tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82946498538754995172023-11-17T05:33:09.498+13:00Food and ShoesGirls can do anything, even wearing high heels.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger420125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-74771017545605832011-12-03T18:37:00.001+13:002011-12-03T18:51:22.650+13:00New laundryOh, I've also had my laundry remodeled.<br />
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I forgot to take a "before" picture, but this is it now:<br />
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It's just a large cupboard off my kitchen. To get some idea of what it was like before, imagine it without any of the shelves, and instead of the bench and sink it had this tub … <br />
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… on your right, and a top-loading washing machine on your left. It also had a clothes dryer mounted on the wall above the washing machine that I kept banging my head on. I replaced both of those with a combination washer/dryer. I rarely use a dryer, but need it sometimes - like when I'm going on holiday and want every single pair of knickers, except the ones I'm wearing, clean and dry ready to pack.<br />
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I love love love my laundry now, it's like having a bit more kitchen bench space and an extra kitchen sink. I can make cheese there without clogging up the rest of the kitchen, and I can use my waterbath there for sous-vide cooking. The tap just nicely clears the top of the waterbath, making it so easy to fill.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-20874988513028787472011-12-03T17:40:00.001+13:002011-12-03T18:34:22.917+13:00Saag paneer and variantsI'm having a bit of a spinach binge at the moment, have been for the last couple of months. This post shows how I started making saag paneer (from a recipe), and I'll tell you the much easier way I figured out. It's so much easier that saag paneer, or some variant thereof, has become one of my quick and easy, whip up after work, every day dinners.<br />
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The recipes said steam spinach in a steamer over a pot of boiling water:<br />
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I have replaced this with wash spinach, put it in a bowl or jug and microwave for 6 minutes on high, turning it over with tongs half way through.<br />
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The recipe said blend together, or mash in a mortar and pestle, onion, ginger root, garlic, and green chili …<br />
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… until it's a paste, before frying off in butter:<br />
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My adaptation is to grate the onion, ginger, chili and garlic directly into a buttery frypan using a very fine microplane grater.<br />
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Then both the recipe and I add powdered spices (cumin, mace, and I use a vegetable masala mix) to the frying onion etc: <br />
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The recipe says to put the squeezed, steamed spinach into the food processor …<br />
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… and whizz until it's a paste …<br />
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… before adding to the onions, spices etc in the frypan, along with some yoghurt and a little cream:<br />
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What I do is squeeze as much wetness out of the microwaved spinach as I can, then add the onions etc, the yoghurt, and a little cream (sometimes) to the spinach in the bowl I microwaved it in, then whizz the whole lot up with my stick blender. Making a collar-like arangement for the stick blender out of a paper towel stops it from decorating the kitchen with green splotches.<br />
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Then, return the spinach mix to your pan, add paneer …<br />
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… and heat through …<br />
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… before serving on rice:<br />
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This spinach sauce, although traditionally eaten with paneer, is also delicious with lightly steamed cauliflower and/or cooked carrot chunks. Actually, I think it would be delicious with just about anything, but carrots and cauliflower are low calorie and have some bulk so that's what I eat it with.<br />
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<div style="color: #660000;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Recipe</span></div>
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<div style="color: #990000;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Saag Paneer</span></i></div>
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<b><i>Ingredients</i></b>:<br />
<i>Paneer</i><br />
2 litres milk<br />
half a cup yoghurt<br />
half a cup white wine vinegar or lemon juice<br />
some muslin and a colander <br />
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or you can buy paneer (panir) instead of making it.<br />
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<i>Saag</i><br />
a big bunch of spinach - 500 grams or so I think my bunches are<br />
an onion<br />
a big clove of garlic<br />
1 green chili about 3 inches long<br />
about an inch of ginger root<br />
1 teaspoon cumin<br />
1/2 teaspoon ground mace<br />
1 heaped teaspoon vegetable masala or garam masala<br />
a cup of yoghurt<br />
half a cup of cream (optional)<br />
salt <br />
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<i><b>Method:</b></i><br />
<i>Paneer</i><br />
Put milk into a pot and bring almost to the boil. Turn off heat. Add yoghurt, then half the vinegar/lemon juice and stir well with a wooden spoon. You should end up with white curds in a greenish whey. If the whey is still white, add more vinegar/lemon, until all the whiteness has curdled out.<br />
Pour the curds into a muslin lined colander and leave them to drain. I hurry this process up by wrapping them up in the muslin and putting a heavy object on top to squeeze out the whey, but you're supposed to leave it for a couple of hours.<br />
The hotter you cook the milk, the less likely the curds will be to melt later on when they're in the curry. I like them a bit melty, so I don't take it quite to boiling. If the milk boils, the curds will be completely melt-proof.<br />
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<i>Saag</i><br />
Wash the spinach and remove any roots and thick stalks. Put the spinach into a microwave proof bowl (I use a 2 litre pyrex measuring jug) and nuke on high for 6 minutes, turning it all over half way through with tongs to make sure it all gets cooked through.<br />
While the spinach is in the microwave, melt a couple of teaspoons of butter (more or less) in a pan, and grate the chili and the peeled onion, garlic and ginger into the butter using a fine microplane (or similar) grater. If the chili is not crisp enough to grate, chop it finely. It's going to be blended later so you don't need to be too worried.<br />
Stir around and cook at a high enough temperature that it sizzles but doesn't burn. Cook until it's translucent - or would be if the bits were big enough to see.<br />
Add the spices to the pan and cook until fragrant.<br />
Squeeze the cooked spinach against the side of the cooking bowl with tongs and tip out as much liquid as you can. <br />
Tip the onion/spice mix into the spinach, making sure you get all of the bits of chili if it was chopped.<br />
Add the yoghurt and cream to the spinach. Put your stick blender into the bowl. Get a paper towel and rip it half way through the centre. Wrap this "collar" around the stick of your blender, arranging it to cover the bowl and catch splatters.<br />
Blend like crazy, holding the collar around the stick, until the spinach is a homogeneous sauce.<br />
Pour the spinach mix back into its pan, heat it back up and add salt to taste. <br />
Add the drained (or squashed) paneer that has been cut into approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks and heat through.<br />
Serve with rice.<br />
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Serves three or four as a main.<br />
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The paneer can be replaced with any chunky cooked vegetable, or cooked chicken.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-48878201328748813262011-12-03T17:02:00.001+13:002011-12-03T17:36:48.561+13:00Dobos torteAnyone who reads this blog will know I'm a great fan of <a href="http://www.joepastry.com/">Joe Pastry</a>. He is sensible and not in the least bit pretentious, and tries to find the most authentic (but workable) recipes for classic cakes and pastries. I have a list of his cakes that I want to try making at some stage, and whenever I go to a pot-luck, or have visitors, I make one.<br />
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His <a href="http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry/dobos-torte/">Dobos torte</a> was one such cake I made for a pot luck back in July - I only just realised I hadn't posted the photos from it. I won't repeat the recipe, it's on Joe's blog and I didn't change a thing. It was very successful, so much so that people refused to believe I made it.<br />
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Eggs and sugar beaten up:<br />
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Flour, ready to go in:<br />
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Flour being beaten in:<br />
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<br />
