Rattling On...

Trifling matters...

Last night was the WI Christmas party, postponed twice due to adverse weather. I had volunteered (in November) to make one of the puddings. As a new member I thought it would be a good way to join straight in.

It's very difficult deciding what to make. Especially as I knew it would fall on a work night, whereas if it had been in December it would have been in the holiday and I could have titivated all day long. So a trifle it was, as it could be made in stages and just the finishing touches added before setting off.


It was also Shrove Tuesday, so there were pancakes to make as well as cream to whip.

I can't help feeling it wasn't a very imaginitive offering, but then lots of people don't welcome innovative food. However it had panettone instead of the usual boudoir biscuits and was laced with a bit of kirsch to complement the cherries. So it wasn't a sherry trifle, it was a cherry trifle...

Ectomorphic muffins...

Even the casual observer could see my baking tin collection was lacking in the tall/skinny/mini muffin department. Not any longer, courtesy of Ikea and their Drommar muffin tin and cases. Not available on-line so my Mother obliged when they happened to be going along. I daren't go myself. It wouldn't have stopped at baking tins. It never does, and indeed along with the tins came some cookie cutters...

These are dinky little cakes, maybe half the size of a usual fairy cake and a bit taller. Very stylish, and only spoiled by the over-designed cases. Come on Ikea, make some plain ones...pleeease.

I wasn't very precise when filling them and they ended up like a miniature Giant's Causeway of cake. Covered in lurid icing, that was meant to be delicate but I'm heavy handed with the colouring. Sort of matches the cases for subtlety.

Anyway, now for something completely different.

Imagine if you will: you're reading a blog and something niggles at your mind, reminds you of something else. So you Google a few phrases that seem out of keeping with the general tone of the blog. And there, in all its glory, is the same peice, written sometimes over a year ago by someone else. Same words, same pictures mostly. Copy and paste job.

What would you do?

It's a serious question, for I have indeed encountered this very situation. With the blogger passing off the post (or at least the greater part of it, with small personalisations) as their own work and even accepting compliments on the content. And it's not just one post.

There's being inspired by other people's work. There's unintentional and subliminal influence. There's quoting and giving credit to the source. There's plagiarism.

Again, what would you do? I know some of you have experienced having your designs, photos and such copied or stolen, but has anyone just boldly knicked your content? (And I hasten to add here it's not my stuff being 'borrowed')

I am a coward and daren't just send an e-mail outing the perp...

Heart-shaped...

After eating a suitably themed breakfast I returned to the cellar, where I have been busy working on a project. It has involved making a lot of mess but will, hopefully, ultimately mean I am more organised. Yeah...

Then I made a cake, again on today's theme, as I'm off out to a friend's house in a little while. She's hosting a girly get together, she has the youngest children and it's easier for us to go there than for her to try and palm the boys off somwehere!

Later there will be a lot of project-related washing up and a Chinese takeaway. Happy Birthday to me...

Cooking the classics...

There's something very satisfying about making meringue, the way such tiny amounts of ingredients magically transform into that fluffy mass.

And what better place to put it than on top of a lemon pie? Thus forming a lemon meringue pie. I wonder who first thought of this unusual combination? Someone with time on their hands no doubt!

But it's also very cunning in that the egg yolks are used in the pie curd and the whites in the topping, so there's no waste at all. Another good reason to make it then.

I prefer it with a biscuit base, I find pastry hard going. To eat, not to make. Talking of biscuits... I keep seeing US recipes (well, I've seen a couple) that call for Graham cookies. I know that graham is the type of flour but what are these cookies? Are they like digestives? Time for a deep and meaningful exchange on biscuits/cookies.

We need stodge at the moment as it is cold. At night especially so, but the dry cold that doesn't even ice up the car windscreen. The footpaths and all side roads are solid ice and very dangerous, I inch up to junctions on the morning drive to work, hoping no-one is crossing my path so I don't have to stop. I am one of the few road users these days who doesn't have a monster 4WD and think I have right of way just because I drive a big car. (Just saying)

Snow has been forecast for this afternoon and all weekend. Usually there's a frenzy of hope around school, but I think people have had enough winter now. Fresh snow on top of the frozen stuff we already have will stick like the preverbial to an army blanket. I do not want to be housebound for half term...

