Riddle Me This...

 The word riddle has two meanings

1. from Old English rædel  meaning anything which puzzles or perplexes
2. from Middle English ridelle which means sieve

I was genuinely puzzled by the abundant crop of rainbow chard which was flourishing in the Raised Bed when we got back from Steph's. How did it get to be so rich and vibrant so quickly? And how should I cook it? Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries #3 listed a recipe for chard with caramelised onions and sultanas. I checked out the ingredients list - chard, oil, butter, onions, sultanas, lemon zest and pumpkin seeds. I had everything except the seeds.

 

No, wait!" I did have seeds. My big jar of Omega Seeds from Grape Tree contains sunflower, golden linseed, brown linseed and pumpkin.  I fling this stuff into my muesli, flapjacks, and bread, and sprinkle it on salads, to add extra nutrition to my diet. [Hugh and Jamie would be pleased with me, I'm sure] The recipe calls for 3 tbsp. 

Riddle; how do you sort out the pumpkin seeds from the rest?

Answer; You riddle it!

I sieved spoonfuls of the seeds into a bowl, the linseeds, and smaller sunflower seeds fell quickly through the holes in my draining spoon. I very quickly had my 3 tbsp of pumpkin seeds. Nigel calls this a light lunch for 2 [Bob says NS refers to almost everything as a light lunch or light supper!]

 

Photo from the book, because we ate the meal and I forgot to take a pic. But the rainbow chard looked so colourful. I served it with some cold sliced chicken. The sultanas were surprisingly plump and juicy, and the seeds gave an extra crunch. Bob commented on the delicious sweetness of the onions.

Here's the recipe from the book

Chard with caramelised onions and sultanas

[onions, sultanas or raisins, pumpkin seeds, lemon, rainbow chard]

Peel and slice a couple of small onions, soften them in a shallow pan with 2 tbsp olive oil and a thin slice of butter. When they are starting to brown a little round the edges, add 3tbsp sultanas [or raisins] and the same of pumpkin seeds. Let the fruit plump up a little. A salt and finely grated zest of ½ a lemon. 

Wash 4 handfuls [about 100g] of chard, put it into a separate pan with a shallow film of water, cover with a lid and steam for a minute or so. As soon as the leaves have wilted and the colour is still bright, cover and transfer to plates. Scatter over the onion mixture and serve. Serves 2 as light lunch or side dish.

George and Jacob are very keen on riddles at the minute. The most popular one last week was on the side of a squeezy yogurt tube.

Styal Style

 It is nearly thirty years since I went to Quarry Bank, the Victorian Cotton Mill at Styal in Cheshire, for the wedding reception of my dear friends Richard and Rachel. But we took George and Jacob on Tuesday [whilst their Mum and Dad were at work] 

Although the NT summer programme ended the day before, there was plenty to see and do. Out in the grounds and inside the mill, and in the owner's house

Well planned play areas, a good bridge for Pooh Sticks and tasty food

The mill was good to walk round, lots of "technical guides" explaining, and helping young ones to understand history and science. How the machines all worked, and how the workers [especially women and children] were treated so badly.

The boys were so well behaved and enjoyed the challenges - like following the Monty Moth trail. There was of course, the usual dressing up. A great day out, we were there over five hours!

My Kitchen Is NOT a Crime Scene!

I am being super- diligent about keeping my lovely new kitchen clean and tidy. But the other day I was using my blender [in a hurry], and splattered red juice on the cupboards. It was like an episode of CSI.  I am not quite tall enough to pour things tidily into the little hole on the top. I had a lot of washing and wiping to do. So I decided to be more careful in future.

I bought quite a lot of fruit recently because despite my love of puddings, I know we need a healthy balance - and the girls love fruit too. Watermelons are fabulous in hot weather. A slim slice on a stick is as good as a lollipop, cool chunks in as bowl with a drizzle of yogurt is an ersatz ice-cream-sundae. But I had half a melon left, And a mango too - and Ro and Jess were in Holland.

I decided to blend the remaining fruit and make a bottle of drink for the fridge. I cut off the peel [into the compost] and chopped the flesh into chunks.  Inspiration struck - my jam funnel fits neatly into the hole in the blender lid - so I rechopped the fruit a little smaller. It was quick and easy to spoon the melon bits into the funnel and blitz it.

