Friday Links

Posted on March 6, 2015 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! I end this week feeling very tired and fed up with coughing (which I am still doing – no it’s not fair!).

I have also found out that I am considered wise because I know the order of  American presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Obama, and the order of all English monarchs from William the Conqueror to present day (British Prime Ministers, I am much more shaky on). I don’t think I’m wise, I just think I retain information in a certain way, but it does come in handy when the lunchtime quiz team want to know how many English Queens there have been (6 if you include Mathilda & Jane Grey, 4 otherwise – Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II and Anne. Victoria and Elizabeth II were/are queens of the United Kingdom!) or the order of Presidents from Nixon to Regan (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan).

It’s been a quiet week for me, so only 4 links….

1) via Kate. Jacqueline Wilson is writing a modern version of What Katie Did. I’m horrified. There is no need for a new version, there’s nothing wrong with the original, yes it’s quite preachy (it’s not as bad as the Elsie books!) but it’s of its time and that’s why it’s delightful.

2) ‘By God, believe in something’. The list of reasons to love Michael Sheen, grows. Talented, seems lovely and I agree with his politics, I now have the biggest crush…

3) Boris Johnson has been ‘economical with the truth’ about the funding and maintenance of the garden bridge. Which is unsurprising, I don’t trust that man at all, he’s already broken his promise not to stand for Parliament while he is mayor and the garden bridge is a stupid idea and someone needs to put a stop to it..

4) When to obey ‘best before’ and ‘use-by’ dates. Nice to know that I already do all of this!

 

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Oven Chips

Posted on March 5, 2015 by nicdempsey

There is not a lot to dislike about chips, done right they are perfect potatoey goodness, I don’t actually eat them as much as I’d like to because the best chips are the ones my mum makes (chips my mum makes are always the best chips!). Unfortunately for me, Ma retired from frying chips a long time ago. The fact that I still miss Saturday night dinners of fish and chips and the really strange strawberry pudding thing from Marks and Spencer, that Grandad used to bring on Saturday mornings, is a testament to how good those chips were, especially given that it’s got to be getting on for 25 years since Ma made them….

Deep frying anything is a cooking skill that I have never mastered and given how accident prone I am, I’m not even going to try, I set enough things on fire by accident as it is without adding hot fat to the mix, but sometimes, I want chips and good oven chips are the answer.

Home made oven chips are pretty simple, chip some potatoes, cover in oil, bung in the oven. It’s not rocket science. However, really good oven chips happen when you soak the chips in water first. I guess that this gets rid of the starch and helps them crisp up better. Generally, the longer you soak them the better, I tend to chip the potatoes in the morning and after an initial rinse, leave them in the water all day.

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When I’m ready for dinner, I take the chips out of the water, dry them off on a tea towel and coat in oil. (For a bowl of chips this size, I use about a third of a cup of sunflower oil).

That done, they go on oven trays in a single layer and get baked in a hot oven (about 200C, which is where my oven is mostly set!) for anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes and turn them over once during cooking.

It’s pretty simple and really good with salt, vinegar and ketchup!

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What I’ve Read – February 2015

Posted on March 4, 2015 by nicdempsey

Roman Holiday – Ruthie Knox (Kindle TBR List)

Apparently, Ruthie Knox can’t write a book (or two books) I don’t enjoy. I liked that both people had stuff to work through. That the hero was black and while it wasn’t an issue for the romance, the issues he had with it and how he was treated were. I just really enjoyed it!

All Work and No Play – Julie Cohen (Kindle TBR List)

This has been sitting on the TBR list for an age. I read it in a day and it was ok. The hero felt too perfect to be true and after all the set up of the heroine not being good at friendship or romantic relationships, it was all tied up too quickly, given how much stuff had been chucked in at the beginning. However, it fulfilled it’s brief which was to give me something I didn’t have to concentrate on too much on a day when I was tired and not feeling my shiny best!

The Boleyn King – Laura Andersen (Library)

The book is based on the premise, what would have happened if Anne Boleyn’s second pregnancy continued and she’d had a boy but Elizabeth still became queen anyway? It’s an interesting idea and I reading enjoyed the book while I was reading it. I did keep getting hung up on the sailing from Le Havre, to Hastings. I can see going to Hastings if you were going to Hever but if you were going to Framlington wouldn’t you stay on the boat and go to Lowestoft? The two invented characters were a bit to good to be true and it’s a trilogy so there are two more books until Elizabeth gets to the throne, I have an idea that the King Henry IX (known as William) will have to turn into a tyrant and get killed but we’ll see. I’ve reserved the next one at the library.

