also, to the styling. And it's also worth mentioning that the staff in store are completely brilliant - attentive, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trained to fit the shoes properly, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">know the shoes, and committed to help you find your perfect pair, not just make a sale. Liz helped me at the Carmarthen store and quite honestly, I would trust her to find me the right pair of shoes any day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in fact it was so hard to choose that I availed myself of a promotional 20% discount that was kindly available to us on the night and bought the wedges too...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14jgXMoHNNTdJM3gRHKfIsExe-H2V0inawE2nTMiPXySEsG0rgKUITVk3P67hm65bwrpQQfOdXV8bzKpuAILa3Gk2KzAeJn4mc6jzcWfb0CNPtsB-h4pU0jPMakRYwaSQnDGwQrsII7PQ/s1600/IMG_9982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14jgXMoHNNTdJM3gRHKfIsExe-H2V0inawE2nTMiPXySEsG0rgKUITVk3P67hm65bwrpQQfOdXV8bzKpuAILa3Gk2KzAeJn4mc6jzcWfb0CNPtsB-h4pU0jPMakRYwaSQnDGwQrsII7PQ/s320/IMG_9982.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if you're feeling like you'd like to chuck out your preconceptions about Hotter Shoes (you should do), you can receive a 10% off discount, valid until 31st July 2015, if you <a href="http://www.hotter.com/gb/en" target="_blank">purchase online</a> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">and enter voucher code </span><b style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PMATEN</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> at the checkout. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">The code</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> entitles you to 10% off plus FREE delivery for first orders only. You are entitled to 10% off the total order value of any full priced items in the <span class="il">Hotter</span> range (excluding shoe care products) plus FREE delivery. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer or on Sale or Factory Clearance items and gift vouchers.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The discount code can be used on our website from Friday 22<sup>nd</sup> May and ends on 31<sup>st</sup> July 2015. </span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2718701145803848252.post-34854261688290942252015-05-13T10:00:00.000+01:002015-05-13T10:00:06.950+01:00Lobster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meet Larry... Larry the Lobster</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbGk2bCtGdiD7YPOp13ryHUhd3Wf4LBE-DxqavM0PvkVm8Il4flFNuL0bMnzHPuyZgEKzvm5M_a1uGNS9r4qBdnZdAvNmGBWwuiGpZMBlw4A20bg3JmgahWwMaUwca2MHwrvI5SRf6H2X/s1600/lobster+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbGk2bCtGdiD7YPOp13ryHUhd3Wf4LBE-DxqavM0PvkVm8Il4flFNuL0bMnzHPuyZgEKzvm5M_a1uGNS9r4qBdnZdAvNmGBWwuiGpZMBlw4A20bg3JmgahWwMaUwca2MHwrvI5SRf6H2X/s320/lobster+before.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As birthdays go, I'm not one to get that worked up about them, or presents. There's not much I want and I certainly don't hope for or expect lavish gifts that seem to be <i>de rigueur</i> these days. I'll always remember being asked if I knew I was getting the eternity ring the Husband gave me for Christmas several years ago - as if it was somehow something I'd asked for and was expecting or felt I had some kind of right to. I was completely gobsmacked by the question to be honest - I mean, it was a lovely, gorgeous present, but I would never have expected anything like it. And now that I'm on the right side of 40, honestly, what I enjoy about birthdays is the little things, time with family & friends, an excuse to have a little trip out - <a href="http://recipe-junkie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/da-mhile-gin-and-other-things.html" target="_blank">to a gin distillery perhaps</a>.... I mean if people want to give me awesome things like a ghillie kettle, then that's all well and good, but presents don't matter to me in the same way that they seem to to some people (and I exclude children here - children are perfectly entitled to get excited about presents - I'm not <b>such</b> a miserable humbug...).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LpAoxiy6xB_VBVdGQhZDnv7GdMtYHv7tLvTw2ad_o1XFOBQ7Qjt9cbPju5xrsDfB3wJRrF1wlaUeOwzcvN_bMu_THcC7LO4dT4_eeoao3Qw1r57_nueG-Y5gKzoVZOKyCl8mrePzI5QL/s1600/ghillie+kettle+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LpAoxiy6xB_VBVdGQhZDnv7GdMtYHv7tLvTw2ad_o1XFOBQ7Qjt9cbPju5xrsDfB3wJRrF1wlaUeOwzcvN_bMu_THcC7LO4dT4_eeoao3Qw1r57_nueG-Y5gKzoVZOKyCl8mrePzI5QL/s320/ghillie+kettle+Collage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A ghillie kettle - the best 43rd brthday present agirl could get.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wouldn't normally talk about birthday presents except that 10 days before my birthday, I received an early present, and a very surprising one at that. Imagine, if you will, the scene: I am taking 5 minutes out on a Sunday morning. My mother in law and her new husband who are visiting for the weekend have taken themselves off for a little excursion, and the Husband and the children are engaged in various bad weather day activities. I am crocheting (rock & roll).