The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
I bought some more running gear. I already had some, but not enough and I either had to do a load of laundry in between runs or re-wear sweaty stuff. I bought a pair of running tights. Boy, those things don’t leave anything to the imagination. They’re quite comfortable to run in, but you need a certain level of body confidence to leave the flat…
This is what I see when I’m trying to work right now. Disgusting.
I’m just annoyed the picture is so crappy :( They moved now so the moment has passed.
Edit: woohoo, they did it again, so another chance for a better picture :)
Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.
Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time… I think I’ve forgotten this before.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Pat dry the duck breasts with a paper towel.
Score the duck skin with sharp knife, making sure to not cut into the flesh.
Season the duck breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C.
Starting with a cold and dry oven-safe skillet, place the duck breasts skin side down. Cook for 12-15 minutes over medium heat.
Flip the breasts over and sear the other side for 1 minute. Flip to the skin side down, and transfer the skillet to the oven.
Roast for 4 minutes for medium-rare, or 6 minutes for medium.
est the duck skin-side up for 10 minutes.
Keep the rendered fat in a sealed jar in the fridge to roast potatoes.
We got wet, got slightly pissed, had a wholly inappropriate conversation and saw in the new year.
Sushi for lunch, noodles and baos for dinner. Not traditional, but damn good.
Taking a pootle to stretch out legs along the lakeside, Katy and I ran into a juvenile cygnet just standing in the middle of walking path, looking bemused but otherwise fine. People are walking around it, dogs are walking right up to it, nothing registers. We stood there for a good 5 minutes looking at it. It’s not obviously in distress, but this ain’t normal swanish behaviour. We called the Morges police and they said they woukd send someone ’round to have a look. We carried on with our walk and it was still there on the way back, except now it’d gone for a massive dump and was now taking a nap…
350g good-quality beef skirt, rump steak or braising steak
350g waxy potatoes
200g swede
175g onions
salt and freshly ground black pepper
knob of butter or margarine
Two rounds of pre-made shortcrust pastry
Peel and cut the potato, swede and onion into cubes about 1cm square. Cut the beef into similar sized chunks. Put all four ingredients into a bowl and mix. Season well with salt and some freshly ground black pepper, then put the filling to one side.
Lightly grease a baking tray with margarine (or butter) and line with baking or silicone paper (not greaseproof).
Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan assisted)/325F/Gas 3.
Divide the dough into four equal-sized pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a disc roughly 25cm/10in wide (roughly the same size as a dinner plate).
Spoon a quarter of the filling onto each disc. Spread the filling on one half of the disc, leaving the other half clear. Put a knob of butter or margarine on top of the filling.
Carefully fold the pastry over, join the edges and push with your fingers to seal. Crimp the edge to make sure the filling is held inside – either by using a fork, or by making small twists along the sealed edge. Traditionally Cornish pasties have around 20 crimps. When you’ve crimped along the edge, fold the end corners underneath.
Put the pasties onto the baking tray and brush the top of each pasty with the egg and salt mixture. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the pasties are golden-brown. If your pasties aren’t browning, increase the oven temperature by 10C/25F for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Leg of lamb, yorkie pud, mashed and roasted spuds, carrots, sweet potatoes and brussels, topped with lamb gravy.