I juiced the half melon, then decided the mango which was very ripe needed dealing with. I peeled it, and scraped all the flesh from the peel and from the stone, and blitzed that - adding an equal amount of orange juice from a carton and half a cup of water. 

The watermelon drink went into the large bottle, the mango&orange into the small one - and the remaining juices were mixed up into a third bottle. Once made they need to be drunk within a couple of days. That is better than fruit going to waste. And my funnel technique has kept the 'blood spatter' off the cupboard doors. Don't they look pretty?

Mish - Mash

In her book "Kitchen", Nigella ends many recipes with a paragraph entitled "making leftovers right". I fully endorse such notions of ZeroWaste and thrift. As we were going away to Manchester, I weanted to ensure I had used up as much as possible of our fresh produce. I checked the fridge and

I had a sweet potato, a regular potato, three small red potatoes, 1½carrots and a handful of beans.
Plus two brioche buns and the end of packs of peas and corn in the freezer. Further scrabbling around revealed a lock'n'lock with 'pineapple pieces' in it [bought in error by Bob who thought he was buying chunks to put on sticks with cheese, for the Shed Mardle] 
The leftover chicken from Monday had already been made into pie filling with mushrooms, a small onion and some of the stock - and I had a pack of puff pastry ready to encase it.
I thought I might make some sort of pudding with the brioche and pineapple, but had no eggs, and limited milk - but I did find a tin of custard lurking in the cupboard. The pastry was rolled out into a pasty shape and filled with chicken mixture, the root veg chopped and put to boil, with the green veg and corn in a steamer over them. The brioche buns were puttered and cut into chunks, and combined with custard and drained pineapple in a Pyrex dish. I mashed all the root veg together, with some butter - and served the lunch. Chicken Galette with steamed vegetables and root mash, followed by Pineapple Brioche Pudding.

I had not crimped the pasty well enough - so it burst open. And I'm calling it a galette! The filling was a bit sloppy, so extra gravy was not needed. A very filling and satisfying lunch, mostly leftovers.
The tinned custard was Waitrose Essentials - and is way thicker and creamier than my usual supermarket budget range [also more expensive] It made a very unctuous pudding. Leftover galette went into the freezer, for a light supper on our return from Manchester.

Jill in Dorset - still waiting for you to email me about the Noahs ark panel!

Peregrination

So yesterday was our wedding anniversary - Liz, Steph and families are now all in Holland - so it was a day by ourselves. We began early with a celebratory breakfast at The Goat Shed

That was really good, then we filled up the car with fuel, and bought an M&S Dine In Meal for the evening. [We had a cool bag with ice packs in the car all ready]

 

Bob said he'd like to go to Cromer...so off we went. Peregrination means wandering and comes from the same root as pilgrims. Being good pilgrims, we parked in a blue badge space behind the big Parish Church.

And discovered we were right next to the Peregrine Project which is a well-supported local charity

A team of enthusiastic volunteers have three telescopes focussed on the church tower, and I was able to watch Poppy, the mother bird, perching on one of the buttresses. They also have a live stream and youtube videos available to watch - this pair have been here since 2019. Utterly fascinating

This little one is just about ready to leave the nest now. The PP volunteers talked about the territorial nature of these birds - and how there is another pair living on top of Norwich Cathedral. After a good chat, we had elevenses at Art House Café , our favourite place for a good coffee in Cromer.

We strolled down the Pier in the sunshine.

My new dress was cool and comfortable but its cute pearl buttons are a little bit too small, and whenever I put my bag across my body, the strap pushed them open. I shall have to add a couple more hook&eyes at bust level. We shared a portion of chips, mooched round a few CS and then drove home. What a lovely day!

The family have arrived safely in The Netherlands too. All is good!

 

Did You Solve The Rebus?

I wonder how many you worked it out, We were at Dunston Hall, a luxury hotel, spa and golf course, just south of Norwich. 

 

Weekend Puzzles

For my 70th birthday in April, Liz, Steph and their families gave me a special present - a double ticket for a day here. It looks Elizabethan, but was actually built in the 1850s. Here is a rebus, can you work it out? The things we did and places we went during our day - and the two facilities we did not make use of...
Thank you family, for a wonderful gift

but we did not do these...

