Frisky Fifty And Fabulous!

I have wanted to find ways to give to Goldfinch recently…for being wonderful. I feel so helpless from 10,100 miles away. So I have been racking my brain to think of little ways I can show him I think of him all the time.

I sent him a very sweet Australian gift – a large dark chocolate connoisseurs collection box from Australian chocolatiers Haigh’s. He probably did not want a big box of chocolates. But I sometimes don’t know how to light up his day from so far away. It is a big box. I hope he will share it with his friends and family and think of me.

How do you give someone a hug from 10,100 miles away? It is so frustrating!

Espresso Yourself

After a calm start to our Sunday, it’s time to wake up. Yes…it is coffee time! Here is a double shot of caffeine for you with a CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE ESPRESSO TART, which is supposed to look like this when it is finished:

This recipe was from a supermarket magazine, but I have no idea which one. I cut it out because the recipe looked fabulous! There are essentially three stages to this tart…the pastry, the filling and the decorations. Here are the ingredients I used for this decadent dessert:

PASTRY

• 175g plain flour
• 80g icing sugar (sifted)
• 100g chilled butter (cut into cubes)
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1tbsp vanilla extract

FILLING

• 1tbsp instant coffee (I just happened to pick up French Vanilla coffee because it sounded so delicious)
• 300ml double cream
• 25g golden syrup
• 50g butter
• 75g dark chocolate (finely chopped)
• 75g milk chocolate (finely chopped)

DECORATIONS

• 150g dark chocolate
• icing sugar (to dust with)

It’s been a while since I made my own pastry (I usually cheat and buy puff or shortcrust pastry from the supermarket). I can’t remember making pastry in a food processor before, but not one to argue with a recipe, I followed the instructions.

First of all I put the 175g flour and 80g sifted icing sugar into my food processor and pulsed it briefly. Then I added the 100g chilled butter to the food processor and pulsed the mix until it looked like fine breadcrumbs. Then I added the egg yolk and vanilla extract before pulsing again. Before my eyes the pastry started to combine together into a dough.

I did add a teaspoon of water as I thought the pastry was a little bit crumbly. Then on a lightly floured surface I pressed the pastry dough into a disc and wrapped it up in cling film. I put it into the fridge for half an hour to chill.

In the meantime I preheated the oven to 160°c fan (180°c without fan). I took the chilled pastry out of the fridge and rolled out on a lightly floured surface. Then the pastry went into a fluted flan/quiche tin. I pricked the base with a fork and chilled it in the fridge for another ten minutes.

After another chilling, I placed baking parchment over the pastry and poured baking beans over the top. Then I placed it into the preheated oven and baked it for twenty minutes.

After twenty minutes I removed the baking parchment and baking beans and returned the pastry to the oven for another eight minutes. By this point the pastry was golden and felt slightly sandy.

Now that the pastry was ready, it was time to prepare the filling. I forgot to take a photo of the first step, which is to place the 1tbsp of instant coffee granules into a pan with 1tbsp of boiling water and stir them together.

I then added the 300mil of double cream and the 25g golden syrup. As per the recipe, I brought that mixture to the boil while stirring occasionally. Then I removed the pan from the heat and added the 50g of butter and the finely chopped chocolate (75g dark chocolate/75g milk chocolate). Then I went about stir stir stirring until I had a glossy smooth chocolately mix.

I then poured the chocolate mix into the pastry case (which was still in the tin by the way) and chilled it in the fridge overnight.

The following day, it was time to decorate the chocolate tart. The recipe said to take 150g dark chocolate and place in a bain marie (heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water). Once it was melted I poured it onto a flat baking sheet.

I then placed the baking sheet into the fridge for ten minutes. The chocolate was still quite soft so I put it back in the fridge for another fifteen minutes.

Then…with a large knife I pulled curls of chocolate. There were lots of curls as you can see!

Then heaped the chocolate curls on top of the chocolate truffle espresso tart and dusted with some icing sugar.

I took the tart with me when I went to see some friends for a small garden party they hosted for some of their NHS friends they wanted to do something for. My friends were very very pleased with this tart. It was rich though! Very rich. Thin slices of tart for all of us. It had a lovely strong coffee flavour which complimented the chocolate perfectly.

This recipe is definitely a keeper! The coffee is just what we need to wake up on our Sunday morning!

Time to shake off the sleepy eyes and tired limbs…there is so much in store in todays line-up on THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF!

