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April 13 2010
Penny has a darling Lamb
No, unlike my sister, Sylvia, I DON’T have a rescue male sheep. Here’s my Lamb here (in sleepy mood!):
John, my husband, known to me as Lambie!
John celebrated his 50th birthday last month,
so what better time to immortalise him in a blog entry? (Well, a better time would have been earlier than this, but I’ve been writing essays… And acting as his secretary… Something’s gotta give! But he wanted me to get on with it as he said it was a strain being on his best behaviour for so long, in case I said something nasty about him! So, here we go…)
You’ll have noticed the candles? Yes, true to form, I forgot to check the candle situation beforehand…
When John and I first got together, I was part of the junior management in the Civil Service office where we both worked and he was (and still is!) 13 years younger than me and a member of the clerical staff. Although he was very clever, he hadn’t gone to university, as his father had been ill and the family needed John’s income. I knew he was very shy… What I didn’t know was that he fancied me! (Yes, dear readers, I was slim but curvy and quite fanciable in those days. Luckily he thinks I’m now curvier and even more fanciable, a piece of rose-tinted-bespectacled-ness, but I’m not complaining!)
One evening, at an office ‘do’ for some people who were leaving, we found ourselves sitting next to each other. I was recently separated and in no rush to get home, so when he told me that he hadn’t brought his car, had missed the last train home and didn’t have enough money for a taxi (!!!), I offered him a lift. We talked for hours, both on the journey and after I stopped near his house. We liked the same books and films and most of the same music. He loved the 60s and was very impressed that I’d seen the Beatles live! We supported the same causes. We had the same sense of humour. I was a Quaker at that time and he knew Quakers were pacifists, not just pictures on a cereal box! This time I was the one who was impressed! A couple of days later we walked my dog, Sammy, together. A couple of days after that I took him to an Amnesty International meeting. Soon after that he moved in with me!
Earlier that year, John had seen an advert for the Open University in the Radio Times and had started studying. He had also given up smoking, thank goodness, or this love story wouldn’t have happened! Since then he has completed his BA honours degree with the OU, a Masters degree in Education at Stirling University and a diploma in Philosophy at Glasgow University. He was promoted in the Civil Service and then, a few years later, decided to change career and become a teacher. He has become head of his department, a lecturer with the Open University and, one day a week, he trains student teachers at Stirling University. And he’s the principal exam setter and marker in Scotland for one of his subjects. He’s done all his studying while working fulltime and looking after me and our babies. In fact, he sat his first Open University exam the day before Johnny was due to make his appearance. He expected to be called out of the exam room at any moment, but our boy waited!
He is an adoring husband and father, which is nice, because we’re pretty fond of him, t
oo!
John loves his allotment where he grows lots of vegan-organic fruit and vegetables but so that he could bring stuff on nearer to home, the extended family clubbed together to buy him a greenhouse for the garden. John is NOT handy, but here he is, pleased as Punch, after having built it up all by himself! He says it’s the best 50th Birthday present he’s ever had!
He is and has been devoted to all our cats and dogs, past and present, but his favourite companion animal of all time is … Bobby!
John is a thoroughly modern male, but feels that it’s his duty to be the main bread winner, since I’ve raised and home educated the offspring and looked after our home. He works very hard for us all and is loving, kind and considerate. He’s also great company and VERY funny! He makes us all laugh A LOT!
Happy (very belated!) birthday, Lambie!
Oh, sorry, did you want the chocolate cake recipe? OK! Here it is! I adapted it many years ago from a muffin recipe sent to me by an American omni friend. It has graced most of our birthday celebrations since then!
Penny’s chocolate cake:
Ingredients:
130g margarine
130g sugar
1 ½ teaspoons egg replacer
26g cocoa powder
224g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
166ml soya milk
Method:
Set oven to Gas mark 5/375F/190C
Whisk the egg replacer into the soya milk and put to one side. Mix together all the other ingredients and then add the liquid last.
Because this recipe uses margarine instead of oil, the mixture is stiff, so I prefer to start it off in the mixer, as I get a very sore arm otherwise – but it can all be done by hand.
Once everything’s mixed through, I get a silicone spatula and wallop it about in the bowl a goodish bit, to get plenty of air in there, to make the cake nice and light.
Divide the mixture between two round cake tins, lined with baking parchment (I use round cake tin liners from Lakeland) and bake for 35 minutes, until the top is cracked and a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the cakes in the liners.
Once they’re cold, spread jam on the bottom one (blackcurrant jam is nice and sharp and contrasts well with the sweetness of the cake) and then sandwich the cakes together with ‘butter’ icing. Slather more icing on top.
Now, I’m afraid you’re on your own with the ‘butter’ icing, but you know how to make it, don’t you? I never measure it; I just chuck together margarine, icing sugar and cocoa in vast quantities and blend them together. I’m sure you’ll manage…
Well, for goodness’ sake! How on earth did that picture slip in here? Sorry about that….
Today’s smoothie (Yes! It’s smoothie time again, folks!): orange juice; kale; rocket; lettuce; apricots; apples; broccoli stalk; celery. Mmmmmm……
Todays’ title: I won’t insult your intelligence!
February 18 2010
Sundae Wednesday! Happy (Birth)day!