Answers will appear at 5pm [BST]

Just Desserts?

According to the charity English Heritage, unless Somebody Does Something, the British Pudding will become extinct in the next 50 years. My immediate reactions were

1 - not in this family, mate - I know children who love puds!

2 - why are you worrying us about steamed puddings during these hot summer months?
The answer to #1 - here are their [dubious] statistics...

62% of British households stated they made puddings once a month or less [27%] or never [35%].
36% of people named steamed puddings [10%], fruit crumbles [19%] or pastry-based baked pies or tarts [7%] as their favourite puddings.
17% percent of 18-24 year olds named steamed puddings [4%], fruit crumbles [10%] or pastry-based baked pies or tarts [3%] as their favourite puddings. 45% of respondents over 55 named steamed puddings [11%], fruit crumbles [27%] or pastry-based baked pies or tarts [7%] as their favourite puddings.
838 people eat homemade traditional puddings at home, in comparison to 1405 people saying they ate ice cream at home. Ice cream is therefore eaten 68% more than homemade traditional puddings. Bad maths, and what happens to those of us who eat BOTH? or put i/c on their pies and crumbles?

The answer to #2 is - EH are about to launch "The English Heritage Baking Book" in a couple of weeks time. Cynical old me thinks they are 'scare-mongering' to get grannies to buy the book as gifts for their fruit&yogurt eating daughters-in-law.
Even though we do frequently have fruit and/or yogurt as dessert, I regularly serve up baked, home made puddings, like rice pudding [Rosie loves it] sponge puddings, fruit pies and crumbles. Luz made an excellent blackberry cobbler on Monday. Bob likes almost all puds [except lemon meringue pie] Any leftover cake is often turned into a hot pud, with the addition of fruit, custard etc. On Saturday I said "Well done, Jess, you have eaten all your first course" she replied "And is there  pudding, Grandma?" It was a hot day, so I'd prepared fresh fruits, sponge fingers and ice cream for a DIY Sundae. But often I give them something&custard.

EH name a few puddings which have already 'died the death' namely

Twelfth Night Cake - a fruity Tudor post Xmas pud. If your portion contained The Bean, you got to be Lord of Misrule for the day. It survived the Reformation, but was supplanted by our modern Christmas Cake [and the bean replaced by a silver 6d in the festive pud]

Cabinet Pudding a steamed sponge with glacé fruits and custard. Also called Newcastle or Chancellor's Pudding. In the 1970s this was regularly on the menu at The Lamb in Norwich, I always chose I if Dad took me there for lunch. I must make it for Bob sometime*

Soul Cake  a spiced roundel of flour, butter, sugar, spices and currants. Dating back to 1511 or maybe earlier, these were given to poor people and children who went from house to house singing and reciting prayers at Hallowtide [the days surrounding All Saints/All Souls Days, Oct 31/ Nov 1st] A more wholesome Trick or Treat reward than a bag of Haribo...

Anglo Saxon cake honey, oats, butter and dried fruit, mixed and cooked over an open fire. Sounds like fruit flapjacks to me.

I checked out my older cookbooks and found lots of puddings I'd forgotten about. I think many modern women can't hang around the kitchen all day topping up the boiling water round the steamed Pudding. I do make puds, but avail myself of the modern technologies.

Microwaving sponge mixtures, happily leaving things unattended in the slocooker where they don't boil dry, using my pressure cooker, and air fryer...batch baking and freezing to eat later. 

I shall share some favourite pudding recipes in another post. 

Do you still eat puddings?

Grounds For Improvement

We are constantly being urged to Stay Hydrated. I do try, but honestly, there is no way I could manage to cart a 1.2 litre flask around with me. A 250ml mug of liquid is my limit, and even then I will drink it slowly. Bob says that if I were to have a tomb-stone he would have it engraved "I haven't finished my tea yet"

I'm glad that NHS guidelines include tea and coffee in their list of healthy drinks that can contribute to your 6-8 glasses a day. Because this Grandma runs on tea - and Grandad Bob likes his good fresh coffee. 