 

All Because The Lady Loves…

Here is another post to inspire you with ideas for THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC!

All because the lady loves chocolates and cherries! The lady in question being my sister Mandy. Everybody knows that Mandy’s favourite dessert is any kind of Black Forest entity. It could be a gateaux, it could be a roulade, but today…it is a trifle!

And it really is an incredibly easy recipe!!! Perfect for feeding the masses during the holidays. The recipe came from the BBC Food Website, and I believe it was first published in the BBC Good Food magazine in December 2010.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/black-forest-trifle

But to bring this easy peasy recipe to life, I invite you to join me on a journey into Caramel’s kitchen cupboards. Are you ready???

Here we go!!! First of all let’s talk about the chocolate custard layer:

100gr plain chocolate, 500ml tub of ready-made chilled custard (preferably with real vanilla seeds)

The recipe says to gently (and please note – gently does it!) heat the custard and the chocolate in a pan. It is a joy to see the pieces of chocolate disappear and transform into a yummy chocolate custard!

 

Once all the chocolate has melted (we don’t want lumpy custard), the recipe says to cover with clingfilm and cool. So I just stuck the clingfilm over the pan and put it to the back of the stove until I was ready to use it.

 

Now the recipe says to use 400gr of chocolate brownies. I am sure it means shop-bought brownies, but as I was catering for someone who needs a gluten free pudding, I made some brownies using a gluten free chocolate brownie mix.

Whether you use shop-bought brownies or home-made brownies, just arrange a layer in the base of a a large trifle bowl.

2 x 390gr jars of cherries in kirsch

Now…I searched every supermarket nearby and I could not find cherries in kirsch. I could not even find Kirsch in the liquor section. So I decided to use a tin of black cherries (they come in a cherry syrup) and a jar of cherry and kirsch compote.

I found a cherry brandy in Sainsburys supermarket the other day, so if I make this recipe again, I am tempted to add a few splashes of cherry brandy to soak into the brownies (yes, I am a fan of boozy puddings!)

 

The cherries I bought did not really need draining, I just threw the contents of both the jar and the tin over the brownies.

Over the top of my cherry layer, I added the chocolate custard. I popped it in the fridge to chill, while I turned my attention to the next layer of the trifle.

200ml double cream, 200ml crème fraîche, 25gr icing sugar

I used my electric whisk to whip the cream with crème fraîche and icing sugar. I think the idea is not to over-whip it! Soft peaks the recipe says. It needs to be nice and soft to dollop nicely onto the other layers of trifle.

I must admit sometimes I over-whip cream, but in this case over-whipped cream would be baaaaad!!!

Dollop your lovely softly whipped cream and crème fraîche over the chocolate custard layer…and you are nearly finished!

Grated chocolate for decorating

The recipe also said you could decorate with some fresh cherries. I did not buy any fresh cherries, so for me it is just a generous layer of grated chocolate. Amazing!

Et voilà!!! All because the lady loves chocolate and cherries!!! My sister Mandy will be a very happy girl!

Easy peasy cherry squeezy – wasn’t it just!!!

And here is the best Mandy song ever!!!

 

Popping My Chocolate Cherry In Australia

Now I am not a fan of Peter Andre I will admit. But it seems we have the same fondness for one particular flavour combination. I don’t know much about him, I don’t have anything specifically to complain about him – I am just not a fan. There are lots of entertainers I am not a fan of. I have been at events and seen Peter Andre up close, but I have never spoken with him.

But in one way he has had a little influence on me. I was flicking through the Waitrose Food Magazine (Waitrose is a supermarket here in England) and I noticed Peter Andre was answeing a bunch of foodie questions thrown at him. He must have lived in Australia for some time. When asked which Australian foods he misses the most, he replied mangoes, seafood and Cherry Ripes – a cherry-filled chocolate bar.

Well…that caught my attention. I love cherries and chocolate together. When I googled Cherry-Ripes, I found they have a dark cherry version – even better!!!

So amongst the list of things I want to do while I am in Australia (time with Goldfinch is right at the top of course), I want to find one, or maybe more than one, of these Cherry-Ripes to try for the first time. I shall be popping my chocolate cherry – can I say that without getting a reaction? Too late now.

Oh and when I googled Cherry-Ripes, one of the sites that appeared was advertising the corniest ever adverts. I became quite engrossed in watching how Cherry Ripe adverts have come on over the years – it starts very scary, but I promise they do improve.

