Hiatus

Beckie is revising.

That is all.

Normal service may be resumed shortly.

The Latest In A Long Line of Eccentrics

I was thinking today about how I am the latest in a long family line of eccentrics. My grandfather, for example, used to think that a double-barrelled shotgun down a mole-hill was a good mole-control technique. My grandmother sent my brother and I out with pickled onions to put down mole-hills, also to deter them. She also used to share around the chocolates whilst we watched television by clutching the box and throwing them at you like grenades during advert breaks. My parents are still alive so I shall not embarrass them by any details.

Today I had a half holiday. Instead of lounging around watching television (which would be tricky since I have no (working) television,) I picked rosehips to make rosehip syrup. Blame Wartime Farm for making me think of this!

I used the recipe from Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables, first published 1929, the copy I was using is the second impression of the thirteenth edition, from 1979.

I like how rose hips look. Like red jewels.
The recipe below is half of what is actually documented in the book, as I only managed 1 lb of rose hips after 1 hours picking!

"Ingredients:
1 lb ripe rose hips
1/2 lb sugar
2+1/4 pints water

The following method is recommended if a syrup with a high vitamin C content is required.

 Extracting the juice
Have ready 1+1/2 pt boiling water, preferably in an aluminium (I wouldn't use aluminium pans personally due to possible health scares around these) or unchipped enamel pan. Mince the rose hips in a coarse mincer (I used a food processor/magimix),

 place them immediately in boiling water and bring this again to the boil. As soon as it re-boils remove the pan from the heat and leave it for 15 min, then pour into a scalded jelly bag and allow the bulk of the juice to drip through. Return the pulp to the saucepan, add 3/4 pt boiling water, re-boil and allow it to stand without further heating for another 10 min, then strain as before.

Adding the Sugar
Pour the juice into a clean saucepan, and boil it down until it measures about 3/4 pt, then add 1/2 lb sugar and boil for a further 5 min.

Bottling and Processing the Syrup
Pour the syrup while it is hot into clean, hot bottles and seal at once. (I put it into yogurt pots and freeze it and defrost what I need each time - once opened it only keeps for a week or two in the fridge)

Why don't you join me in my Land-Girl eccentricity?

Two weekends inspired by Mr Peyton

The first: chocolate swirl buns. Mr Peyton's sweet bun dough, with the addition of 25g of dark cocoa powder (and 25% less yeast, as I use fast action dried, and he uses regular dried). Rolled out flat, spread with Mr Peyton's pastry cream recipe (surprisingly easy) and chopped chocolate. Rolled up like a swiss roll, cut into slices. Baked.

The second: English muffins. These are three batches in the making. The first had WAY too much yeast (sorry Mr Peyton, but they were disgustingly bitter) - the second had the perfect quantity of yeast, but I hadn't quite got the hang of cooking on a cast iron skillet. This, the third batch are mine. All mine. Sorry!

So thank you Mr Peyton!

The Privilege We Have

For a seasoned (sinful) worrier, such as me, this hymn holds great balm and sober reminders laced into its lines.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded
there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship
will be our sweet portion there.

Joseph Medlicott Scriven


Oh may we bring all to Him in prayer.

A New Name (book review)

Dedicated readers of my blog (all four of you) have probably noticed "A New Name" in my blog reel/side-bar. I forget how I came to be a regular reader, but I am so grateful that I did. Emma writes honestly about her own struggles yet still points faithfully to Jesus. She is one of the best Christian writers I have ever (not quite yet) met.

Emma has written a book by the same title. It is subtitled "grace and healing for anorexia," which substantially underestimates it. Emma boldly and bravely explains her own struggle with anorexia, walking us through her testimony, through her childhood in a non-Christian family, battling with anorexia and OCD as a teenager, then through a relative honeymoon period to her second struggle with anorexia as an adult. We see snippets of her life, enough to understands the depths of her brokenness, but not so much that it feels intrusive or voyeuristic. More than this, woven delicately and beautifully through are the lessons she has learned, the wisdom she has gleaned, and the encouragement to find our own grace and healing.

