The dog has an understeer problem. The front end turns on a dime but the back end has cornering issues.
She goes off like a bomb but tends to end up head first in a shed wall.
Month: May 2013
[recipe] cheese and bacon scones
Makes 15 to 20, depending on big you cut them
16 ounces (1 pound) plain flour
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 level tsp of cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
1 ounce of cold butter, cube
4 ouces bacon, grilled and finely chopped with a sharp knif
4 ounces strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
1 medium free range egg
375ml of sour milk or buttermilk (1 2/3 cup)
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Dust a large baking sheet lightly with flour. Set aside.
Sift the flour, soda, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl. Drop in the butter and then rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs. Stir in the bacon and cheese.
Whisk together the egg and milk.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix to a soft dough with your hand by running it around the bowl. Try not to knead it as this will develop the gluten which will toughen the scones. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. (The dough will be quite sticky) Pat out with floured hands until you get a square 3/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut it into 15 to 20 squares. (Alternately you can cut them out with a sharp knife or a 2 inch round cutter) Place onto the floured baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between each.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Saffron Walden is a great little town
It’s our last night in town and, as we promised to come back before we left, we went to have dinner at the Cross Keys in town. Really nice food! We shared some seared scallops and asparagus in hollandaise for starters, then dead cow for main and a cookie dough cheesecake for pud. We found out that the boyfriend of our hostess is the one who drew a beautiful Buddha ink sketch we saw at the little gallery at EFS. We were planning on taking a cab back home cause we were stuffed. Turns out our neighbour was the one to pick us up and dropped us off for free, because he’s nice like that. Just another reason I’m going to miss this place.
Well, that’s that.
I’ve sorted through 8 years of desk clutter, sifted through a mountain of files and said goodbye to everyone. We picked up Bean’s last things from nursery and… that’s it. No more campus. The movers have emptied the house. The pets and the child are in Leicester. The walls are bare, and if you’ve ever seen our home, that’s saying a lot! It’s no longer our home. It’s just a nice house with lots of good memories. I’ve had my last driving lesson and my last guitar lesson. We had to cancel Liz because Katy was under the weather, so we weren’t able to say a proper goodbye to the evil PT woman. It’s getting more and more real – we’re moving on to the next adventure. I’m a bit shell shocked right now. I’m going to miss my friends and colleagues, and very much so the comfort of the familiar. The little things, like chatting to Dave the butcher, getting a sausage from Sausage Lady and Sunday lunch at Scottsdales. I’m hoping we’ll find new friends, favourite shops and little gems to visit. It’s going to be part of the process. It’s something I’m looking forward to, but I’ll admit to being a bit scared about it as well…
Blast from the past
look what I found while clearing out some old files :)
Dubstep bird
And the full commercial:
Things you never thought you’d say out loud…
Poley, you’re a gun dog for Christ’s sake. Stop eating flowers and go after the pigeons!
End of an era
It’s Bean’s last day at nursery today and his favouritest bus driver in the whole wide world juggled the rota to be sure that he’d be the one driving this morning. That’s just… fantabulous :) He’s really made an impression on everybody. Sally, his nursery key worker, was all choked up when he gave her a box of chocolates (and then proceeded to tell her off because she had to share them with everybody!)
I love my Bean.
Last chance to feed the fishies
We went to Scottsdales yesterday, for what will probably be the last time in a very long time. We had a nice lunch. I had a moment with the parrots, and then Bean fed the koi. They have some new really big ones and now there’s one that Bean named “Red Charlie” to replace the original Charlie, who now lives somewhere in a pub garden pond.
Good times, indeed.
[Recipe] Cornish Pasties
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTRY
125g chilled and diced butter
125g lard
500g plain flour , plus extra
1 egg , beaten
FOR THE FILLING
350g beef skirt or chuck steak, finely chopped
1 large onion , finely chopped
2 medium potatoes , peeled, thinly sliced
175g swedes , peeled, finely diced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Rub the butter and lard into the flour with a pinch of salt using your fingertips or a food processor, then blend in 6 tbsp cold water to make a firm dough. Cut equally into 4, then chill for 20 mins.
2. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Mix together the filling ingredients with 1 tsp salt. Roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until large enough to make a round about 23cm across – use a plate to trim it to shape. Firmly pack a quarter of the filling along the centre of each round, leaving a margin at each end. Brush the pastry all the way round the edge with beaten egg, carefully draw up both sides so that they meet at the top, then pinch them together to seal. Lift onto a non-stick baking tray and brush with the remaining egg to glaze.
3. Bake for 10 mins, then lower oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and cook for 45 mins more until golden. Great served warm.