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What’s your favorite candy?
Couldn’t find a photo of chocolate brazils.
My favourite candy (we don’t call it that in England). Is whole Brazil nuts with their shells removed dipped in a thick layer of dark chocolate.
I don’t have them very often, but I really enjoyed them at Christmas when I was a child. I think they are still for sale. The taste combination between the two ingredients is sublime. If you don’t have a nut allergy maybe try them?
Last week I went to Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent. This cake was a bit blurry but nice. The cream calmed the sweetness of the carrot cake down. We had intended to have sandwiches and salad. But when we got to the cafe it was a bit too late to get anything savoury.
It was nice to get out of the house and go for afternoon tea with my sister a few days ago. I’ve been ill for a few weeks now, I’m OK one day, then I’m shattered the next, so I really enjoyed the trip out.
Carrot cake seems to have become a British classic along with fruit scones and banana bread. Others include black forest gateau and Victoria sponge. All of them are real treats.
I put a five man frame tent up once with my hubby. We’d borrowed it because ours was worn out. It was only when we had finished putting it up that we realised the curtains were on the outside! It took another hour to redo it. The thing was huge with complicated bedrooms to hang from the internal frame. It had taken an effort to get in the boot of the car it was so heavy.
We were on holiday for a week at Red wharf Bay in Anglesey, hubby also managed to back the car over my best saucepan, which was annoying because we only had a couple of small pots to cook in until we could buy a replacement. I think we went to the local pub down by the bay and had delicious fish and chips and a pint of beer for tea. (So there was an upside after a frustrating afternoon).
My sister and I went to have a cup of hot chocolate and some cake at the Capabilitea Cafe at Trentham Gardens, in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, this afternoon. It was lovely to get out after spending at least two weeks in the house with this dreadful virus. We were going to have a savory meal but I was tempted by this “the works” hot chocolate.
The sun was low on the horizon when I finally got out. It’s bad this time of year and it was hard to drive the couple of miles there. I’m glad I had my sister with me, she helped me blow up my car tyres and had to point out where the disabled parking spaces were on the Trentham village car park. We had a little wander so I could try and stretch my legs. I managed 1657 steps today, which is more than I’ve done in weeks (that’s in fits and starts, I have to stop and browse (take a rest), every so often). But I escaped from the house at last !
Tea tonight
Some mixed veg and rice with sausages.
I had some courgette, onion and red cabbage to cook so I added in a handful of rice into a pan of boiling water. I let that simmer while the sausages cooked in my air fryer. I knew that red cabbage releases colour into the water but I wasn’t quite expecting purple/blue to dye the rice.
It was a little bland but I added some brown sauce to liven things up a bit! Tasty
She gave me ‘that look’
It was questioning me,
Looking into my soul
An unblinking stare
From inches away
Looking into me
It seemed to say….
Where’s my tea?
According to Facebook memories four years ago I was feeling rough so my dear hubby went out and got me a cheese and bacon oatcake. It doest look appetising but with cooked bacon and mature cheddar with a hint of brown sauce, the Oatcake was folded in half, hot and tasty.
We used to have the occasional oatcake over the months, it’s a local delicacy. As the artist, author and poet Arthur Berry wrote :
Ode to the Oatcake: 1980
A beautiful ginger cat came in today and was eating my cats food. I had wondered why the bowls are being locked clean. This is an addition to an almost totally black cat that keeps coming in. That one doesn’t eat food but I have caught it sleeping in the spare bedroom. I’ve used flea spray and keep washing the cats bowls.
I don’t want to be horrible to them as its freezing at the moment. My own cats stand nonchalantly by, they were rescue cats and seem quite tolerant. If I can find their owners I’ll ask them what’s happening?
My hubby always fed the birds at this time of year. I just realised that I need to take over. But I rarely get out in the garden because of being so unsteady and the fact that there are uneven steps,and the pathways are covered in leaf mould. I must make a plan to try and get out and feed them, other than that I think I will ask a friend.
I wish I could do something about my new neighbour but I don’t want to speak to him. He’s there now, I think he does a bit of hammering to let me know he’s in. I thought my house was on fire when I came home from visiting a friend, but no he was just burning stuff in the back yard again. The smoke was drifting over the top of my kitchen. Anyway his front door just slammed and he drove off. Happy Christmas eve! I’m going to finish my banana butty and cake bar tea.
Mallaband-Brown