I write on books

I write on my books. I scribble notes and musings. Not every book gets 'defaced'. Just one particular kind: my recipe books. I write the date I made the recipe for the first time; who I made it for and any tweaks I made to the list of ingredients and instructions. And of course whether it was worth the effort.

I find it's of interest and use to me when I revisit recipes and I also like to think that if my son or daughter ever want to keep certain of my cookery books, they'll have a little history written there of our eating habits. Plus they'll have some handy tips. Even better if they then write about the recipe and start a running historical commentary.

Yes I write on my books. Whisper, whisper I also have overdue library books!

My tracklements are simmering

The kitchen has been filled with the rather pungent smell of vinegar these last few days. My sister-in-law gave me a lot of green tomatoes and so chutney has been made. For regular readers...yes...I have a functioning kitchen. We are not quite there yet but I have a stove, a sink and storage space. What more could a cook want.

At this time of year I do feel the need to make provisions. Or tracklements! I think that's rather a fab name for chutneys and condiments. "Ooh let me get me tracklements a-simmering." My manufacture of jams and chutneys is the equivalent of my husband's need to get the wood cut and the logs stored before the winter sets in. The leaves are falling so it's time to boil sugar and fruit and let the jammy alchemy begin.

I don't bother making a Christmas pudding and popping that into fermenting storage but I do need to make some blackberry gin and some pickled onions and piccalilli. As a child my mum's best friend's mother used to make superb pickled onions and the most fabulous piccalilli. I can taste them now - oh the joy. We always used to wait with bated breath to see whether Auntie Margaret had wrapped us up a jar of both for Christmas Day. I think it depended on whether her mum had any jars left over once immediate family had been served. Then Boxing Day consisted of eating the onions and the  yellowy mustard chutney with a little bit of turkey on the side. That is December 26th for me. It is my life's work to try to emulate the wondrosity of those tracklements and I haven't achieved it yet.

As for the blackberry gin, well I couldn't possibly be expected to cook Christmas dinner without a tipple on the side. A little bit of blackberry liqueur in the bottom of a champagne flute, topped with sparkling wine and it doesn't then matter if the Brussels sprouts are soggy and the turkey crisp. I'm merry.

Supermarket Dance Moves

My brother got married on Saturday and we had a splendid day, culminating in a disco. It's ages since I had a good dance and my nieces (all in their twenties) were able to update me on a few dance moves. Believe me I needed them to take me in hand. Claire especially tipped me off about her 'in the supermarket' technique. Granted it's hard to explain and appreciate the full genius of this advice without showing you a video but darn it we forgot to record it for the nation.

Basically move your body and feet to the beat while pretending to pick items off notional supermarket shelves high, medium and low and then every now and again push your imaginary trolley to the music. If it's a particularly quick tempo then just empty the phantom items out of that old trolley in a maniacal fashion. NB If you are dancing and actually see or hallucinate supermarket shelves you have imbibed too much.

Apparently on 'You Tube' there are some Supermarket Cart Dances but I'd like to think my niece and her friend invented it. Anyway apply the moves to most music and you'll look impressive and more importantly it will bring a smile to your face. Try it next time you hit the dance floor or just in your kitchen but perhaps not in your local supermarket. It tickled me pink.

The Build: Week 15

Hooray a veritable collection of builders/tradespeople arrived on Monday morning after our week of inactivity. What do you call a collection of house builders? A sweep of builders? Ours do do quite a bit of sweeping surprisingly enough if not quite as much as they did at the start of the build! A dustball of builders? There's plenty of that settled about the house. A flurry of tradespeople? They blow in, they blow out very quickly sometimes with jobs left half finished until their next visit. A banter of tradespeople? Believe me I've had to keep on top of my repartee techniques and keep my sense of humour cogs well oiled.

