Aided and abetted by Elton’s Yellow Brick Road and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, I got into my stride in a serious baking session this evening.
Banana Bread
2 over-ripe mashed bananas
2 eggs
8 oz Mix of very strong plain flour, strong plain flour and rice flour
1 tsp each of baking powder and bicarb
Pinch salt
Juice of half a lemon
Two tbs carotino oil
Two tbs sweetened apple juice
Two tbs brown sugar
Two tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Easy method!
Sieve flours, baking powder and bicarb and salt three times to mix properly
Add sugar to dry ingredients
Mix all wet ingredients then combine
Pour into a loaf tin and bake at a moderate temp till done
This turned out to be the yummiest Banana Bread I’ve ever made.
Apple tart for someone who doesn’t like it
I really dislike apple tart but I like making it. This is intended for the freezer and will be shared between mother and my daughter.
I wanted to experiment with pastry, which I also am not very fond of but like making, although it is always hit or miss how it turns out. I consulted Delia Online, but she was really pernickety about measurements and having cold conditions and not manhandling it too much. I often woman-handle the pastry too much with the resulting chunky jaw aching outcome. This could be the source of my dislike of pastry.
Further consultation with a cookery book inherited from my grandmother gave a little more inspiration.
In the end, my experimental impulses were in the ascendancy.
Apples
Peel and chop five apples (in this case, two Gala, two Granny Smith and one Golden Delicious, as that is what I had available).
Microwave briefly with some added castor sugar to combat the sharpness of the Granny Smiths. Pour off the liquid into the above recipe for Banana Bread.
Pastry
6 oz flour and 2 oz rice flour
Pinch salt
Large tbs icing sugar
4oz marg or butter
Mix flours and other dry ingredients, then rub in marg before adding a little water to mix – less than I put in for preference
Rest in plastic covering in the fridge till you get round to using it
Roll out half the pastry and bake blind (Mine always shrinks, so keep enough to make repairs)
Place in the softened apples, a handful of sultanas and three cloves (these refine the unfortunate taste of cooked apples)
Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the tart
Sprinkle more sugar on top and do an egg or milk wash if desired
Replace in oven and keep an eye on it
If you like apple tart, then go ahead and eat it otherwise give it to some to whom you owe a favour and who will appreciate your efforts.
I have a similar relationship with quiche.
I served myself a slice of this with vegan fake cream made from oat milk, which is a bit healthier than actual cream.
And since I abided by my three things in the oven rule, I roasted some veg in sesame oil which I devoured before tucking into the sweet treats.
The Store
Sometimes, I’m propelled backwards in time as if aboard some demented time machine - at least in my memories. This happened on reading that in Livingston, West Lothian an extension to a mall is going to make it the largest in Scotland.
Leaving aside all the negative scenarios surrounding the impending recession, and all the discussions about low value retail sector jobs, as well as the notions that consumerism is the way out of a recession; that’s the spend, spend, spend version of economics (which as mother of an Olympic-class shopper, I have close knowledge of) I feel moved to comment.
Returning to my mention of malls, large and larger, I am reminded of my first encounter with a proper, civilised (?) grown up shopping mall. This occurred in London, Ontario about 30 odd years ago.
I grew up in a wee town dominated by the ‘Store’ otherwise known as the Co-op which provided for everything provincial Scots were expected to need or want. Most food we take for granted nowadays was unknown there. To buy celery was to step into the unknown, mushrooms were merely a slight aberration. So imagine how it felt to shop in a mall, even those of 30 plus years ago.
On that occasion, I vividly recall buying a dress. A handkerchief dress in white and blue. I also got an ‘Afro’ hairdo in this mall. But best of all, it had air-conditioning modifying the outside temperature of over 30 degrees so that it was cool and calming inside.