This did not turn to putty as Joe had said it would, so I was a bit worried, but I shouldn't have been. Lemon:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_M9Lzkkh_kclIjLKQ66iEal4T1HYEOYq5FZs4kG0wBeAjKgPxdzexhxzplXouTYJlR9gvA-eepqBfyVsdC7UHxzzbN46e4-nX_tjG8CDcYeDJArwGY5V_DcPcXsxLoLWWaNc1tCVjVA/s1600/SANY0219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_M9Lzkkh_kclIjLKQ66iEal4T1HYEOYq5FZs4kG0wBeAjKgPxdzexhxzplXouTYJlR9gvA-eepqBfyVsdC7UHxzzbN46e4-nX_tjG8CDcYeDJArwGY5V_DcPcXsxLoLWWaNc1tCVjVA/s320/SANY0219.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The egg whites …<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwO3R0YHou_4ZNynCnD7ueAn-uMPYAJ3Ra93Um8c49W_Z54PUwF4RnY6fjFHytvt-jne8WIWlRVSG7R1wt3bK43WvIzMoXjtpDJ62Xe9n0ous2xBDOVDiUh1R4MVUIrlTCFsNjuLMMPQ/s1600/SANY0214.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwO3R0YHou_4ZNynCnD7ueAn-uMPYAJ3Ra93Um8c49W_Z54PUwF4RnY6fjFHytvt-jne8WIWlRVSG7R1wt3bK43WvIzMoXjtpDJ62Xe9n0ous2xBDOVDiUh1R4MVUIrlTCFsNjuLMMPQ/s320/SANY0214.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… beaten …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YTMcezJtycNlijJt5CaB4GAprCdimd-bbrZEtEERXIJtiDxHOYjAZq_lv_WkLMz1OyNCvTOGXtGkQwAXre4dRdjizMVwjEMgMTn_FqAs3lfmejrH7qJQ5IQMtZJzXUJ15u47ItrgCmk/s1600/SANY0220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YTMcezJtycNlijJt5CaB4GAprCdimd-bbrZEtEERXIJtiDxHOYjAZq_lv_WkLMz1OyNCvTOGXtGkQwAXre4dRdjizMVwjEMgMTn_FqAs3lfmejrH7qJQ5IQMtZJzXUJ15u47ItrgCmk/s320/SANY0220.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… and getting folded in:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGQFZKNDUNx0tM0QqcI0BCAv3x5XOkPdyw6gwZpODcMNVcIEKyaH-TvIk5abgI8L6JmltofVVIjklMuZijRWI3vgyn7YzrNvhsFb3IjZ_IfhLObS7IP2bZMS7rvZSoLjnH6kO_MN8aqM/s1600/SANY0222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGQFZKNDUNx0tM0QqcI0BCAv3x5XOkPdyw6gwZpODcMNVcIEKyaH-TvIk5abgI8L6JmltofVVIjklMuZijRWI3vgyn7YzrNvhsFb3IjZ_IfhLObS7IP2bZMS7rvZSoLjnH6kO_MN8aqM/s320/SANY0222.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Final cake mixture:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
I used siliconised baking paper instead of the foil Joe did - mostly because I was out of foil. That big round thing is my 8 inch cutter that came in a set from IKEA.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIbl1qyAsVgNMYtWSw8gjwP0S8OSvBEFDgn_zuvQTZYxgc2DR0k2Y7NEgclJnryLukmYNDuq6NMFKg2Yz1HEjD-8FTOfdyUzyMGIzJWSTXsYUZQXS2tbpbMQSoGnTPLFlIkDC9flDCDk/s1600/SANY0216.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIbl1qyAsVgNMYtWSw8gjwP0S8OSvBEFDgn_zuvQTZYxgc2DR0k2Y7NEgclJnryLukmYNDuq6NMFKg2Yz1HEjD-8FTOfdyUzyMGIzJWSTXsYUZQXS2tbpbMQSoGnTPLFlIkDC9flDCDk/s320/SANY0216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Cake mix spread on baking paper:<br />
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<br />
Then sprinkled with icing sugar and trimmed with the cutter:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNx2yw5w5nIkiOIsJ1xdosUUGJSQLuEmUAlxbClibqIOb9TVimKOulascqGFdxUhoKfUIv4qlRwKIFlMKpQY_sKjVTtcOh30y_Cdc3qPtoBO5m8s6WSRx4BwLNUD2fLm8-BvyFZl-udzU/s1600/SANY0225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNx2yw5w5nIkiOIsJ1xdosUUGJSQLuEmUAlxbClibqIOb9TVimKOulascqGFdxUhoKfUIv4qlRwKIFlMKpQY_sKjVTtcOh30y_Cdc3qPtoBO5m8s6WSRx4BwLNUD2fLm8-BvyFZl-udzU/s320/SANY0225.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Another layer:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGrTKzSzp0FjBI8WB2M-ckZre-VaPfZy0zT1QkL8_5FArlQQGvb6uRvgAtb1YRNTpLu8nGsxgT9GmIUWT_AnJHXNlHWCfYhRLHK7E8FhVX3arwf1s3tRsLi3MKhVAwf4sAnnEjhGeUFo/s1600/SANY0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGrTKzSzp0FjBI8WB2M-ckZre-VaPfZy0zT1QkL8_5FArlQQGvb6uRvgAtb1YRNTpLu8nGsxgT9GmIUWT_AnJHXNlHWCfYhRLHK7E8FhVX3arwf1s3tRsLi3MKhVAwf4sAnnEjhGeUFo/s320/SANY0226.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
There were eight in all:<br />
<br />
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<br />
Sugar ready to caramelise:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyc_ZqIPjo5_qlcIlAGmRcqM6xIsLa6-xldPsy89IRCKuu1aDuwZsblVBJKI9bTlNY8nHOlHZzrdQ8X2tTtyIjwwtMPXdkgre0vdiEjRJEsfF_iDCrrznJL5NxA9sa2q8AMBQngrSNPE/s1600/SANY0227.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyc_ZqIPjo5_qlcIlAGmRcqM6xIsLa6-xldPsy89IRCKuu1aDuwZsblVBJKI9bTlNY8nHOlHZzrdQ8X2tTtyIjwwtMPXdkgre0vdiEjRJEsfF_iDCrrznJL5NxA9sa2q8AMBQngrSNPE/s320/SANY0227.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And the caramel being spread over my most attractive layer …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi6f3TrOHcrkSiTtkiCps3dLZZFQYYtK0CFYVr9OAjfjWeDx0uWgIsb0o4PC941TZwdDchdd_jCNJkJiX1veNodxvebp6Loaw601vK5CHbPjwnNfwPEYqSUgq8062VOXb3f_Qp1VuTUU/s1600/SANY0230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi6f3TrOHcrkSiTtkiCps3dLZZFQYYtK0CFYVr9OAjfjWeDx0uWgIsb0o4PC941TZwdDchdd_jCNJkJiX1veNodxvebp6Loaw601vK5CHbPjwnNfwPEYqSUgq8062VOXb3f_Qp1VuTUU/s320/SANY0230.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… which I cut into wedges, thus:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrcaZbG_Z759Sh-3Jf12FTJdMMuKCVnXO1z6KZ9ftpt-j96D7YSJ7tDvhNYsNMeyKoHxiJKK6ZUjaW7GEnL-_tlN5K2NhwPW_t-bDxxv_Z9jsfAQcdD_zNMlXPnsOv31djSm58VwotKg/s1600/SANY0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrcaZbG_Z759Sh-3Jf12FTJdMMuKCVnXO1z6KZ9ftpt-j96D7YSJ7tDvhNYsNMeyKoHxiJKK6ZUjaW7GEnL-_tlN5K2NhwPW_t-bDxxv_Z9jsfAQcdD_zNMlXPnsOv31djSm58VwotKg/s320/SANY0231.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Butter …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB2GcxQPylSj2-P1_Ov6wzqas0ZxzzzWg6VfFbmKcUqNuJydGrWfoDHQORvNzjYJEGPVm94m2DEt0KqZc8U0PuVA7Le6QJFZ7qGwSoiofQFrvFLNc7nSsXN6R3bS67Azyv77JyDeW93bc/s1600/SANY0234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB2GcxQPylSj2-P1_Ov6wzqas0ZxzzzWg6VfFbmKcUqNuJydGrWfoDHQORvNzjYJEGPVm94m2DEt0KqZc8U0PuVA7Le6QJFZ7qGwSoiofQFrvFLNc7nSsXN6R3bS67Azyv77JyDeW93bc/s320/SANY0234.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… and chocolate …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIA0lPiBR_8FhfH4sH2en_wyz1_z30jffVMabr8Jb_5_4cZGsZbM1bVHgoIuyPlLslYueiQ0BVhrAdE66Ihmgp8jMgfHvmxm-cY-eDO2xm3Ayi_jeodTqtfGwJVoP6z-7kJRP5o1jsBBU/s1600/SANY0235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIA0lPiBR_8FhfH4sH2en_wyz1_z30jffVMabr8Jb_5_4cZGsZbM1bVHgoIuyPlLslYueiQ0BVhrAdE66Ihmgp8jMgfHvmxm-cY-eDO2xm3Ayi_jeodTqtfGwJVoP6z-7kJRP5o1jsBBU/s320/SANY0235.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… to melt for the icing:<br />
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<br />
Mixed up with egg yolks, vanilla, and icing sugar:<br />
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<br />
Using three or four bits of baking paper under the edges of a cake as a "drop cloth" is one of Joe's better handy hints:<br />
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<br />
When you've finished icing it …<br />
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<br />
You just pull them away, and your plate is clean as clean can be:<br />
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<br />
How's that cake then? Just like a bought one, if I do say so myself.<br />
<br />
I can't say I'm a great fan of the taste though - just a bit too sweet and chocolatey for me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-11866968898927282692011-12-03T16:34:00.001+13:002011-12-03T17:39:45.750+13:00Busy busy busyBack in May I posted <a href="http://bronwyncarlisle.blogspot.com/2011/05/quick-update.html">this update</a> to my knitting projects. Since then I have knitted the cardigan from the design I posted …<br />
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… designed and knitted (and worn to death) this oversized sweater …<br />
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… and also designed and knitted this shawl:<br />
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Counting the Aran sweater from my May post, that's three things off my list of "want to have a go at knitting" (Fair Isle, Aran, Shetland lace). I also want to knit a traditional guernsey, but I think I'll leave that for another winter.<br />
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I'm really very proud of the shawl, it's knitted in a very fine 2-ply merino-possum mix and I had anticipated it taking many months, if not years, to finish. I started by knitting a 100 stitch by 200 row garter stitch centre, then did 28 patterns (112 rounds) of Old Shale for the border, ending up with around 1000 stitches. There are over 2000 rows of edging, most of which I knitted while having a week and a half off work with the most dreadful non-flu virus that I have still not completely kicked.<br />
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And yes I have cooked one or two things, and I have taken some photos but have not got around to posting as yet. I'll try to catch up over the next week or two.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-88860513759422143592011-09-03T21:22:00.001+12:002011-09-03T21:27:06.000+12:00New carpet, and earthquake-proof furniture.This is my workshop:<br />
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I have enough tools to do most of the things I want to do myself - I fix a few things around the house, and I've made some equipment for cheese-making that I couldn't buy.<br />
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In my living room I have two bookcases that sit back to back, there not being enough wall space for them all to have their backs to the wall. These two bookcases also sit about a foot away from each other, as my vitrine has its back the their sides, and it is wider than the two of them are deep and is not as tall as they are. This will make sense eventually, I promise.<br />
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Anyway the bookcases have a tendency to lean backwards, which is a jolly good thing when they're against a wall, but is not so good when they're leaning on nothing but a foot of empty space. Up until now I've just screwed a plank of wood across their tops to hold them apart, but if you push them they sway. Something better needed to be done.<br />
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This is the top portion of my new structure, upside down:<br />
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Those smaller bits of MDF are the size of the gap I want between the tops of the bookcases, and the larger bit is as long as the cases are wide. It is wide enough to cover the backs of the cases, so I can screw it down. I glued the smaller bits to the larger bit with wood glue, clamped them down, and left it to set overnight.<br />
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Next morning I got this piece of pine and drilled three holes in it. The plan is to fix this bit of pine to the front of the structure at right angles to the rest, so it hangs down at the front.<br />
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Next job was to drill matching holes in the end of the top bit:<br />
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Then I glued wooden pegs into the holes in the pine …<br />
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… applied glue to the surface of the pine that will abut the top thing …<br />