Letters from the Light Brigade – Anthony Dawson (Library)

I know next to nothing about the Crimean War. I know roughly where it was, that Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, went out to nurse the troops, that Lord Raglan commanded and died there (Raglan was on Wellington’s staff at Waterloo and had his right arm amputated and then demanded his arm back so he could retrieve the ring that his wife had given him, which is neither here nor there but interesting!) and of course that Tennyson’s poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade‘ is about the Battle of Balaclava (which is where the name of the headgear comes from!). The sum total of my knowledge is not very much! Now I know a bit more!

Talk Sweetly to Me – Courtney Milan (Kindle TBR List)

Courtney Milan is a bit like Ruthie Knox for me, I haven’t come across a book or novella of hers that I haven’t really liked. This is linked to the Brothers Sinister series (remember how I raved over The Suffragette Scandal?). This has lots of interesting things, a black heroine, an Irish hero, maths, and the struggle to be taken seriously when you’re a minority. It’s a novella, so I read it in one sitting, it was lovely and fun.

Lionheart – Sharon Penman (Kindle TBR List)

I’ve had this to read for ages and I think I’ve been resisting it because Richard I, is not one of my favourite kings. Anyhow, as always with Sharon Penman’s books, I got carried away with the story and grabbed the next (A King’s Ransom) from the library and I want to know more about the subject but I really have to get my TBR list down before I look for more books on the time period!

Say Yes to the Marquess – Tessa Dare (Library e-book)

This was a recovery book over the weekend. I was so sick that I didn’t even want to read (I can’t remember a time when that’s happened!) This was complete froth and a fun read to get me back into the idea of reading. Tessa Dare’s books are always funny and entertaining and this was no different.

 

 

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February Recap and Plans for March

Posted on March 3, 2015 by nicdempsey

February was not a good month. I sort of feel that January and February have been ruined by my being sick and that I’ve yet to start the year at all. I want to feel well and nothing that I do seems to help with that. I’m just a coughing, poorly person and I’d quite like it to stop now!IMG_2807

With that in mind, let’s recap my goals.

  • I didn’t hit any of my fitness goals in February, I did get to the gym for 3 classes but everything else just fell apart because I got so ill.
  • I still haven’t bought any books, yay me!
  • As for the flat, it’s tidy and that’s all I can really say about it, I didn’t really do anything to improve it.
  • I did stick to my £80 budget for food though and even impressed myself. I haven’t used my credit cards, I did buy new glasses and some new clothes but that was from money I had saved from Christmas and all purchases were needed!

March Plans and Goals

BODY

I’m still not feeling 100% better and so I want to use March to get properly well. Although I can’t spend the month in bed asleep, I do need to be gentle with myself and I want to prioritise both rest and strength. So I will get to the gym for a Body Balance or Pilates class at least 4 times in the month and make sure that I’m in bed for eight hours a night (I can’t guarantee that I’ll sleep for 8 hours but I’ll make sure that I turn all electronics off an hour before I go to bed too.

Eat more mindfully. I lost half a stone of weight last month, while I absolutely believe that catching flu is not a great way to lose weight, not wanting to eat for a week has reset my hunger signals, so I want to use that as a starting point to think about what, how and when I eat and eat when I’m hungry, instead of when I’m bored. I’m also going to eat better, I don’t think I eat badly as it is but I do want to restrict the amount of sugar I consume!

HOME & MIND (BOOKS)

Continue as I’m going, try not to give into the temptation to buy any books (which will be harder this month as there are so many books I want to read being released this month) and to make more use of my local library

HOME GENERAL

This is just a straight repeat of last month’s goals, which I didn’t get round to at all!

  • Hang the pictures of Oli and Ben that I was given for Christmas
  • Clean the oven
  • Tidy the cupboard (again!)

MONEY

Food budget. Go back to planning to spend £20 a week on food.