The contrast with my home town was marked. It was with great reluctance and not a little encouragement from my long-suffering hosts, that I returned home. But the impression never left me of comfort and ease of shopping, to say nothing of choice. Some of Scotland has caught up over the years, but we have lost that all encompassing birth-to-death service provided by the ‘Store’ (Co-op) that I grew up with. I’m not sure the trade-off has been completely positive, but the freedom to choose from more than common root vegetables and packets of chicken noodle soup can’t be underestimated.
This new development in Livingston will apparently house 1000 plants, so maybe there will be oxygen to spare when breathlessly contemplating a new dress.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7660837.stm
Leaving aside all the negative scenarios surrounding the impending recession, and all the discussions about low value retail sector jobs, as well as the notions that consumerism is the way out of a recession; that’s the spend, spend, spend version of economics (which as mother of an Olympic-class shopper, I have close knowledge of) I feel moved to comment.
Returning to my mention of malls, large and larger, I am reminded of my first encounter with a proper, civilised (?) grown up shopping mall. This occurred in London, Ontario about 30 odd years ago.
I grew up in a wee town dominated by the ‘Store’ otherwise known as the Co-op which provided for everything provincial Scots were expected to need or want. Most food we take for granted nowadays was unknown there. To buy celery was to step into the unknown, mushrooms were merely a slight aberration. So imagine how it felt to shop in a mall, even those of 30 plus years ago.
On that occasion, I vividly recall buying a dress. A handkerchief dress in white and blue. I also got an ‘Afro’ hairdo in this mall. But best of all, it had air-conditioning modifying the outside temperature of over 30 degrees so that it was cool and calming inside.
The contrast with my home town was marked. It was with great reluctance and not a little encouragement from my long-suffering hosts, that I returned home. But the impression never left me of comfort and ease of shopping, to say nothing of choice. Some of Scotland has caught up over the years, but we have lost that all encompassing birth-to-death service provided by the ‘Store’ (Co-op) that I grew up with. I’m not sure the trade-off has been completely positive, but the freedom to choose from more than common root vegetables and packets of chicken noodle soup can’t be underestimated.
This new development in Livingston will apparently house 1000 plants, so maybe there will be oxygen to spare when breathlessly contemplating a new dress.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7660837.stm
Art & cake
Patriot Halls Gallery in Stockbridge held an open weekend where resident artists display their arts and crafts where they actually produce them. This space containing several floors of artist’s studios, was previously the Co-op bakery. The building is probably unique in the city and has been saved as a resource for artists rather than becoming yet another mundane residential development.
My friend K, who is gifted, talented and just all round producer of wonderful objects invited me there to see her latest work. She sweetened this invite with offers of tea and cake – not that she needed to, I’m always happy to see her work.
There are so many delightful artists in this gallery and some of the crafts, especially the jewellery were tempting, but I resisted! K, creates handmade books and voluptuous pots which are smoke fired and completely tactile. She also had on display, her latest paintings of boats on a Scottish island which I have to admit to never having heard of. My descriptions of her art are inadequate, but until she gets her act together to create a website that’s all I can give.
When all around there is talk of credit crunches and the mishandling of global finances, sadly it is the artists who feel the effects possibly soonest of all. Where money is tight it is logical to cut down on the things that otherwise are desirable, and new art becomes an unjustifiable luxury. But all that I have learned in attending Artists Way and other creative groups maintains humans need more than the minimum; we also need beauty and colour and the inspiration that wonderful, handmade objects bring when we surround ourselves with them.
At least I had the pleasure of seeing many such inspiring arts and crafts today, but I can’t help reflect how difficult it is for those who seek to live by their art.
http://www.patriothallgallery.co.uk/index.htm
My friend K, who is gifted, talented and just all round producer of wonderful objects invited me there to see her latest work. She sweetened this invite with offers of tea and cake – not that she needed to, I’m always happy to see her work.
There are so many delightful artists in this gallery and some of the crafts, especially the jewellery were tempting, but I resisted! K, creates handmade books and voluptuous pots which are smoke fired and completely tactile. She also had on display, her latest paintings of boats on a Scottish island which I have to admit to never having heard of. My descriptions of her art are inadequate, but until she gets her act together to create a website that’s all I can give.