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… and fit the pegs into the matching holes:<br />
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I astounded myself. They fitted perfectly.<br />
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I banged the joint tight with my mallet, then propped the structure up to dry overnight:<br />
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Here we have the finished structure, upside down again:<br />
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I drilled some slantwise holes in what would become the bottom part so I could screw it onto the backs of the bookcases, giving some rigidity to the structure.<br />
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Here is a view from underneath, with the backs of the two bookcases to either side: <br />
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You can see how the smaller bits of mdf hold them apart.<br />
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And this is what it looks like all screwed in, with my Monstera sitting on top:<br />
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The screw holes are pretty ugly, but they get covered up. The wood doesn't match either, I might get around to slapping some stain on one day, but you can't actually see it so there's no great rush.<br />
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The gap between the cases is well and truly covered up anyway, so no cats can jump down between them, and the bookcases don't sway when you push them. Solid as a rock.<br />
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Next job, the vitrine. You will realise I'm not shifting all this furniture around by myself - I was fitting my contraption while the carpet layers were doing the hall.<br />
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I got the carpet guys to bring in the vitrine and put it in its possie by the bookcases, then I screwed the top back of the vitrine onto my contraption …<br />
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… and put my old old books back on top to hide everything: <br />
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Now all that was left tto do was the other bookcases. The easy bit, I thought. They just needed screwing onto the wall.<br />
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I'd borrowed my friend Craig's stud finder. Studs are the long vertical bits of wood framing that go to make up a wall, and between the studs there are short horizontal bits called dwangs. Carpenters have weird imaginations. Anyway, when you screw something heavy onto a wall you need to screw it into a stud or a dwang, and this little gizmo bleeps and flashes when you go past one. I marked out the positions of all the studs behind the bookcases. There were two behind each one.<br />
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Then I had to drill holes for the screws to go in. And broke a drill bit off in the first hole. <br />
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<br />
I couldn't pull it out with pliers, and I needed another drill bit, so I had to hop in the car and drive into town to buy some drill bits and vice-grips. At least, generic things that are NOT Vice-Grips, but work exactly the same way and cost about quarter as much.<br />
<br />
These things:<br />
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<br />
They got the drill bit out of the bookcase in no time flat, and I proceeded to screw the tops of my bookcases to the wall. <br />
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<br />
So this is what it looks like now:<br />
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<br />
The china is attached to the bookshelves with blu-tack, as are the adjustable shelves to their supports. I couldn't do a lot about the stuff in the vitrine - with glass shelves blu-tack would be just ugly. I'll have to hope that the doors are enough to keep things in place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzrH_XFVlYzr9rrqLd_qTAGvKR2l51mjctxxLsHx7wkgvmu42k-YkS_d7_dxd04n_MQNOxd-Jti4k6uHy4wWIzpURJjmV-voasbXVeG32ixb9538bvzX27m6kQOdcIvEHJoc6jBrzbds/s1600/SANY0270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzrH_XFVlYzr9rrqLd_qTAGvKR2l51mjctxxLsHx7wkgvmu42k-YkS_d7_dxd04n_MQNOxd-Jti4k6uHy4wWIzpURJjmV-voasbXVeG32ixb9538bvzX27m6kQOdcIvEHJoc6jBrzbds/s320/SANY0270.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I think I'll have more to worry about than a few bits of furniture if we have an earthquake that is strong enough to dislodge that lot anyway. Like my house sliding down the hill into the harbour.<br />
<br />
And my new doors?<br />
<br />
They're wonderful:<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-88991024963616768632011-07-23T19:33:00.002+12:002011-07-23T19:34:11.541+12:00Efficient use of the whole chookWhole chickens were on special.<br />
<br />
I removed the ribcage … <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbMRuVHg9nIl5Jwtw_HEebIApii47SbXFazjD4d9AFZmMERxiwbStWUQbLLo5o5uyc8o8-QtT3MvcGvxAoTQ9SKrO9Ag792IB7wptpqRg5ZXaySOFzoeFSpFJBm2fWYf3ql6iTowQjgE/s1600/SANY0170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbMRuVHg9nIl5Jwtw_HEebIApii47SbXFazjD4d9AFZmMERxiwbStWUQbLLo5o5uyc8o8-QtT3MvcGvxAoTQ9SKrO9Ag792IB7wptpqRg5ZXaySOFzoeFSpFJBm2fWYf3ql6iTowQjgE/s320/SANY0170.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… by cutting the skin down the spine … <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbs9b3vW9bfetc1TT9E_QMPET5lgPKAKn0QAuqapjRfM89TLZjFgLC4nJ4z_1-ySmdts5zLBignOIlwO9Flui5F1qjJzm6GykyFWYb4GoAlWRlVHy0lEchhM2hWwI4N2BI4U34yGJNSvY/s1600/SANY0171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbs9b3vW9bfetc1TT9E_QMPET5lgPKAKn0QAuqapjRfM89TLZjFgLC4nJ4z_1-ySmdts5zLBignOIlwO9Flui5F1qjJzm6GykyFWYb4GoAlWRlVHy0lEchhM2hWwI4N2BI4U34yGJNSvY/s320/SANY0171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… and gently cutting flesh away from ribs, and severing hip and shoulder joints …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3PcYdqzIphLjv0HCU839QRBh29G_vFvjQ1749TqI5QhwfGboWQMilF-JbDv2Zk8Yg6Ukz5HoH9aei13AeNTys_vU0dq3BHkBnjSVuIbC51PbAuzPU0TyJx89jUeVKH9zHhuD4LgYrxM/s1600/SANY0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3PcYdqzIphLjv0HCU839QRBh29G_vFvjQ1749TqI5QhwfGboWQMilF-JbDv2Zk8Yg6Ukz5HoH9aei13AeNTys_vU0dq3BHkBnjSVuIbC51PbAuzPU0TyJx89jUeVKH9zHhuD4LgYrxM/s320/SANY0172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… leaving ribcage …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVN1WGnPMORVn2YBXIEnj0L2gsQ8SChHGgof-3-_tb-cxZxie-2_dW6pbWxsYfLDuQTod9XV7T7R3CbLOJD7p95bV9jlen0RjhHA24BfuhSrEglgMq4FLEM3fqxda_THxidNqcJFC1L0/s1600/SANY0173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVN1WGnPMORVn2YBXIEnj0L2gsQ8SChHGgof-3-_tb-cxZxie-2_dW6pbWxsYfLDuQTod9XV7T7R3CbLOJD7p95bV9jlen0RjhHA24BfuhSrEglgMq4FLEM3fqxda_THxidNqcJFC1L0/s320/SANY0173.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… and the rest of the chook: <br />
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<br />
I cut off the legs (and wings) … <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFIsULAww9hz4OThGacRtt-Oco9PZbvPDUvo9cOShsGyCtCjKzkn7uMk0fJXwoFWaeXUjhbMDpyXF3P36Y-EbNl_5ZHZkxw6yxoxYkM0lFNHEQWVlUaMAJvt0NxLgqAPlJCcdSEYkLO8/s1600/SANY0176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFIsULAww9hz4OThGacRtt-Oco9PZbvPDUvo9cOShsGyCtCjKzkn7uMk0fJXwoFWaeXUjhbMDpyXF3P36Y-EbNl_5ZHZkxw6yxoxYkM0lFNHEQWVlUaMAJvt0NxLgqAPlJCcdSEYkLO8/s320/SANY0176.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… leaving the breast and most of the skin: <br />
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<br />
I peeled the skin away, …<br />
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<br />
… then rearranged the breasts on the skin in a less biologically accurate, but more even, fashion:<br />
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<br />
I made stuffing by sweating chopped onion in lots of butter … <br />
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<br />
… until it was beginning to brown … <br />
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<br />
… picked some parsley and sage from the garden …<br />
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<br />
… and chopped it up finely … <br />
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<br />
… then added the onions, butter, chopped herbs, and salt, to a cup or so of white breadcrumbs from the freezer: <br />
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The stuffing went on top of the chicken breasts … <br />
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… and I got out Uncle Ted's old upholstery needle (Uncle Ted was the husband of Auntie Helen of the steamed pudding bowl) and threaded it with string:<br />
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Bit by bit I sewed up the chicken's skin around its breast and the stuffing …<br />
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… until it was a nice neat parcel …<br />
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<br />
… which I put in an oven dish, sitting on the ribcage and wings, with the legs to the sides:<br />
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I cooked them for about 45 minutes …<br />
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<br />
… one leg was dinner, and the stuffed breast and other leg went into the fridge to be eaten cold.<br />
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The carcase and wings …<br />
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<br />
… went into a pot of water with onion and some sliced shiitake mushrooms and were boiled for a couple of hours, making a delicious stock …<br />
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… from which I removed the bones and strained the meat and mushrooms. I added the meat and mushrooms to cooked soba noodles and put stock and noodles in the fridge, ready to be reheated in portions and eaten together: <br />
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The soup and noodles were three lunches worth.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-53984763192163197692011-07-23T19:08:00.001+12:002011-07-23T19:08:48.889+12:00Red skyI took this a couple of weeks ago at sunrise when we were due some bad weather:<br />
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We've had the most amazingly good winter so far, with bright sunny days and blue skies. The above mentioned bad weather lasted about three days, then we returned to bright sun and blue skies again.<br />
