Cookery Calendar Challenge: May

I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.

Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook

This month I chose Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook, a present from my daughter who knows my love of cookbooks.  We'd watched his television series together and warmed to his gentle presentation and simple yet elegant dishes.  It's an unusual book in that it's arranged by ingredients rather than courses: anchovy and aubergine, nice rice, and ham, bacon & a little pig.  He's a believer in good ingredients, not necessarily expensive, treated well.  Despite having had his book on my shelf for several years I'd only ever baked his rich and creamy rice pudding and looked forward to trying out more of his recipes.

Smoked Haddock Pilaf with Ginger & Parsley

The first I attempted was Smoked Haddock Pilaf with Ginger & Coriander.  My first set back came when my fishmonger didn't have enough smoked haddock in his fridge and I had to resort to a luminous yellow overpackaged fillet from Aldi.  The second was when I discovered I didn't have a suitably sized oven proof lidded pan and had to settle for a larger one which didn't allow sufficient depth.  Lastly I forgot to buy any coriander.  The parsley I'd picked up for Sunday's dinner was acceptable, although not quite as appropriate.

However I didn't let any of these contretemps deter me from recreating Simon Hopkinson's delightfully simple yet deliciously light supper dish.  A few minutes' attention on the stove top and 20 minutes in the oven and it was ready to eat.  Simon declares a pilaf to be possibly his favourite way to eat rice in any form (marginally better than a risotto) and I'm inclined to agree.

Lamb's Liver with Sweet & Sour Onions

The very next day we ate his Calf's Liver with Sweet & Sour Onions.  Offal is not to everyone's taste, but I love it in all its manifestations.  Our butcher didn't have any calf's liver, so I had to make do with lamb's, but that was the only substitution.  There was just enough creme de cassis in the bottle to fill the required tablespoon.

This was another simple dish.  I fried the liver for longer than Simon suggested and was afraid I might have overcooked it, but I must have judged it accurately as it remained soft and tender.  The red wine vinegar and the creme de cassis lifted the sauce.  I would have enjoyed it with the recommended soft and buttery polenta but we had potatoes and swede to use up which worked just as well.

Later in the week my partner prepared the Aubergine Parmigiana, which was gorgeous.

I've a feeling that The Good Cook will not be languishing on my bookshelf any longer.

My book for June is Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour.

Cookery Calendar Challenge: April

I'm back with my second Cookery Calendar Challenge report. I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.

My recipe book for April was Five Quarters by Rachel Roddy.  I first came across Rachel when she was the Guardian's cook in residence (she now writes a weekly column) and instantly warmed to her style of writing as much as to her cooking.  Rachel's a British woman who has made her home in Rome where she lives with her Sicilian partner and their wee boy.  She's my favourite kind of food writer ie one who sets each recipe in context - where the ingredients were bought, who sold them to her, the history of the dish and how it is eaten today.  It's as if I was exploring her local market, standing by her in her kitchen or sitting across from her in a local cafe.

I bought her book (her first, there is a second in the pipeline) at the beginning of the year and had already dipped into it on a couple of occasions.  This month I tried out two new recipes:  Pollo alla cacciatora (chicken, hunter's style) and pasta e patate (pasta and potato soup).

Pollo alla cacciatora
(with apologies for the quality of the image)

 The chicken dish was delicious and was well received by everyone, including my daughter's boyfriend who is a bit of connoisseur when it comes to food.  It was simple to prepare, using easy to hand ingredients (with the exception of black olives, optional, but included because I like them).  It is essentially chicken portions sauteed in olive oil flavoured with garlic, chilli flakes, rosemary, wine and vinegar - and those black olives.  We ate it with boiled potatoes and an assortment of vegetables (carrots, cabbage and sweetcorn) which needed using up, but when I cook it again, which I shall, I'll follow Rachel's advice and serve it with green beans or a  green salad and a hunk of sourdough to mop up the fragrant juices.