Food For The Brain

• Blueberries
• Avacadoes
• Dark chocolate
• Green tea
• Apples

Apparently these are the top five foods for the brain… well, this is what Dad keeps telling me over and over again.

I am having all of them…..except I am really not in the mood for apples.

I love fresh, juicy, crisp apples in the summer.  But this time of year the only way I can get my head round apples is in a crumble.  I have to admit, I am super-duper fussy with my apple crumble.  I mean I would always be polite when someone with a proud grin sets before me their prized apple crumble.

But in reality…..I only like it my way!!!!!!!!!

Apples sweet cinnamon perhaps some sultanas thrown in.  And then a huge deep layer of crumble.  Crumble being the main event.  Sometimes oats thrown in or some brown sugar to give a bit of a crunch.

Then thick custard.  Hot or cold I don’t mind which. For extra indulgence a caramel sauce. But I respect apple crumble tastes differ.

When I lived in the countryside I was forever coming home to find a kind friend or neighbour had left a box of apples from their trees on my doorstep.  So I made a lot of crumble each autumn and had a lot of friends round on cold evenings for hot toddies and crumble.  Some had the same preference for crumble over fruit as me and my youngest sister.  But other friends complained vehemently “where is the fruit?”

Actually……I really wished I had perfected a blackberry crumble.  I used to use blackberries in an oatmeal cakey scone recipe.  It was yum but very tricky to make.

But the yummiest has to be cherries…..but in a pie.

This is just fruit.

Don’t get me started on pecan pie, banana bread, bakewell tart, carrot cake, choco cheesecakes, black forest roulades, melting choco puds with butterscotch sauce……I am hungry.

I am remembering all the dinner parties I threw in the past.  I miss that.  Living in a tiny bedsit in London means no huge dinner parties.  Although, I have squeezed up to twelve friends in…most had to sit on the floor…it was rather cosy!  One of the guys knocked a glass of red wine all over my white curtains.  I have been happy here….but now I am thinking of all the things I miss.  Memories are dominating me and devouring my contentment.

Maybe I am eating too many blueberries, my memory seems to be sharper than ever.  Perhaps I have had too much food for the brain.  Need to switch off for a bit.

They Won’t Forget This Birthday Cake

I woke up this morning and logged straight into my e-mail account to find cake photos that have been sent in while I was asleep. I saw an e-mail with cake photos from the brilliant  Amanda Cade. The first words in Amanda’s e-mail were “Well, you wanted a few disasters…”

My heart lifted when I saw those words and I sat up in bed and read Amanda’s fabulous post which is so funny to read:

https://amandacade.com/2019/03/24/the-great-bloggers-bake-off-aka-why-i-will-never-be-top-chef/

Now…I am thrilled Amanda sent in her photos (some more below) and was willing to call it a disaster – but I think it’s obvious to all that it would be a delicious disaster – CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! in a cake – come on!!! I don’t think it needs to look great – just give me the whole lot maybe in a large bowl rather than a plate, set me up watching the movie “You’ve Got Mail” and I will be in paradise!

Actually the slice that has been cut in Amanda’s last photo shows four perfect chocolate sponge layers sandwiched with scrummy chocolate mouse. What more could anyone ask for on their birthday!

Your cake automatically collects a special NOD FROM GARY – I think he is going to be delighted with this. He had to resort to buying a cake for a recent birthday – what do you think of this one Gary?

Thank you so much Amanda! Hope you have a great time for the rest of the weekend including the party! We are sure they will love your cake as much as we do!!

The Messy Blogger’s Chocolate Cake

This next cake truly is a celebration of chocolate and is superbly put together by the wonderful  Bee Halton – The Bee Writes…. Bee called it “The Messy Blogger’s Cake”, but there is no disguising it is a chocoholics dream cake!

It’s a chocolate sandwich cake after this recipe:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2685651/chocolate-sponge-cake%3famp

This is when we really wish that THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF have us the chance to taste your cakes! Here are more of the photos that Bee sent us of her this chocolate feast for you to feast your eyes on: 

I could not resist linking this chocolate miracle to the fabulous tune from Hot Chocolate:

 

 

 

 

There Is Only One Square Left

When Goldfinch came here before his flight to Adelaide, Australia, he brought a couple of things he had cleared out of his kitchen cupboards and wondered if I would like them.