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Another southerly blast is supposed to be due any time, with snow in the hill suburbs of Dunedin.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-39891314679263438952011-07-23T19:01:00.002+12:002011-07-23T19:01:49.263+12:00A look at pudding bowls, and a puddingEmily from Kuala Lumpur wants to see details of steamed pudding bowls. I'm not sure, but I suspect that these are unique to New Zealand. Every recipe I see from England (the home of the steamed pudding) just uses a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak_and_kidney_pudding">china pudding bowl covered with foil or paper and string</a>. <br />
<br />
Anyway, here are my pudding bowls:<br />
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This one is "my" one. I've owned it for years, and it's very similar to the one my mother had: <br />
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It closes by that long arm on the lid, it pivots around its rivet and hooks under the rim of the bowl, like so:<br />
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The short arm doesn't move, it just hooks under the rim on the other side.<br />
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My second pudding bowl is "Auntie H's bowl". It belonged to my Aunt Helen and I got it when she moved into a retirement home.<br />
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It has a completely different closure, being a nut that unscrews from a bolt that sticks through the lid … <br />
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… from the middle of the bowl: <br />
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And it makes a ring-shaped pudding. Obviously.<br />
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What better pudding to make in Auntie H's bowl than Auntie H's sago fruit pudding. Here's the recipe: <br />
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Auntie Helen was a typist and office manager, so her recipes (which I also inherited when she went into the home) are extremely well organised in little folders, and neatly typed. <br />
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Two tablespoons of sago …<br />
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… with enough milk to cover, and left to soak overnight: <br />
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<br />
A cup of breadcumbs … <br />
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<br />
… a cup of sugar …<br />
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<br />
… and a cup of raisins: <br />
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<br />
I prefer these "sticky" raisins: <br />
<br />
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<br />
Two tablespoons of melted butter … <br />
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<br />
… and a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in boiling water … <br />
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<br />
… using the same cup I melted the butter in to save dishes … <br />
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<br />
… all mixed in together … <br />
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<br />
… put in the buttered pudding bowl …<br />
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<br />
… and boiled in a pot of water for two hours: <br />
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<br />
I think I should have used slightly less milk, as it was a bit gooey: <br />
<br />
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<br />
But still delicious with custard on: <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-85949304866843156992011-07-23T18:19:00.002+12:002011-07-23T18:20:02.622+12:00Waffles 2Crispy waffles this time. I had owned the crispy waffle iron for years and never used it. At least, that's not quite true. I used it once, but the results were inedible (mostly melted out all over the stove) so that doesn't count.<br />
<br />
I thought it was possible that I could use this waffle iron to make waffle ice cream cones, so I searched the internet for crispy waffle recipes. The most hopeful one was this <a href="http://www.stroopwafelshop.com/recipe.html">stroopwafel recipe</a>. I had found proper waffle cone recipes before, but they were the things which melted out all over the stove so I wanted an alternative.<br />
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Stroopwafels are easy as pie to make.<br />
<br />
Dry ingredients into a bowl …<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtHwjHibfQpC9JUCGLuZ1g0pUl7yGr4MxA-baGuMGn9DEeJVzvBdxaqRYXckBbxOunnRjpMap4XlQiE3EeCianh4IEuqQlWucN4QH7qjkyPTHnBBq1gmCgnbmUIp4_dlcO1Hq444VF14/s1600/SANY0114.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtHwjHibfQpC9JUCGLuZ1g0pUl7yGr4MxA-baGuMGn9DEeJVzvBdxaqRYXckBbxOunnRjpMap4XlQiE3EeCianh4IEuqQlWucN4QH7qjkyPTHnBBq1gmCgnbmUIp4_dlcO1Hq444VF14/s320/SANY0114.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… add butter …<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Zd8MJFAJ2-3EUqII1bDAyWiEVWqWN8w0RYd-78LtbEJNg9WxCCgDb-00LojylfvSWdxonHDbkA5M0Wam0cywQVMUg0qaYwkGf91QFY-Z6Yc9CB-hxkkda0Zc_L5GAR2AzIOWk_MCdUk/s1600/SANY0115.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Zd8MJFAJ2-3EUqII1bDAyWiEVWqWN8w0RYd-78LtbEJNg9WxCCgDb-00LojylfvSWdxonHDbkA5M0Wam0cywQVMUg0qaYwkGf91QFY-Z6Yc9CB-hxkkda0Zc_L5GAR2AzIOWk_MCdUk/s320/SANY0115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… rub in until breadcrumb-like …<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjASphPBMjUmhSpkyEGxFGPQ5gFs0Z5eIT95n5i8LMJasI0O4tKSClnBhnz6c4HiQxMZaZA_odu6ORN127y6lKmPQKRipYjpwQvJIfQt-4MezuzV9HBUFYtXyTMsJaTQFfajQNhQH0VGA/s1600/SANY0116.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjASphPBMjUmhSpkyEGxFGPQ5gFs0Z5eIT95n5i8LMJasI0O4tKSClnBhnz6c4HiQxMZaZA_odu6ORN127y6lKmPQKRipYjpwQvJIfQt-4MezuzV9HBUFYtXyTMsJaTQFfajQNhQH0VGA/s320/SANY0116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… add egg and milk …<br />
<br />
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<br />
… and work to a stiff dough:<br />
<br />
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<br />
Heat waffle iron …<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
… take smallish ball of dough …<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDktAfHBUxXKMnsfFII1E9X2-yTi5AmT_WFAAo0pJthuWmolAa4imxX_RMEeVoNy3RGQPAP3zVVUCoVvVGbSo6TKcaVYLdv2fHy_iUa_JDtQZmUrZ4cNL8LA67P2Lsfu8zPc1yOx_6ZxA/s1600/SANY0121.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDktAfHBUxXKMnsfFII1E9X2-yTi5AmT_WFAAo0pJthuWmolAa4imxX_RMEeVoNy3RGQPAP3zVVUCoVvVGbSo6TKcaVYLdv2fHy_iUa_JDtQZmUrZ4cNL8LA67P2Lsfu8zPc1yOx_6ZxA/s320/SANY0121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… flatten slightly and put in hot waffle iron …<br />
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<br />
… squash …<br />
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<br />
… cook on both sides<br />
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<br />
… until done:<br />
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<br />
<br />
See all the goo around the gas burner? That's melted butter, it all melted out of the sides of the iron. I suspect you could use quite a bit less than is in the recipe!<br />
<br />
The waffles were too thick to roll into cones (they cracked), but were none the less delicious.<br />
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<br />
I took most of them to work, and Fabienne, who is Belgian, was delighted. She said they really took her back to her Mum's kitchen. <br />
<br />
<br />
I made 1/3 of the following recipe, and I didn't do the syrup part. That would have been just too sweet for me.<br />
<br />
Original recipe from <a href="http://www.stroopwafelshop.com/recipe.html">Stroopwafel Shop</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Ingredients: waffles (12 pieces)</i>: <br />
300g caster sugar<br />
450g butter<br />
3 eggs<br />
3 sp milk<br />
600g flour<br />
cinnamon<br />
salt <br />
<br />
syrup:<br />
600g cane-sugar syrup<br />
300g butter<br />
<br />
<i>Preparation</i>:<br />
Mix the sugar with the eggs, milk, flour, cinnamon, salt and the butter sliced in pieces. Make 12 small balls.<br />
Preheat the waffle iron. Squeeze a paste ball in the iron. Bake the waffle in about 30 seconds.<br />
Cut the waffle in two thin waffles and spread the waffle with the mix of syrup and butter.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-70851630048173400422011-07-23T17:53:00.001+12:002011-07-23T18:20:13.540+12:00WafflesFor some reason or other I had a yen for waffles a couple of weekends ago.<br />
<br />
I have a couple of waffle irons, one for thick Belgian ones and one for thin crispy ones. Neither of them is electric, they need an external heat source. When my son was small we used quite often to make thick waffles on the fire in winter, then sit scoffing them with jam and whipped cream. Back then I used to make them with what was basically a thick crêpe mix - flour, egg, salt, milk, and melted butter. Perfectly yummy, but I wanted to see what yeasted ones were like.<br />
<br />
I used <a href="http://c.rosine1.free.fr/index.php?q=couliche">this recipe, from La cuisine de Rosine</a>. My French is just good enough to cope with recipes, although I sometimes have to look up the odd ingredient.<br />
<br />
Here's the yeast (levure) with warm milk (lait tiéde) (I didn't feel like using part beer, but might try it some time in the future).<br />
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Here's the flour (farine) in a large bowl (grand saladier)<br />
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And here is is with the eggs (oeufs), soup spoon of sugar (cuiller à soupe de sucre), milk, yeast, and pinch of salt (pincée de sel):<br />
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<br />
Rosine suggests mixing the milk in little by little so as not to get lumps (at least I think that's what "grumeaux" must be), I mixed my milk in all at once, just mixing it well. <br />
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Then the melted butter (beurre fondu) …<br />
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<br />
… goes in: <br />
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After it's all mixed up you leave it to rise until it's all bubbly:<br />
