The only thing I love more than one mince pie is two mince pies.
I'm seeking the perfect pastry recipe. My recipe contains the usual pastry ingredients, plus some ground almonds, grated rind of lemon and an egg yoke. It's good, but it's not superb.
I'm sorry that this post is not very gluten-free-friendly, Anne. I hope that you are able to make or otherwise get your hands on gluten free mince pies....?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
That's about right, I think.
You are 97% English.
Congratulations! You may now take your place as a subject of Her Majesty.
"And did those feetIn ancient times,Walk upon England's mountains green?And was the holy Lamb of GodIn England's pleasant pastures seen?"
Well, no, but it's a cracking good tune.
How English are you?
Create a Quiz
Bad Day
Today's a bad day. It's 2pm and I've just decided to write today off as a bad day and hope that tomorrow will be better (which is bad because days are precious and should be savoured to the full).
Both children have bad colds- therefore Michael's at home and not at school. Both are very volatile as they feel ill, and I estimate that at least 50% of the day so far hs been spent listening to Isabel screaming.
Today is a day when I have to work hard at remaining sane. At the moment, I am thinking the following and it is helping: in 5 hous time, they will be in bed and I can have a nice glass of red wine and a bath.. hey... I can even watch my James Bond DVD (forgotten which one I bought now...(!)... double 'o' heaven. Great escapism!
(I now know why I couldn't comment before. I won't bore you with the details, but it shouldn't happen again...)
Both children have bad colds- therefore Michael's at home and not at school. Both are very volatile as they feel ill, and I estimate that at least 50% of the day so far hs been spent listening to Isabel screaming.
Today is a day when I have to work hard at remaining sane. At the moment, I am thinking the following and it is helping: in 5 hous time, they will be in bed and I can have a nice glass of red wine and a bath.. hey... I can even watch my James Bond DVD (forgotten which one I bought now...(!)... double 'o' heaven. Great escapism!
(I now know why I couldn't comment before. I won't bore you with the details, but it shouldn't happen again...)
Thursday, November 16, 2006
No Comment!
I don't know WHAT I've done now, but I can't comment on my blog, or on other people's blogs.
But I wanted to thank you for your comments on diet below - extremely interesting. I've read a lot about what to eat and not to eat for a healthy heart and to avoid cancer etc. - and what to feed my children to achieve maximum IQ and the whole lot.
Well. My Aunty D lived into her 90s on a diet of moderation in all things, except laughter, which she enjoyed in excess! I think I'll go with that!
(She was staying with us once - I was in my teens - and I was frying up some popadums. "What are those?", she asked. I told her. "Hmph,", she shrugged, "the only goodness in those is the fat you're frying them in")!!
But I wanted to thank you for your comments on diet below - extremely interesting. I've read a lot about what to eat and not to eat for a healthy heart and to avoid cancer etc. - and what to feed my children to achieve maximum IQ and the whole lot.
Well. My Aunty D lived into her 90s on a diet of moderation in all things, except laughter, which she enjoyed in excess! I think I'll go with that!
(She was staying with us once - I was in my teens - and I was frying up some popadums. "What are those?", she asked. I told her. "Hmph,", she shrugged, "the only goodness in those is the fat you're frying them in")!!
Saturday, November 11, 2006
If you don't like party politics, look away now!
Roughly half of the USA's voting public might well be feeling pretty euphoric this weekend following the mid-term elections.
I felt nothing short of total euphoria in May 97 when New Labour finally knocked the Tories from their perch over here in GB. I enjoyed reading newspaper after newspaper, that weekend, to absorb every last bit of post-election analysis.
Anyhow, I doubt I'll ever be able to feel such optimism again as result of an election victory.
That's not to say that I've been totally disappointed by Labour's record of achievements. Their failures are obvious and much reported. But here are some of my favourite Labour successes:
1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s (I like that because there was this strongly held belief that a Labour government would not be able to manage the economy)
2. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.35 (anecdotally, this has caused problems for some individuals, but on the whole, it's a good thing)
3. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries (I should jolly well hope so too)
4. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time (and I'm pretty sure that women get a better deal on this too, but not checked my facts)
5. Introduced the Disability Rights Commission
6. All workers now have a right to 4 weeks’ paid holiday (Labour'srecord on addressing injustices within employment law is pretty remarkable and goes rather unreported a lot of the time - they've almost done the unions out of a job, but not quite!)
7. Banned fox hunting
8. Five, six and seven year olds in class sizes of 30 or less (that should read 'fewer' - clearly the original writer went to an over-populated primary school under a conservative government!)