You remember Rhona, don’t you? My rescue roasting tin? Well Rhona’s talents don’t stop at granola baking.
Here she is filled with a yummy mixture of the following: a sprinkling of olive oil; chopped onions; some cloves of garlic, left whole; chunks of carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, red and yellow pepper; some mangetout, broken in half; a mixture of half and half olive oil and maple syrup, with a wee spot of salt. She’s about to do duty in the oven at Gas Mark 8/450F/230C for an hour.
When the hour was almost up, we heated some tortilla wraps and smothered them in hummus or Tofutti Cream Cheese, according to taste (Jane had one of each) and then we filled them with the roasted vegetables and rolled them up.
Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So good!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m planning on making these OFTEN!
‘But wait!’ I hear you say. ‘What’s that got to do with Sundae Wednesday Happy (Birth)day?’ And the answer is, ‘Nothing at all! That bit comes next.’
Read on…
It was my birthday last Wednesday (10th February) and I had forgotten to buy the jellies for the trifle. This trifle is the standard pudding for birthday teas in our family. Here’s how I make it…
In a trifle bowl I make up one-and-a-half strength jelly with half a (usually chocolate) sandwich cake layer crumbled into it and leave it to set. I then mix up another one-and-a-half strength jelly with some tinned ‘fruits of the forest’ mixed in. Then I top it all with a huge mound of vanilla Swedish Glace ice cream. And I sometimes grate some chocolate over it. Recently I’ve also been making a big bowl of vanilla custard. Here’s how I make the custard…
First, I heat up most of a pint of soya milk with about a tablespoon of margarine and two tablespoons of sugar. In the measuring jug, I mix together the rest of the milk and two tablespoons of custard powder. Then I stir the custard mix into the pan and whisk as fast as my aching muscles will allow until it’s all thick and bubbly. It’s then put in a bowl and allowed to cool.
I’m sorry. I was SURE I had a photo of a trifle I made before, but just can’t find it anywhere. I must organise my photos SOON!
I would actually like to have the custard on top of the jelly as part of the trifle, but Jane, who’s a creature of habit, loves the trifle the way I traditionally made it, without the custard, so she doesn’t want me to change a winning formula. She does sometimes have some custard with it, though…
Also, a note on tablespoons… We’re not talking wee measuring spoons here. This is the type of chap you want for this recipe.
Available at any charity shop near you… (If you live in Scotland, that is. I can’t speak for other parts of the world…)
Anyway, back to 10th February 2010, 63 years since my birth on a cold, snowy day in Glasgow… And no jelly… As far as trifle was concerned, I was snookered…
So, first I thought of just having the custard and ice cream.
Then I thought of my favourite pudding in the whole, wide world: chocolate custard and ice cream. I could eat bucket-loads of this, with or without a sliced banana on top, if my weight weren’t such a problem. I make the custard as above, but with two tablespoons of cocoa powder added to the custard powder mix. OK, so there are probably several days’ calories in a small bowlful…
Then, however, I had such a good idea that if I’d been a cartoon drawing a wee light-bulb would have appeared over my head. CHOCOLATE NUT SUNDAES!!! Now, I’d never made these before, but necessity is the mother of invention. Here’s what I did.
I made half a pint of chocolate custard, but as I didn’t have custard powder I used vanilla rice milk and cornflour. I also made some chocolate sauce thus:
84g margarine
90g golden syrup
About 30g cocoa powder (more or less, depending on how strong you want it)
I melted the margarine and sugar together and then added the cocoa, all over a low heat.
Then, in our two sundae dishes plus two tall mugs and a pint beer mug, I layered ice cream, chocolate custard, chopped nuts, ice cream, chocolate sauce, chopped nuts and so on to the top.
It was SO GOOD! Unfortunately the camera didn’t like photographing it with flash and it was too dark to get a good picture without the flash, so you’ll just have to make do with this one and imagine its chocolate-y goodness, because I’m afraid that not even for you was I going to keep it till the next day, to take a photo in daylight!
So, what could have been a disappointment on the pudding front was turned to unmitigated delight! I’ll be making these again! But not too often… Just for birthdays…
I must tell you about the wonderful home-made birthday card I received from the offspring. Last year they themed my card around my new Vita-Mix; this year it was themed around my new studies and it featured a cartoon bear, created by Johnny, who stars in most of his home-made cards. There was a chart showing grades for ‘sweetness’; ‘compassion’; ‘inspirational qualities’; ‘sense of humour’; ‘chef skills’ and ‘devotion to family’ and I was awarded the top grade of ‘excellent’ for all of them! I’ll be honest with you. The tears were streaming down my cheeks, sentimental old fool that I am! There was a lot more sweet and loving stuff in it, too… (sniff)
And here, just to finish with a nice picture, are two people who also tick all the boxes (though not exactly the same ones as me!): Tom and Mimi… (What do you mean, ‘Oh, not HIM again!’???)
Today’s title: Sunday, Monday, Happy Days – theme song from the series Happy Days. John suggested Sundae Girl by Blondie, but I’m not going to pander to his adolescent fantasies about Debbie Harry…
Today’s soup: onions; red lentils; chunks of carrot, turnip (Swede/rutabaga), leeks, celery; passata and water all pressure cooked together, with some salt added at the end. Mmmm… Perfect for a cold winter’s day!
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