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mother in law and husband return and I hear them asking where I am. "<i>Are you sitting down Sally? You'd better put that crochet down</i>" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the next thing I know, there's a plastic carrier bag being placed on my knee it feels heavy. Something shifts. I peer into the bag, and see dark shell. At first I think it's mussels, and then, a more vigorous shift - vigorous enough to make me jump and utter a most un-RecipeJunkie-like shriek: for I pride myself on my ability to deal with spiders, slugs and all many of creatures normally assigned the 'fear factor'....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in my defence, I defy anyone who wasn't expecting it not to react in a similar way to having a live, and rather angry, lobster dropped in their lap...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, I didn't drop the bag, for if I had, the rather magnificent and indignant (justifiably so) Larry would have been allowed to get loose in our sitting room. His claws were rubber banded together, but he was fluttering the curious flaps he has on his belly in a rather aggressive manner, so I put him back safely in the bag on the kitchen work surface, and went to consult Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (well, his Fish book - our hotline isn't working at the moment...).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbGk2bCtGdiD7YPOp13ryHUhd3Wf4LBE-DxqavM0PvkVm8Il4flFNuL0bMnzHPuyZgEKzvm5M_a1uGNS9r4qBdnZdAvNmGBWwuiGpZMBlw4A20bg3JmgahWwMaUwca2MHwrvI5SRf6H2X/s1600/lobster+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbGk2bCtGdiD7YPOp13ryHUhd3Wf4LBE-DxqavM0PvkVm8Il4flFNuL0bMnzHPuyZgEKzvm5M_a1uGNS9r4qBdnZdAvNmGBWwuiGpZMBlw4A20bg3JmgahWwMaUwca2MHwrvI5SRf6H2X/s320/lobster+before.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Angry and magnificent - could I really bring myself to plunge him into boiling water? Well, depending on your point of view, I'm sorry to disappoint you/pleased to say that I rose to the challenge. Based on Hugh's advice, I popped Larry into the freezer for a couple of hours, and then found the biggest cooking receptacle I could find, which turned out to be the jam pan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The theory about putting them in the freezer is that the lobster will drift off into a chilly coma and, when you plunge him into the boiling water, won't have time to come to and realise what's happening before it's all too late and you've got a beautifully pink ready to eat lobster ready for nothing more than some lemon juice and a slather of mayonnaise.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHXDuTKb9WKXGRTFQL9x-EQrH2hbxVkRDZHgbvu9_fEXAnV6x2-up_8B-6hy8ZAGgGIA8sFdD1cjnXDoYEZLvSEpkCJpir3dvlAaQC4DSR1-AIfH_ZdE6n58hKExFVg7kzq12AisU-nLD/s1600/lobster+-+after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHXDuTKb9WKXGRTFQL9x-EQrH2hbxVkRDZHgbvu9_fEXAnV6x2-up_8B-6hy8ZAGgGIA8sFdD1cjnXDoYEZLvSEpkCJpir3dvlAaQC4DSR1-AIfH_ZdE6n58hKExFVg7kzq12AisU-nLD/s320/lobster+-+after.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Water appropriately salinated, then, I applied the gas and waited for the water to boil - my VEGETARIAN mother in law looking on all the while. And reader when the time came, I did it. Larry went into the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do I feel about this? I did feel slightly queasy about the whole thing, I must admit, but I'm not a vegetarian, and really, I should be prepared to kill something if I'm going to eat it. I felt there was a lesson to teach the children too - something about putting your money where your mouth is...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have no such qualms about mussels - but they don't look like living things in the same way as Larry the lobster did, all his indignation intact before his swift consignment to the freezer. There was an element of 'face' going on too - I mean, presented with a lobster by your mother in law, what would you do? Wimp out, or rise to the challenge? I'll say no more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate him, Larry. And he was delicious. Caught that morning, my mother in law & hubbie had acquired him from the fisherman who operates off Aberporth beach as he came in from his morning's work. Apparently, as the boat came in, a number of people appeared to select goodies. I've never seen this, and I'm pleased that it happens, because did you know that most of the fine and delicious sea food caught in these beautiful waters around Wales and the rest of the British Isles is all shipped to Europe? It's criminal, but apparently there's no market for it over here. They paid £10 for Larry - which makes me think, I need to get to know the fishing schedules a little more intimately...</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838426651793558151noreply@blogger.com6