We are very careful to put both our coffee grounds, and used tea leaves into the compost bin to improve the soil in the garden. If it is filter coffee from the Melitta, the grounds are carefully carried outside in the paper*, and dropped in the compost bin. Before we make our breakfast coffee,

[a mug each from the cafetiere]  the previous grounds are rinsed out over the raised bed, just outside the door [more dashing outside in my pjs...] It is important to only put used/brewed coffee on the garden, apparently if you put fresh, unused grounds on the soil it can have a detrimental effect.

Loose tea leaves from Bob's fancy brews go into the compost no problem. Tea bags are a whole other issue. Even 'biodegradable' bags don't always break down in a domestic bin. So I collect them in a little bowl by the sink. When I have half a dozen or so, I rip them in half. I empty the grounds into the compost, bags into general waste [if we only had food waste bins here, they could go in there...] But the general result of this recycling is that there is a definite improvement in the soil. Good grounds make good ground!

If you don't drink coffee yourself, you may find bags of free used coffee grounds being given away free at local establishments [like Starbucks, and National Trust coffee shops]

*I reluctantly abandoned the home made cotton filters, Bob said they imparted an unsatisfactory taste to his drink. ** tea bags do vary as to their compostability, this little graphic is helpful

Keep-Going

Like party-going and theatre-going, only this time having a good time in a Mediaeval Castle Keep. Because we have annual passes to Norfolk County Museums, we were delighted to be invited to a special preview of the Keep Restoration. To see the work that has been done in Norwich Castle Keep over the last seven years at a cost of millions. 

We went on Monday and it was utterly brilliant. So much to see, a fabulous atmosphere. The main Keep has been restored to the way it was in 1121. The central area is the royal dining hall, and beautifully painted in historically accurate bright colours, with wall hangings and wooden tables and benches. Visitors can dress in robes and feel part of the King's Banquet.  The place was full of people, all ages - young families, students OAPs.

Here's Bob pretending to be Henry 1st [son of William the Conqueror] Tomorrow I shall say more about the embroideries. If you can access BBC Sounds, listen to Monday's Front Row [Link here] which explains even more about this phenomenal project.

And here are some helpful Table Manners for the King's guests

Spam On Crackers, Anybody?

Despite our hard work, and your good wishes, Saturday's event did not turn out as planned. We arrived and set up just after 10, Here's a picture taken at 1pm, Saturday, as I sat beside Bob, under the Men's Shed Gazebo. Just seven people on the field, and about thirty more milling about by the bar and the tea point. 

Only eight stalls were there, and I forgot to take pictures. It was quite a surreal event really. The ice cream van left early, as so few people seemed to be buying ices.

And as for the eclectic mix of stall holders... There weren't many takers for unusual pink plastic creatures produced on a 3d printer, pyrography, WW2 memorabilia, earrings, or jute baskets. 

There was a poet who tried in vain to sell his books - he had written poems about Bloomsbury and Tavistock Square. Bob mentioned TS was close to our daughter's office. But the poet said he had never actually been there! 

There was a gentleman, dressed as a US Army Officer was giving out samples of Spam on little crackers "I have enough for 500 visitors" he said, rather sadly, and returned to his stall [a model of a Spam factory surrounded by pictures of WW2 people on ration eating Spam] He had a model chicken on top of the factory, which talked...

Publicity had not been very successful, which contributed to poor attendance I think. There were more people first thing, and a few more later - many said they couldn't find out the details anywhere and a lot of the information on social media omitted the time.

One bemused lady had come from Norwich with her dog for the Rescue Dog Event [what? where?] 

But most did stop at The Shed Display. We had positive conversations with about 40 people I think. Bob and his mates sold £50 of stuff, including just two of my aprons, plus bug hotels, model boat kits, door wedges and tealight holders. And a few blokes took leaflets about the Shed. We packed up around 3.30 [no sign of the Community Rounders Match] £50 will help with the next insurance premium. I hope to sell my aprons elsewhere [I shall put some in my online shop later this week]

When people talk about "Normal for Norfolk" they just have no idea.

First Figs

Early yesterday morning I harvested the first two figs of the season. They tasted fabulous. I might have written a poem about them, but then I discovered someone else had beaten me to it... after lunch, I found this poem, First Fig, by Allison Elrod...

The fig tree has spread its generous
canopy across my late summer side yard.
Its branches are heavy with fruit.

