Eggs, flour, milk, lemon juice, sugar…

List your top 5 grocery store items.

I would choose to make a coherent recipe….

Thin wide pancakes

Not thick small ones

Get the pan hot

With oil in a thin layer

Swirl your pancake mix

Round the base

Cook till it starts to brown

Then flip!

Not my style of stack

I prefer a crepe.

Soup?

Someone sent me this photo of lentil soup and suggested I try it but I wasn’t up to following the recipe. But I did like their photo. Apologies if it is copyright but I don’t think so? The table was visible in the original and the dinner mat was twisted but I straightened it up a bit and cropped it to lose the table. I just like the orange bowl and the thin blue line round the edge. It just seperates the bowl from the white and yellow of the mat.

Esther Chiltons weekly prompt is “Christmas”

Christmas, alone for another year. Make Merry they say. Bah Humbug! Do I reply? No, I’m not so lost that I turn my cheek to the world. But a quiet Christmas? Maybe. One chicken leg. A small bottle of beer. Three sprouts if I’m lucky? Any sparkle and cheer? I might make handmade crackers and tie one end to the door handle to pull them. Meanwhile, I bought myself a new garden bench to sit alone on, so happy new year, dear.

A trifle for my sister

This was for my sisters birthday, a few days ago. Decorated with glace cherries and chocolate buttons.

It’s jelly with raspberries and port, strawberry blancmange, and whipped cream on top. This is something I usually make for birthdays ot Christmas. It is indulgent, but I use sugar free jelly and I use sweetner in the blancmange.

This can serve up to eight portions, so sometimes I make about half the amount if there are only a couple of us having it.

Upset

I hope it’s obvious what I’m talking about!

I won’t go into detail but I’ve lost 3kg over the last couple of days. I think I have caught a virus, and that and a damaged rib has made for a painful few days. I’ve not been out of the house in a while. Luckily a relative visited but I wasn’t on my own. But I ache all over and she made me small meals to keep me going. I’ve slept in an armchair because I couldn’t get upstairs or lie down. I just hope I’m feeling better soon.

Old pears.

My pear tree didn’t set any pears this year. I think it was in a sulk because my hubby passed away and I think I neglected it. He used to water the garden for hours but I can’t get the hose pipe round into the main garden.

Moving forward, I’ve been getting help trying to trim back the overgrowth. I still have tall trees but some of the lower branches have been cut to allow more light in. How will it progress? I’m hoping for a wildlife garden but with a few brighter plants to cheer it up, (and plenty of pears again)

Trifle

What food would you say is your specialty?

Not one of mine.

My trifle is based on my mother’s and her mother’s recipe.

It consists of a fruit and jelly bottom layer with a touch of sherry or port.

Middle layer? Blancmange (not custard). Either the same flavour as the jelly or something different like chocolate.

Top layer, a decent amount of whipped double cream, with possibly cherries, strawberries or raspberries on top or grated chocolate.

You can’t really go wrong with that X. Usually I make it at Christmas or for birthdays.

Scone

How do you pronounce Scone?

Is it sk-own, or scon?

Each is used in the UK

How do you serve it?

With Jam

With Cream

With Butter?

Or all three?

Etiquette matters!

Cream first

Jam first?

You can tell if someone

is from Cornwall or Devon.

I can never remember

which way they choose?

Just they do opposites

My way is butter, then jam

and cream on top. Yum

And with hot chocolate.

Although it should be tea to drink…

Dilemma time!