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Then it's time to heat up the waffle iron … <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iDT-kRnTqcbdU_LcPUvLHCb4PM-zsSCJwSF-yQYQl73GRDEq3QNTLlaoxID0pLPCS2Hs3nNb6hROy5hrm9p7TSPdmzpOiiqNXKUFfAz2bQGJZdE_NhTu9EEGWfIRHHAA-GRxcj8Ms1s/s1600/SANY0107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8iDT-kRnTqcbdU_LcPUvLHCb4PM-zsSCJwSF-yQYQl73GRDEq3QNTLlaoxID0pLPCS2Hs3nNb6hROy5hrm9p7TSPdmzpOiiqNXKUFfAz2bQGJZdE_NhTu9EEGWfIRHHAA-GRxcj8Ms1s/s320/SANY0107.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
… turning it over a couple of times on a medium gas flame until it's hot enough that butter will sizzle when you pop a little bit in to grease it. <br />
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A ladleful of waffle mix goes in …<br />
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<br />
… and you shut the iron. After a little while (trial and error will tell you when), you turn over the iron so the other side of the waffle can cook.<br />
<br />
This is the second side cooked:<br />
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<br />
And this is the first side: <br />
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<br />
It's not easy to get just the right amount of mix in so that it completely fills the iron, so the dimples on the first side are always deeper than those on the second. <br />
<br />
Belgian waffles with butter and jam:<br />
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<br />
Yummy. <br />
<br />
<div style="color: #660000;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Recipe</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Belgian Waffles </span></i></span><br />
<br />
(Approximate translation from <a href="http://c.rosine1.free.fr/index.php?q=couliche">La cuisine de Rosine</a>) <br />
<br />
<i>Ingredients</i>:<br />
300 ml milk (or a mix of milk and beer)<br />
250 g flour<br />
2 eggs<br />
a pinch of salt<br />
a soup spoon of sugar<br />
75 g melted butter<br />
15 g yeast<br />
<br />
<i>Method</i>:<br />
Warm the milk (in a bowl?), mix the yeast with a little of the warm milk.<br />
In a big (bowl?), something (put?) the flour, add the yeast, the eggs, the salt and the soup spoon of sugar. Mix and add the warm milk little by little so as not to make lumps(?).<br />
<br />
When it's all been added, make sure the batter is smooth(?).<br />
<br />
Melt the butter and add it to the mixture. Leave it so rest in a place that's not too cold, so the batter can rise.<br />
<br />
Some people recommend beating the egg whites to (snow? Probably means stiff peaks.) and then adding delicately (one assumes this means folding in) to the batter just before cooking.<br />
<br />
Heat the waffle iron and cook the waffles. They should be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Serve them with some things I can't translate. Jam and butter or jam and whipped cream is good enough for me. It also says something about adding bergamot to them if you want. Somehow or other.<br />
<br />
<i>French version: (for people whose French is better than mine)</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
30 cl de lait ( ou moitié lait moitié bière )<br />
250 g de farine<br />
2 oeufs<br />
1 pincée de sel<br />
1 cuillère à soupe de sucre<br />
75 g de beurre fondu<br />
15 g de levure de boulanger<br />
<br />
Faire tiédir le lait, dans un bol. Diluer la levure avec un peu de lait tiède.<br />
<br />
Dans un grand saladier, mettre la farine, ajouter la levure , les oeufs , le sel et la cuillère à soupe de sucre. Mélanger et ajouter le lait tiède petit à petit pour ne pas former de grumeaux.<br />
<br />
Une fois tout le lait ajouté, s'assurer que la pâte est lisse.<br />
<br />
Faire fondre le beurre et l'ajouter à la préparation. Laisser reposer dans un endroit pas trop frais, la pâte doit monter.<br />
<br />
Certaines personnes recommandent de battre les blancs en neige bien ferme et de les ajouter délicatement à la pâte juste avant la cuisson. Bien faire chauffer le gaufrier et faire cuire les gaufres. Elles sont légèrement croquantes à l'extérieur et moelleuses à l'intérieur. Les servir avec de la vergeoise ou du sucre glace comme dans les foires.<br />
Si vous préférez les gaufres fourrées, allez donc voir celles de Bergamote !... à condition bien sûr de posséder le gaufrier adapté, voir ici.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-31265508833980339142011-07-23T16:50:00.001+12:002011-07-23T16:50:46.180+12:00Why I haven't been posting much latelyAfter years of covering up disintegrating carpet with rugs and mats, I've finally bitten the bullet and decided to recarpet my living room.<br />
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The problem has been two-fold - the first was books. I have a lot of books, and they live in bookcases in my living room. Before carpet gets laid, bookcases need to be moved, and before that can happen, books need to be taken off the shelves and stored elsewhere. And the books are ordered in the shelves both by genre and alphabetically, so I can't leave it to the carpet guys to do.<br />
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The second problem is the doors. The reason the carpet is disintegrating in the first place is that the sun shines through both the front door and the ranch slider straight onto the carpet, and it is the UV that is killing the carpet. So there was no point in recarpeting until I did something about the doors - UV resistant glass was obviously the solution, but I didn't want to spend money putting it in the ranch slider because I hate it. So before the carpet happens, a whole new door needs to happen too.<br />
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I debated with myself for ages over whether to replace all the carpet or just the living room and hall, but decided to go the more economical route. The carpet in the bedrooms is still good as new, and I managed to get replacement carpet for hall and living room that's almost identical to it. Not <i>quite</i> identical, but I'm hoping it won't be too noticeable at the joins.<br />
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Carpet in front of ranch slider: <br />
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Note the loss of pile and discolouration. Those bits of white fluff are from the flokati rug that usually covers it. Seems little point in vacuuming it up when the whole lot is going to be removed on Wednesday.<br />
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Carpet in front of front door:<br />
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Carpet in bedroom - in perfectly good nick, just like the carpet in the middle of the living room, and in fact everywhere except in front of the glass doors:<br />
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Ranch slider: <br />
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The only bit of that ranch slider that opens is the middle panel. It seems a waste to me, and I'm getting it replaced with bifold doors that will open right up, making nearly the whole wall of the living room open to the deck. The new door will be double glazed UV resist glass, and I'm getting the rest of the living room windows and the front door retrofitted with double glazing too.<br />
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Anyway, the door is going in on Tuesday, and the carpet is being replaced on Wednesday, so for the last few weeks I've been slowly packing books and china away in boxes and storing them in one of the spare bedrooms.<br />
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Boxes stacked all around spare bed: <br />
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I was able to get a lot of paper boxes from work … <br />
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… fifty or so all together I think, …<br />
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… they're just the right size for books, and not too heavy when full.<br />
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I took the opportunity to do some pruning as well, putting aside books I'm never ever going to read again, and also out-of-copyright paperbacks I can download from Project Gutenburg. So I was taking books of shelves, checking availability on my iPad, downloading, then sorting into "keep" and "discard" boxes.<br />
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This is the "discard" pile. It also includes vinyl records, as I no longer have anything on which to play them and have long since digitised the contents:<br />
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They will not go to waste. Dunedin's main (old and very ornate) <a href="http://www.regenttheatre.co.nz/index.htm">theatre</a> has an <a href="http://www.regenttheatre.co.nz/booksale.htm">annual 24 hour book sale</a>, and my old books will be going there. A bit of a change, usually the traffic is in the other direction.<br />
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This is what my living room looks like now:<br />
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Book cases and vitrine are completely empty. When they go back in after the carpet install I'll be earthquake-proofing them. The three bookcases that sit against the wall just need hefty screws through the backs into studs in the walls, but the two cases that project into the room back-to back (but with about a foot gap between them) and have the vitrine arranged with its back to their ends are not so easy. I'm constructing a wooden thing that will screw across the tops of the bookcases and continue down one end. The vitrine can then be screwed to the vertical bit and hopefully the whole arrangement will be rigid enough not to fall over in anything but a really big shake.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-5405268615972907252011-07-22T16:58:00.002+12:002011-07-22T16:58:55.293+12:00Brothel creepersThis is my latest shoe purchase:<br />
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Red or Dead Rod Susie Leopard. All the way from Schuh in England. Black suede with printed cowhide (including the hair) on top. They're taking just a little bit of wearing in, as they're a tad narrow across the toes. I do love them though - they have red lining which you get just a glimpse of.<br />
