New paintings and regular art updates.
Time for cream to celebrate, on mince pies, trifle and pud. With brandy added or sugar, it’s got to make it good.
On chocolate hot, or a steaming pot of coffee with some whisky. Cream is such a delightful treat, when it’s single, double of whisk-ed.
Add a bit to soups and sauces, give a drop to fruit and berries, savour its flavour in cocktails too. It all depends what you do!
December comes and I fall for delicious mince pies again. These are traditional Christmas treats that historically have been eaten around this time of year. Nowadays they are made with mincemeat which strangely has no meat, but instead is a gooey, sweet mix of dried fruits like sultanas and raisins, possibly some lemon juice and lemon zest. In this pie which was shop bought had bramley apple puree in it too. The filling is enclosed in a short crust pastry dusted with a little icing sugar.
Shop bought are nice enough, but home made are lovely. I tried a couple made by a friend at the weekend. She made them smaller- less calories, and sugar free mincemeat. Tasty and healthy.
I’m not sure what they were made of in the past. I suppose I should look it up. Probably they were ‘fast food’ in the past. Served hot I think? I would imagine they became popular in the Victorian era when Christmas celebrations ramped up with the use of Christmas trees and Christmas cards… I know I should check all of this…. But I’m too busy eating my mince pie!
Called at the B’oatcake boat, Que Sera Sera, on the canal today. We wanted cheese oatcakes but they were sold out ao we had cheesy burgers with salad instead. I have to say they were very tasty with a nice hot drink. Suitably fed we went for our walk round Westport Lake. Thank you b’oatcake boat.
I just made a very nice curry with bombay potatoes, raita, mixed garlicy vegetables and chicken.
I was using one of the meal boxes that get delivered by post. My friend have it me because she had already got food in and she decided she didn’t need it.
Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo, by the time I had eaten it I realised it was too late. I added extra vegetables (courgette and fresh tomatoes) to bulk it out a bit, I’m trying to add vegetables to our meals to make them healthier. I don’t know if I would ever order a food box myself, I don’t know how much it cost as it was a gift. The meal was very tasty, but I added extra garlic and turmeric.
My friend ordered some food on the Internet for home cooking. I saw what was in the box. There were various things:
Lots of herbs, chick peas, box of tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, sweet potato, garlic bulb, two carrots, baby carrots, two bags of potatoes, a shallot, two onions, green beans, a small pouch of honey, spices, an aubergine, an avocado, sumac?? And other stuff. Including bags of ice to keep two packets of minced meat and two chicken breasts cool.
There was also a tiny block of cheese, two inches by one inch by one inch, that made me chuckle…. Oh and a Partridge in a pear tree!
Well not second hand, but with left-over ingredients. I made this using curry powder and turmeric. I diced up some courgette, onion, broccoli, and aubergine. I then added a tin of tomatoes. I added water to it to stop it burning on and to add moisture. I also added a few lentils. The fish was bought today. It doesn’t really matter what sort, but a white fish isn’t too strongly flavoured. I’d added it later as you don’t need to overcook fish. It flaked nicely as I cooked and turned a nice golden brown. Much nicer than using a jar of curry sauce.
November birthday bash
Thai at Sawadee
Seafood platter
Noodles and rice
Beansprouts aplenty
Delicious and nice.
Too many gin and tonics
Made me giddy
Now replete and happy
Homeward bound and tipsy
Buy this now! You know you want it! Eau de Parfum! Jewellery! Food! A new colour for a hair dryer, a new electric car, toys toys toys.
Everything the consumer wants. Chocolates, biscuits, turkey, wine, spirits with edible gold. Lots of lovely stuff… That most people in the world can’t afford. That they will never have.
Meanwhile at Cop26 deligates have not been able to agree on reducing carbon emissions. Rich countries are not helping poor countries with funding…
This world is selfish. The Christian idea of peace and loving one another doesn’t seem very evident. Will we ever care enough to think of others?
The trouble with having food at Sawadee Thai taste in Stoke is that I eat the food before I think of taking a photo of it. Today I had some noodles with king prawns and pak choi for lunch. Very tasty. The owner is a lady called Apple who is very friendly and helpful. It’s worth a visit if you want to taste Thai food, and it’s not expensive.
My loaf has a smile ! It’s crusty on the outside, soft and springy on the inside. I had a slice with a bit of butter and honey. I’m really pleased as my loaves usually turn out a bit dry and heavy. I tried to balance the liquid content and the stickiness and this time I tried to knead it a bit more.
Tasty!
Mallaband-Brown