All rather boring really!
Mar. 19th, 2008 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I've been to work for Caroline this afternoon, so I'm feeling quite tired now. She's going to Paris for Easter, lucky thing. She's not going with her husband, though, but with a gang of girlfriends one of whom is celebrating her 50th. birthday. That's some celebration! Her husband is going skiing with their eldest daughter. How the other half live, eh?
I have to say that I don't begrudge her her good fortune and her lovely foreign holidays. She works very hard and she sensibly keeps her business costs to a minimum, and she's a very nice person, kind, charitable and interested in other people. I suppose you have to be if you're dealing with other people's matrimonial and family problems all day every working day. I would soon lose patience and start telling them to make the most of it, or point out how much worse off other people are.
For example, just look at Heather Mills! I read Mr Justice Bennett's judgment this evening and it made me laugh like a hyena, because, of course, it reinforced all my preconceptions of her character. Mad old bat! Sorry! Mad, rich, old bat!
John is going to Leeds tomorrow so I shall have to make my own way to my writing course. It's the week we're visiting the Laing Gallery, and I'm supposed to meet them there, so that I don't have to try to walk too far. John said I should get a taxi and he would pay, but I'm already paying £10 for the class, I don't want to pay £10 for taxis as well, so I'm going to grab my courage with both hands and drive myself, hoping to find a free disabled parking bay behind the gallery. If not, I shall park in a place I know just outside the front door of the gallery. The problem will be afterwards, when I have to find my way to the Methodist Church Hall and find somewhere to park on double yellow lines!
I don't quite know what to do about Easter! Usually I make a simnel cake and lots of hot cross buns, but at the moment Charles is not eating any wheat products and it seems very mean to make all that stuff when he can't eat it. On the other hand, it seems mean not to make it, since John loves it, and I like it too. Thank goodness he doesn't think he's allergic to chocolate !!
Last night Charles and I had a wonderful dinner. Some time ago I bought some confit of duck and yesterday decided to use it for our weekly treat when John went out for Boys' Night Out.
I hadn't got any tinned beans, and as it was all a bit ad hoc and last minute, I hadn't soaked any overnight, so I washed the tomato sauce off tinned baked beans, and cooked the confit with the beans, some bacon, onion and garlic, stock and herbs for a couple of hours. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can't now remember where I bought the confit from, so I don't know if we can have it again. It must have been either Lidl or Costco, because I haven't been to Aldi for ages, but I haven't seen any since, so I really don't know.
Tonight we had lamb chops with potatoes and vegetables, but I'm beginning to feel that I've been eating far too much meat. I'd quite like to have a couple of days eating fish, or just salad, or something light and vegetarian. When I say this to Charles, he looks at me with amazement! I think he would happily eat mounds of meat three times a day. He's just like my Pa!
I, on the other hand am thinking of mounds of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, fennel and similar stuff. Perhaps I shall make them forage for themselves tomorrow while I have a prawn salad! I have some marvellous incredibly juicy blood oranges which I bought from Costco. Since I have to go there tomorrow to get yet more cat food, maybe I'll get some more of them.
I never seem to write about anything but food in this journal!
It's only 8 days to my appointment with the cardiologist. I have to say that I am feeling much better since I started taking the Beta Blocker. I'm nowhere near what I would call normal yet, but it's making me feel hopeful, and I was beginning to get rather gloomy about the whole thing.
Oh well, time for bed! I have to get up early (for me) for class tomorrow!
I have to say that I don't begrudge her her good fortune and her lovely foreign holidays. She works very hard and she sensibly keeps her business costs to a minimum, and she's a very nice person, kind, charitable and interested in other people. I suppose you have to be if you're dealing with other people's matrimonial and family problems all day every working day. I would soon lose patience and start telling them to make the most of it, or point out how much worse off other people are.
For example, just look at Heather Mills! I read Mr Justice Bennett's judgment this evening and it made me laugh like a hyena, because, of course, it reinforced all my preconceptions of her character. Mad old bat! Sorry! Mad, rich, old bat!