When all around there is talk of credit crunches and the mishandling of global finances, sadly it is the artists who feel the effects possibly soonest of all. Where money is tight it is logical to cut down on the things that otherwise are desirable, and new art becomes an unjustifiable luxury. But all that I have learned in attending Artists Way and other creative groups maintains humans need more than the minimum; we also need beauty and colour and the inspiration that wonderful, handmade objects bring when we surround ourselves with them.
At least I had the pleasure of seeing many such inspiring arts and crafts today, but I can’t help reflect how difficult it is for those who seek to live by their art.
http://www.patriothallgallery.co.uk/index.htm
Money Talk
I ventured forth to listen to a talk on poverty. The gendered nature of poverty to be more precise.
It turns out that women’s experience of poverty is very different from that of the male. Well, there’s no surprise there as practically everything is experienced through the lens of one’s own gender and therefore, through gendered differences. While I would be amongst the first to agree with Germaine Greer on the whole sex /destiny business, it remains worthwhile to explore how and why gender makes a difference, especially when faced with the extra burdens poor women deal with.
Ruth Lister gave a short, but concise talk on the relationship between poverty and gender this afternoon. Professor Lister discussed the findings of a few recent studies on poverty and gender. These inevitably found that women and their male partners view personal spending quite differently. For example, fathers interpret spending on the kids as mum’s personal spending, while his beer money is his personal spending. This means that when she buys the kids some clothes he sees it as her money, not his or their joint money. Okay, I probably need to qualify that, as some fathers.
It is well known that women can be thrown into poverty when a male partner leaves her with his debts and she has to cope with reduced income and fewer options for employment. Professor Lister said this had been described as STDs, or ‘sexually transmitted debts’. Anyone who has seen a friend in this situation, or indeed been put into this situation herself will instantly recognise that description.
Another useful phrase I learned is that of the 'sticky floor'. While we usually hear about the glass ceiling, many more women face the situation of not being able to get off the sticky floor of low paid, low status work in the 4 C’s. (Catering, Caring, Cleaning and Cash Register).
Women’s poverty is often hidden as stats on income tend to assume that the income in a household is fairly shared. Well, it’s not and it does not take much common sense to work that one out! Unless that is, you come from a political standpoint of belief in traditional family values and other such naive and wilful thinking.
Poverty in old age is the likely outcome for so many women who have spent their lives in activities not valued by our present capitalist system. Pensions policy has to be continually monitored in case it further damages women, and groups like the women’s budget groups in Scotland and in England keep close track of these issues and lobby Scottish and Westminster Governments on their policies.
On the whole, I feel equally positive and enraged after this talk. We are making progress, but as usual it is a long and sometimes bitter struggle to get financial equality.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/staff/staff_biog/lister.html
http://www.wbg.org.uk/
It turns out that women’s experience of poverty is very different from that of the male. Well, there’s no surprise there as practically everything is experienced through the lens of one’s own gender and therefore, through gendered differences. While I would be amongst the first to agree with Germaine Greer on the whole sex /destiny business, it remains worthwhile to explore how and why gender makes a difference, especially when faced with the extra burdens poor women deal with.
Ruth Lister gave a short, but concise talk on the relationship between poverty and gender this afternoon. Professor Lister discussed the findings of a few recent studies on poverty and gender. These inevitably found that women and their male partners view personal spending quite differently. For example, fathers interpret spending on the kids as mum’s personal spending, while his beer money is his personal spending. This means that when she buys the kids some clothes he sees it as her money, not his or their joint money. Okay, I probably need to qualify that, as some fathers.
It is well known that women can be thrown into poverty when a male partner leaves her with his debts and she has to cope with reduced income and fewer options for employment. Professor Lister said this had been described as STDs, or ‘sexually transmitted debts’. Anyone who has seen a friend in this situation, or indeed been put into this situation herself will instantly recognise that description.