Much of March is about recovery and rest, I don’t have major plans for the month, I’ll be going watch Oli in the St Patrick’s Parade, celebrating Mothers Day and babysitting Oli, Christelle and I have scheduled in a date for dinner too (finally) and I have to have a haircut. Other than, hopefully, enjoying better weather (it’s England so you never can tell if the weather will be better!) I’m planning for a quietly productive month!

 

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Life Happened – Flu

Posted on March 2, 2015 by nicdempsey

Hello world! It’s been a while. It’s been a while because the cold that wouldn’t die, mutated into something else really grim, we’re thinking flu because of the uncontrollable shaking, high temp and my not being able to eat or read (seriously, that’s like the end of days where I’m concerned!).IMG_2807Last Monday, the doctor prescribed antibiotics for the chest/sinus infection and signed me off sick for the week, I did not argue because when my mother tells me I’m sick, it’s time to give up the fight and go to bed. She also went down with it the next day, so we’ve spent the week ringing each other every 12 hours, just to check we’re both alive. It’s not been a great week and though I’m back at work, I’m still pretty weak and feeble and am coming in and going home early so that I have a fighting chance of getting to and from work in one piece and can get my required 12 hours a night sleep. Yes, it’s that bad. No, I really don’t care anymore.

Life last week pretty much reduced down to being sick and not doing anything else. I didn’t have my haircut, I didn’t go to Christina’s 30th birthday party, I didn’t see anyone, speak to anyone. I didn’t exercise, unless walking from the bedroom to the bathroom to the kitchen counts. I lost half a stone because I didn’t really want to eat or cook or have anything to do with food. It was a very beige week and this week is shaping up for more of the same but expanding to include work and that’s about it.

 

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Friday Links

Posted on February 20, 2015 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! It’s always good to get to the end of the week and onto the weekend! Tonight I have friends coming for dinner and other fun stuff planned for the rest of the weekend. This week’s links…

1) Tax Avoidance. Marina Hyde nails it and it makes me so bloody angry.

2) Oliver James on the fallacy at the centre of the riches thinking on what they owe to the State. Or as Obama said “You didn’t build this”

3) Giles Fraser on the removal of Satan in the CoE baptism service. The line from the RC service, when I was baptised asked my parents and godparents to reject “Satan and all his empty promises”. Like Giles, I don’t believe in an actual Devil, but I think that the empty promises of evil and sin sum up what I reject as a Christian. Doing the right thing is hard sometimes and doing the wrong thing in the short term can feel better but ultimately it’s a hollow thing, that doesn’t nourish. Empty promises…

4) More religion, this time on Valentine’s Day and the gift of singleness. 

5) This came from Jo. It’s very funny but not safe for work. An Australian’s take on US gun laws.

6) Street Kids and Football in Cote d’Ivoire. I was really struck by those kids when I was there, children bringing each other up, it’s one of those things that has stayed with me..

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7) Israelis and Arabs contested history. This is one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen on Israel in a long time.

8) This. I really object to people talking about now they don’t do chemicals. Everything is chemicals. Water is a chemical. Harmful chemicals are one thing, but you can’t exist on this planet and be chemical free. This type of pseudo science is why we have people who think that measles are healthier than vaccinations…

9) I don’t know whether to be amused or alarmed…Boston mayor tells people to stop jumping out of windows and into snow. But seven and a half feet of snow…I can’t imagine what that looks like!

10) But a couple of inches of snow shut DC down. Which I totally get, because that’s pretty much what happens here although ’cause of DC’s reliance on cars, I think it’s a little bit worse. Seriously, they think they have a good transport system but I have never missed the Tube as much as I did that week!

Cue gratuitous photo of DC in the snow!20140305-072908.jpg

 

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Green Sauce

Posted on February 19, 2015 by nicdempsey

I originally made this to go with roasted pork belly, where it was a great foil to the fatty pork, but there was quite a bit left over and I do hate waste! So, I’ve put it in a cheese sandwich, I grated some parmesan into it and mixed it through pasta as a sort of pesto, I’ve put it in corn and black bean tacos, I’ve dolloped it in soups and I’ve used it on pizza instead of red sauce

2015/02/img_2745.jpgIn all things it has been delicious, although I’m incapable of taking a photo of it, where it looks as good as it tastes! It lasts a fair amount of time in the fridge (the longest I’ve left it is 2 and a half weeks!)

