I have almost got used to the boys managing to injure each other. To start with, it was nearly always Zachary being slightly overzealous with Leo, although Recently Leo has begun to get his own back. I left the room the other day to go to the kitchen and whilst my back was turned, heard Zachary start to cry.
When I asked him what hurt, he said Leo had hurt his tongue. I then started my usual talk about Zachary not putting his head/hands/other body part in Leo's way as Leo tends to grab and squeeze. Zachary told me Leo hadn't grabbed his tongue. Oh. When I asked how it had been hurt, it turned out Leo had bitten Zachary's tongue. Least said and all that!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The inevitable has occurred
Leo has the pox. Almost 2 weeks to the day that Zachary started to get spots, Leo has come out in them too and is really feeling it today. Fortunately Leigh's taken the day off work so I can tend to the sick one, and he's taken Zachary out to the shops this afternoon. Oh well, another 2 weeks of quarantine, but then we should be ready for our hols!!!
Leo's asleep at the moment (he did not sleep at all...well last night!) so I'm taking the opportunity to start scanning in some old family photos. My Mum is 65 next year and my sister told me of a great family photo book/tree(?) thing that her sister-in-law put together for one of her relatives. I need to get hold of some much older photos and am hoping that my aunt can help out as apparently she put together our family tree a while back and that might be helpful. I'm going to wait though til I've seen an example of what we're putting together so that I have some idea of what exactly I need to ask for, rather than 'your entire collection of photos please!'
But on scanning in the photos I have of me and my sister as children I noticed a worrying penchant for dressing up. I now know where my enthusiasm for G&S productions, and our new year's eve murder mystery dinners (at which we are required to dress the part of our suspect) has come from...
I'm little red riding hood and my sister is the doctor in the middle
For the Royal Wedding in 1981
I think this was for an international evening at Brownies
My sister as Miss A-Tissue at a school fancy dress parade
Helpful and friendly nurses
I'm in the middle as Mrs Knitwit, and I'm pretty sure that's my sister under the big floppy hat to my left as you look at the photo - another school event.
I'm sure there was a photo of me dressed up as a 'leap year frog' somewhere as well...but perhaps that's best left to the imagination only!
I think however the main comment I must make is 'go dressmaker!' I know that my nan had a lot of involvement in some of the costumes (my sister's Miss A-Tissue is one of them) but I suspect that my mum was pretty handy too.
Leo's asleep at the moment (he did not sleep at all...well last night!) so I'm taking the opportunity to start scanning in some old family photos. My Mum is 65 next year and my sister told me of a great family photo book/tree(?) thing that her sister-in-law put together for one of her relatives. I need to get hold of some much older photos and am hoping that my aunt can help out as apparently she put together our family tree a while back and that might be helpful. I'm going to wait though til I've seen an example of what we're putting together so that I have some idea of what exactly I need to ask for, rather than 'your entire collection of photos please!'
But on scanning in the photos I have of me and my sister as children I noticed a worrying penchant for dressing up. I now know where my enthusiasm for G&S productions, and our new year's eve murder mystery dinners (at which we are required to dress the part of our suspect) has come from...
I'm little red riding hood and my sister is the doctor in the middle
For the Royal Wedding in 1981
I think this was for an international evening at Brownies
My sister as Miss A-Tissue at a school fancy dress parade
Helpful and friendly nurses
I'm in the middle as Mrs Knitwit, and I'm pretty sure that's my sister under the big floppy hat to my left as you look at the photo - another school event.
I'm sure there was a photo of me dressed up as a 'leap year frog' somewhere as well...but perhaps that's best left to the imagination only!
I think however the main comment I must make is 'go dressmaker!' I know that my nan had a lot of involvement in some of the costumes (my sister's Miss A-Tissue is one of them) but I suspect that my mum was pretty handy too.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Mr Asda and Mr Tesco
Noticing a few spots on Zachary's face and body last Tuesday, I took him to the doctor and ... it's chicken pox! We were told that he would be infectious for a week after the last spot appeared, and that the incubation period is 14-18 days for watching out for spots on Leo. So that last 2 weeks has seen me and the boys quarantined in the house trying desperately to not go completely potty. Fortunately the weather has been reasonable so we've been able to get out in the garden every day, and this morning we went to the park - although 'officially' Zachary won't be non-infectious til probably Saturday, he's back to his normal self and we thought the park would be reasonably safe. As it turned out, there were no other children there so it was fine and all 3 of us enjoyed the trip out.
No sign of spots on Leo yet...
But the chicken pox has meant that I have not been able to go out to do my usual weekly shop, so we have relied on Mr Tesco and Mr Asda to bring our shopping to the house. It's been ages since I did any online shopping (we flirted with it for a short while in Ipswich, but didn't stick to it) and I have realised that I am rubbish at it! There really is nothing that compares with walking up and down the supermarket aisles, looking at the products and using them as an aide memoir for things I've forgotten to put on the list. Also, I don't always look at the product description with the care and attention I should.
This morning, Mr Asda brought us 8 cans of chopped tomatoes (I'm sure I only ordered 4...), and three bags of granny smith apples (I only wanted 3 apples) and I totally forgot to order Shreddies. We get through about a box of Shreddies (or supermarket own brand equivalent) a week and because I didn't have it on the list, we now don't have any. Oh well, on to cornflakes and weetabix for a few days! Also, I ordered some Hovis digestive biscuits (because Zachary likes 'toast' biscuits). Presumably Asda didn't have any in because they substituted ginger nuts for them. What? Ginger nuts? Why not just regular digestives? So they got returned. Hmmmm, hopefully a regular shop next week!