Every day now, the figs grow softer
and fuller; they are taking the rain
and the warmth
of a hundred summer days
and making them over into pleasure;
taut green skin and soft pink flesh.

Wearing only my nightgown
and my work boots,
I have come outside at dawn
like some post-modern Eve,
yearning for a taste of the fruit of the tree.
I reach up into the branches,
reach up for the fruit
that hangs just beyond my reach,
the fig whose skin is just beginning
to bear the flush of readiness.

Maybe I am Eve. After all,
isn’t the light in my garden
still what came of
"Let there be light?"
And isn’t everything to come
in human history beginning
on this very day,
this very morning,
when this very fig—the one I am holding in my hand—is finally ripe?
Or maybe, I am
a middle-aged woman outside
in my nightgown at six a.m.—
filled with happiness so pure it feels
like innocence—savouring the sweetness
of summer’s first ripe fig
before the light shifts,
before history resumes,
before I come inside to wake you,
temptation on my mind.

To be strictly accurate, I ought to admit that I was in the shower, when I suddenly remembered I needed to check my figs, and I really couldn't wait. I wrapped myself in a large bath towel, slipped on my sandals, and ran out into the back garden. I was wearing only slightly more clothes than Eve  [It's OK, our neighbours are away at the moment, nobody could see me]

How Can I Say Thank You?

In the past two weeks, I've have met up in person with three people who read this blog. One was an old friend who I knew before blogging, and she called in whilst on holiday on Norfolk.
The second was someone I met in the early days of blogging, also on holiday locally, so I met her for a cuppa where she was staying.
The third was someone I didn't really know at all. But she heard me talking about my blog at a Women's Day in Norfolk ten years ago and has been reading ever since. She introduced herself to me at an event the other Saturday, and we met up in Dereham for coffee. I hope we will become really good friends. She is a lovely person, and really encouraged me to keep on blogging.
Then I looked at my stats this week [something I try not to do too often] I passed seven million hits last week!

I really cannot get my head round this figure. 
In the past, when I have hit milestones, I have done some sort of thank you for you lovely readers. Usually a small giveaway, to show my gratitude to you for being my blogfriends, for your thoughtful comments and messages, and generosity over the past 17+ years. 

After a wonderful weekend with my granddaughters, enjoying meals together, playing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain, I know my family has so much to be grateful for. I have been moved to tears by the news reports of the little children starving in Gaza. So, my friends, I hope you won't mind that this milestone will not be marked by some item posted randomly to a reader- but instead I am marking 7,000,000 views by sending a gift to help those who really need it, to make a small but positive impact in our sad world.  I am donating £70 to help feed these little children and their families.

I hope you will understand my decision
UNWFP details are here

Thank you all

Wonderful, Wet, Workhouse Weekend

Term has finished, the family were in Norfolk for the weekend. A cheap pack of chalks and stencils provided amusement outside on the patio, in the late afternoon whilst Dad and Grandad went to Beck's to get fish'n'chips. Friday night's sleepover was followed by Grandad's Legendary Pancake Breakfast. 

Jess takes these Very Seriously. We used Great Grandma's Cherry Stoner to prepare a bowl of fresh cherries to eat with our pancakes.

Then Mum and Dad arrived and we went over to Gressenhall to the Museum. The girls loved discussing Workhouse life and dressing up as poor Victorian children.

We enjoyed a good lunch in the café [great discount for cardholders] then walked over to the farm to look at the animals and go for a ride behind the tractor. Then the heavens opened - just as we were outside, in the farmyard. Running to the cars we were soaked to the skin! Back to Cornerstones, where Grandad made hot chocolate, with marshmallows, and we changed into dry clothes and dressing gowns, and did some cardmaking...

I am very sad that Norfolk Museums Service has cancelled their "Guest Tickets" Scheme. Last year when we renewed our subscription, we were offered 15 Guest Tickets for £5 each. We used four on Saturday - saving £40 over the regular price of £60 for the family. We have used 13 of the tickets at various museums. They run out in September, and that £75 has already bought us £145 worth of tickets. NMS make money on their visitors in the gift shop and the café, but I cannot see families wanting to pay £60 for a day out...
Are there good museums near you? and are they expensive to visit?