Wilford Notts
You can tell I’m addicted to writing. Today, trying to have a rest and gain some perspective I started by ordering groceries online and ended up writing reviews for groceries. I didn’t make a decision about it, I just found myself doing it.
For breakfast we had cereal and raspberries. Somehow, which were starting to go over just days after purchase. I wrote for a while then made lunch (potato cakes using last night’s mash, leftover sausage and tomatoes, all baked in the oven). Normally I fry the potato cakes. They are, I can conform, nicer fried, but less fattening done in the oven. They also, despite a good layer of oil, managed to bake themselves onto the tray.
Tonight we will be having chickpea and sweet pepper veggie burgers with cashew nuts and spring onions. It’s an amalgam of several recipes taken from the internet. I looked at several so I think the method is right and am pretty sure the ingredients will be OK when mixed. Also got garlic, Henderson’s relish, cumin, cumin seed, oatmeal and egg in it. And no chemicals.
Speckled Wood
It will, I forecast, be tasty, but will fall apart and be vaguely disappointing. Very much like my life. Last week I tried my hand at cooking for the first time in ages. I tried olive oil biscuits with vanilla essence, lemon zest and honey. There was nothing vague about the disappointment. They were soft, lacked flavour, and had an unpleasant texture. I struggled with them, Julia refused to eat them and the birds loved them. We put one lot out, crumbled up, and the birds cleared them in minutes. Next day – same result.
If anyone has a recipe that uses oil, so I don’t have to do much kneading and crumbling of butter and flour, I’d love to know about it. I will also make sure I have all the right ingredients. It may be that my several changes to the recipe are to blame for the end result.
Also did quiche last week. can’t find the photos. They came out well, though I did have help in the shape of ready-made pastry cases. They are much better than the cheap ones I buy from the supermarket, and much more expensive too. I will be making more this week, though I am tweaking the recipe. When extra expense brings better quality I am quite happy with it, though I will be looking at the costings again this week. Reducing the ingredients by an egg doesn’t save much money, but it does save calories.
Fresh Figs
I lost the photographs, so you will be treated to a selection of almost appropriate photos of yesteryear.
Do you have an air fryer. I don’t use often, but does a reasonably good job of making things crisp with little oil. Works well with potatoes
We do. I have never used it. . It’s a long story. The new microwave has the capability but I can’t understand the instructions.
Yeah. We have the microwave one as well. Once I got the idea it was good. I made air fryer chicken tenders. I didn’t even do an egg wash. I did a thon coat of Dijon and then panko. Light oil spray. Came out great
Sounds easy, but it always does.. I will let you know when I finally get round to using it. 🙂
😉
Always disappointing when a recipe doesn’t turn out the way it should. Happens to me, on occasion, and I have been cooking for over 40 years. We take our lumps and go on.
I once tried a Nigella Lawson recipe for honeycomb toffee three times. After the second failure I compared it, realised that her sugar boiling times and temperature were wrong and got it right. Don’t bother looking at her recipes these days – a professional with a staff should not be making simple errors like that.
Absolutely!
🙂
You excelled yourself in yuck with the olive oil biscuits, and in good taste with the quiche. My Culinary Queen always buys ready made pastry these days.
I have better things to do than make pastry. I’m sure Jackie does too – those gardens don’t grow themselves!
Exactly
🙂
Sounds like retirement is going well, and you are getting to experiment with different foods and ways of making them. The birds will always finish off any failed experiments. 🙂
Raspberries – I have a few surviving plants. Summers are getting a bit brutal for them here.
Planting raspberry canes was one of my plans on moving, but I’m not sure we can find a place for them.
I don’t like kneading and rubbing in butter, so I use the melting method whenever I can. It saves a lot of trouble.
I will look it up.