New paintings and regular art updates.
When my hubby makes bread,
It’s like an alien invasion.
It’s like the film ‘the blob’
Expanding
Contracting,
Overflowing.
The flour is everywhere,
Brown and white
Two packets of yeast,
Half on the floor.
The biggest pan,
The hottest oven.
Rising up to the ceiling,
Growing like a balloon.
Cooked
Nice with marmalade.
X
This is not a criticism of a particular place and I have not used an image of a menu as it will be copyright.
But… We live in an age of excess for some and austerity for others.
I was looking for something I really liked on the menu and I spotted a mega meal of a full rack of pork ribs, a huge portion of chips, two corn on the cob and coleslaw and baked beans. But here is the but…. That is far too much for me. I could have shared with my hubby, but he doesn’t like ribs. So I thought I would ask for half of it. The mega meal was almost £16, so I hoped I could get something for £8. The answer? NO. But I said, there’s no way I can eat that. I want to eat less. Well, came back the answer, just eat what you want, or take the rest home for later!?
Huh, but I won’t eat it and I don’t want to take it home for later…..
Well we are sorry, but the half rack of ribs was taken off this menu….
I paused to think about this. Anyone without a huge appetite cannot have ribs, there is no other option. If you buy it then you are paying double the usual price. Its promoting greed and spending too much on a limited budget.
I had to choose something so I had a cheese burger in a brioche bun. It was adequate but dry, and the French fries were dry too. I smothered everything in ketchup and mayo to try and make it a bit more edible. I left half the bin, but I was not happy. I think they have lost a customer.
X
On our last day in Wales we called in at a cafe called Déjà Vu in Prestatyn, Wales.
Served by very nice staff. We both decided to have crepes (thin pancakes) with strawberries and strawberry ice cream. The food was lovely. I had a white hit chocolate to go with it. It was just enough to eat until tea time.
I don’t know if the other crepes on the menu are as nice, but these were delightful.
A shout from outside. My hubby had gone outside to feed the stray cat….
There’s a problem, a catastrophe.. The pear tree had blown over in the heavy rain and wind we have been having…
The tree has been gradually leaning more over the last couple of years, and each crop of pears has grown. Till this year we counted over fifty pears. But that of course pulls on the top of the tree.
We had propped it up with some wood, but that had snapped in half. What to do? We tried using an old exercise bike near the roots…
We also tried to pull as many pears off the tree as possible as they were now in reach. My hubby normally shakes the pears down which may be why it’s leaning!
Finally we used the step ladder to prop it up a bit more. I don’t know if it’s salvageable, the trunk is split. It’s a shame if it has to go as the pears are very tasty. They were just starting to ripen, but the weather has been mad. We weighed the good pears (disposed of the split one’s). 11.7 kilos. Not sure what that is in pounds but I think it’s around 24 pounds.
I’m going to share some of the crop with friends….
X
Never seen so many pears on our pear tree! This year there are over fifty. Sometimes the flowers don’t get pollinated, get caught by a late frost. Or it’s to hot and dry in the summer for them to grow. Sometimes we get too much rain and they swell up too quickly and split. Last year a lot got blown off in June. The tree leans over so we propped it up this year to stop it getting twisted by the wind. Perhaps that’s why we have a bigger crop. Anyway fingers crossed for a bumper harvest. X
Went to Bread in Common in Hartshill today for lunch and to deliver an old bike that my hubby has done up for a friend. The sharing platter was great, it was sweet pepper, courgette, aubergine and a beef tomato all stuffed or covered with Mediterranean style brown rice. Also ciabatta bread with an olive oil and herb dip. Afters was a baked nectarine with yoghurt and fresh vanilla. It was delicious.
The friend was pleased with the bike despite my hubby forgetting the number to the combination lock, (he eventually remembered it). Im hoping all this nice food will help me get over my cold.
I usually cook food for both of us. I buy in ingredients and then cook in the late evening. But tonight he doesn’t want food. He’s happy with a sandwich. I can’t think of what to have for my meal. The stuff I’ve got in the fridge are things like tandoori paste and nan bread and basmati rice, but if I eat that there won’t be enough for both of us tomorrow. Then there are wheat biscuits, a cereal, but that’s breakfast food. There is one banana, I might have that and some custard. I might even add a bit of cocoa to cheer it up…. Yes I fancy that. I will use sweetener to keep the sugar levels down..
Weird talking about eating food rather than making up recipes. Anyway I guess I’m hungry.
One of the most interesting flowers, simple to grow from seed in poor soil. The leaves are flat and round with veins spreading in rays from the centre. The flowers have petals spreading out from a centre that has holes in it and a sort of pointed spike on the back, (hard to describe). The flowers come in a variety of colours, from cream, yellow, orange and deep red, usually with stripes on them. The plant trails and sprawls and climbs.
The flowers are actually edible! They taste like a sort of peppery orange. You can use them to brighten up a salad. A taste of summer. I’m not sure about the leaves and the seed pods, always make sure a plant is safe to eat before you try them.
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I decided I wanted to make my own Tiramisu with no sugar.
Ingredients :
5 or 6 tablespoon fuels amaretto liqueur,
1 small tub of mascapone cheese,
1 teaspoon of granulated sweetener – the sort you can cook with (sucralose type)
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of coffee powder.
Layered on top of bananas ( per person)
Method :
Chop the bananas into slices and put in bowls.
Put mascapone cheese in a seperate bowl, add 4 or 5 tablespoonfulls of amaretto liqueur. Drizzle half a tablespoon of it onto each bowl of bananas.
Stir the liqueur into the cheese then sprinkle the sweetener, the cocoa and the coffee into the mix. Stir in together.
Sprinkle a little cocoa over the bananas and place half the mascapone mix on each portion of bananas.
Sprinkle a little cocoa on top.
Serve
Hope this is OK, it’s totally made up, but I hope if you make it you enjoy it.
X
Tried to make this from just a list of ingredients.
Beetroot, potato or brown bread, garlic, a little olive oil, walnuts, cider vinegar (I only had malt vinegar). You can substitute bread for potato.
Method.
I peeled the five Beetroot and two Potatoes , chopped them, put them in a pan to boil for half an hour.
Then I took four cloves of Garlic and crushed them in a pestle and mortar. Then crushed the Walnuts and mixed them with the garlic. I added a little olive oil to help.
Watch the Beetroot and Potato and when you can push a knife into them and they are soft, drain off the water.
Allow the Beetroot and Potato to cool, then add the crushed Walnuts with the garlic. I had to add a bit more to improve the consistency. I also added the juice of half a lime to give it a kick. 
I mashed the Walnut and Garlic into the Beetroot mix.
The final result, in a covered bowl in the fridge. 
Meal, jacket potato with coleslaw, chopped tomato, Beetroot hummus and sausages (apologies to vegetarians and vegans). I could have used a food blender, but decided its easier not to have to clean it and waste electricity.
Mallaband-Brown