No sign of spots on Leo yet...
But the chicken pox has meant that I have not been able to go out to do my usual weekly shop, so we have relied on Mr Tesco and Mr Asda to bring our shopping to the house. It's been ages since I did any online shopping (we flirted with it for a short while in Ipswich, but didn't stick to it) and I have realised that I am rubbish at it! There really is nothing that compares with walking up and down the supermarket aisles, looking at the products and using them as an aide memoir for things I've forgotten to put on the list. Also, I don't always look at the product description with the care and attention I should.
This morning, Mr Asda brought us 8 cans of chopped tomatoes (I'm sure I only ordered 4...), and three bags of granny smith apples (I only wanted 3 apples) and I totally forgot to order Shreddies. We get through about a box of Shreddies (or supermarket own brand equivalent) a week and because I didn't have it on the list, we now don't have any. Oh well, on to cornflakes and weetabix for a few days! Also, I ordered some Hovis digestive biscuits (because Zachary likes 'toast' biscuits). Presumably Asda didn't have any in because they substituted ginger nuts for them. What? Ginger nuts? Why not just regular digestives? So they got returned. Hmmmm, hopefully a regular shop next week!
Friday, February 25, 2011
It's not deep, it's too lemony, and it has a strange, dry, crusty top
What is it? My treacle tart, sadly.
Yep, it looks like no treacle tart I've ever seen either. Unfortunately it was a recipe from my Great British Baking book, and their photo looks so appetising, so I'm wondering if it was me. I've not made one before, so had no real idea what the filling consistency should be like before it goes into the oven - the recipe didn't give any indication of what it should be like, but just said "if it's too runny, add more breadcrumbs..." How will I know if it's too runny??? My filling seemed very moist and lovely going into the oven, but came out very dry and crusty. Underneath the crust it was a bit more as I had expected, but the whole thing looked nothing like the sumptuous looking tart in the book.
I think the problem was that there was just not enough filling. I'll put the GBB recipe at the end, but it suggests using a 26cm deep ovenproof pie plate. Now I do not have one of these, but was thinking that 26cm sounded quite big (my usual cake tins are 8", which is 20cm, so I a vague idea of 26cm being a bit bigger), so decided to use my heart pie plate. However, on mixing up the filling - 6 heaped tablespoons of syrup plus 75g breadcrumbs - it became apparent that there was nowhere near enough. So, transferred pastry across to another, smaller pie plate, which it turns out is 23cm. Filling still doesn't seem to be enough. Had a look in Delia's Complete Cookery Course - she uses 6 tbspn syrup, 100g breadcrumbs, but only a 20cm pie plate. Aha. The treacle tart recipe I looked at on Nibblous has a filling comprising 225g golden syrup, 50g dark treacle, 220ml double cream, 75g breadcrumbs, lemon juice AND 2 eggs. For a 20-22cm tart. So surely the pie plate measurement in GBB is wrong? Did it mean 20cm and someone's handwriting got misread as 26cm???? Perhaps we shall never know...
The question now is...am I brave enough to try again tomorrow as this pudding was to be for a dinner party. Alex? any suggestions???
Pastry :
220g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp caster sugar
160g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2-3 tbsn ice cold water
Filling :
6 rounded tbspn golden syrup
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
grated zest and juice of a large lemon
a 26cm deep ovenproof pie plate
Put the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse for a couple of seconds until just combined. Add the pieces of butter and process until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. With the machine running, add 2 tbspn ice-cold water through the feed tube - the mixture should come together to make a ball of firm dough. If the mixture seems dry and crumbly and won't bind, add more water 1 tsp at a time.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface (I used Rachel Allen's roll out between 2 pieces of clingfilm method - genius!) to a circle 3cm larger than your pie plate. Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin, drape it over the plate, then gently unroll it so it covers the plate. Press the pastry on to the base, pressing out any pockets of air. Trim off the excess with a sharp knife and chill while you make the filling.
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5 (I went for 175C for my fan oven). Gently warm the syrup in a small pan until it becomes runny, then remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice. Leave to stand for 10 minutes; if the mixture seems very sloppy, add another spoonful of crumbs, but if it seems stiff and dry, add another spoonful of syrup. Spoon the filling into the pastry case without pressing down or compacting the mixture. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Yep, it looks like no treacle tart I've ever seen either. Unfortunately it was a recipe from my Great British Baking book, and their photo looks so appetising, so I'm wondering if it was me. I've not made one before, so had no real idea what the filling consistency should be like before it goes into the oven - the recipe didn't give any indication of what it should be like, but just said "if it's too runny, add more breadcrumbs..." How will I know if it's too runny??? My filling seemed very moist and lovely going into the oven, but came out very dry and crusty. Underneath the crust it was a bit more as I had expected, but the whole thing looked nothing like the sumptuous looking tart in the book.
I think the problem was that there was just not enough filling. I'll put the GBB recipe at the end, but it suggests using a 26cm deep ovenproof pie plate. Now I do not have one of these, but was thinking that 26cm sounded quite big (my usual cake tins are 8", which is 20cm, so I a vague idea of 26cm being a bit bigger), so decided to use my heart pie plate. However, on mixing up the filling - 6 heaped tablespoons of syrup plus 75g breadcrumbs - it became apparent that there was nowhere near enough. So, transferred pastry across to another, smaller pie plate, which it turns out is 23cm. Filling still doesn't seem to be enough. Had a look in Delia's Complete Cookery Course - she uses 6 tbspn syrup, 100g breadcrumbs, but only a 20cm pie plate. Aha. The treacle tart recipe I looked at on Nibblous has a filling comprising 225g golden syrup, 50g dark treacle, 220ml double cream, 75g breadcrumbs, lemon juice AND 2 eggs. For a 20-22cm tart. So surely the pie plate measurement in GBB is wrong? Did it mean 20cm and someone's handwriting got misread as 26cm???? Perhaps we shall never know...