9. Free entry to national museums and galleries (I like that a lot, but wonder whether it benefits all within society and not just member of the middle classes who happen to live within reach of nationals)
10. Free fruit for all four to six-year-olds at school
Labour has also scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships. I was rather surprised when David Cameron spoke in favour of this at the Conservative Party Conference, and amused to see zombified members of his augience applauding him and then 'sucking on lemons' as they realised exactly what it was they were applauding!
I felt nothing short of total euphoria in May 97 when New Labour finally knocked the Tories from their perch over here in GB. I enjoyed reading newspaper after newspaper, that weekend, to absorb every last bit of post-election analysis.
Anyhow, I doubt I'll ever be able to feel such optimism again as result of an election victory.
That's not to say that I've been totally disappointed by Labour's record of achievements. Their failures are obvious and much reported. But here are some of my favourite Labour successes:
1. Longest period of sustained low inflation since the 60s (I like that because there was this strongly held belief that a Labour government would not be able to manage the economy)
2. Introduced the National Minimum Wage and raised it to £5.35 (anecdotally, this has caused problems for some individuals, but on the whole, it's a good thing)
3. Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries (I should jolly well hope so too)
4. Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time (and I'm pretty sure that women get a better deal on this too, but not checked my facts)
5. Introduced the Disability Rights Commission
6. All workers now have a right to 4 weeks’ paid holiday (Labour'srecord on addressing injustices within employment law is pretty remarkable and goes rather unreported a lot of the time - they've almost done the unions out of a job, but not quite!)
7. Banned fox hunting
8. Five, six and seven year olds in class sizes of 30 or less (that should read 'fewer' - clearly the original writer went to an over-populated primary school under a conservative government!)
9. Free entry to national museums and galleries (I like that a lot, but wonder whether it benefits all within society and not just member of the middle classes who happen to live within reach of nationals)
10. Free fruit for all four to six-year-olds at school
Labour has also scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships. I was rather surprised when David Cameron spoke in favour of this at the Conservative Party Conference, and amused to see zombified members of his augience applauding him and then 'sucking on lemons' as they realised exactly what it was they were applauding!
Food Programmes
I watched Hugh again the other evening. He is attempting to convert people who eat lots of ready-made meals into people who do not. He grows his own produce - meat and veg. His cohort of ready-made-meal- fantantics help on the small farm and learn to cook from scratch. Each week, we are shown an animal being slaughtered. This tends to convert at least one of his group of half a dozen to vegetarianism.
It seems plain to me that you can not justify eating meat with the argument that an animal does not suffer when being killed - and you can be certain that the programme is showing the most humane methods of slaughter. The process is fairly quick but not instantaneous, and the animal appears distressed.
So I am re-thinking my dietary habits - again.
But away from Hugh now, and onto other celebrity chefs. The message of the celebrity chef tends to be that home-cooked food is the healthy option. It is, of course, when compared with nutrition-leached ready-mades. But what intrigues me is the perpetually high fat content of the foods they prepare. I'll leave Hugh, with his butternut squash laden with feta cheese, and turn my attention to Jamie Oliver, who recently publishd a book called 'jamie's dinners', which I purchased (because I am a fan of his - given all he's done to improve school meals). Again, his book promotes home cooking - it is aimed at the maker of family meals and he adds a twist to staples like bangers and mash, lasagna and the humble multi-million pound business-inspiring sarnie. But he seems to me to turn a blind eye to the saturated fats that each dish contains. With my drive to eradicate saturated fats from my diet (unless they occur with beneficial fats - e.g. in olive oil), there's nothing in his book I can cook.
Given heart disease is the biggest (or second biggest) killer in this country, it's time that the chefs jumped onto a new band-waggon.
It seems plain to me that you can not justify eating meat with the argument that an animal does not suffer when being killed - and you can be certain that the programme is showing the most humane methods of slaughter. The process is fairly quick but not instantaneous, and the animal appears distressed.
So I am re-thinking my dietary habits - again.
