Friday 2 February 2018

Bread making on the couch and other confessions . . .


View across the Towy Valley towards Nantgeredig from Colomendy Hill.


Afternoon all.  Today didn't turn out as planned but I achieved some of what I intended, plus some extra bits of creativity as add-ons.  One of the add-ons was a Mincemeat Cake, with lots of ginger syrup in place of milk to loosen the mixture, and some finely chopped ginger balls from said syrup added, as well as some of the preserved citrus peel which Tam made me for Christmas, and which was fastened into little bags with Christmassy silver ties.  The Mincemeat was some of my home-made stuff.

I had got a tray of mince out at breakfast time, planning to do something with it for tea, and the something is, I have decided, going to be a mince pizza (mince as my OH doesn't do traditional pizza topping).  I had a lovely walk up around Colomendy at lunchtime, so thought I had earned a sit-down on my return and I watched Iolo Williams' programme (part 2 of it) about wildlife in the Brecon Beacons, which I enjoyed so much.  Then I suddenly thought about the evening meal, and put the ingredients for pizza dough in a bowl, and mixed and kneaded it on my lap (still in the bowl I might add).  By then I was watching Escape to the Country and didn't want to be idle . . .  I quite often do this - it's often the ingredients for a cake I am mixing together, or else I peel vegetables or apples, so I am achieving something whilst I am resting.

As you can see, snow back on the Carmarthen Fans.  No surprise there as it has been so very cold the last couple of days.


I will put up photographs of the walk when the broadband speed allows.  It is apparently checked by BT at 2.1mb - really?  It might be that before 9 a.m. in the morning but it certainly isn't that by late afternoon and as for evening - well, we scarcely have a service at all.  I am currently loading a header photo, but you will probably have to make do with that as it's been loading 10 minutes already, so any additions to this post are going to take forever to load . . .  Just done my own test and got 1.17 mb download, with ping 2137ms and upload 0.3 mb.  Will run another later . . .







10 comments:

  1. Why is everyone really good at cooking apart from me??? I'm so klutzy

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    1. I'm a bung-it cook Simon. I can remember a time when I really did NOT have a clue about cooking - either main meals or cakes etc. I bought a very basic cookery book by Margeurite Patten and have never looked back. It's ability to pay attention to a recipe (oh, the number of times I left things out!) and then experiment a little.

      Have you followed any YouTube videos? I am a very visual person and find things like that help when I am sewing, when the words aren't as helpful.

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  2. The last photo is so beautiful.

    Cheers, parsnip

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    1. Isn't it? I love those mountains, and now that our eldest daughter is moving back down this way (probably this county) we will be staying in Wales and so looking to move into the Brecon Beacons National Park - and closer to these beautiful mountains.

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  3. I often fold the laundry in front of the laptop and watch knitting on youtube :D
    It's been very wet here, but not cold, whih is a bonus. Stay warm.xxx

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    1. I can't feel my fingers at the moment, so we have put the heating on for an hour or so and are going to light the wood burner and cwtch up to watch the racing this afternoon. Hopefully the feeling will return soon. Hope it dries up a bit where you are. I may do the couple of bits of ironing as that is guaranteed to warm me up!

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  4. I've never thought of kneading sitting down. I usually try and time my bread-making to coincide with an interesting 15 minute radio programme. I borrowed "Wales" by Jan Morris from the library today and I'm looking forward to an early night and a long read. The snow on the Fans is beautiful and imagine a quilt just using those colours.

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  5. You have a good eye Sarah - a quilt in those colours would be lovely. Off you go then!!

    Enjoy Jan Morris's "Wales". We are having an early night too, but probably won't be reading for very long as we were both awake in the small hours last night.

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  6. Speeds on the computer sound terrible, saw in the paper yesterday a computer expert had started in his village a service to bring much faster speeds, as we have here, we pay a start up and then a monthly charge, and it works fine. BT hasn't got its act together for sure.
    I have the 'Matter of Wales' by Jan Morris, lovely book.

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  7. I saw that too Thelma. Don't think we have a local entrepreneur to help us though.
    I will have to have a look at the Jan Morris book next time I'm in Waterstones.

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