The question now is...am I brave enough to try again tomorrow as this pudding was to be for a dinner party. Alex? any suggestions???
Pastry :
220g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp caster sugar
160g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2-3 tbsn ice cold water
Filling :
6 rounded tbspn golden syrup
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
grated zest and juice of a large lemon
a 26cm deep ovenproof pie plate
Put the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse for a couple of seconds until just combined. Add the pieces of butter and process until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. With the machine running, add 2 tbspn ice-cold water through the feed tube - the mixture should come together to make a ball of firm dough. If the mixture seems dry and crumbly and won't bind, add more water 1 tsp at a time.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface (I used Rachel Allen's roll out between 2 pieces of clingfilm method - genius!) to a circle 3cm larger than your pie plate. Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin, drape it over the plate, then gently unroll it so it covers the plate. Press the pastry on to the base, pressing out any pockets of air. Trim off the excess with a sharp knife and chill while you make the filling.
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5 (I went for 175C for my fan oven). Gently warm the syrup in a small pan until it becomes runny, then remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and juice. Leave to stand for 10 minutes; if the mixture seems very sloppy, add another spoonful of crumbs, but if it seems stiff and dry, add another spoonful of syrup. Spoon the filling into the pastry case without pressing down or compacting the mixture. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Climbatron
Had to confiscate the Fisher Price garage this afternoon after Leo climbed it and stood on top doing a great impersonation of King Kong. He won't walk on his own, but he's climbing everything he can get his hands on!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Fantastic choc chip cookie recipe!
Leigh dug this recipe out for me. The link is here - I'm not going to type it out again because it's quite long and their commentary is great as well. The cookies are lovely - chewy and crispy and a great flavour. Will definitely be making these again.
I did the first 8 or so cookies using the ball method, straight onto the cookie sheet. Here they are going in...
and coming out.
The rest of the dough I rolled into a very rough "log"
and this was chilled for a couple of hours before Leigh cut it into 'discs' (I use that word carefully - my log was artistically rustic!) and baked.
Going in...
and out.
Both sets came out really well, although I overcooked some of the disc cookies. I was expecting them to be slightly browner than perhaps they needed to be, so slightly less chewy in the centre than they might have been. But still gorgeous. Definitely using this again!
I did the first 8 or so cookies using the ball method, straight onto the cookie sheet. Here they are going in...
and coming out.
The rest of the dough I rolled into a very rough "log"
and this was chilled for a couple of hours before Leigh cut it into 'discs' (I use that word carefully - my log was artistically rustic!) and baked.
Going in...
and out.
Both sets came out really well, although I overcooked some of the disc cookies. I was expecting them to be slightly browner than perhaps they needed to be, so slightly less chewy in the centre than they might have been. But still gorgeous. Definitely using this again!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
One day I will stop boring you with tales of potty training...
...but until then!
Today we had some friends over in the afternoon to play. A short while in I realised Zachary had gone to the utility room at the back of the kitchen. There is also a toilet there, and his usual reason for going into that room is nefarious. However today when I went to investigate, I found Zachary sitting on the toilet (having moved the little step to get up there), pants and trousers round his ankles announcing that he'd done a wee all on his own and didn't need my help. He did this all a further 3 times in the afternoon - brilliant progress. He hasn't fallen down the toilet yet, although he has joked about it! And slight setback on the poos today - 2 in pants. Never mind, maybe next time.
Today we had some friends over in the afternoon to play. A short while in I realised Zachary had gone to the utility room at the back of the kitchen. There is also a toilet there, and his usual reason for going into that room is nefarious. However today when I went to investigate, I found Zachary sitting on the toilet (having moved the little step to get up there), pants and trousers round his ankles announcing that he'd done a wee all on his own and didn't need my help. He did this all a further 3 times in the afternoon - brilliant progress. He hasn't fallen down the toilet yet, although he has joked about it! And slight setback on the poos today - 2 in pants. Never mind, maybe next time.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wee wee wee all the way home
Potty training is going well. Wees still getting in the potty - numbers 2's still a bit more (s)hit and miss. One in, one in pants today, which actually isn't too bad going.
Zachary does seem to wee an awful lot though - perhaps I'm just giving him too much to drink!
Today - I put him in pull-ups and pants just in case there was a poo issue when we were out. We went to see Leigh's dad at work, leaving home about half 9 and got there about 10. Zachary did a wee there. We left around half 10, drove 10 mins or so down the road and stopped at a pet store for some chicken feed. As we chose our feed, Zachary announced he needed another wee. Fortunately he was able to hold it while I paid and we raced to McDonalds. Weed. We stopped for a drink there, leaving about 10 past 11. As I got Leo out of the pushchair and into the car, Zachary said he needed another wee. Struggled with not telling him to just go in his pull-up, got Leo back out of the car and we hightailed it back to McDonalds. Another wee. Drove into Derby, met my friend for lunch at the Cathedral cafe and Zachary did another wee immediately on arrival. That's 4 in the space of just over 2 hours. Perhaps he's not properly emptying his bladder, or drinks just go straight through him.
Less wees, this afternoon, but the pull-up was wet when we got home from town. Unable to determine at which point this had occurred but we had been in the car for a while, having dropped off a birthday present before leaving for home.