Pasta e Patate
Once again, my image doesn't do it justice!

The pasta and potato soup doesn't sound right, does it  Too many carbs?  And there's not much else in it.  An onion, a carrot and a celery stalk.  It calls for water, not stock, and even the pancetta is optional.  But it works, falling into the category of comfort food, a dish that throws it arms around you and gives you a big hug.  Simple and honest.  We ate a bowlful before setting out for another session of local election canvassing and it kept us going very nicely.  The only tweak I would try would be to slip half a parmesan rind in with the water to add a touch more depth.

My book for May is Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook.


  

Cookery Calendar Challenge: March

Welcome to my first Cookery Calendar Challenge report. I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.

I chose Jamie Oliver's The Return of the Naked Chef, which I almost instantly regretted.  It's not that I don't like Jamie Oliver.  I do.  He's an entertaining TV cook and I value his contribution to the debate over the nutritional value of school dinners, over-fishing etc.  It's not even that I didn't like the book.  It's just that I'm trying to cut down on my meat intake, and although he does offer a number of vegetarian recipes, very few of them appealed to me.  In addition, because the challenge slipped my mind until the end of the month, which coincided with my attempting to use up the contents of my fridge before going away for a long weekend, I found myself even more restricted.

My first dish was Spaghetti with Anchovies, Dried Chilli & Panagritata. Being quick and easy to prepare - boil pasta, melt anchovies in garlic oil, toast breadcrumbs, throw together - it made the ideal holiday lunch.  I shared it with my daughter.  She didn't like it, mainly because of the anchovies.  I did enjoy it, but found the panagritata made it feel a bit dry in the mouth.  If I made it again I would add a bit more reserved water from the pasta and hope it didn't take the crunch from the breadcrumbs.  Perhaps a touch more olive oil would be better?

I'm afraid my photograph doesn't do it justice.  I though afterwards that it would have looked better if I'd tossed it together beforehand.

My second dish was Pappardelle, Spicy Sausage Meat and Mixed Wild Mushrooms.  For practical reasons I swapped pappardelle for tagliatelle, wild mushrooms for a mixture of button mushrooms and broccoli and stirred in a couple of spoonfuls of cream. We ate it for dinner with a green side salad, sharing it with my daughter's boyfriend.  It went down better than the first dish.  Its versatility and the fact that it makes a little meat go a long way means that I'm sure to make it again.

Again, apologies for the photograph with its very shiny plate!

Flicking through the book there are a couple of other recipes I'd try - pukkolla (Jamie's take on muesli), pan-toasted almonds with a touch of chilli and sea salt, salmon fillet wrapped in prosciutto with herby lentils, spinach and yoghurt, his marinades and rubs and chickpea Moroccan flatbread.

My book for April is Rachel Roddy's Five Quarters.  I first encountered Rachel in the Saturday Guardian where she was one of a series of cooks in residence (she now has a regular column) and clicked through her book in Foyles on many occasions before finally buying it.

216 Reading Challenge - My List

A friend, who'd seen  Bristol's 2016 Reading Challenge before me, has offered to send me her list.  Which got me thinking about mine.  Rather than draw up a definitive list I've decided to note down a few possibilities and see which one takes my fancy when the time comes.

A book published this year

I'm going to leave this one until later in the year when there will be more to chose from.

A book you can finish in a day
 
I've already ticked this box with Food Rules by Michael Pollan, but a friend has suggested Love that Dog by Sharon Creech which intrigues me.

A book you've been meaning to read

There are almost too many to mention but Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hillary Mantel deserve a mention, despite the fact that, having already made a start on Wolf Hall, it should rightly be listed in another category.

A book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller

I wonder if a book picked from the 'Recommended' shelf of Bedminster Library or Foyles would count, or whether I should seek a personal recommendation from the person at the desk.

A book you should have read in school

I'm not sure whether this is a book you failed to read at school or one you feel should have been on the reading list.  I'm going to have to give this one further thought.