Cooking the classics...

 




Shepherd's pie. I hadn't made this in I don't know how long but was looking for something amazing to do with the mince I'd bought. And decided this would be it...

Onion, celery, stock, carrot and a hefty blob of tomato puree, seasoned and topped with a creamy mash. In the oven for twenty or so and onto the plate. Served with... sprouts for me, far too many as it turned out and I gave up on the last few.

I never choose to eat this if I'm out as it always seems to be bland and runny. Yeuch. My Mother makes the best version just because she can be bothered to mince the leftovers of the Sunday joint and that is really excellent. I have an old fashioned mincer that I could press into service I suppose, I'll give it a whirl next time.

I have all kinds of kitchen equipment that has lain idle since I started to work full time again, even some pans don't make it out of the cupboard any longer. I use the same things over and over. Which leads me to wonder why I hang onto all the rest.

Accordingly, in the next half term holiday, I am ridding the kitchen cupboards and the cellar of all redundant stock. This may require a small van to get to the charity shop, but it needs to be done. Maybe then I'll find my waffle iron and the ravioli mould.... and the vintage madeleine tin I've already bought a replacement for.

Who wants a piece of effing cake?

I got home from work yesterday to find that the cat had chundered up a hairball on my bed. With attendant matter of an unidentified nature. On the bed that had just had clean sheets, and more precisely on my favourite green wool blanket.

It already felt like Friday on a Tuesday, and not in a good way. In the past week and a half I have been sworn at more times than possibly the rest of my life altogether. It goes with the job to a certain extent, but is very wearing after a while.

Thank goodness then that today a rather lovely student is having his 13th birthday and I promised a surprise. He likes cake, so I made him a special one last night.

He is one of those people that enters a room with a smile and is always ready to help. He also has red hair and gets bullied for it. I happen to like red hair, but that's by the by.

He started coming in to us last year at break times to avoid the general melee and he just never stopped coming in for his tea and toast. As a joke I made him a pigeon hole of his own in with ours. It's full every day; of homework, Lego, letters and books. 

You should never underestimate the small kindnesses. They outweigh grand gestures ten to one. Just as one smile can wipe out a week of foul language.

Torta in un vaso per piante...

Does that sound more exotic than Cake in a Flowerpot? I think it probably does. Just as panettone, tart tatin and eclair all have a bit of allure to them. As opposed to fruit loaf, upside down cake and er whatever an eclair would be if we had an equivalent...

Just because Johnny Foreigner can bang a good name on something doesn't make it taste any better though. 

This is half a madeira with crunchy lemon topping. Half as in I halved the recipe quantities and then thought a flowerpot would make as good a container as anything. In fact it was an excellent choice.

I just lined it with an enormous version of a home made muffin case made from baking parchment.

I went to the DIY shop on Saturday to get some plant pots but for starters the garden section was closed due to the winds (and the trolleys had been moved to inside as well, as they had at the supermarket) and they didn't have any terracotta pots in stock 'yet' anyway.

So into the greenhouse and out with the Cif and a scourer and good as new. Probably cleaner than new actually.

I have had a couple of interesting ideas following on from making this and if they turn out I will share them. I will also be seeing how many other household, or garden shed, items can be used in this way.

Cooking the classics...

Or, as Peter Sellers said to Sophia Loren... Give us a bash of the bangers and mash!

Sausages have to be well done, so go back in on the lid of the roaster while the gravy is made. The gravy has to be thick, thin gravy is a travesty. Mash... I'm not a massive fan of squashed up potatoes, but if they have a bit of butter (and garlic if I can get it past No2) and are really well pummelled I can manage it.

And sprouts. At this time of year I have them with everything, including lasagne the other night. I adore sprouts, always have done. No-one else eats them so they have broccoli and carrots and whatever. But for me, sprouts...