We have a 3-hour car trip ahead of us on Saturday morning. Potty and laybys at the ready!
Zachary does seem to wee an awful lot though - perhaps I'm just giving him too much to drink!
Today - I put him in pull-ups and pants just in case there was a poo issue when we were out. We went to see Leigh's dad at work, leaving home about half 9 and got there about 10. Zachary did a wee there. We left around half 10, drove 10 mins or so down the road and stopped at a pet store for some chicken feed. As we chose our feed, Zachary announced he needed another wee. Fortunately he was able to hold it while I paid and we raced to McDonalds. Weed. We stopped for a drink there, leaving about 10 past 11. As I got Leo out of the pushchair and into the car, Zachary said he needed another wee. Struggled with not telling him to just go in his pull-up, got Leo back out of the car and we hightailed it back to McDonalds. Another wee. Drove into Derby, met my friend for lunch at the Cathedral cafe and Zachary did another wee immediately on arrival. That's 4 in the space of just over 2 hours. Perhaps he's not properly emptying his bladder, or drinks just go straight through him.
Less wees, this afternoon, but the pull-up was wet when we got home from town. Unable to determine at which point this had occurred but we had been in the car for a while, having dropped off a birthday present before leaving for home.
We have a 3-hour car trip ahead of us on Saturday morning. Potty and laybys at the ready!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Happy Valentine's Day
For dinner last night we had...
chicken and leek pie in my new brilliant heart-shaped Le Creuset pie dish (which as ie dishes goes is actually quite large...fortunately Leigh saved my pie filling from looking inadequate with a healthy injection of peas!)
individual chocolate cakes with homemade coffee ice cream (Leigh made the ice cream, I provided the cakes)
and for snacking later, choccie biccies! Mmmmmmm.
(you can't really tell, but they've got the words 'sweet heart' stamped into the top)
chicken and leek pie in my new brilliant heart-shaped Le Creuset pie dish (which as ie dishes goes is actually quite large...fortunately Leigh saved my pie filling from looking inadequate with a healthy injection of peas!)
individual chocolate cakes with homemade coffee ice cream (Leigh made the ice cream, I provided the cakes)
and for snacking later, choccie biccies! Mmmmmmm.
(you can't really tell, but they've got the words 'sweet heart' stamped into the top)
The towel fits!
Hurrah - towel fits Zachary nicely so should be good for his friend too...and it survived a wash this morning! Nothing has dropped off, all the stitching still appears to be intact, and the dark blue towel didn't run and make the yellow towel a nice muddy colour. Phew.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
It's finished...
...bar a check for size on Zachary tomorrow. Shoulders sewn up, hood sewn on, buttons sewn on, insignia made and sewn on, fire engine sewn on. Done. Hopefully won't fall apart on first wash!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Queen of ever so slightly dodgy craft
I love crafty things and making bits and pieces - where I can! Last year, Zachary received a brilliant homemade hooded towel from one of our friends. She took her inspiration from this blog, and made a fantastic bear towel - here I am modelling it
So, with one of Zachary's friends having a birthday coming up, I thought I'd make him a hooded towel like Fireman Sam as the little boy is completely Fireman Sam mad. For those of you who don't know the erstwhile hero of Pontypandy, here he is
Initially I looked for a navy big towel for the wrap around part of the towel, with a yellow towel to go on top like a helmet. Don't get me started on where to get a yellow towel from - certainly none of the usual places! I found one on Ebay, but with an estimated delivery time of 8-10 working days, I had a look in Long Eaton too and found one in a very quaint shop which sells all sorts of random linens and clothing. On looking closer at Fireman Sam and thinking I wanted to try and make the towel look as much like him as I could (I think this is my failing with a lot of crafty things - too much detail!), I decided to try making a tabard style towel rather than wrap around because it would be easier to show the buttons... Yes, I know, don't laugh.
Anyway, sewing machine in hand I started tonight. Cut out head hole, stitched round it with bias tape to prevent fraying - with no swearing thanks to this little video
(I love the 'oh no!' face)
, cut yellow towel, stitched top of hood and pinned to bottom towel. Discovered I have made the head hole far to wide and the towel is just going to slip right over this little boy's shoulders. Blast. Never mind, Leigh had a good idea and it should be savable - watch this space!
So, with one of Zachary's friends having a birthday coming up, I thought I'd make him a hooded towel like Fireman Sam as the little boy is completely Fireman Sam mad. For those of you who don't know the erstwhile hero of Pontypandy, here he is
Initially I looked for a navy big towel for the wrap around part of the towel, with a yellow towel to go on top like a helmet. Don't get me started on where to get a yellow towel from - certainly none of the usual places! I found one on Ebay, but with an estimated delivery time of 8-10 working days, I had a look in Long Eaton too and found one in a very quaint shop which sells all sorts of random linens and clothing. On looking closer at Fireman Sam and thinking I wanted to try and make the towel look as much like him as I could (I think this is my failing with a lot of crafty things - too much detail!), I decided to try making a tabard style towel rather than wrap around because it would be easier to show the buttons... Yes, I know, don't laugh.
Anyway, sewing machine in hand I started tonight. Cut out head hole, stitched round it with bias tape to prevent fraying - with no swearing thanks to this little video
(I love the 'oh no!' face)
, cut yellow towel, stitched top of hood and pinned to bottom towel. Discovered I have made the head hole far to wide and the towel is just going to slip right over this little boy's shoulders. Blast. Never mind, Leigh had a good idea and it should be savable - watch this space!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
We're sticking with it this time...