A book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, sibling, or BFF

Last year my elder daughter bought me two books, one for my birthday and the other for Mother's Day.  They are This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.

A book published before you were born

Again I am spoilt for choice.  I will probably plump for one of the classics.

A book that was banned at some point

Vladimir Nabokiv's Lolita and Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses - but LFrank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

A book you previously abandonned

This has to be A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, which I have unsuccessfully attempted to get though on more than one occasion.  Maybe this time I'll make it to the last page?

A book you own but have never read

There will be plenty to choose from my laden shelves and tottering piles - Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, or The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson?

A book that intimidates you

This could be The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey, for its vernacular style with little punctuation or grammar, or Ulysses by James Joyce, for its modernist stream of consciousness technique.  Or perhaps the relentless horror of The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

A book you've already read at least once

I suspect this will be a toss up between Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels and if nobody speaks of remarkable things by Jon McGregor, both of which I love, not just for their subject matter, but for their exquisitely poetic language.

Which books would you choose?

2016 Reading Challenge

Bristol Libraries have tweeted a Reading Challenge.  On the basis that one book a month should be do-able, even for someone who struggles to find make enough time to read, I've decided to go for it.  I was attracted by the categories which should provide a wide range of possibilities.  I'm particularly looking forward to reading a book that was banned at some point.

 

What's more, I'm proud to announce that I have already ticked my first box, ie a book you can finish in a day.

A while ago I borrowed Food Rules by Michael Pollan from the library.  I skimmed through it but didn't take time to read it properly until I received an email from the library to say that it had been recalled.  So this afternoon I read it from cover to cover.  It's an expansion of Pollan's philosophy on food, namely 'Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.' and is packed with commonsense rules to help steer us away from our modern processed food diet to a more traditional one of natural products, simply prepared and carefully eaten.  My favourites include 'Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognise as food', 'Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the colour of the milk' and 'Break the rules once in a while'.

PS  As the mother of a third year art student I should mention that it is exquisitely illustrated, although I can see no indication of the identity of the artist.

What's for tea?

One of the joys of blogging is being inspired by other bloggers.  Eliane over at faites simple has challenged herself to plan her week's meals in advance on Sunday evening and to make better use of her 'embarrassingly unused cookbook library'.

This is something I have tried at various points in my life.  When I succeed it transforms my week.  No more midday panics over what we're going to eat that evening, no getting halfway through a recipe only to discover that I'm missing a key ingredient, no nasty discoveries at the back of the fridge ...

So this week I'll be (mainly) cooking from Rose Prince's the new english kitchen.

Monday
Haggis, neeps & tatties (in celebration of Rabbie Burns)

Tuesday
Baked chick peas, peppers & potatoes with yoghurt sauce

Wednesday
Butternut squash risotto

Thursday
Braised red lentils with lime juice & feta

Friday
Tamarind fish stew (from the freezer)

Saturday
Chicken curry (from the freezer)

Sunday
Beef braised with rhubarb

A Daughter's Secret: A Year in Books

When I popped in to the library last Monday morning to return an overdue book it was with no intention of borrowing another.  A cursory glance around our living room would assure anyone I had enough reading material to keep me entertained for a good few years.  But I can never resist checking out the display of new acquisitions and I had a yearning for a an easier read than any of the volumes in my 'to read' pile at home.

Eleanor Moran's 'a daughter's secret', a tale of two women hiding devastating secrets and needing each other to survive, was irresistible.  I just had to find out whether they learnt to trust each other before it was too late!

Next stop was the doctor's surgery,  I arrived early and decided to get stuck in straight away.  My first reaction was one of bitter disappointment.  I took an instant dislike to the author's vocabulary and use of imagery, so much so that I seriously contemplated returning to the library to swap it for another straight after my appointment.  But I was persuaded by Daisy Goodwin's 'gripping, emotional' review of an earlier novel to give Ms Moran a chance to live up to her reputation.

