Achieving Culinary Success

This was last year's culinary disaster on Shrove Tuesday, much to my disappointment.

But today I was blessed with the best results I have EVER had in making pancakes, probably due to having used the correct type of flour, and not having hurried and tried to make them whilst people were eating.

I made a batch of them, sprinkling each one with sugar, folding it into eighths, and placing it in a warming oven. Then when they were all made, I served them up with whipped cream, and lime juice - not because I wanted to be trendy, but because by the time I got to the supermarket, they had sold out of lemons - nice to think everyone in town is preparing for the Lenten fast by having pancakes and lemons....

Well, the proof of the pancake is in the eating...and we managed to get through the lot of them, with one left to fight over! I did spare a thought for all those poor mums of large families, but I'm sure most of them have worked out the "prepare it in advance method" for keeping sane on Shrove Tuesday!

Happy Fasting to one and all.

Sorrow turned to joy!

This morning I decided to place some grocery items on a high glass shelf in my pantry. I had emptied said shelf a week or so ago as I had noticed the brackets beginning to pull away from the wall, and I had some very heavy pottery dishes on it. I had screwed the screws back into the rawl plugs, and as it had remained in position, and I'd given it a wiggle to make sure it was well-secured, I loaded it up with 'light-ish' items...

or so I thought...

I must thank my guardian angel for getting me out of the pantry -

I was in another room when I heard an almighty crash, and rushed back to find...

























I don't think I've ever seen such a mess !

Thank the Lord, despite the great height everything had fallen from and the fact that the shelf itself was in smithereens, there wasn't a great deal of damage. A few broken cups, but even hubby's bottle of Mead wine, and a couple of jars of home-made raspberry jam, which I had foolishly placed on the shelf, were unscathed. The strangest thing was the sound of the glass continuing to crackle.








One bag of flour had burst, but didn't seem to have any glass in it, so after clearing up the debris, I decided to get out my bread-making machine, ...

























The nicest thing was, as I stood looking at the disaster and he'd rushed in from another room to see what had happened, the bread-maker said, "I'm glad you didn't get cross about it Mummy" ... I must admit things like that don't make me cross, I think I was just so amazed by it all!























The old tin of yeast I found lurking in the back of my fridge didn't seem to have lost any of it's power!



























You can tell which one the bread-making machine shaped for me...






















Well, I'm glad the disaster motivated me back into making bread, even though I was exhausted after all the cleaning up...


























(Edited to add, due to UKOK's comment! ...)

Good Bread Recipe

Quantities of loaves ............................3.............2................1

Flour (strong white bread flour.................3lb .....1 1/2 lb .....3/4lb
Salt (tablespoons)..............................1 1/2....... 1........... 1/2
Butter..........................................3oz ....1 1/2 oz ....3/40z
Yeast (teaspoons - tinned dried yeast)..........5.........2 1/2 .........1/4
Liquid (fluid ounces)...........................30 .........15............ 7 1/2

I tend to use organic bread flour - health-food shops, and some of the larger stores stock it (Waitrose is my nearest).
Yeast is made by Allinsons - it's not the stuff for machines, but that might work as well.
The liquid can be plain water (you get the yeast started by mixing it with half the quantity of liquid, at a lukewarm temp., with a teaspoon of sugar in it, left for 10 mins to make sure it's frothing).
However, for this recipe, and it turned out delicious, I used up a carton of Rice milk I'd kept in the cupboard in case anyone with milk allergies turned up! (It had fallen too, and looked like it might start leaking!)
Sometimes, for a richer recipe, I use two eggs (for the first two quantities, and one egg for the last) beaten, and then make up the rest of the liquid with milk (having kept some aside to get the yeast started).
I also add seeds (pumpkin, sesame, whatever you fancy!) - just chuck a couple of handfulls in to the flour, before adding the liquid.
Liquid is all added at once, once the yeast is frothing nicely, and then get bashing for ten minutes, UKOK should be alright as she has two bread-making machines she can use to help save her wrists!!!
Leave to rise for about an hour, bash down, shape, and leave to rise for another hour (although some people don't bother with 2 risings, I find it's better), place in or onto WELL BUTTERED tins, then bake @ about 200 deg.C for 10mins, turn down heat, to 180 deg. C, for another 20 - 30 mins. (It can all be done at one temperature, I'm never sure what's best, but this way it seems to turn out ok).
The way to test whether the bread is cooked, is to turn it out of it's tin (or turn upside down if it's on a flat tray), tap the base, and if it sounds hollow, it's done. If it doesn't sound hollow, (but looks cooked) I put it back in upside down, for another 5 mins or so, and that usually does the trick.
Happy munching - (you really do need the home-made raspberry jam for perfection!)

Science lessons - homeschool style!

I've been too busy to post anything lately, due to the fact that we've actually started using a TIMETABLE which means I can't mess around any longer when I'm supposed to be teaching! However, we were supposed to be doing science this afternoon, and since the rather ridiculous chemistry kit in an oversized box with very little in that could not be found in an average kitchen (apart from the iron filings!) didn't inspire me to go beyond the making of rose-petal perfume (which was last week's exploit) I thought the blending of butter, sugar and eggs with mashed bananas, flour and baking powder, was science enough for the day...