Another useful phrase I learned is that of the 'sticky floor'. While we usually hear about the glass ceiling, many more women face the situation of not being able to get off the sticky floor of low paid, low status work in the 4 C’s. (Catering, Caring, Cleaning and Cash Register).
Women’s poverty is often hidden as stats on income tend to assume that the income in a household is fairly shared. Well, it’s not and it does not take much common sense to work that one out! Unless that is, you come from a political standpoint of belief in traditional family values and other such naive and wilful thinking.
Poverty in old age is the likely outcome for so many women who have spent their lives in activities not valued by our present capitalist system. Pensions policy has to be continually monitored in case it further damages women, and groups like the women’s budget groups in Scotland and in England keep close track of these issues and lobby Scottish and Westminster Governments on their policies.
On the whole, I feel equally positive and enraged after this talk. We are making progress, but as usual it is a long and sometimes bitter struggle to get financial equality.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/staff/staff_biog/lister.html
http://www.wbg.org.uk/
Store cupboard creations
Thanks to my habit of over-buying ingredients, I sometimes find myself having to throw out food which has passed its sell-by date. This offends my sense of thriftiness, so now and again I get creative with whatever needs to be used up, usually just in time.
Here are some of my latest ideas.
Kasha paprika lentils
I love the rich taste of smoked paprika and how warming it feels, especially now the weather is so cold in the evenings.
Toasted buckwheat grits – boiled separately
Brown continental lentils – boiled separately
5 sticks of Celery
1 clove of Garlic
One red chilli
Vegetable oil
Two teaspoons fennel seeds
Hearty pinch cumin seeds
Stock cube
Teaspoon smoked paprika
Soften the celery, garlic and chilli in the oil; add the fennel and cumin seeds and finally the paprika.
When the lentils and buckwheat grits are cooked mix them together in a ratio of 60:40, buckwheat: lentils
Stir in everything else and bake in the oven for a while to make sure it has all mingled in flavour.
Brown lentil rissoles
I never know the difference between a rissole and a croquette, and have plumped for calling these rissoles.
I’d cooked far too many lentils for the above dish, so with the leftover lentils, I added enough fresh brown breadcrumbs to stiffen the mixture then stirred in a tablespoonful of tahinni. The flavouring came from a crumbled stock cube and a small clove of garlic.
I shaped the lentil mix into little sausage shapes and rolled these in sunflower seeds before roasting them in the oven in a mix of sesame and sunflower oils until they browned.
Datey malty loaf
Following my rule about only putting the oven on if cooking more than one item, I decided to try a variation of malt loaf.
As ever, the quantities are guestimates!
8oz plain flour
1 Tsp bicarb
1 Tsp baking powder
6oz chopped dates
2oz sultanas
Two generous tbs malt
One dessertspoon black treacle
1oz brown sugar
Milk for mixing
Warm the milk, malt and treacle to melt it all together. Mix the dry ingredients, then combine both mixtures. Bake in a moderate oven. This cake does best if left until the next day, however, my daughter was hovering and had a couple of slices before making of with most of it to take home with her. She agreed with me that this cake is gooey enough that wearers of dentures might find them stuck in it!
Brief Lancastrian Encounter
This weekend, in the last gasp of our dreich summer, I went to Morecambe. I’ve wanted to go for ages because what I can see of the sea from the M6 motorway looks so inviting.
The sun shone on Saturday as Significant Other and I set off towards Lancaster on the way to Morecambe. This is not the best signposted city and we got snarled up in the shopping traffic in the city centre looking for the way to Morecambe. The upside being a view of some great buildings and old narrow streets and now I want to go to Lancaster for a weekend to explore it.
Morecambe itself, in common with so many seaside towns is fading (well, more accurately, has faded) although there is some lovely art deco architecture.
Fallow Deer
And finally, some autumnal fungus.
The sun shone on Saturday as Significant Other and I set off towards Lancaster on the way to Morecambe. This is not the best signposted city and we got snarled up in the shopping traffic in the city centre looking for the way to Morecambe. The upside being a view of some great buildings and old narrow streets and now I want to go to Lancaster for a weekend to explore it.