What

4 cloves of garlic

a bunch of mint

a bunch of basil

a bunch of parlsey

a tablespoon of djion mustard

a tablespoon of capers

olive oil

How

Throw everything except the olive oil into a food processor and blend, gradually add olive oil until it’s a bit soupy.

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Simple Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on February 18, 2015 by nicdempsey

Sometimes you need a cake.

Last weekend on Saturday, I needed cake. I made my go-to chocolate cupcakes because I almost always have the ingredients in the house, then I took some of them to Kathy and Adam’s and some to Ryan.

The original recipe came from Smitten Kitchen (as do so many good things!) but keen eyed amongst you will notice that the original recipe features Guinness and sour cream and be wondering about what’s usually in my fridge, ok it’s true I almost never have those things in my fridge. For the Guinness, I’ve used the same amount of coffee, root beer, coca-cola and on one desperate occasion, ginger beer. So basically any fizzy drink or coffee would do. For sour cream, I subbed greek yoghurt, (which I do in these pancakes too).

You can gussy them up with ganache and frosting if you wish but I like them plain, they are moist enough that they are good on their own and they also freeze really well.

As usual I’ve mixed and matched the weights and measurements to suit my peculiar way of cooking, butter does not come in sticks in my part of the world but a stick of butter is 4oz, US pint sizes are 4 oz smaller than UK ones as well, it’s all very confusing!

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Simple Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 20 to 24)

What

1 cup liquid such as Guinness, coca-cola, coffee or root beer
8 oz unsalted butter
3/4 cup ( unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup greek yoghurt

How

1) Preheat oven to about 220C (which is pretty much the temp my oven is stuck on!)

2) Line muffin tin with cake cases.

3) Put the butter and your chosen liquid in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted.

4) Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth, let the mixture cool slightly.

5) Add flour, sugar, bicarb salt to a bowl and stir to blend.

6) In another large bowl, beat eggs and greek yoghurt together (this is best done with an electric whisk if you have one).

7) Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat to combine.

8) Add the flour mixture and beat on slow speed, then fold batter until completely combined.

9) Pour the batter into cake cases, fill them about 2/3 to 3/4 up and bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. About 15-20 minutes.

 

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Pancakes

Posted on February 17, 2015 by nicdempsey

Growing up, my family didn’t really follow the food traditions of those around us. We did not do roast dinners every Sunday because it was ‘too much work’, we didn’t eat turkey at Christmas ’cause no one really liked it and so on. Sure we had our own food traditions, just ask my brother about Dad cooking corned beef hash (it was not a success!).

The one thing we did do like every other family, was pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. In fact, it was the one time that Dad did cook successfully though I think Ma actually made the batter and washed up – this weekend we were watching a Mickey Flannagan thing and he stated that his Dad did nothing, “came in, put his money on the table, walked around in his pants” and it was funny because I know that house, I grew up in it! However Dad did make the pancakes and we ate them savoury, with mince in the middle and cheese melted on top and sweet, with banana and sugar (me) and lemon juice and sugar (everyone else).

Tonight I will be making traditional pancakes, which I’m going to fill with a vegetable and chickpea sauce and cover in cheese but you can make American style fluffy ones if the British flat ones aren’t your thing.

Other good recipes to try are this one from The Usual Saucepans and Scotch pancakes from Utterly Scrummy and the perfect crepe from Felicity Cloak in the Guardian

The only sad thing is that I can’t eat them all, right now….

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Life Happened – Work meetings from Hell

Posted on February 16, 2015 by nicdempsey

So last week was all about still not feeling well and trying to get through work.

Thursday was the hardest day of work ’cause I minuted a six hour meeting. Ugh..IMG_2766

On Friday I had a migraine, which was not lovely, fortunately it was done by Friday night and I woke up on Saturday feeling if not exactly well, still coughing and wheezing at least normal for the last couple of weeks.

On Saturday, I made cupcakes. Went to Kathy and Adam’s to reset their kitchen. Also got lots of love from the toddlers. Seriously, it’s like being a rock star!

Then to Ryan’s to see how the poor sick bunny was (yeah he is 30 but as his mother pointed out, it’s what we do!). Then shopping and housework and bed.

On Sunday, I did some food prep and chose some new glasses, had lunch with Ma and took photos of none of it!

This weeks plans are writing minutes, going to the doctors and I have friends coming to dinner on Friday. Very quiet week.

What is everyone else up to?

 

 

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