Mental health problems (not just anorexia) will affect 1 in 3 of us personally. Contrary to the damaging things I have heard, Christians are not exempt from this. Both in the church and out of it, mental health is still a massive taboo. Emma boldly steps out and raises her hand to say, "twice in my life I've had anorexia that nearly killed me." And it is her willingness to tell her story and to be real in such a public way that makes her book so powerful. You see, it's not just her story, it's all part of the story that Jesus is writing. As she explains, "Jesus Christ calls himself a Doctor for sick sinners. And I am both. I'm sick - helpless in the face of a condition that overpowers me. I'm also a sinner - deliberately choosing my way over his. Despite this, he loves me just the same. So this is not just 'my' story. It's the story of his work in my life" (p15-16 A New Name, Emma Scrivener, IVP, 2012.)

It is precisely because it is more than just her story that I would so heartily recommend this book. Her description of her character with its foibles and flaws laid bare, her gentle tone, her advice and reflections will ring bells with all of us. Her appeal to us to put aside our shame, to be real, is a challenge to our hearts. If more of us take her lead, and own up to being the wounded, vulnerable, damaged sinners that we all are, I feel certain the church will be the body that the Lord intended it to be. Whether or not you have experience of anorexia, or mental health problems, Emma's book is an excellent read, well-written, with appropriate moments of humour and sobriety. Read it!

A Study on Yellow Roses

Yellow garden roses...

In a measuring cylinder. I think it makes a rather fetching "single-stem" style vase. What do you think?

In The Spirit Of The Paralympics

The husband of a friend from Theological College:
Reverend Barr-Hamilton

Inspire a generation?

(via: The Vicar's Wife)

In The Farmhouse Kitchen

Most of the moving is over, although myriad boxes seem still to litter the house!

Sometimes, however, time in the kitchen is more necessary than unpacking, especially with the late summer glut of vegetables.

So, from the farmhouse kitchen I present:

Pickled cucumbers and semi-dried tomatoes.

Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly

Once again I am surround by boxes and bubble wrap (well, actually less of the latter than the former, because it's too much fun to pop) hence the lack of recent posts.

Hopefully once I am installed in my new location there will be more from me.

Until that time I leave you with a picture of a strawberry. Because it's summer.

I Asked The Lord...

This hymn by John Newton exemplifies how we can pray in complaint to the Lord, and His wonderful answer.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

John Newton, 1725-1807

Gratitude

This is a new song to me, but the Computer Geek was listening to it and I was struck by the lyrics. How few of our songs and hymns acknowledge that God knows best and that sometimes He says "no" to our requests because He has something better, and we must give thanks in that.

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case;

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case;

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case;

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace
But Jesus, would You please?

Nichole Norman

Beauty From The Leftovers

This Flickr group has been making me smile today.

All sorts of exciting items made from the bits of fabric we normally throw out. Less waste, more useful, more gorgeous.

Happy Hexagonal Hooking

Most of my recent posts have been rather cookery heavy, so I thought I'd take a break and show you something different.

Pattern from Lucy at Attic 24

Very pleasing repetitive motion to use up all the scraps left over from this

Two More Ways With Sourdough

The loaf.

Half the Fabulous Baker Brothers recipe with twice as much salt (their recipe has so little salt it tastes a bit odd), in a little non-stick loaf tin. The tin belongs to the Wildlife Photographer. It is excellent. It does not need greasing. Not all tins are like it, as I discovered when trying to repeat this loaf for my mother. 30 minutes later I managed to get a squashed, cracked, but almost intact loaf out of her tin. Hmmmm.

The breadsticks.

Same basic recipe as the loaf, but knead in an extra 150g of plain flour. Then coat hands and dough with 2tsp of olive oil and knead through the dough. Taking golf-ball sized pieces roll out to roughly 1cm diameter breadsticks (don't worry about making them too even, the knobbly bits add rustic charm!) Brush lightly with water, sprinkle over coarse salt, pepper, grated cheese, smoked paprika, rosemary, or whatever takes your fancy. Bake at 210C for about 10-12 minutes until desired colour (I like mine a little underdone and chewy still). Leave to cool slightly on a wire rack, then consume. If using coarse salt this is about the only acceptable time to make an unsalted dough - the coarse salt will help make up for it.