One of the items he brought was a bar of Finn Carr Milk Chocolate Fruit and Nut. Now normally I am a complete chocolate snob! I like dark chocolate. I like it to come from a chocolatier. I have good reason to be a chocolate snob. It means I hardly ever buy chocolate, thus helping me not to overeat what would only end up widening my hips.

But the bar of bar of chocolate that Goldfinch cleared from his cupboards and gave me – well, I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a bar of chocolate more than this one. I have tried to make it last for as long as possible. It has cheered me up to open my kitchen cupboard and see it. Every time I have had a square I have thought of him and felt so happy. But now…there is only one square left.

Aaaaaah sigh!

 

The Glittering Cadie Mclendon Has Nominated Me For The Sunshine Blogger Award

I know this might sound a bit daft, but I was so impressed the first time I flew in an aeroplane and realized that above the thick grey clouds the sun was shining!

So it is with moi – currently a thick cloud of sadness about Goldfinch is hovering…but I promise you the sunshine is still there.

Cadie Mclendon the creator of Cadie’s Corner has nominated me for The Sunshine Blogger Award. You might not think I am particularly sunshiny at the moment – well, I am not, I am gloomy. A heavy cloud has lingered on my heart. But Cadie kindly nominated me before I started publishing heaps of posts about my sad goodbye with Goldfinch as you can see in her post below:

https://cadiescorner.blog/2018/11/29/sunshine-blogger-award/

A reminder of the rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them – THANK YOU CADIE!
• Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
• Notify the nominees about it on one of their own posts.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or your blog site.

Cadie’s Questions For Her Nominees:

How old are you?

Next summer I will turn 2,179 years old. Only a baby really!  I have to say for my age, I look amazing!

I think it’s due to the amazing genes from my parents, being vegetarian, and doing a jiggy kind of work-out (all of my own design) each afternoon.

What are you currently reading?

I am very glad you asked!

I have bought a few books that were written by some of my favourite bloggers during the past few months. I think it is a great way to support the talented writers amongst the blogging community.

I wrote about this recently in fact:

• Supporting The Best Bloggers Out There

One of my favourites is Teresa Grabs aka The Haunted Wordsmith who has recently published a novel named “Reflected Echo”.

I have enjoyed her previous books which were full of shorter flash fiction pieces. But, it is great to be reading Teresa’s full length story.

What is your biggest turn off?

I am guessing you mean with regards to men? A couple of my friends like the BBC show “The Apprentice”. When I have watched it with them, I see exactly the kind of man that would make me cringe. The behaviour in that show is horrid to witness. It’s like watching the a nightmare result of “the education system”, oh yes, that’s the system I rejected so that I could become a volunteer. The contestants are all: money money money…profit profit profit! It makes me feel sick.

I can’t bear a man who wants to be Sir Alan Sugar’s next business partner and talks about how brilliant he is (himself, not Sir Alan Sugar) and talks about wasting money on parties and flash cars. A man who tells me how expensive his watch is and how much it cost to have his suits made and his luxury holidays in exclusive holiday resorts.

It makes me feel sick, because I have spent most of my life working on an unpaid basis for charities. I like someone with a good work ethic, but not to enrich himself and win glory for himself. The kind of man that wastes money on bling and pampering himself is the complete polar opposite to the kind of man I would adore and respect.

I love humble, honest and hard-working – and down to earth. I love a man who is kind and mild. A man who is reliable and responsible and is willing to admit his mistakes and learn from them. I love a man who is noble and gregarious.

Oh – I have just described my Dad!

Which do you prefer: chocolate or fruit flavoured candies?

I love fruit, especially in the summer, but I don’t always enjoy artificial fruit flavourings as much as I would hope to. So I am going to say chocolate…dark chocolate. But I like my chocolate to come with something, peanut-butter, raspberries, ginger, chilli…

However I do prefer caramel to chocolate – everyone knew that though didn’t they???

Who is your favourite person?

I always feel a bit bad picking favourites.

I love my family so much – every single member!

But I have a special affinity to my youngest sister Milly. I have always been extremely fond of her. We shared a bedroom and I used to help her with her reading and cheer her up whenever she was anxious. She learnt sign language from watching me and other interpreters, and has gone on to be an excellent interpreter. When she married her husband, she became incredibly practical and dynamic. I am so proud of her since she has become a mother. She is wonderful:

• Why Was Milly Always Given More Sweets Than Mandy and Me?

Outside of my family, Goldfinch is my favourite person on the planet!