In the interest of scientific accuracy, for those who wish to try the experiment themselves at home, I shall note down the proceedure...

Take 3oz (sorry modern science teachers*, I still don't believe in evolution, so grammes mean nothing to me either) of butter, blend with 6oz of caster sugar, until light and fluffy. Add 2 beaten medium sized eggs with 10 oz of mashed bananas and 8oz of sifted plain flour, 3 level teaspoons of baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

For our recipe, we added some sunflower seeds, and some flaked almonds, and sprinkled extra ones on top after putting the mixture into a 2lb loaf tin.

(2 oz of walnuts can be added, if desired).

Cook for about an hour at 350 deg. F, roughly! (We actually used Celsius, but my recipe says F. and I don't know how to convert it, so we played around and it came out ok - see how scientific we are) (My son does know how to convert it, but he thought it would take too much brain effort).

* (Modern science teachers will be relieved to know that my son does think in grammes, and thought my funny old fashioned z in oz was a g, and was about to weigh out 30 grammes, instead o f 3 ounces - fortunately I realised in time what he was up to - but would it have mattered? is there a big difference between 30 grammes and 3 ounces?? I'm musing to myself here...)

Trinitarian Pelargonium, my First Curry, and my First Meme

The third flower has come out on this cutting I took from my citrus-scented pelargonium, and even though I know I'm not supposed to let cuttings flower, I hadn't the heart to destroy them. It's a shame I can't do the blog in "smell-o-rama" as the leaves smell gorgeous when they are crushed, more of an orange than a lemon scent mmmm.... much more wholesome than those dreadful air-fresheners which always make me gag!

However, even that wouldn't mask the smell of curry in my kitchen at the moment, I actually made curried chicken pieces for lunch today. The flavour was quite good, but the sauce was a bit watery (I followed the recipe exactly, so I presume it was supposed to be). I think we're so used to thickened Korma sauces from the take-away, that we're not sure how home-made curry should turn out! Anyway, if I manage to perfect it, it could save us a bob or two on take-aways in future!!

Now to the serious stuff, which Alexa tagged me for!
I have to admit I panicked when I saw this meme thing, as I don't really know what a meme is, but if it just involves answering a few questions, then I think I can cope with that! I think this is wot I'm supposed to do -

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

It seems straightforward.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was probably playing with this wee lad!



Looks like he's dressed up in his Sunday Suit - one of my handmade efforts - poor child! He'd've liked the buttons though, they were ladybirds.



I think I'd got over my post-natal depression by the time he was 9 months, but I didn't really like where we were living at the time - that used to depress me somewhat. It's funny when you look back at old photos - I had to do this to trigger my memory of what I was doing 10 yrs ago - one always looks so happy, and yet it's not always a true reflection of how one felt a lot of the time. And does any of it matter anyhow, in the big scheme of things - we're one of the first generations to have detailed photographic records of our existence - is it healthy to look back at our youth, is it what God wants of us? Getting a bit too deep here, let's move on.

Five things on my To Do List today:

Firstly, one thing I never do is make lists. I know I should, and that life would be perfect if I did, but I have a HUGE psychological resistance towards lists.

Well, it's getting late in the day, nearly 5 0'clock, and I've cooked lunch, but haven't done the dishes, so that's one thing I need to do.

I have to take my boy to tennis in 5 minutes.

I have to pick him up an hour later, on the way to our Friday evening Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

I have to not look at any more blogs - it's getting addictive.

I have to make my husband a nice cup of tea, and spend some time with him.


Snacks I enjoy:

Walkers salt n' shake crisps, I never put the salt on, so they are just fried potato flavour.

Roasted peanuts.

Crunchy juicy apples.

Cadbury's Mini Eggs, but you can only get them around Easter time.

Biscuits (cookies).


Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Buy a detached house, on a hill, overlooking the sea - possibly in Wales. Pay off any debts, family debts etc. Save a bit for my son's education, and our old age. Give the rest away to good Catholic Charities, and anyone I thought was in need.

Three of my bad habits:

Losing my temper when I get frustrated by something.

Living an ill-disciplined (list-free) life.

Eating too many sweet things.

Five places I have lived:

Stonehouse, Gloucestershire (England).

Dursley, Goucestershire.

Bristol, England.

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.

Swansea, Wales.

London.

Northampton.

New Mexico (USA) for 3 months.

Shropshire, England.

(Just for my benefit, I thought I'd try and remember all the significant places I've lived in, that comes to 10!)


Five jobs I have had:

Saturday shop assistant in a gift shop.

Shop assistant in a grocery shop.

Night shift worker in a frozen raspberry factory in Scotland, whilst staying on a pig farm - nightmarish experience!

Chocolate factory worker.

Paintings conservator in various museums and private studios.

I've got to add a sixth - wife and mother - the job I always aspired to!..

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):

Ooer -the hunt is on not because I don't want to know about lots of people, but because I don't think many know who I am, and I can't do Alexa, as she's already tagged me!

First I'll do Lydia at When the Magnolias Bloom

Then James at Ecce Mater Tua

Followed by Leutgeb at Bara Brith

Next I'll try The White Stone Name Seeker

And finally Rachel at Chasing Butterflies