John is going to Leeds tomorrow so I shall have to make my own way to my writing course. It's the week we're visiting the Laing Gallery, and I'm supposed to meet them there, so that I don't have to try to walk too far. John said I should get a taxi and he would pay, but I'm already paying £10 for the class, I don't want to pay £10 for taxis as well, so I'm going to grab my courage with both hands and drive myself, hoping to find a free disabled parking bay behind the gallery. If not, I shall park in a place I know just outside the front door of the gallery. The problem will be afterwards, when I have to find my way to the Methodist Church Hall and find somewhere to park on double yellow lines!
I don't quite know what to do about Easter! Usually I make a simnel cake and lots of hot cross buns, but at the moment Charles is not eating any wheat products and it seems very mean to make all that stuff when he can't eat it. On the other hand, it seems mean not to make it, since John loves it, and I like it too. Thank goodness he doesn't think he's allergic to chocolate !!
Last night Charles and I had a wonderful dinner. Some time ago I bought some confit of duck and yesterday decided to use it for our weekly treat when John went out for Boys' Night Out.
I hadn't got any tinned beans, and as it was all a bit ad hoc and last minute, I hadn't soaked any overnight, so I washed the tomato sauce off tinned baked beans, and cooked the confit with the beans, some bacon, onion and garlic, stock and herbs for a couple of hours. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can't now remember where I bought the confit from, so I don't know if we can have it again. It must have been either Lidl or Costco, because I haven't been to Aldi for ages, but I haven't seen any since, so I really don't know.
Tonight we had lamb chops with potatoes and vegetables, but I'm beginning to feel that I've been eating far too much meat. I'd quite like to have a couple of days eating fish, or just salad, or something light and vegetarian. When I say this to Charles, he looks at me with amazement! I think he would happily eat mounds of meat three times a day. He's just like my Pa!
I, on the other hand am thinking of mounds of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, fennel and similar stuff. Perhaps I shall make them forage for themselves tomorrow while I have a prawn salad! I have some marvellous incredibly juicy blood oranges which I bought from Costco. Since I have to go there tomorrow to get yet more cat food, maybe I'll get some more of them.
I never seem to write about anything but food in this journal!
It's only 8 days to my appointment with the cardiologist. I have to say that I am feeling much better since I started taking the Beta Blocker. I'm nowhere near what I would call normal yet, but it's making me feel hopeful, and I was beginning to get rather gloomy about the whole thing.
Oh well, time for bed! I have to get up early (for me) for class tomorrow!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-20 08:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-20 11:24 am (UTC)I have sent the link to Charles, but I shall also see if they have them at Asda online.
A friend's recipe for you
Date: 2008-03-20 10:37 am (UTC)Ingredients:
2-3 good quality unwaxed oranges (about 550g)
6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/3 cup finely ground almonds
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon
Method:
1. Place whole, unpeeled oranges into a pot and cover with cold water.
2. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and let cook 2 hours.
3. Drain, let cool, then cut each orange in half, remove seeds, and place in food processor- skins and all.
4. Chop the oranges in the processor finely.
5. In a bowl, beat the eggs.
6. Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder to the eggs, mixing well.
7. Add the chopped oranges by hand and mix to combine.
8. Add the vanilla essence, nutmeg and cinnamon.
9. Pour butter into a greased and parchment lined 8-inch springform pan.
10. Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 40 minutes, then cover loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning and CONTINUE cooking about another 10 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.
11. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack overnight.
I sprinkle mine with powdered sugar, ( I cover the top with lace, sprinkle on the sugar and remove the lace to leave a sugar pattern on top of the cake). This cake is divine!
Re: A friend's recipe for you
Date: 2008-03-20 11:17 am (UTC)I shall try that this weekend instead of simnel cake.
Re: A friend's recipe for you
Date: 2008-03-23 09:39 pm (UTC)My Goodness Penny! What a lovely cake! Actually, it's a bit more like dessert than cake, because it's so moist. I shouldn't like to try to eat it with my fingers. We had it with spoons and cream as tonight's dessert. I think I might decorate tomorrow's helpings with fresh raspberries!
Thank you so much for the recipe. It's really cheered Charles up and he is now working out ways of using the same sort of principles but with different ingredients.