• How I Used My Extra Hour Last Year

But I have some very wonderful and inspirational friends. As I said, it is really hard to pick favourites!

What is your favourite blog post that you’ve written and why?

My favourite post is:

• River

Simply because I am not very good at poetry. I wrote this poem twenty years ago and I have been fond of it ever since. It expressed something deep inside of me that needed to escape. I am so thrilled that I expressed it in the form of a poem!

I don’t think I will ever be able to express my feelings in poetry again like that. So I am glad I did it once.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hmm. A question that stirs my thoughts I will admit.

I want to go back to my home and career. But that goal seems like climbing Mount Everest. Well, climbing it for the second time, because it took me years to qualify originally. I need to have virtually perfect health to qualify to be an international volunteer again. They have been very patient with me. But my head injuries are still causing me problems. But other than that – I do not have any goal. There is nothing else I want for myself. There are lots of things I would want for other people. But for myself, I don’t have a wish-list.

I don’t dwell on the thought…but I don’t take it for granted that I will be alive in ten years time. I don’t have an agenda. I just try to make sure everyday counts. I live my life the way I would if I was going to live forever. I try to make sure I contribute to what I want for this earth and my fellow human family. Be kind, be good, be loving. Don’t have any regrets and don’t have any enemies (that’s why I need to sort things out with Jack).

What is your favourite meal?

I love variety. I can never pick one favourite. I love food. I have been called a foodie by many of my friends, but I am not sure I am deserving of that epitaph.

Probably, my “go-to” meal of sure pleasure is a vegetarian lasagne or cannelloni – with salad and garlic bread.

I enjoy a bit of everything…sometimes traditional dishes, from a vegetarian roast dinner to a baked potato. I also love Persian, Italian, Mexican, Greek, Thai dishes…I love something completely new to my taste-buds. One of my favourite discoveries from Ghana was peanut butter soup – wow! And I can’t resist a yummy pudding!

What is your Myers-Briggs personality type?

I have just had to google “Myers-Briggs” because I was not sure what it was. I have no idea. Looking at the descriptions…I think I might possibly be ESFJ or ESFP??? The description for both sound familiar. I do remember vaguely a friend getting me to answer a long list of questions, and after totting up the results, she told me I am an entertainer…crossed with something else?

The description of an ESFJ here is interesting…I will say this, I don’t feel any kinship to the Pope, Whitney, Elton or Barbara Walters! Yikes! But I have had all the jobs listed. The characteristics are true of me too.

But looking at the description of an ESPF, there are many things that tick the “me” boxes in this description also.

I think the big difference is the rules thing. I don’t mind rules. I don’t mind an established set of values, standards, ethics. I think without rules, things get really crazy, with everyone setting their own standards. It is a big security factor for me.

Hmm…I think I am one of the above, but I am not sure which. On other personality tests I have done over the years, I am always on the scale around helping or giving to other people / entertaining other people. Apparently, I like to make sure everyone is alright, and I also tend to perform and make sure everyone is enjoying things along the way. I like to keep people happy. However, I am not necessarily a people-pleaser, because I stick to my principles and don’t follow the crowd. I stay within the realms of what I feel is right and avoid offending people. After all, I love people.

I know I am not a leader, I am a supporter. If someone has an idea, I am good at working hard to make it happen. Goldfinch says I am a bear – as in a worker. I am also a very big communicator – probably too much. I like feedback – I thrive on someone saying “Well done! Good girl!” and when my conscience tells me that, I glow with joy!

How many pets do you have, what are they and what are their names?

In my current tenancy agreement, I am not allowed any pets. However, the lady upstairs has goldfish and I feed them whenever she is away. The only little critter who is allowed in my little nest is my glass frog.

When I grew up, we had cats, and over the years I have cared for lots of animals for clients – dogs, ponies, chickens, sheep, cows, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters.

How do you plan what you will write about?

The ideas come rather randomly. But they are normally based on people and events in my life. I am not very good at flash fiction or anything creative like a poem.

Whenever I have an idea for a post, I usually start it and then I work on it little by little when I have chance. Some posts I try to complete quickly as they are from writing prompts. But others might linger in my drafts folder for some time before I manage to bulk them out and polish them over.

I have to work long hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so I have started to schedule posts for those days in advance, and on those days I just try to read other blogger’s posts.

At the moment I am writing a lot about Goldfinch – I think everyone understands why. In the future, I need to write more about Jack – as that is key to the theme of my site “CRUSHED Caramel”. I want to expand the “CUP OF TEA” series which is all about Jack. I want to arrange my site differently too so it is easier to find posts about Jack, posts about Goldfinch and then other subjects.

