Rekindled

One of the things I used to enjoy doing was baking. I haven`t done much for a number of years now, for various reasons, but recently I`ve felt inclined to again - and here is the result of this afternoon`s batch of baking.

It was the perfect way to spend a cold dull winter afternoon.

Fruits of labour

The first fruits of my labour! You may remember that earlier this year I showed you a picture of my tiny seedlings just starting to grow in the new vegetable patch I`d planted this year....

.....well, today I reaped the first harvest from them. Ok, I know they`re small, but I like small carrots, and oh they tasted so sweet.

Party Time

I`m not really very much of a party person. No, that`s wrong.. I should say I`m not a party person at all. I don`t enjoy them at all. But the other week I received an invitation to a relatives Golden Wedding Party. Not having many relations, I felt that I really couldn`t say no.

Opening the invitation envelope and unfolding the sheet, I read it, and then read it again to see if I`d read it right. A very unusual venue for an big Celebration like a 50th. Wedding Anniversary I thought.

No, it wasn`t a large hotel,

nor even a small hotel.

Not a big posh restaurant,

not Chinese, Indian, Thai, nor any other kind of weird foreign food that I won`t eat.

So, last Saturday night, off we went, there were about thirty people there, ok, not a large party, but I still felt very much, as always, an odd one out. The place had not made any attempt to put tables together and a lot of us sat (me included) with our backs to each other. All I could face was a wall and an elderly person I didn`t know opposite me. We were a table of six people and of the other at least 4 of them were well over 80, well, nearer 90 than 80! So that made for a really scintillating evening! (I don`t think). As soon as I could decently make a get-away I did.

The food was nice.

Where were we?......

.......in the local fish and chip shop down a side road!

Brill

I`m going to tell you about the brill meal I had today.....

It started by taking some large red potatoes, peeling them, carefully cutting them with a knife into slices and then into strips before plunging them into hot fat, where they sizzled away nicely for several minutes until they came out like this.






Next, I took the lovely fresh whole fish, washed it, dried it and put it to drain. Flour was mixed with water and a little bicarbonate of soda to make a batter. The fish was then immersed in the batter to get thoroughly coated and dropped into the deep fat fryer, and cooked until the fish was succulent and the batter light and crispy.



Result - a plate of beautiful Brill and chips.
A Brill Meal !

Why Pancakes?

Having just cooked and eaten the traditional pancakes today - Shrove Tuesday - pancakes being something I very much enjoy eating with sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice over them, I got to thinking.

Yes, I know its a dangerous thing for me to do, but I did!

I started wondering, why pancakes? I don`t mean in the historical why pancakes, I know it came from the practice of using up all butter, eggs, etc., before the start of Lent tomorrow. ..... but, why pancakes? .....

......the same mixture would make yorkshire puddings.... so why is it not Yorkshire Pudding Day?! And, I guess the ingredients would make other dishes too, so who first made and decided that it should be pancakes?!

Mind you, I`m glad they did, because I enjoy them.

An ordinary day

What shall I write about today? It`s not been a very noteworthy day. It`s been a rainy day, so apart from going out for a while this morning and doing a bit of essential shopping, I`ve not been anywhere.

I got some nice local caught cod from the fish shop, then went over the the greengrocers and got some potoatoes, went home, made some batter and cooked some delicious fish and chips for lunch for myself and a friend who came over today. Then we had a good old natter and caught up with each others news.

Birthday images

Thought I`d share with you today a view of the 18 cards I received yesterday and some of the presents I received. I`ve still got my Mum`s present of a Tom tom to come, as the shop had run out of the one she wanted to get me.

And, below, a picture of my birthday cake. I had to make it myself this year, which is in a way sad, to think that my mum can no longer stand for long enough to make a cake. I didn`t decorate it, as I couldn`t very well write "Happy Birthday to Me" on it, could I?



If anyone`s interested, it`s an Orange Chocolate Chip Cake, and is what we`ve traditionally made for birthdays over many, many years. [I can oblige with the recipe if anyone wants it.]

Toad in the Hole

Here it is...


And, ready to eat!

Namely....

I`m stuck for inspiration again today, so I`ve cribbed something from someone else`s page! I`ve not been tagged to do it, but thought I might as well as I`ve nothing better to write about. It says.... "players - you must list one fact, word or titbit which is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your name

When you are tagged you can write your own blog-post containing your name facts etc; at the end of your blog-post you can choose the amount of people that your name has to tag (i.e.- 6 letters, 6 people to tag)."

So, here goes on my name.... not a lot to write as its a short name!

I = Ice-cream. I love ice-cream - well, not in a romantic type of love, but in an enjoy eating way. My favourite I think has to be vanilla with a chocolate flake crumbled on top. Or one of these. There`s just something about ice-cream and chocolate that go so great together.

V = Vehicle - well Car really, but there`s no C in Ivy! Learning to drive was the best thing I ever did (I just wish I`d done it years before I did). Just to get in the car and drive off is still a thrilling feeling - no not in the sense of racing along, but in the way of freedom. It`s a "place" of my own.

Y = Youthful. Well, people never think I`m as old as I am, so I suppose that must mean that I look young. I certainly don`t feel as old as I am, and I`ve plenty of energy and enthusiasm for doing things and learning new things, especially new "gadgets" like computers!

Know your food?

Do you enjoy your food? I must confess that I enjoy just plain English fare, no foreign stuff for me! But how much do you know about food? For anyone who enjoys these type of quizzes, you may like to see how much you know by going to this quiz.

There are some quite interesting facts to discover on the way through the questions as I discovered.

Holiday Images 6

A Sweet Delight - (not eaten by me, I hasten to add)

Exotic Flowers by the sea

Fishing Time

Unconventional Lunch

I`ve had a very unconventional Sunday Lunch today. I wonder why it is that Sunday lunch in traditionally a roast dinner? And that is what we normally have, the only variation each week being the meat - some weeks its beef, other weeks, lamb, pork or chicken. But today, being on my own, I decided to do different. I had a toad-in-the-hole. And, it was delicious (not ofcourse that I`m praising my own cooking!).

It`s one of my favourite dishes, but one which I seldom get now, as working every morning and always having our dinner at mid-day, I can`t make it, and my parent is now too shaky with her hands to make one and put one in the oven. But I don`t think she`s think it was the right thing to do for a Sunday lunch. So, "while the cat`s away the mice will play", as they say.