But away from Hugh now, and onto other celebrity chefs. The message of the celebrity chef tends to be that home-cooked food is the healthy option. It is, of course, when compared with nutrition-leached ready-mades. But what intrigues me is the perpetually high fat content of the foods they prepare. I'll leave Hugh, with his butternut squash laden with feta cheese, and turn my attention to Jamie Oliver, who recently publishd a book called 'jamie's dinners', which I purchased (because I am a fan of his - given all he's done to improve school meals). Again, his book promotes home cooking - it is aimed at the maker of family meals and he adds a twist to staples like bangers and mash, lasagna and the humble multi-million pound business-inspiring sarnie. But he seems to me to turn a blind eye to the saturated fats that each dish contains. With my drive to eradicate saturated fats from my diet (unless they occur with beneficial fats - e.g. in olive oil), there's nothing in his book I can cook.
Given heart disease is the biggest (or second biggest) killer in this country, it's time that the chefs jumped onto a new band-waggon.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
With Reference to Previous Post
....and the disadvantage of living where we do is that we get to_hear_ every single firework that goes off within The Thames Basin. Amplified.
Loads of Stuff - well two things actually.
One of the best things about our house is that from the upstairs back room window, we can see for miles and miles. I love a view, me. We can see right over to Docklands - and Canary Wharf. This is especially good when fireworks abound. We've watched a whole load of spectaculars this evening - and stayed warm at the same time!
The time has come, the walrus said, for me to actively boycott supermarkets. There is so much about them that I dislike. Sadly, though, it has now reached the point, in this part of London, at least, where to boycott supermarkets leaves you with few other outlets in which to shop.
I used to say that the redeeming feature of supermarkets was that they offered you a great choice and range of food - ingredients from around the world - sushi nori is hard to find in the corner shop. But that argument doesn't hold water.
Deep in the midsts of Wales, where mother lives, there is but one small branch of a crumby supermarket - plus a health food shop which sells sushi nori and a good deal else), an iron mongers, a butchers, a bakers, a new-agey-nic-nacky shop (which sells Welsh love spoons and I want one), a great bookshop, plant shops - etc. Choice abounds in that town - far more than here; the staff who work in these shops are happier because they get to chat to each other and to you - they can even have a lovely cup of coffee and serve at the same time.
Yeap - supermarkets not only provide a disservice to us customers, they're a mind-numbing hell on earth for those who scan there.
(See, L and A? I'm still off that fence)!!!
The time has come, the walrus said, for me to actively boycott supermarkets. There is so much about them that I dislike. Sadly, though, it has now reached the point, in this part of London, at least, where to boycott supermarkets leaves you with few other outlets in which to shop.
I used to say that the redeeming feature of supermarkets was that they offered you a great choice and range of food - ingredients from around the world - sushi nori is hard to find in the corner shop. But that argument doesn't hold water.
Deep in the midsts of Wales, where mother lives, there is but one small branch of a crumby supermarket - plus a health food shop which sells sushi nori and a good deal else), an iron mongers, a butchers, a bakers, a new-agey-nic-nacky shop (which sells Welsh love spoons and I want one), a great bookshop, plant shops - etc. Choice abounds in that town - far more than here; the staff who work in these shops are happier because they get to chat to each other and to you - they can even have a lovely cup of coffee and serve at the same time.
Yeap - supermarkets not only provide a disservice to us customers, they're a mind-numbing hell on earth for those who scan there.
(See, L and A? I'm still off that fence)!!!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
???
Anyone know how I can get the right hand bar back onto my blog. It's gorn. Gorn. Gorn, I know not where. It's given me nothing but trouble since the day it walked into my life, but now that it's gorn, I rather miss it!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
No-one knows the secret...
My blog is soon to have a little sister blog (ahhhhh). Whilst at mother's recently, I found this.....
It contained, not only this.....
...but also old family photos and things like this....
My new blog will be a 'family history' blog (of little interest to anyone except me and possibly some of those related to me, I know, but I need somewhere to dump all of my research - it's currently lying around all over the place on tiny scraps of paper)!
This IS interesting by anyone's standards, though. It's a wedding that took place during the 39 - 45 war, when wedding dresses were out of the question and the cake was probably hidden beneath a cardboard mock-up:
It contained, not only this.....
...but also old family photos and things like this....
My new blog will be a 'family history' blog (of little interest to anyone except me and possibly some of those related to me, I know, but I need somewhere to dump all of my research - it's currently lying around all over the place on tiny scraps of paper)!
This IS interesting by anyone's standards, though. It's a wedding that took place during the 39 - 45 war, when wedding dresses were out of the question and the cake was probably hidden beneath a cardboard mock-up:
To The Shops (Better late than never!)
I've missed Anne's deadline (she's a teacher - she'll be very used to that !!) but here are photos of my trip to the local shops, taken pretty much at random, but I did want you to see how the town council is already thinking of Christmas!!
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