Having another go at potty training with Zachary. I've had a few attempts since our first blast last November, but not really stuck at it. This time however, Zachary's move to the big boys and girls' room at nursery after Easter is (almost) imminent and nursery seem keen for him to be potty trained by then. To be honest, so am I!
So we started off again at the weekend, had a couple of accidents, but then Leigh and I cottoned onto Zachary's pattern of behaviour immediately pre-wee. He either does an increasingly energetic little dance (especially if he's in the middle of something he doesn't want to be disturbed from), or he goes into the corner of the room, or somewhere away from the rest of us. That realised, we managed the rest of the weekend getting his wees into the potty. Hurrah! He seems quite keen to wee on the potty which is good, although not quite ready for poos yet (a shiny gold chocolate coin has been promised for the first poo in potty). And yesterday he even announced he needed a wee, followed by actually producing a wee! Up til then, Leigh and I had been initiating everything and suggesting he sits on the potty for a try.
So we are making small steps, but positive ones and I feel encouraged. I'm going to stick with it now until Zachary's happy with it all. I'm tending to fill the morning with activities outside the house (and he wears pull-ups for these) and then spending the afternoon in the house with Zachary just in pants. This works well because Leo now only seems to need one nap a day and is generally taking it just after lunch for 1-2 hours, so I can concentrate on Zachary for a bit. We have guests tomorrow afternoon, which usually causes a bit of excitement...we'll see how it goes!
In other news, Leigh has found possibly the most invaluable piece of advice ever on the internet ...
So we started off again at the weekend, had a couple of accidents, but then Leigh and I cottoned onto Zachary's pattern of behaviour immediately pre-wee. He either does an increasingly energetic little dance (especially if he's in the middle of something he doesn't want to be disturbed from), or he goes into the corner of the room, or somewhere away from the rest of us. That realised, we managed the rest of the weekend getting his wees into the potty. Hurrah! He seems quite keen to wee on the potty which is good, although not quite ready for poos yet (a shiny gold chocolate coin has been promised for the first poo in potty). And yesterday he even announced he needed a wee, followed by actually producing a wee! Up til then, Leigh and I had been initiating everything and suggesting he sits on the potty for a try.
So we are making small steps, but positive ones and I feel encouraged. I'm going to stick with it now until Zachary's happy with it all. I'm tending to fill the morning with activities outside the house (and he wears pull-ups for these) and then spending the afternoon in the house with Zachary just in pants. This works well because Leo now only seems to need one nap a day and is generally taking it just after lunch for 1-2 hours, so I can concentrate on Zachary for a bit. We have guests tomorrow afternoon, which usually causes a bit of excitement...we'll see how it goes!
In other news, Leigh has found possibly the most invaluable piece of advice ever on the internet ...
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Rolls
Here is my next attempt from my lovely Great British Book of Baking - the thyme and sun-dried tomato rolls made by one of the contestants, David. These were to go with some homemade pea and roasted garlic soup (for which, thank you very much Nigel Slater!)
As usual, my rolls look nothing like the very neat and splendid looking photo in the book, but they tasted good. And the dough rose properly and proved properly - yay! That's because I did the kneading in the food mixer... I really have a thing against kneading, but it's one of those skills which I should practise so that I can pass it down to the boys - should they ever decide they need to make bread! In a similar way, I never make pastry by hand now as it's just so easy to do it in the Magimix. Consequently I haven't done rubbing in for ages...no wait, there's a bit in my scone recipe. I must make sure that the boys have these life skills, otherwise the machines will just take over!!!
350g strong white bread flour
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet of easy-blend yeast
4 tbspn olive oil
200ml lukewarm water
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
6 sun-dried tomato halves, drained of oil and chopped
a large baking sheet, greased with butter
1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a large food mixer (I used our Kitchen Aid). Add the oil, and, using your hand or the dough hook attachment of the mixer on a low speed, work in enough lukewarm water to make a soft but sticky dough. Knead until smooth and pliable - about 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in the mixer. Knead in the thyme leaves and the sun-dried tomatoes, then cover the bowl with a snap-on lid or clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size - about an hour at room temperature.
2. Punch down the risen dough to deflate, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly for a few seconds, then divide the dough into 9 pieces. Shape each portion into a neat ball and arrange well apart on the baking tray. Cover the tray lightly with clingfilm or a clean, dry teatowel and leave to rise until doubled in size - about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile heat the oven to 190C/175C fan/375F/gas 5. Uncover the rolls and bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until a good golden brown.
4. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
As usual, my rolls look nothing like the very neat and splendid looking photo in the book, but they tasted good. And the dough rose properly and proved properly - yay! That's because I did the kneading in the food mixer... I really have a thing against kneading, but it's one of those skills which I should practise so that I can pass it down to the boys - should they ever decide they need to make bread! In a similar way, I never make pastry by hand now as it's just so easy to do it in the Magimix. Consequently I haven't done rubbing in for ages...no wait, there's a bit in my scone recipe. I must make sure that the boys have these life skills, otherwise the machines will just take over!!!
350g strong white bread flour
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet of easy-blend yeast
4 tbspn olive oil
200ml lukewarm water
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
6 sun-dried tomato halves, drained of oil and chopped
a large baking sheet, greased with butter
1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a large food mixer (I used our Kitchen Aid). Add the oil, and, using your hand or the dough hook attachment of the mixer on a low speed, work in enough lukewarm water to make a soft but sticky dough. Knead until smooth and pliable - about 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in the mixer. Knead in the thyme leaves and the sun-dried tomatoes, then cover the bowl with a snap-on lid or clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size - about an hour at room temperature.
