lifes-a-bitch

Many years ago I walked into a pub where I was meeting up with a group of girl friends, and on glancing round I saw my latest boyfriend standing at the bar with his back to me. I hadn't been expecting to see him that night, but it was fairly close to where he lived, so I wasn't very surprised. So, I walked right up behind him and gave him a big hug, at the same time whispering into his ear "Bet you can't guess who!" He swung round and said "NO......I can't!" It was a TOTAL STRANGER

What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?

Thursday is my baking day, and bread is one of the things I make. Today I made a Sundried tomato and cheese with black olives loaf.

CLICK PICS TO MAKE BIG

These were my ingredients:

This is my Breadmaker

This is how it looked when the breadpan was ready to go into the breadmaker

And when it had finished the kneading process it looked like this

And here it is all finished - Just needs to cool down a bit! Scrummy

Recipe:

Ingredients
400g/14oz White bread flour
50g/2oz Wholemeal bread flour
25g/1oz finely grated parmesan cheese
25g/1oz Black olives (chopped)
25g/1oz sun dried tomatoes(chopped)
280ml/11fl oz Warm water
3 tsp olive oil
1 and a 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp easy blend dried yeast

Method

Soak the sundried tomatoes in the warm water for 15 mins, drain well in a sieve over a jug or bowl, saving all the water.

Put the water and oil in bread pan
Sprinkle flours and parmesan cheese over the top, ensuring they cover the liquid.
Put salt and sugar on top of flour in opposite corners of pan
Make a well in the centre (but not down as far as the liquid) and add the yeast.

Select the appropriate programme for your breadmaker (Large White loaf)

About 6 or 7 minutes before the end of your machine's kneading cycle add the drained tomatoes and the olives. (set a timer to remind you if you have one, it's easy to forget)

The recent news about the Royal Mail made me think of this.

See previous post for picture

INGREDIENTS

500G/ 1lb Chicken leftovers (slightly more or less does not matter)
225g/ 1/2lb Basmati rice
600ml/ 1pt Chicken stock
1 Onion
50g/2oz ghee or cooking oil
1 clove garlic
2 tsp mild, or 1/4 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
50g/ 2oz sultanas
50g/ 2oz chopped almonds
yellow or orange food colouring
To garnish
2 hardboiled eggs (sliced)
2 tomatoes (sliced)
1 green pepper (deseeded and sliced into rings)

Method

Separate the chicken meat from any bones and break into fairly large chunks. Wash the rice well, and drain. Put the rice in a medium saucepan which has a well fitting lid, with most of the chicken stock, leaving about 4Tbs for use later. Add as much food colouring as you need to achieve the colour you wish, bring to the boil and simmer gently with lid on for about 20 mins, until it is al dente, stirring a couple of times as the stock is absorbed to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion, and fry gently in the ghee or oil in a LARGE pan, until it is beginning to brown. Peel and slice the garlic thinly, add to the onions and cook for a further 2 mins or so. Now add the spices and salt and stir well. Add a little food colour to the remaining stock, pour into the pan and bring to a simmer, stirring well. Add the chicken, sultanas, and chopped almonds, and allow to gently heat through, stirring now and then.
When the rice has absorbed all the stock and is cooked (if it absorbs the stock before it is cooked to taste, just add a splash of boiling water to the pan, stir to distribute through the rice, and continue cooking for a few more minutes) add to the chicken mixture and mix thoroughly.

Transfer the Biriani mix to a serving dish, and garnish with the eggs, tomatoes and green pepper.

ENJOY

(See next post for Recipe)

These feet could tell so many stories if only they could talk
Tales of striding throught the woods on a muddy winter walk
And dancing barefoot in the snow to see how it would feel
Or tapping to the rhythm of a lively scottish reel
And stepping out in strappy sandals on a sunny summers day
To have a paddle in the waters of the brook along the way

These feet could tell of many horrors if they could only speak
The panic stricken flight from the monstrous drunken freak
Scrambling through the brambles and squelching through the mud
Tripping over in the black of night and wading through a flood
Cut and sore and bleeding, they badly need to rest
For they have travelled many miles and they have passed the test.

