Rattling On...

A bit of Belgian fun...

I've had a waffle iron for some time, and never got round to use it. This morning I decided to give it some time out of the drawer.

I heated it up under the grill while I mixed the batter. I spooned in some batter and banged it back under the grill. Without greasing it first. Back out and into the washing up bowl for a scrub.

Oiled and with a little less batter, ahem, and off for the second run. After about five minutes, and having turned it, I got it out for the grand reveal. Ha!

The good old fashioned frying pan did a sterling job, and I placed small sheets of greaseproof paper between each 'waffle' as I cooked them. I made the lot in around five minutes. A much better use of five minutes than the so-called waffle iron. Though goo-producer would be a better term in this case.

It was as hot as it could be, it was greased. It was useless. But it looks nice, in a kitchenaliaholic's mind at least. Do Belgian's really use these things?

I know you can get electric versions. I shan't be bothering. My little pancakes will go in the toaster later for a quick re-heat and can be eaten with any number of delightful toppings. Or just buttered. (The waffle batter recipe is here, and is very tasty. I used Flora Cuisine instead of oil, I use it a fair bit now and it's good.)

Note to self: Do not be tempted to use bank holiday mornings to try something different. It just makes washing up...

Cheating, and feeling cheated...

I decided to join in with Emily's weekly stashbusting this morning. Accordingly, I sorted out some yarn to put on ebay, took the photos and spent an hour or so listing 4300g that I was pretty sure I'd never get round to doing anything with. A lot, I know.

Within another hour I'd sold £67 worth.

My car refused to start on Friday morning and I had to leg it to work unexpectedly. Friday afternoon saw other priorities and on Saturday there was still no response from the engine. My Dad and I tried everything, eventually buying a new battery charger and borrowing a booster.

Meanwhile I had to do the grocery shopping and I wasn't really in the right mood. I threw in a chocolate brownie baking kit, something I'd never usually do. This morning I made it, and it's not half bad-there was even a cardboard baking tray included. Well done, Morrison's!

Yesterday the car did start, but I have to wait until Thursday for the dealer to 'take a look' at it. I have to get it there myself and hope the battery will last that long. When I rang them about it they said 'Aren't you in a motoring recovery organisation?' I confirmed that I was, but... as the car was still under warranty I hadn't thought I'd actually need home start, and just have roadside and accident cover. Silly me!

Life is a bit of a bugger at the moment...

Diamond Jubilee Cake Day...

I know I was threatening to have a go at a Battenburg a while ago... I thought this might be the right occasion. I shall christen this production the Windsor Cake.

The marzipan was quite resistant to becoming blue and had to be given a lot of elbow grease. When it says on the food colouring 'washes off hands' do not believe it.

Finding red, white and blue articles around the house proved harder than I thought. But of course there's always the union flag dunce's hat.

I took a good supply of the fairy cakes to the school Jubilee picnic. They were a big hit. Which is good because the day was, quite literally, a wash out. The weather was horrendous and everyone ended up indoors.

I hope there's not just me on the Flickr group, and please do go over right now to Smitonius and Sonata to see what Sonata has expatriotically baked.

Sarah has posted her cake. It is brilliant!!

Paula has been baking up a Jubilee storm, complete with mini-bunting.

Farewell, my Best Girl...

She, like me, loved the snow, and this is how I want to remember her.

Bunty came to live with us on my birthday in February 1999, she wasn't even six weeks old.

She left us today, in the garden, peacefully. Our favourite vet was on-call and I'll always be glad for that.

She'll forever be there for me on the hills, running and running...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

We have always had the rule that animals aren't allowed on the furniture. Right... try telling them that. The only place they all really want to lie is on the back of this sofa in the window. Sometimes there's a bit of a scuffle over who has sovereignty, Coco having won in this case.

It's a good vantage point for seeing what's going on. The cats like to do a spot of bird watching and Coco is a real curtain twitcher, usually managing to rouse herself, and stop snoring, if someone walks past, which isn't very often.

For a French Bulldog she's quite light on her feet and can jump much higher than you may suspect from her rather sturdy build. For a long time we didn't let her upstairs and had a child gate, we worried her top-heaviness would lead to tumbles coming down. No need, she thunders up and down like a, well like a Frenchie. They fart a lot. If you didn't know...