2. Punch down the risen dough to deflate, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly for a few seconds, then divide the dough into 9 pieces. Shape each portion into a neat ball and arrange well apart on the baking tray. Cover the tray lightly with clingfilm or a clean, dry teatowel and leave to rise until doubled in size - about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile heat the oven to 190C/175C fan/375F/gas 5. Uncover the rolls and bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until a good golden brown.
4. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
More soda bread - Nigella's Oaten Rolls
Made for dinner with friends last Thursday. They have a lovely, almost sweet flavour, which I think comes from the stout. I did think the mix was far to sticky to work at the time (I 'may' have added a little too much buttermilk!), but it baked well and the rolls came out fine. And no kneading!
400g wholemeal flour
100g oats (not instant) plus 2 teaspoons
2 tsps sea salt flakes or 1 tsp pouring salt
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
300ml stout
150ml buttermilk or runny plain yoghurt
4 x 15ml tbspn groundnut oil
4 x 15ml tbspn runny honey
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
- Line a baking sheet with baking parchment or a piece of Bake-O-Glide.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, salt and bicarb.
- In a jug, mix the stout, buttermilk (or yoghurt), oil and honey. For ease, measure out the oil in an American quarter cup (60ml) or espresso cup, and then do ditto with the honey, as the oil lining will stop the honey from sticking. Stir the liquids together with a wooden spoon.
- Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir with the wooden spoon to combine - you will get a sandy porridge, rather than a dough; at first, it will seem too runny but then, as the bicarb goes to work, it will become first moussy and then heavy like damp sand.
- Pat into small handfuls to form 12 mounds on the lined tray; don't bother to shape them until all 12 are laid out and you can see which rolls needs to have dough pinched off, and which need to be bulked up, so that they are more or less of even size. When you've finished, pat each into a rough round roll shape about 7cm in diameter by 2-3cm high.
- Sprinkle the remaining 2 tsps oats over the rolls (a fat pinch each) and pop them in the oven for 15 minutes then transfer, 1 by 1, to a wire rack to cool just a little. Eat warm, or leave to reach room temperature. They can be frozen for up to one month, although may be slightly crumbly after defrosting.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Soda Bread
Tried some soda bread today to go with leftover roast chicken soup. I used a recipe from the Cbeebies cooking programme "I Can Cook." It's straightforward as it's designed to be able to be made by pre-schoolers and actually tasted pretty good - on the second tasting! First taste seemed a bit odd, but after that it was fine - especially nice warmed up again in the oven.
* 75g plain flour
* 100g wholemeal flour
* 25g/1 heaped teaspoon oats
* 1 ½ tsp caster sugar
* ½ tsp salt (optional)*
* ½ tsp baking soda
* 2 level tbsp linseeds
* 170-180ml natural yoghurt
Step 1
Before cooking, wash your hands and put on an apron. Weigh and measure the ingredients.
Step 2
Place some baking paper on to a baking tray. Put the plain flour, the wholemeal flour and the oats into a bowl and stir together with a fork. Measure in the linseeds and stir again. Now measure the sugar, baking soda and salt* into the flour mix and stir.
Step 3
Now add most of the yoghurt, you may not need it all. You want a soft dough, not too wet. Stir with the fork until the mix starts to come together.
Step 4
Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and make it into a ball. Put the round loaf onto the baking tray, flatten slightly with your hand then mark a deep X on the top using the knife.
Step 5
Make sure to cut almost all the way to the bottom of the dough, so that the middle of the bread cooks all the way through. Finish by brushing the top with yoghurt.
Step 6
You will need to ask a grown-up to help with this part. Place in a pre-heated oven at 200°C fan oven/220ºC/Gas 7 for 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp on the top.
* 75g plain flour
* 100g wholemeal flour
* 25g/1 heaped teaspoon oats
* 1 ½ tsp caster sugar
* ½ tsp salt (optional)*
* ½ tsp baking soda
* 2 level tbsp linseeds
* 170-180ml natural yoghurt
Step 1
Before cooking, wash your hands and put on an apron. Weigh and measure the ingredients.
Step 2
Place some baking paper on to a baking tray. Put the plain flour, the wholemeal flour and the oats into a bowl and stir together with a fork. Measure in the linseeds and stir again. Now measure the sugar, baking soda and salt* into the flour mix and stir.
Step 3
Now add most of the yoghurt, you may not need it all. You want a soft dough, not too wet. Stir with the fork until the mix starts to come together.
Step 4
Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and make it into a ball. Put the round loaf onto the baking tray, flatten slightly with your hand then mark a deep X on the top using the knife.
Step 5
Make sure to cut almost all the way to the bottom of the dough, so that the middle of the bread cooks all the way through. Finish by brushing the top with yoghurt.
Step 6
You will need to ask a grown-up to help with this part. Place in a pre-heated oven at 200°C fan oven/220ºC/Gas 7 for 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp on the top.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Hmmm parkin...
Had a naughty slice of parkin this morning - as Leigh said, I'm not sure how leaving it for the rest of the week is going to make it any better! Dense and dry. Oh dear. The texture reminds me of overcooked cakes, but I only left it in for the time recommended in the recipe book. Maybe it's supposed to be like that...although I suspect that my substitution of oats for oatmeal (couldn't find any in Asda) may be the culprit. Need to try again with the right ingredients!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Not quite National Trust...
Following a successful trip to the Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood last summer, my mother-in-law kindly signed us up for National Trust membership. This came in very handy on our hols to Yorkshire and today we motored on down to Calke Abbey, which is about 25 minutes drive for us. We've been there before - last spring we went to have a look around, but the weather was pants so we had a very enjoyable car picnic and then meandered round the craft fair which was there before coming home.