And so these feet kept silent 'til their injuries had healed
And then they thought the time had come for all to be revealed
For they have borne their burden well and all the pain has passed
So they open up their hearts to you for they can speak at last
Of golden days and darkest nights and horrors long since gone
For they have found a voice now and they're eager to move on.

PS. You might want to look at the link in Jack Frost's comment below too (Katie Melua - Two Bare Feet) - well worth it!

I took this sequence of shots of my garden over the last few days showing the snow gradually receding, and today was able to add some spring bulbs to the series. So....Friday 13th is not all bad....Spring is on it's way!

MIDDAY ON THE 10TH FEB

AND IN THE EVENING ON THE 10TH

MIDDAY ON THE 11TH

ALMOST GONE - MIDDAY 12TH

FRIDAY 13TH AND THE SNOW'S ALL GONE - AND IT'S LEFT BEHIND THE FIRST OF THE SPRING BULBS

SNOWDROPS

CROCUSES JUST STARTING TO BLOOM

AND IN A MORE SHELTERED SPOT WE HAVE SOME FULLY OUT

Oh those were the days - We were all so young back then

The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day
Why leave me standing here
Let me know the way

Many times I've been alone
And many times I've cried
Anyway you've always known
The many ways I've tried

But still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me waiting here
A long long time ago
Don't keep me standing here
Lead me to your door

But still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me waiting here
A long long time ago
Don't leave me standing here
Lead me to your door

Ladies - If you've ever had problems parking, you should take a gander at this vid below, and you will never again feel so silly..........I promise you WILL laugh till you cry!

First for your entertainment we have Frosty the Snowman in Global Warming

If Global warming doesn't happen quickly enough for you, then perhaps Dean Martin and I've got my love to keep me warm will do the trick!

This was first recorded on 8th April 1959, on an LP called Winter Romance.

Freezing Cold, Snowed in, Airports shut, No Trains, No Buses, Schools Shut, Gloom and Doom everywhere, I reckon this will give you a lift.

ENJOY!

You may, or may not, know that my Mother-In-Law, who on Wednesday celebrated her 91st Birthday, is allergic to eggs. She does love a bit of cake however, so I make one of these and we take it with us when we go to see her.

Makes 1 Loaf Cake

Ingredients

225g/8oz Brown Sugar
300ml/10fl.oz Water
85g//3oz Margarine
1/2 teasp Ground Cloves
1/2 teasp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 teasp Ground Cinnamon
1 pinch salt
250g/9oz Sultanas
250g/9oz Self Raising Flour (I use Supreme Sponge flour for extra lightness)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 170C, 140 Fan oven, Gas mark 3, and line an 8x4 inch loaf tin with lightly greased greaseproof paper.

2 Put the sugar, water, margarine,spices, and sultanas in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and continue boiling for 3mins. Allow to cool slightly.

3 In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients with the warm (not hot) saucepan contents and mix well.

4 Transfer the cake mixture to the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. As oven temperatures vary a bit it's best to take a peak after about 1/2 hour, and reduce temp. a little, if necessary, for the rest of the baking time.

5 Allow to cool a little, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool.

This recipe is extremely versatile.

You can use white sugar instead of brown.
You can reduce the quantity of the spices, or leave them out completely.
You can replace (or reduce the quantity of) the sultanas with mixed fruit, or glace cherries, or a mix of fruit and nuts, or date and walnut, or anything you fancy really, just use your imagination!
Or even just make it without any additions at all!

I sometimes make two, and put them next to each other on a cake board, wrap a cake frill round them to keep them together, and hey presto, an eight inch square cake ready to be iced for a birthday.

As there are no eggs it keeps much longer than a conventional cake.
It also freezes extremely well.