Yum!

Spicy Speedy Salmon

This is not speedy in the "reach into fridge and consume" sort of way, but in the "Jamie's 30-minute meals" sort of way - you have to do a bit of work, but less than you'd expect. I have done the recipe to serve one, as that's how many I made, but it can easily be scaled up to the number required.

Ingredients:
For salmon:
1 salmon fillet
1/4 pot of peri-peri humous

For accompanying veg (inspired by Jamie Oliver):
8 stalks asparagus (British asparagus currently coming in to season - very short season, get it while you can!)
2 tomatoes (British tomatoes also coming into season)
about 10 olives (I had a pack of basil and garlic olives from Graze (nice little website, sends you healthy snacks - 4 portions for £3.79, delivered through letterbox - link will get you a free trial box if you've not had them before - also gives me a £1 off my next box (for the sake of full disclosure))
splash of olive oil for pan
salt
pepper

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Smear top of salmon with humous - a nice even coating is all that matters, this is never going to win prizes for how it looks)
3. Wrap hummus smeared salmon in foil or greasproof paper, and shove in oven for 15-20 mins (until cooked through)
4. Chop tomatoes into quarters, then each quarter into half crosswise (or chop tomato in half and each half into four... whatever)
5. Chop asparagus into roughly 2 inch pieces.
6. Heat frying pan, splash in olive oil, add a couple of pinches of salt and a few twists of freshly ground pepper.
7. Add asparagus and tomatoes to pan and fry over medium heat for about 5 mins.
8. Add olives to asparagus and tomatoes and stir over medium heat for another 5 mins.
9. Reduce heat to low and leave to stew gently - stirring occasionally, until salmon is ready. The tomatoes will break down to make a sauce.
10. Serve the vegetables topped by the salmon.

Incidentally, when uploading the photos for this post I discovered I did take a photo of the sourdough loaf, but I think I have bored most people enough about Sourdough for the moment, so will post about it at some other time.

More Thoughts On Sourdough

Firstly (and off the titled topic) I am happyified (yes, I am aware that's not a word, but for some reason "pleased" didn't convey the meaning I wanted) to read that you're interested in hearing more from me. Right now I have so many ideas stewing in my head they might suddenly explode into hourly posting, but I will try to ration them out! So, thank you for your vote of confidence (mind you, if you don't like it, you can always remove me from your blogroll/RSS feed/Kindle/print out delivered by your online neighbour).

But now, onto the main topic. Pigling Bland (can I call you that? Should it be Tales of Pigling Bland?) requested more information about the Sourdough. So I shall oblige.

Almost all my information about starting a starter, baking sourdough breads etc came from Sourdough Home, the method I used for starting a starter was this one. However, I am a stubborn, obstinate (hmmm, tautology), proud individual who believes I can generally make things better, so I did do a little fiddling.

For example - instead of starting with half a cup of flour plus a quarter cup of water I started with a half tablespooon and about three-eights of a tablespoon of water (because it was so thick that i could roll it into a ball otherwise!). And I used very cheap, plain, white flour (not even bread flour) from the start, not rye or wholewheat. Mostly because I only had white flour.

The starter should be stirrable but thick - probably equivalent to "ribbon" consistency, or a little thicker - that is, when stirred, a clear track should be left behind which slowly closes up.

It then really does need a lot of love. Warm room. 12 hourly feedings (as long as it is active). And patience. Lots of patience. Do not even think of using it to bake bread unless it is rising on its own - doubling in size between feedings (which you may not always see if it has already collapsed by the time you come to feed it again, but when feeding it should still collapse a little, and you must see plenty of bubbles on the surface). My initial error was trying to make bread with a not-quite-ready starter. My starter also seemed to improve after I fed it, put it in the fridge for 3 days (no feedings during this time) then removed a bit (about half a cup) and fed it up to full size (each feeding used about half the volume of starter in flour - i.e. for half a cup of starter, quarter of a cup of flour and between an eighth and a third of a cup of water to gain consistency described above)

It will smell a little like fresh yeast, or a mild beer, slightly fermented.