Today we intended to see the garden...only to find out it isn't open until 26th February... Anyway, we have a play in the playground (Zachary and Leo very happy about the swings!) and then ended up in the shop and cafe. Something tells me though that we're not quite National Trust material... We had mentioned to Zachary that if he was good, we might buy him a small toy in the shop - turn around and he'd dragging a boule set, tennis rackets and a Diabolo across the floor! Removal of said items caused a few screams and quick removal from the shop! In the cafe, Leo was only happy when he was stuffing his face, Zachary played at squirting apple juice from the carton, then attempted to drink my tea milk straight from the jug. He also wanted to leave with the pencils they leave out to amuse children while they're eating and licked my piece of flapjack when I said he couldn't have it because he had his own piece! Nice. (although I did then eat his piece in retaliation!)
National Trust - what have you let yourselves in for???
Also making me laugh this week is one of the presents we gave Zachary for Christmas. It's a Leapfrog electronic pad which helps children learn to write their letters and teach them the associated phonics. There's a drawing space on the pad which has a grid of red lights behind it, which flash in defined patterns to show you how the letters are formed.
There's a section with games on there - one of which asks the user to follow a trail of lights around the pad to draw a surprise picture. This game always starts with the phrase 'put your pen on the blinking light. Follow the blinking light.' Well...surely no need for that kind of language!!!
Today we intended to see the garden...only to find out it isn't open until 26th February... Anyway, we have a play in the playground (Zachary and Leo very happy about the swings!) and then ended up in the shop and cafe. Something tells me though that we're not quite National Trust material... We had mentioned to Zachary that if he was good, we might buy him a small toy in the shop - turn around and he'd dragging a boule set, tennis rackets and a Diabolo across the floor! Removal of said items caused a few screams and quick removal from the shop! In the cafe, Leo was only happy when he was stuffing his face, Zachary played at squirting apple juice from the carton, then attempted to drink my tea milk straight from the jug. He also wanted to leave with the pencils they leave out to amuse children while they're eating and licked my piece of flapjack when I said he couldn't have it because he had his own piece! Nice. (although I did then eat his piece in retaliation!)
National Trust - what have you let yourselves in for???
Also making me laugh this week is one of the presents we gave Zachary for Christmas. It's a Leapfrog electronic pad which helps children learn to write their letters and teach them the associated phonics. There's a drawing space on the pad which has a grid of red lights behind it, which flash in defined patterns to show you how the letters are formed.
There's a section with games on there - one of which asks the user to follow a trail of lights around the pad to draw a surprise picture. This game always starts with the phrase 'put your pen on the blinking light. Follow the blinking light.' Well...surely no need for that kind of language!!!
That'll learn me - Parkin
I really should read recipes all the way through to the end before I decide to make them. This is something which has occurred to me several times over my cooking experiences and today, bouyed by the success of yesterday's Swiss roll, I had time and thought I'd make some parkin to eat later. It sounds lovely - "a dark and moist sticky cake," made in a similar way to gingerbread but with the addition of oatmeal.
It was all very straightforward, mix went into the oven and just as I was reading through the post-oven instructions, already with visions of Leigh and me settling down with a cup of tea and slice of parkin later, I read the final sentence. Grrrrrr.
225g plain flour
a good pinch of salt
1 tbspn ground ginger
1 tbspn baking powder
225g medium oatmeal
100g unsalted butter
100g dark muscavado sugar
175g golden syrup
175g black treacle
1 medium egg
4 tbspns milk
25g chopped stem ginger or mixed peel (optional - I had some crystallised ginger in the cupboard and used that)
a 20cm square cake tin, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper (I have a super duper adjustable square cake tin which can make lots of different sizes of square and rectangular cakes - just the ticket! Had to line it carefully though to make sure nothing leaked through the slits in the supports which allow the adjustments)
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4. Sift the flour, salt, ginger and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the oatmeal.
2. Gently heat the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle in a medium-sized pan, stirring frequently until melted and smooth. Beat the egg with the milk until just combined. Pour the melted mixture and the egg mixture into the bowl. Add the chopped ginger or peel if using, then mix everything together with a wooden spoon to make a thick batter. Put into the prepared tin and spread evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven - the top may have sunk slightly - and run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the cake. Stand the tin on a wire cooling rack, leave to cool completely, then turn the cake out and wrap it in foil. KEEP FOR A WEEK TO MATURE BEFORE CUTTING!!!
A week??!!!
It was all very straightforward, mix went into the oven and just as I was reading through the post-oven instructions, already with visions of Leigh and me settling down with a cup of tea and slice of parkin later, I read the final sentence. Grrrrrr.
225g plain flour
a good pinch of salt
1 tbspn ground ginger
1 tbspn baking powder
225g medium oatmeal
100g unsalted butter
100g dark muscavado sugar
175g golden syrup
175g black treacle
1 medium egg
4 tbspns milk
25g chopped stem ginger or mixed peel (optional - I had some crystallised ginger in the cupboard and used that)
a 20cm square cake tin, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper (I have a super duper adjustable square cake tin which can make lots of different sizes of square and rectangular cakes - just the ticket! Had to line it carefully though to make sure nothing leaked through the slits in the supports which allow the adjustments)
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4. Sift the flour, salt, ginger and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the oatmeal.