If you want to sing along, or (heavens above) have never heard the Sellers/Loren masterpiece then you can listen here.

The definition of healthy...

I've seen that other people make their own breakfast bars and thought I'd give it a whirl. As they are oat based I will be avoiding them as oats and I have a turbulent relationship to say the least. However, the other resident will eat them no problem.

This recipe came in a free magazine so I really don't think it'll be a problem quoting it here, I think it's pretty generic anyway.

60g mixed seeds, 1tbsp golden lindeeds, 25g dessicated coconut, 2 med mashed bananas, 160g oats, 50g dried apricots, 100g butter, 3tbsp clear honey

This is where I question this as being particularly healthy as it has plenty of sugar and butter in it, but hey...

Melt the butter and basically just swat the lot in a bowl and combine. Bake in a medium oven for around 30 minutes, or until golden. Mark the bars, leave to cool, then cut and store.

I added cranberries instead of apricots, some flaked almonds and a few glace cherries just because they were in the cupboard. I imagine you could use up all kinds of fruit in these. The recipe suggested 14 bars, but I cut them in half as I think, psychologically, going back for a second makes you feel like you've been bad. But you haven't.

I'm trying to work out what I could substitute for the oats so I can eat these. Ground almonds are too insubstantial, maybe bran of some sort. All suggestions welcome...

Kladdkaka...

Have you heard of that thing where they check your DNA and then tell you where in the world you originated from? Or at least where your maternal predecessors did, because women are the important bit in that equation.

Anyway, I think if they checked mine I'd definitely be Northern European, Scandinavian. I think I look like I come from there, my eldest daughter is stopped all the time and asked if she's Swedish. Really, people stop you and ask that kind of random question.

I love snow, Scandinavian design and Ikea, proof aplenty if any were needed.

I also own a cookery book that is full of Scandi recipes, and this kladdkaka is one of them. The name isn't very appetising I have to admit, and the description as 'Swedish gooey chocolate cake' doesn't add to the romance, and there is no picture. But it's a chocolate cake, right?

All the recipes in the book are one-pagers, I like it when the author has taken the time to cut to the chase and just gets down to business.

It is really easy to make and only goes in the oven for thirteen minutes.

It is very chocolatey. As in, not recommended for the faint of heart. I was a bit queasy after my small slice. But I forced it down, and the crystallized violet petals were scrummy as well. I even had squirty cream on it. This was bought to re-create the sort of hot chocolate drinks you get in All-Pervading-Outlets these days, we have mini marshmallows as well. The dogs like those.

The book, by the way is Scandilicious.

In reverse order...

Yorkshire puddings, a firm favourite with certain family members home from university. I don't like them dry and hard as bullets, which is how so many restaurants seem to serve them these days. They have to be a bit squishy.

When my Mother was growing up mini puddings like these were often served up as afters with a little syrup drizzled over them. When I was at home and we were having the Sunday roast she just made one great big one and portioned it out.

I like the way they are puffed up when they come out of the oven, then sag in the centre, providing the all-important well for the gravy. Yum...

Please release me, let me go...

What's the point in having a thing about kitchenalia if you never use it? I sometimes find half the fun in baking, for example, is choosing the tin ( I have them in all shpes and sizes), wondering where it's been on its travels, that sort of thing.

Mostly the baking tins are old family relics, ones that were thrown out to make way for non-stick versions. I don't mind all the greasing and lining and would line a non-stick anyway. Just in case. I have old pie plates and pudding basins as well. The main rule is that I wouldn't make food in anything cracked, chipped or crazed. Partly, mostly, for hygiene reasons, but also as anything damaged is liable to break once in the oven. But that's where displaying comes into its own. 

I love this old aluminium 2 pint jelly mould and have used it a few times over the holidays. I always rub a little vegetable oil over the inside before filling it, to make release easier. But if it's stuck there's only one solution... the hairdryer. On full blast and played for a minute or so over the outside, it works wonders, and there's a very satisfying suck as the jelly leaves the sides of the mould.

I am very easily amused...