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I've been very lazy lately and haven't posted much. At least I haven't been lazy, but what I've been doing is not terribly interesting. I'm having some minor house alterations done, and carpet laid, and have had to move all my books and china out of the living room. I will take photos tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-62193335434560002502011-07-01T14:04:00.000+12:002011-07-01T14:04:49.710+12:00Second pair of Ziera sale shoesThese ones have a bit of a heel. Again, they're really comfortable, I could walk for miles in them. And quite affordable at $110, down from $219.90.<br />
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It's tartan day today so I'm wearing a black and white tartan pleated dress with a big red pullover over it to keep me warm.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-22781947418364069442011-06-24T10:42:00.001+12:002011-06-24T10:43:30.626+12:00Blue Suede ShoesZiera, who used to be "Kumfs" and specialised in old ladies' shoes and never had sales because the styles stayed the same year after year, are having a sale. Just about a year ago they changed their name to Ziera because they felt it was a better fit for the more stylish shoes they are making these days. They are still incredibly comfortable, like wrapping your feet in foam rubber, but considerably less dowdy than previously.<br />
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I bought two pairs of shoes in the sale, this is number one:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XZvH61_D5cieBlkk63FXA1DFWPTvWPeU4VPXzklTXkEsyuX6p0daWlR0mESMiIjoUmF7lblthuMh_UaM6P48pCP9qnRb1yq4wFq3yvjoTs6Tm-84PhL2RWFP4usyqdUVKXK5OoTWLlM/s1600/SANY0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4XZvH61_D5cieBlkk63FXA1DFWPTvWPeU4VPXzklTXkEsyuX6p0daWlR0mESMiIjoUmF7lblthuMh_UaM6P48pCP9qnRb1yq4wFq3yvjoTs6Tm-84PhL2RWFP4usyqdUVKXK5OoTWLlM/s320/SANY0001.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Flat blue suede lace-ups, down from $220 to $110. Super comfortable. I just <i>love</i> the colour, although they are available in black leather as well. I'm wearing them today with black tights (as you can see), a short black wool dress, the <a href="http://bronwyncarlisle.blogspot.com/2011/05/quick-update.html">cream Aran jersey</a> I knitted recently, and a blue beret and scarf.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-84472603035454752282011-06-19T16:00:00.000+12:002011-06-19T16:00:32.241+12:00Mushroom soup with chicken - or chicken in mushroom sauce?Just for a change last week I made a pot of thick mushroom soup, aka stewed mushrooms.<br />
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When I was small Mum and Dad used sometime to take us for a "Sunday Drive". We'd pile into the car and Dad would drive somewhere in the country - usually there was a gravel road involved, because he loved driving on them. No matter that it made my brother and me feel sick breathing in the dust in the back seat. When the weather was right there would be farm kids sitting at the side of the road with buckets of mushrooms that had come up overnight in the paddocks. Farm kids were traditionally allowed to pick and sell them for pocket money. You never see kids doing that these days, more's the pity. Possibly modern farming techniques don't encourage the growth of mushrooms.<br />
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Anyway, we'd always stop and buy a big bag of mushrooms whenever we saw them, and that night we'd have stewed mushrooms on toast for tea. Those mushrooms were gorgeous. Some of them were the size of a small umbrella, and their gills were as black as black. The stewed mushrooms were also black - like squid ink mixed with a bit of milk.<br />
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The days of those black field mushrooms are well gone, and the pathetic things you get in the shops just don't compare. These wee white button things least of all:<br />
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However, you work with what you have. Firstly melt some butter in a pot:<br />
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Then sautée the sliced mushrooms. I decided I really was making soup, so I quartered about a third of the mushrooms and sautéed those …<br />
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… while the rest went in the food processor to get chopped more finely:<br />
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They, and some chicken & bacon stock from the freezer …<br />
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… went in the pot too …<br />
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… along with some thyme from the garden:<br />
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Next ingredient was milk, and the soup was left to simmer for a while.<br />
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Meanwhile, I got out a chicken thigh from the fridge …<br />
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… sliced it …<br />
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… and fried it in some butter …<br />
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… until it was browned and just cooked:<br />
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Next thing I did was thicken the soup with some cornflour (cornstarch), enough to make it quite thick:<br />
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Then I had some soup for my dinner, with chicken in the middle:<br />
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Yum.<br />
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The only difference between this and stewed mushrooms is the size of the mushroom bits and the amount of liquid. And of course the lack of big black field mushrooms.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-11582949960653960602011-06-19T15:38:00.000+12:002011-06-19T15:38:00.094+12:00Roast chickenBefore you eat steamed pudding, you have to have roast dinner.<br />
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We had chicken. I hadn't made a roast for ages and ages, but you don't forget how. It's about the easiest thing to make. <br />
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First stuffing for the chook. A couple of cups of fresh breadcrumbs, some parsley and sage from the garden chopped up finely, a big onion chopped finely and sweated in about 50g of butter, salt and pepper. Mix them all up and insert into the chicken's cavity.<br />
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I hadn't used all of the paprika-y melted butter I made on the çılbır we had for breakfast, so I smeared what was left over the chicken:<br />
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Into the oven for a couple of hours, then out again to rest, while I roasted some kumara, parsnip, carrots, beetroot, and tiny Brussels sprouts from the garden. <br />
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I also made cauliflower and parsley sauce (just bechamel sauce with parsley added), and the pan drippings from the chicken were made into gravy.<br />
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That's Kiwi soul food. Although there should have been potatoes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-55374227907877057092011-06-19T15:21:00.000+12:002011-06-19T15:21:00.899+12:00Old fashioned steamed puddingI had a young man friend visiting a couple of weeks ago, so it was time to dig out the recipe for steamed pudding from the recesses of my brain.<br />
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This is something I used to make often when my son was living at home, the recipe is really basic, but you can change it around heaps by adding spices and/or fruit, cocoa, jam or syrup on the bottom etc.<br />
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You start by creaming butter and sugar together …<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkp47nZJaz-Zi8QcWfXS0FQPnWlMtGIcq-EyQ_zV_IEGOBqnxkedo5jG9MLLczzhelXyXmUsP5qCUol0nJZ_3ZClYIrG0bIuQIKUQeog7jCxxIHNCuaiO0_DcJXD7XX3X1MN4Z4ijrayY/s1600/SANY0020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkp47nZJaz-Zi8QcWfXS0FQPnWlMtGIcq-EyQ_zV_IEGOBqnxkedo5jG9MLLczzhelXyXmUsP5qCUol0nJZ_3ZClYIrG0bIuQIKUQeog7jCxxIHNCuaiO0_DcJXD7XX3X1MN4Z4ijrayY/s320/SANY0020.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLfIMKdJagWkJZm3_vQNoh4YS4qKnPzXI-PtSUSLu88t0M2FM9nBBeMfRngsAq-5YSX46lHL_l499fTNQjD9Avfev62eSeM6aIaBFpGAH5jwVwVGiPTCcy8pOP7Uxu2WZ8YJbuOzshTI/s1600/SANY0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLfIMKdJagWkJZm3_vQNoh4YS4qKnPzXI-PtSUSLu88t0M2FM9nBBeMfRngsAq-5YSX46lHL_l499fTNQjD9Avfev62eSeM6aIaBFpGAH5jwVwVGiPTCcy8pOP7Uxu2WZ8YJbuOzshTI/s320/SANY0021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
… I'm not very thorough at this, it should be done better.<br />
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Then you mix in egg …<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKoSmqvaelk-Xp3BF9ONnlk0BJlD8u0SnAcfa5G5B7eAg-pqSPTW5UHqVpHv_efvjBNzSwfn6xI6-XH-ymLnJYM6iw6uheT032wom_1Mpkdm_YWfP5VdzGKtVPL4DI-e5u09qNrVRvBY/s1600/SANY0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKoSmqvaelk-Xp3BF9ONnlk0BJlD8u0SnAcfa5G5B7eAg-pqSPTW5UHqVpHv_efvjBNzSwfn6xI6-XH-ymLnJYM6iw6uheT032wom_1Mpkdm_YWfP5VdzGKtVPL4DI-e5u09qNrVRvBY/s320/SANY0022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
… until it's well combined …<br />
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… add some vanilla essence (or whatever takes your fancy and will go with the other flavours) …<br />
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… then add flour, baking powder, and milk …<br />
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… and mix to a batter:<br />
<br />
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This is going to be a "Black Cap Pudding" so I'm putting stoned dates on the bottom of a greased pudding basin. Another sort of BlackCap pudding has dark jam (e.g. plum) there instead.<br />
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The batter goes on top …<br />
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… the top of the pudding bowl goes on …<br />
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… then it is lowered into a pot of boiling water, covered with the lid, and left to simmer for a couple of hours. The water in the pot needs to come about half way up the side of the bowl, and you have to be careful not to let it boil dry.<br />
<br />