2. Gently heat the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle in a medium-sized pan, stirring frequently until melted and smooth. Beat the egg with the milk until just combined. Pour the melted mixture and the egg mixture into the bowl. Add the chopped ginger or peel if using, then mix everything together with a wooden spoon to make a thick batter. Put into the prepared tin and spread evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven - the top may have sunk slightly - and run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the cake. Stand the tin on a wire cooling rack, leave to cool completely, then turn the cake out and wrap it in foil. KEEP FOR A WEEK TO MATURE BEFORE CUTTING!!!
A week??!!!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Swiss Roll
Having reasonably recently become more enthusiastic about baking and cooking in general, one of my favourite 'reality' programmes last year was The Great British Bake-Off. And for Christmas, I very kindly received the Great British Book of Baking which compiles lots of traditional British recipes with some of the more special bakes made by the contestants. The book covers biscuits and tea time treats, bread, tarts and flans, pies, cakes, puddings and fancy pastries. It is glorious! I have yet to read all the loveliness inside, but made a start last week by making Jasminder's chicken pie and promptly forgot to take a photo of it! Especially annoying as I had even gone to some effort with my presentation and cut out some pastry leaves to decorate the top with!
That recipe will hopefully see the light of day again some time - it was delicious.
This week I plan to have a go at making some parkin and today I tried my hand at a Swiss roll. I was a bit apprehensive about this - something about rolling up the sponge seemed very delicate and I think we all know that I am not!
But the recipe seems fairly straight forward (rolling aside) and it was. The rolling went okay and has given me the confidence that I should be able to make a better job of it next time. It wasn't awful, just a bit big and untidy. Far from the very neat Swiss roll pictured in the recipe book! Also I didn't have any raspberry or strawberry jam to hand and used some homemade damson instead. This worked okay, but was a bit too tart really so I'll try a sweeter jam next time. And I had forgotten how easily and quickly whipping cream whips - even by hand. The last cream I tried to whip was double cream and by comparison you really only have to show whipping cream the whisk and it's done!
3 medium eggs, at room temperature
75g caster sugar
75g plain flour
pinch of salt
6 tbspns raspberry or strawberry jam
200ml whipping cream
extra sugar for sprinkling
a 20cm x 30cm Swiss roll tin, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper
1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/425F/gas 7. Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl or the bowl of a food mixer and whisk on high speed until the mixture is very thick, pale and mousse-like. This will take at least 5 minutes. To test whether the mixture is ready, lift out the whisk; if a very distinct ribbon-like trail of mixture falls back into the bowl, you can stop whisking.
2. Sift the flour and salt on to a sheet of greaseproof paper, then sift half of it a second time straight into the bowl. Use a large metal spoon and very gently fold in until you can no longer see any specks or streaks of flour, particularly checking the bottom of the bowl.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread evenly (ha, ha! Mine wasn't!). Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and springy to touch - about 9-10 minutes. While the sponge is cooking, dust a sheet of greaseproof paper with caster sugar. As soon as the sponge is cooked, flip it out on to the paper and lift off the tin. Carefully peel off the lining paper. With a large sharp knife, make a shallow cut about 2cm in from one of the short sides, then gently roll up the sponge from the end with the cut, using the greaseproof paper to help you. The cut will make rolling easier. Set the rolled-up sponge on a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
4. When ready to fill, whip the cream. Unroll the sponge, trim off the edges, then spread with the jam. Top with the cream, spreading to within 3cm of the edges. Gently re-roll. Sprinkle with sugar to finish and eat immediately.
That recipe will hopefully see the light of day again some time - it was delicious.
This week I plan to have a go at making some parkin and today I tried my hand at a Swiss roll. I was a bit apprehensive about this - something about rolling up the sponge seemed very delicate and I think we all know that I am not!
But the recipe seems fairly straight forward (rolling aside) and it was. The rolling went okay and has given me the confidence that I should be able to make a better job of it next time. It wasn't awful, just a bit big and untidy. Far from the very neat Swiss roll pictured in the recipe book! Also I didn't have any raspberry or strawberry jam to hand and used some homemade damson instead. This worked okay, but was a bit too tart really so I'll try a sweeter jam next time. And I had forgotten how easily and quickly whipping cream whips - even by hand. The last cream I tried to whip was double cream and by comparison you really only have to show whipping cream the whisk and it's done!
3 medium eggs, at room temperature
75g caster sugar
75g plain flour
pinch of salt
6 tbspns raspberry or strawberry jam
200ml whipping cream
extra sugar for sprinkling
a 20cm x 30cm Swiss roll tin, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper
1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/425F/gas 7. Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl or the bowl of a food mixer and whisk on high speed until the mixture is very thick, pale and mousse-like. This will take at least 5 minutes. To test whether the mixture is ready, lift out the whisk; if a very distinct ribbon-like trail of mixture falls back into the bowl, you can stop whisking.
2. Sift the flour and salt on to a sheet of greaseproof paper, then sift half of it a second time straight into the bowl. Use a large metal spoon and very gently fold in until you can no longer see any specks or streaks of flour, particularly checking the bottom of the bowl.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread evenly (ha, ha! Mine wasn't!). Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and springy to touch - about 9-10 minutes. While the sponge is cooking, dust a sheet of greaseproof paper with caster sugar. As soon as the sponge is cooked, flip it out on to the paper and lift off the tin. Carefully peel off the lining paper. With a large sharp knife, make a shallow cut about 2cm in from one of the short sides, then gently roll up the sponge from the end with the cut, using the greaseproof paper to help you. The cut will make rolling easier. Set the rolled-up sponge on a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
4. When ready to fill, whip the cream. Unroll the sponge, trim off the edges, then spread with the jam. Top with the cream, spreading to within 3cm of the edges. Gently re-roll. Sprinkle with sugar to finish and eat immediately.
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