My loaf recipe (which I have not posted about yet) was the recipe from The Fabulous Baker Brothers. This produced a lovely loaf, dense, a little sour, but with a good, even texture. I did experience some crust lift off, but this was due to not properly knocking down my dough before shaping. I did not turn the loaf out, but baked it in the tin. I also turned the oven down to 210C and did not add the water, as the crust was breaking teeth when I cooked at 240 and used water.

If you're not interested in Sourdough, I very much doubt you have read this far, but if you have, my apologies for a dull post. I shall tell you about something different next time. Maybe.

Further Adventures in Sourdough

Really, this adventure was what all the other adventures had been leading up to. You see, ever since I had wonderful, Kosher, bagels in New York (no, I cannot remember where, I shall ask the American School Friend at the next opportunity) I have had a hankering to make my own. So, I did.

Granted, I generated so much steam that I set the fire alarm off (at 3am - it's a long story) and gave myself a free sauna. Plus, they're not exactly normal bagel shaped, but they were the best thing ever to eat. All crisp crust and chewy bagelly yumminess. Smothered in cream cheese and thick cut smoked salmon. It was all I could do to not break out in song with pleasure.

The next sourdough adventure was a pizza base (with topping, so really, a pizza).

Both recipes were from Sourdough Home

As an incident point, I currently average 3 blog posts a month, and am unsure of my readership (my stats are currently overrun by search-bots) - so I shall conduct a poll (respond in the comments, I'm too lazy to set a radio-button one up):

Should I blog more often?
a) no - we hear more than enough from you
b) a little more often would be nice, sometimes I like to hear your voice
c) at least daily, possibly hourly, please
d) other - please specify

Resurrection Sunday

"Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee"
Matthew 28 v 5-7

"Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn - for He has done it"
Psalm 22 v 30+31

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve"
1 Corinthians 15 v 3-5

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
Job 19 v 25-27

"The word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10 v 8 + 9

Good Friday

"But He was pierced for our transgresions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to His own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
  Isaiah 53 v 5+6

"From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani'"
  Matthew 27 v 45+46

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?"
  Psalm 22 v 1

"At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split."
  Matthew 27 v 51

"Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the Ark of the Testimony behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place"
  Exodus 26 v 33

"Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."
  Matthew 27 v 59+60

"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will turn Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to life."
  Matthew 20 v 18+19

Adventures in Sourdough

I have a habit of becoming fixated on one thing for a while, obsessed, almost, before something new and exciting catches my attention. This month my obsession has been sourdough.

Ignoring all advice about new sourdough creators getting a culture from a friend, or not starting your own culture until you know enough about sourdough, I ploughed straight in. I used SourdoughHome a great deal, though I must admit, despite no experience in the issue, I still did a little experimentation. I started with very small proportions, and fed the culture up, over a week, so that I had to throw out less.

Turns out that sourdough is quite demanding. It needs feeding at least every 12 hours, a warm room, changing of the dish to avoid mould, and lots of love. (Okay, I made the last one up.)

But then, joy of joys, it was time to try it.

I grant you cannot really see the sourdough element of this meal. But that is a sourdough French Bread roll, topped with melted cheese, and chicken wrapped in bacon, marinated in barbeque sauce and oven cooked, with a side of Peashoots and Baby Leaves to make the ultimate chicken barbeque burger.

Then came sourdough chocolate cupcakes. These ended up a little drier than I intended, but I topped them with creamcheese icing (as used on Red Velvet Cakes) and they ended up alright.

As an incidental point, I am a big fan of Asda pastel coloured cupcake cakes - unlike some baking cases I've used, they came out looking fresh, and the colour was not influenced despite the chocolate batter. And they are very good value (48p for 100)

There are two more sourdough adventures to document, but since this post is already too long, I shall post them another day.