You can't really overcook it, so when you're ready to eat it you retrieve it from the pot, remove the lid …<br />
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… put a plate over the bowl …<br />
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… invert it, and remove the bowl:<br />
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This is traditionally eaten with custard powder custard, which bears very little relationship to custard, but is nice anyway.<br />
<br />
You heat milk and a bit of sugar …<br />
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… and when it's nearly boiling, add in some custard powder that you've slaked with some cold milk:<br />
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Custard powder is basically vanilla flavoured, yellow coloured, cornflour (cornstarch). Very similar to what I believe Americans call "pudding".<br />
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You stir the custard vigorously so it doesn't go lumpy …<br />
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… then pour it over the steamed pudding:<br />
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So there you have what we call pudding with custard, but which Americans would no doubt call pudding with cake. Runny cream is a good addition, but I didn't have any.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000;">Recipe</span></span> (approximate)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Steamed pudding </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<i>Ingedients:</i><br />
(can be doubled or tripled)<br />
100g butter<br />
100g sugar<br />
1 egg<br />
125g flour<br />
1tsp baking powder<br />
milk to mix<br />
<br />
you can also add any of:<br />
1 tsp essence<br />
1 tsp any spice<br />
handful of dried fruit<br />
2 tbsp cocoa (use correspondingly less flour)<br />
jam, fruit or syrup at the bottom of the bowl<br />
<br />
<i>Method:</i><br />
Cream butter and sugar<br />
Add egg and mix well<br />
Add flour, baking powder, and enough milk to mix to a cake-like batter<br />
Pour into a greased pudding bowl, cover with lid (or tinfoil tied with string if you don't have a lid), and place in pot of boiling water. Water needs to stay half way up the side of the bowl, so top up if necessary. Simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours.<br />
Serves four adult females or two (maybe one) teenaged boys.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-30525104106554489882011-06-19T14:54:00.000+12:002011-06-19T14:54:11.842+12:00ÇılbırThis is a Turkish dish I've been wanting to try for ages.<br />
<br />
It's as simple as can be; a puddle of room temperature garlic yoghurt, with a poached egg (or two) on top, and over that you drizzle melted butter mixed with smoked paprika and a little chilli:<br />
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It's gorgeous. It doesn't taste like any of its ingredients, somehow all the flavours mix together and turn into something quite different.<br />
<br />
It feels as decadent as eggs Benedict, but with far far fewer calories. Even that pool of butter is less than you would think - it goes much further when melted!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-7341805492705560702011-06-06T18:03:00.000+12:002011-06-06T18:03:59.058+12:00Some old-fashioned baking.<div align="left" class="bloggerplus_text_section">I ordered "the Art of Cooking made Plain and Easy" by Hannah Glasse from the Book Depository a couple of weeks ago. It arrived last week, and today being the official Queen's Birthday holiday in New Zealand (no work), I did some baking from it.<br />
<br />
Choosing something to bake from an 18th century cookbook is not easy. I was tempted by "wigs", but had no idea of what they were supposed to look like - the penultimate instruction is "shape into wigs" - so that was a washout. You also need to choose a recipe that gives more or less complete instructions, and that's not overly extravagant with butter and eggs.<br />
<br />
I settled on Portugal Cakes and Gingerbread.<br />
<br />
The recipes for both of these were rather massive, so I reduced them considerably. Portugal Cakes, for example, wanted 10 eggs, and the Gingerbread 3 quarts of flour!<br />
<br />
I started with said Portugal cakes. I quartered the recipe, starting off with 4oz flour (fine white, sifted very fine) …</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-VEVoqmeIluZO4hlHwXf9sS3yY4H6D2OHNJ6OIpeAE3R9eLgKYAgUZiWtgKYJVcRqdobD4eHZHsu0j2uc_Yt3CsCQ6sGXmch_0TZ60h5nSJX8UMcwy3eQPSdKSYmiI5i98O_ylFl-_Ws/s1600/SANY0047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-VEVoqmeIluZO4hlHwXf9sS3yY4H6D2OHNJ6OIpeAE3R9eLgKYAgUZiWtgKYJVcRqdobD4eHZHsu0j2uc_Yt3CsCQ6sGXmch_0TZ60h5nSJX8UMcwy3eQPSdKSYmiI5i98O_ylFl-_Ws/s320/SANY0047.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="left" class="bloggerplus_text_section">… and 4 oz sugar (beaten very fine) in a bowl …<br />
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… then I rubbed in 4 oz butter (best sweet) …<br />
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… until it looked like grated white bread:<br />
<br />
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Next I had to "beat well with a whisk" 2 1/2 eggs (I used 3 smallish ones) …<br />
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… and add these, along with some sack (sherry), …<br />
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… rose water (rose essence), …<br />
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and currants to my mixture. This was an ideal time to use some of my home-grown currants, so I did.<br />
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Not having much idea of what size and shape of tins Portugal cakes required, I used what I had; some nice round-bottomed patty pans.<br />
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I buttered them and put the cake mix in, and forgot to take a photo before they went into the oven. This is what they looked like when they came out though:<br />
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They're very tasty, and not too dense (I really did beat hell out of those eggs).<br />
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I reduced the gingerbread recipe to a third of the original. I started off with 1 quart of flour (some mental arithmetic was required here, resulting in my using 1.2 litres of flour measured in a 500ml measuring jug) …<br />
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… and a goodly amount of ginger (I trusted Greggs to have beaten it well for me) although not the 3 oz the recipe wanted. I didn't have that much in the house.<br />
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Next came nutmeg, cloves, and mace, with extra nutmeg instead of the mace. I'd run out.<br />
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Like a good little 18th century kitchen maid I ground the cloves myself in a mortar and pestle:<br />
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1/4 lb of sugar went in next:<br />
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Then I melted together 1/4 lb butter and 2/3 lb mixed treacle and golden syrup. It was supposed to be all treacle, but I didn't have enough.<br />
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The treacle mixture then went ito the dry mixture, and I mixed it as well as I could. It didn't look right at all. It was crumbly, not doughy or battery. There was no way that it could ever turn into a loaf of anything!<br />
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I muttered away to myself, thinking my "quart of flour" must have been very off, and decided to throw in some yoghurt.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GrUL-6uAkEMAXKxabPxfz5GsQwnCUNzyskecNYR7JQ90vUBvOrA-XYornSEXqnx7npZNZuvqW5QFq04QYbsgaFiCYzXo08inPv7sdtKh8dvhzvuF36wdxw7tDNtWk9iuAaUF47p7nZo/s1600/SANY0068.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GrUL-6uAkEMAXKxabPxfz5GsQwnCUNzyskecNYR7JQ90vUBvOrA-XYornSEXqnx7npZNZuvqW5QFq04QYbsgaFiCYzXo08inPv7sdtKh8dvhzvuF36wdxw7tDNtWk9iuAaUF47p7nZo/s320/SANY0068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I put in enough to turn the crumbly mixture into a bread-like dough …<br />
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… turned that into a buttered and papered loaf tin, and put it into the oven to bake.<br />
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It took a lot longer than the recipe's "an hour in a quick oven will bake it", but eventually it was done. <br />
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I haven't tried it yet, I might even let it age a bit before I do.<br />
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I checked the quart of flour thing with Wolfram Alpha, and my measurement was pretty much spot on. Maybe Mrs Glasse left something out of her recipe.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-57519789765210313212011-05-31T16:12:00.000+12:002011-05-31T16:12:51.985+12:00Shoes from Palmerston NorthAnd very cool new tights from England.<br />
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The second day of my recent visit to Palmerston North my friends and I went into town to go to their weekly pub lunch. I was wearing my purple-with-green-braid-pattern-up-the-back tights and these shoes …<br />
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… Just as we pulled up to the pub I happened to notice that the leather on my shoe had split, just at the base of the big toe on my right foot, where a bunion would be if I had one.<br />
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There happens to be a mall full of shoe shops just across the road from this particular pub, so I ran across intending to get some cheap but whole shoes that I could wear for the rest of the day. Anyway, I was about to purchase a pair of black flats when I saw these:<br />
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The flowers on the sides of those wide elastic straps are exactly the same colours as my purple-etc tights. It was a sign that I had to have them, even though it meant walking around motorbike workshops for the rest of the day in 3 inch heels. They are, however, wedges, and uncommonly comfortable for heels that high. I have actually worn them since while going for lunchtime exercise walks!<br />