I want to write a lot more about my family. There are many more special people I want to write about too. I want to write about my teenage sweetheart. I want to write more about the places I have travelled to: Ghana, Texas, France, Belgium, Romania, Germany, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and the experiences we had in those places. I also want to write more about more about England and Wales and especially life in London. I should be taking more photos and telling you more stories about the events I am going to and the projects I work on right here. I want to write more about what I think is really wonderful about life and this planet.

My Eleven Questions For My Nominees:

1. Do you have any blogging achievements you are pleased with…or a particular post you are really proud of?
2. Do you like parties?
3. What are your next door neighbours like? Do you get on with them?
4. What would be some of the features of your dream wedding? (if not your own then the wedding of a beloved family member or friend perhaps)
5. What is your favourite food “on toast”?
6. Do you have any bad driving habits?
7. What’s the most romantic thing that someone has done for you?
8. Have you ever been harassed at work?
9. What kind of food / snacks would you take with you on a picnic?
10. Have you ever been the victim of a crime?
11. If you were a tourist in England, where would you like to visit?

My Eleven Nominees:

Eleven bursts of sunshine in the blogging world:

 Winnie – Musings

 Suze – suziland too or obsolete childhood

 rugby843 – The Bag Lady

 Timorous Minimalist

 Sandmanjazz

 Cooking in Cowboy Boots

 wonderingbelles – Wondering Belle’s Blog

 Tina Stewart Brakebill

 Andrea – Five Starred Life

 The Abject Muse

 Newtan

Coffee Cups (Cherry Chocolate Granola)

Another working week over and done with and now it is Sunday….my day of rest…NOT!!!

Even on my Sunday I am up bright and early because I have a lot to do today…but first I am determined to enjoy my breakfast….I have had fruit all week for breakfast (and salad for lunch and dinner every day I was at work)…but today…ooh la la…I am having cherry yogurt, I bought it for Goldfinch and forgot it was still unopened in the back of the fridge with a use-by-date of 14-05-18. And because I have never been in the habit of eating yogurt naked….I nipped into Waitrose straight after work last night to buy some granola, and fell for chocolate cherry granola which I can only imagine is going to taste incredibly yummy. I have just made my coffee and am waiting for it to percolate and then I am going to enjoy.

Aaaaah…..so nice to have time to feel I can just dawdle along in first gear for the next hour or so…so nice!!!

Speaking of granola…I had an odd experience in a health store on Wednesday. My landlady asked me to buy her some spelt muesli. They did not have any in Sainsburys supermarket, so I nipped into an expensive health store across the road where they do stock lots of spelt foodie items. I meant to nip in and have a look round to see if I could find what she wanted. But as soon as I walked in a shop assistant bounded up to me and asked if he could help me. So I told him I was looking for spelt muesli…his face reflected panic. I followed him around the store twice before I realized he did not know where to look. I was sure we had passed a section with cereals. He came along with me. He picked up some spelt flakes off the shelf and handed them to me. I thanked him but said I was looking for muesli. So then he picked up granola off the shelf and gave it to me. I started to find myself becoming a bit giggly. I said that it looked nice, but I knew my landlady already had granola, she had asked me to buy muesli. He replied “but granola is muesli, they are the same thing”. I told him I think they are slightly different. He asked me how. I looked at him really finding it hard not to express my amusement. I described granola as being a bit crunchier than muesli. He started reading the back of the packet of granola. Then he said to me “I’ll tell you the difference between muesli and granola. Muesli you have with milk at breakfast time, whereas granola you have with fruit and yoghurt and you eat it in the afternoon.” I was really taken aback at the confidence he delivered his conclusion to me…and I was dying to laugh but politeness helped me to restrain it. Anyway, he then said that they didn’t sell muesli. I thanked him for helping anyway. Within moments another shop assistant appeared with a bag of gluten free spelt muesli in his hand.

I bought myself a coffee cup this week….I have been looking for one for weeks, but didn’t like the colours I saw, but fell in love with the one I saw in Robert Dyas homewares store. But then two days later a friend nipped round with some clothes I had lent her and she gave me a coffee cup…I remember telling her how guilty I feel every time I buy a coffee because of the difficulties recycling coffee cups so I intended to buy a coffee cup to have in my work bag. So now I have two as you can see from my photo!