This week I've learnt that skirting board isn't just any old architrave and that you can have taurus and ogee on the same board. Oh yes and it's unfortunate when you get your bulls mixed up with your ogees and have to start again.  I've learnt what is expected of decorators - you have to patch up as well as paint which I'm not pleased about seeing I'm the decorator. I find also that I now know automatically if any one builder prefers tea or coffee and how many sugars he has (sadly no lady builders have appeared) - perhaps they have all been here just a bit too long.

And I've also realised that although our 'banter of builders' have been frustrating at times by not turning up when they said they would and not doing exactly what they said they would do when they said they would do it, they have nevertheless done a good job and been generally lovely over the last fifteen weeks. Our architect also has been just fabulous; a great design realised and a reassuring presence throughout the planning, build and I am sure the inevitable snagging to come. We are not there yet but very close.

Rapunzel Diaries 8: Rossall Point ObservationTower

The best towers are the ones you come across unexpectedly. For example, you are visiting your auntie on the coast with towers the last thing on your mind. There's Blackpool Tower down the road for sure but there aren't any more in the area and yet you spot a leaflet out of the corner of your eye at a country park visitor centre. Could it be, are you mistaken, no it really is a new tower to visit.

Rossall Point Observation Tower is a very sweet tower that leans - Fleetwood's very own 'Leaning Tower' except this has been built to tip into the coastal breeze. And we found this purposeful tower on a visit to my aunties at Cleveleys during the summer. It has a ground floor with interesting information about the coast and its wildlife; the next floor hosts a covered deck for observing; the next storey is operated by Coastwatch and the top floor is for leaning on the wall and gazing out over Morecambe Bay and the sea and the sky. A happy find.

A serendipitous find

 

 



Rapunzel Diaries 7: Hadlow Tower

I'm going to give you a new emotion: tower envy. I'm going to convert you to the thrills of tower climbing. I'm going to hone your tower seeking senses so that when you discover one you will want to climb it. I give you Hadlow Tower. This was our rather wonderful reason for visiting Kent.

Hadlow Tower



If I was Rapunzel (and I can't be coz I have very very short hair) I would want to be kept in a tower like this one. Three spiral staircases, a museum, a lift, a parapet from which to gaze down upon and around the world and bedrooms. Yes we slept in this tower. We had our very own grown-up sized Wendy tower to play in for the weekend.

It was my friend's 60th birthday and what a way to celebrate. We spent a whole morning exploring the spiral staircases and racing each other between the four floors. Then there was the main modern spiral staircase that took you up to our eyrie. Then of course we had to have photos taken from every vantage point and every combination of people in every vantage point.


It's in my top ten of best towers because it has steps to draw you up and build the anticipation; it's a truly beautiful spectacle and you get a lovely vista of Kent from the top...oh yes and did I mention you can sleep in it? Plus you get to climb to the top of your tower at night and view the stars above and the lights of the town and countryside below. Plus plus you get to turn all the lights on in the tower and run outside to see how magical a tower looks at night with all its lights on!

Over 4 million pounds has been spent on renovating this marvel. It was built in 1838, probably as a way to show off by its owner, and gradually fell into decay in the 20th century. Some very dedicated people campaigned to renovate it and over the last few years it's happened. You can stay in it and you can visit it on certain days during the summer. There is a little museum about its history, its renovation and other folly towers. Never had a museum for our private use before that's for sure. You should go.

Jam paradise

Our weekend in Kent has certainly left an impression. I have county envy. Well county envy during this period of mellow fruitfulness when every tree and bush we looked at seemed to be ladened down with fruit. Kent is a jam and chutney makers paradise. We went on a walk and saw blackberries, sloes, damsons, apples, greengages, Victoria plums, crabapples - all for the taking growing by the side of the path. If I lived there I could go out every day and come back with a pot of jam for the making.

It's not only fruit. We walked through fields of lettuce. Of course I know these aren't free but it's something we would never see up here in the north. And of course we saw hops growing up strings. It took us a while to click that one. It was an unfamiliar and exciting landscape to us.

All this plus our main reason for being in Kent made for a wonderful weekend...............