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They also go rather well with my new tights from England that look like skyscrapers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-30476398899360315892011-05-30T21:31:00.000+12:002011-05-30T21:31:14.337+12:00A quick updateI have been really busy just lately. I went away to a motorbike club 40th anniversary a couple of weeks back and caught up with some people I hadn't seen in decades, then came back to a lot of work to catch up on.<br />
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I took some panforte and Italian almond cookies with me as a gift for the friends I stayed with: <br />
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The cookies are sort of an Italian version of macaroons. They are just meringue with quite a lot of ground almonds mixed in, whole almonds pressed into the tops, then baked until hard and dry. <br />
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I finished my Aran sweater just after I got back … <br />
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… and then started designing the next project … <br />
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… which is to be a Fair Isle cardigan. I cast on the stitches yesterday and have done the bottom ribbing and half the first pattern band. I planned the design on an iPad app called RectPaint. It's supposed to be for small children to draw blocky pictures with but works quite well for Fair Isle - I just wish it had more, and variable, colours. I had to design it in horrible colours then import the resulting graphics into Gimp so I could replace them with the colours of the wool. I am sorely tempted to have a go at writing an app to design Fair Isle with myself.<br />
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I have done a little bit of cooking, and have photos which I MUST get around to posting about - including some new shoes!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-52937692449255784562011-05-01T18:26:00.000+12:002011-05-01T18:26:01.106+12:00CurrantsI didn't know what to do with all the grapes from my vine. They're only little ones, but very flavoursome, so I decided to try turning them into raisins.<br />
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Firstly I washed them …<br />
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… then I picked them off the bunches … <br />
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… leaving this pile of twigs: <br />
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I spread them out on an oven rack covered in muslin …<br />
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… and put them in the oven, set at 50°C on fan, to dry. I turned them over a few times during the two days it took, and I eventually ended up with … <br />
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… currants! Now I know what sort of grapes they are. I think in America they call these things Zante currants, but we just call them currants. They are probably the most expensive currants ever made when you take into account the electricity used to dry them, so I'll have to think of something extra special to do with them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-78615533505570626592011-05-01T18:19:00.000+12:002011-05-01T18:19:19.617+12:00Not cooking muchAnd this is why:<br />
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It's my first effort at designing a whole jersey and knitting it in one bit without seams. As you can see, I've knitted the body in the round up to the armholes, I've split it and finished knitting the back, and I've made a good start on the rest of the front. After I cast the shoulder fronts and backs off together I'll pick up stitches around the armholes and knit the sleeves down towards the wrists. I want to get it finished so I can wear it this winter, not next. It took me ages to decide what patterns to put on it, I was having problems envisioning them together. I'm pleased with how it looks though.<br />
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Another reason for not cooking much is I'm still trying not to eat too much. My weight loss came to a screaming halt despite me eating only 1200 Cal per day net. No weight lost at all for about three weeks. Very disheartening. However, I gave my body a bit of a shock last weekend by eating these …<br />
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…on Good Friday. Four for breakfast, three for lunch, two for snacks, and three for dinner. Quite a few calories, but still not enough to put my weekly average into weight-gain territory, and lo and behold, I've started losing again.<br />
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I also finally got sick of my two jars of fig jam sitting on the bench unlabelled, so I opened up my Avery Label software and made these:<br />
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The jam is now where it should be; on a pantry shelf.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-42358263221304460132011-04-10T20:31:00.000+12:002011-04-10T20:31:29.315+12:00Some highlights from Palmerston NorthApart from the motorbike races, there was the guy …<br />
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… who sells freshly roasted …<br />
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… chestnuts at a street stall in George st:<br />
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On Sunday mornings he's at the Farmers' Market just around the corner in Coleman Place, where there is also a gorgeous French patisserie/chocolaterie where you can get a set menu petit déjeuner of half a baguette with butter and jam, a croissant, a pain au chocolat, a freshly squeezed orange juice, and a coffee of your choice for $14. Magic on a hangover.<br />
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Back at the farm where I was staying, this peacock spent most of his time tromping over the roof of the house …<br />
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… he sounded as though he was wearing hobnailed boots.<br />
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Various other birds and animals seem to get on well together …<br />
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… the cat is called Manx. He isn't one, but he was born minus a tail.<br />
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Here is Goosey:<br />
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And this is the typical storybook chook family:<br />
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There are also quails, lovebirds, parakeets, a sulphur-crested cockatoo, a gorgeous budgie that kept biting me, dogs, more cats, and miscellaneous other livestock, all of which are pets. When I used to live there 30-odd years ago we had two cats, a dog, and a cockatoo and that was it. Apart from the farm livestock that is - a pig, some horses and a few sheep.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294649853875499517.post-29018928703708722102011-04-10T18:00:00.000+12:002011-04-10T18:00:24.192+12:00Autumn fruitsMy sister-in-law was in town the other day. Her grandfather died and she made a flying trip down for the funeral. She brought me down some fruit from her garden:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwuQF00V5cV7CgiZB7kNdLhyphenhyphenPNQLlZFjqr_z0hISgBUBLLElnhwroFCr9gAApBdVkDeI81q4SbnCnQbiPQ8cfxhcVAX0ojeFQ9_Bc1cZgt0UhWZ_AeBlYZ5tK9zRf0QUsgG1hyP1y6lw/s1600/SANY0969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwuQF00V5cV7CgiZB7kNdLhyphenhyphenPNQLlZFjqr_z0hISgBUBLLElnhwroFCr9gAApBdVkDeI81q4SbnCnQbiPQ8cfxhcVAX0ojeFQ9_Bc1cZgt0UhWZ_AeBlYZ5tK9zRf0QUsgG1hyP1y6lw/s320/SANY0969.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Those are, from left to right, figs, feijoas (she brought more than this but I gave some away to a friend who adores them), and passionfruit. She and my brother live in Auckland, which is sub-tropical, whereas I live in Dunedin which, although officially temperate, is more like sub-arctic a lot of the time, so it's quite a treat to get fresh fruit like this that I can't grow.<br />
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Of course I couldn't eat it all at once, some preserving needed to be done.<br />
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I halved all of the passionfruit, …<br />
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… scooped out the pulp into ice cube (except they're not cubes) trays …<br />
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… and froze it. When it was all frozen solid I popped it out of the trays …<br />
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… and put the lumps into a freezer box for easy access:<br />
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Now when I want a passionfruit I can just defrost a lump or two of pulp.<br />
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The figs were next. I decided on fig jam. <br />
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I had 750 g of figs and my jam book told me to cover them with boiling water for 3 minutes, …<br />
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… then drain them and squeeze out the excess water. There wasn't any excess water to I went on to the next step …<br />
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Which was cut them up or crush them, and cook in a tablespoon of lemon juice, adding a little water if necessary to stop them sticking:<br />
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Once they were tender (not sure about this, they seemed pretty tender to me from the beginning, I waited until they were cooked to mush) I was to add a cup of sugar and boil quickly until the setting point was reached. Setting point was pretty much immediately - I think these figs might have been a bit juice deficient.<br />
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Anyway, I poured the jam into hot sterilised (sort of, straight out of the hot dishwasher) jars and screwed on the lids:<br />
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Now I need to get my act together and make some labels.<br />
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And look what was in my very own garden:<br />
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There are heaps more on the vine too. They are very small grapes, but very tasty. I only get grapes every three years or so; grapes are not supposed to be able to grow outside here really at all. Most people have their grapevines in a glasshouse.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1