Morecambe itself, in common with so many seaside towns is fading (well, more accurately, has faded) although there is some lovely art deco architecture.
The old Midland Hotel has been refurbished and looked a bit out of my price league. Checking out their website confirmed that!
The Winter Gardens are being renovated and a look inside showed what a major task the Friends of, face. They are hoping for grants and in particular lottery money, to help. I hope they get this as it is sad to see the ruin of such a fine building. I was not allowed to take photos inside, but there is a good slideshow of the interior on their website.
It was warm as long as we stayed out of the sea breeze, and I was chilled walking out to the end of the Stone Jetty. The jetty, built in the early 1800's, is all that remains of Morecambe’s harbour where ferries from Scotland and Ireland docked. This area is now renovated and covered with sculpted birds and jokes inset into the paving. Sig Other found the jokes amusing.
View towards the lake District
View towards the lake DistrictLocal lad Eric Morecambe is celebrated in a statue surrounded by verses from “Bring Me Sunshine”. I took this photo for my mother who is a fan.
No visit anywhere seems complete without seeking out the second hand bookshops of the area. I spent nearly an hour in the one on the prom. I’d have spent more money had the owner bothered to create any order inside the shop. Obviously a stranger to labelling, or even the alphabet; such haphazardly mingled genre must cost this chap dear.
In contrast, the chatty owner of the jewellery shop next door had me investing in some starfish shaped earrings. I also learned why my silver jewellery tarnished. Apparently it is because I don’t keep it in little cloth bags.
We headed out of Morecambe to Carnforth which has the distinction of having the railway station where Brief Encounter was filmed. We were too late for the visitor centre as it closed at 4pm, but, again, they have pics on their website.
http://www.carnforthstation.co.uk/
I think a longer visit centred in Lancaster is definitely called for.
Sunday was expected to be wet, but the sun came out and so we took off to Dunham Massey, an estate owned by the National Trust with a house and extensive grounds including a deer park. I’m glossing over any mention of venison and Sig Other was well warned off referring to Bamby Burgers.
I usually have no luck with wildlife, so I was resigned to a fruitless wander round a country park with nothing but a few sparrows on view. Not so! More and cuter deer than I thought possible, posed for the camera. Although they are wary of people, and those children who galumphed after them had no hope of catching them, the deer are clearly used to humans and coexist with the crowds during opening hours.
How many deer in this picture?
Very cute deer.
No visit anywhere seems complete without seeking out the second hand bookshops of the area. I spent nearly an hour in the one on the prom. I’d have spent more money had the owner bothered to create any order inside the shop. Obviously a stranger to labelling, or even the alphabet; such haphazardly mingled genre must cost this chap dear.
In contrast, the chatty owner of the jewellery shop next door had me investing in some starfish shaped earrings. I also learned why my silver jewellery tarnished. Apparently it is because I don’t keep it in little cloth bags.
We headed out of Morecambe to Carnforth which has the distinction of having the railway station where Brief Encounter was filmed. We were too late for the visitor centre as it closed at 4pm, but, again, they have pics on their website.
http://www.carnforthstation.co.uk/I think a longer visit centred in Lancaster is definitely called for.
Sunday was expected to be wet, but the sun came out and so we took off to Dunham Massey, an estate owned by the National Trust with a house and extensive grounds including a deer park. I’m glossing over any mention of venison and Sig Other was well warned off referring to Bamby Burgers.
I usually have no luck with wildlife, so I was resigned to a fruitless wander round a country park with nothing but a few sparrows on view. Not so! More and cuter deer than I thought possible, posed for the camera. Although they are wary of people, and those children who galumphed after them had no hope of catching them, the deer are clearly used to humans and coexist with the crowds during opening hours.
How many deer in this picture?
Very cute deer. 
Fallow Deer
And finally, some autumnal fungus.
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