New paintings and regular art updates.
I made myself a footstool out of a strong cardboard box, a pillow and a cat banket for softness. I’ve had my feet up on it for weeks, so the cats haven’t had the opportunity to use it. But I just went to get a drink and came back to find my little cat kneading it, (making biscuits/poddling). She’s now settled down to sleep! Cheeky!
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!
I went out to our local Thai restaurant, Sawadee Thai taste in Stoke and had a Green Papaya salad with seafood. It was extremely tasty. We also had thin rice noodles with some chilli’s and mixed vegetables. This is the third time I’ve had it because it tastes so nice. I would have taken a photo but I’d eaten the food before I thought about it.
Home made coleslaw (cabbage, carrot, red onion) with reduced calorie mayonnaise. A small piece of brown seeded bread with a bit of pate, a couple of chopped up tomatoes, half an avocado pear and some de-stoned red cherries. Also a few cheese and onion potato crisps. On a Portmeirion plate. Why? Because I liked the colours mainly. I watched a programme about still life last night and the interest that images of food created was fascinating. At one stage still life was seen as the lowest form of art, but the innovations of artists gradually made it more accessible and acceptable. Artists like Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso bought new definitions of what still life meant. Art is fascinating. It’s funny the ideas you can get by staring at a plate of food. X
Er, that’s a big head on that lager?
Well it is home brewed. ..
Oh how did you do that?
I bought a cask that says brew 8 pints in three days.
How??
Just add water…..
So now I’m sitting trying to drink the brew. It fermented for 48 hours and then had to sit in the fridge for 24 to kill off the yeast. But I don’t think it did, although it is less sweet now than it was when we tapped it 4 hours ago.
Result? Yes it’s OK if you like to drink 3/4 froth and 1/4 lager beer.
The pack cost £10 which is about £1.12p a pint? Also it’s about 4% alcoholic so it’s not bad.
My partner enjoyed making it and as its potable I would say its a qualified success, just a bit too lively!
Mallaband-Brown