The taller one I bought and the shorter is the one she bought for me. Oh…I can help save the planet in style!  Every morning when I turn on the news before I head out for work there is a news item about single use plastics – bad bad bad….  Ever since we watched the beautiful BBC Blue Planet and especially the recent Blue Planet ΙΙ, we have all become very upset that our magnificent oceans and the myriad of sea creatures that leave us full of wonder and awe are being damaged by our daily coffee purchases amongst other things.  My next purchase will be a re-usable water bottle, a solid one that I can wash out again and again.  I must do this because I do buy a lot of bottled water. I can’t bear to think of harming the creatures in the ocean I am fascinated by.  (I heard that by the end of the year plastic drinking straws and cotton buds will be banned.  I am not sure who uses cotton buds anymore anyway.  Every health professional sternly tells you not to stick them in your ears.  Maybe some people have other uses for them.  But my life will not be cramped by the absence of straws or cotton buds.)

My lovely lovely wonderful Goldfinch is somewhat of an expert on waterways and the environment.  He says much more needs to be done.  I am sure he is right.  I am sure the vast majority of people would be pleased to make sacrifices where needed to preserve this incredible planet.  I asked him last week, what does he think is the next practical solution to take.  We are getting rid of plastics we don’t really need and re-using coffee cups and drinking bottles more.  I asked him what is next.  It sometimes seems a bit overwhelming, but I think most of us understand that we all need to do something or give something up.  The collective effort can achieve huge results.  Do you know the story about the starfish on the beach?  I don’t have time right now, but I will relate it in another post.

My other exciting buy this week….Higgledy Piggledy Pies…four new vegetarian varieties and on offer in the Waitrose supermarket. I can’t wait to try them.  I have not baked a pie in ages.  Pastry…not very waistline friendly.  But I feel in the mood for baking savoury things at the moment.  I am an occasional baker.  I bake for friends.  They love my bakes and tell me I am an amazing baker and should apply for one of these TV baking shows.  I know better.  I am not a great baker at all.  BUT I DO KNOW HOW TO READ.  I obey the recipe precisely, every letter!  It is a very clinical mechanical way of baking, but yes the bakes come out well.  All credit to the recipe writers.  I never remember the recipes.  If you asked me to jump up and bake a sponge cake or shortbread right now, I would not be able to do it.  My head does not retain recipes.  But I have made hundreds of cakes and biscuits by faithfully following other people’s recipes.

I found a recipe for a dish that looks absurdly simple but delicious. It is so simple that I can actually remember it. Take one 600g tub of fresh veggie soup, the type you find in the chilled section in the supermarket, and heat gently in a saucepan and then add 400g tin of cannellini beans (after draining and rinsing of course) add any seasoning you desire. pour this concoction into an oven proof dish. Then take a fresh garlic baguette and blitz it in a food-processor (or you can grate it if you don’t own a food processor) It should be nice chunky crumbs, not fine crumbs. Mix this with grated cheddar cheese (the recipe specified 75g but I would probably leave that to the eater to decide how cheesy they want their supper to be). Sprinkle your cheesy, garlicky bread crumb mix over your bean and veg soup base. 15 minutes baking in an oven that has been pre-heated to 200°/fan 180°/gas 6.  This recipe could turn out to be an easy tasty simple supper for when friends come crashing through the door.  Or it might be awful.  I am going to experiment on a friend and his two teenagers who are coming over for dinner next week. So long as I serve chips with it they will be happy! And a naughty pudding. I think pudding will be something simple like brownies…..I refuse to put in excessive effort for teenagers because most would be just as happy with a gooey cake that came straight out of the box from a supermarket.

By the way, if you don’t own a food processor.  I have never had one up until a year ago.  There was life before my food processor… and life after.  The main difference is making my own hummous which I do most weeks, my own pesto…yum yum yum, and things like home-made coleslaw are so easy to make.  Whizzing up cookie crumbs for a quick cheesecake base etc.  I like it.  It is hard to imagine life without a food processor now.  I don’t buy gadgets generally.  My sister and her husband have all sorts of juicers, spiralizers, pop corn makers, doughnut makers, an ice-cream maker.  I am sure these are all fine things in themselves, but my cute kitchen can’t store too many gadgets.  But the food processor definitely deserves it’s place.

I finished my cherry yogurt dressed with cherry chocolate granola and my coffee some time ago and now I am going to have a shower and get going…busy day ahead.