Having reached the end I'm glad I did.  For although I continued to struggle with her style I was emotionally engaged and gripped by the story.  Even better I found myself in that delicious state of being unwilling to put it down, something I haven't, for various reasons, experienced, but deeply missed for some time now.

So while I don't imagine I'll be scanning the shelves for any of her other novels I'm grateful that 'a daughter's secret' has got me reading again.

When choosing a book I usually read a paragraph selected at random to test whether I'm comfortable with an author's style, and immediately reject anything that jars.  I also admit to judging books by their covers.  How do you choose a new book?  How long do you allow yourself to persist with one which doesn't instantly please?  Is there a particular book you have been unable to finish, despite it being highly recommended?

I'm (rather unsuccessfully so far!) joining in The Year in Books with Laura over at Circle of Pine Trees.   

Wolf Hall: The Year in Books

I was only a day late in finishing my January book (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler).  However, considering I was only a third of the way through it on Friday, I was rather pleased with myself.  On the Saturday and Sunday afternoons I did what I haven't done in a long time.  I curled up under my fleece blanket on the sofa with a mug of tea and read for a few hours.  It was sheer luxury.

So, what did I make of it?  I'm not sure.  I raced through the first few chapters and then ran out of steam.  I only had enough time to read a few pages a day which didn't work well with the non linear narrative.  I had to keep flicking back through the pages to refresh my memory.  It wasn't until the weekend that I go back into the story.  

It's a tricky book to review on account of the dramatic twist it takes fairly early on and which is intrinsic to the story line.  I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone.  So I'll settle for saying that I enjoyed it, but no more than that.  It's carefully researched, well written and the story moves on apace.  It deals with a fascinating subject.   But I didn't really care very much for any of the characters and it ultimately failed to grip me.

My book for February is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.  I bought the hardback copy for £3 from a charity shop some time ago and hoped to have it read by the time the TV series began.  I didn't but watching it has inspired me to pick it up again.  I'm taking it up to Glasgow next weekend to leave it with my daughter so I'll have to get a move on.

I'm joining in The Year in Books with Laura over at Circle of Pine Trees.

The Year in Books

I have joined Circle of Pine Trees' A Year in Books project.  This is a virtual reading group in which members choose their own book of the month and post a brief review of it for others to share.  There is also a plan for everyone to read the same book one month.  Pop over forLaura's far more coherent explanation here.

Anyway, I have chosen We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler for January, or rather it was chosen for me by my husband who included it in my Christmas stocking.  It's my first of her books and I'm looking forward to reading a new author.

Dump Your Junk: Day 1

Because I would like this challenge to be more than just getting rid of stuff (although that is of course the name of the game), I thought I would chose my first item with care.

It is a book that I read some years ago and mostly enjoyed, but which I do not feel the urge to open again.  There's something so seductive about a living room lined with book shelves, and we do have a respectable collection.  But books are not meant for decoration.  They're meant to be read, and if I'm not going to read this one again then it should go to someone who will enjoy it.

So today I released it into the wild ie I left it on a chair in Zazu's Kitchen for someone else to pick up.  I've registered it on the BookCrossing website and stuck a label on the first page so that the finder can look it up and, when s/he's finished with it, can send it on its way again.

I've been releasing books on and off for the last six years, 19 to date, of which I've only been able to track three.  However one of these did end up in Arlington, Virginia.

I wonder what will happen to Chocolat.

Bon voyage!

Summer 2014: A Review

At the beginning of the summer holidays I drew up a To Do List.  This is how I got on.

Cycle to Bath along the railway path

Having been knocked off a bike aged 18 and not ridden again until last summer on Colonsay, I was more than a little anxious about my ability to reach Bath without incident, but it proved to be much easier, and far more enjoyable than I'd feared.  We hired Bromptons from Temple Meads station via Brompton Dock, whose service I thoroughly recommend.  The path was a delight, taking us out behind back gardens and parks into the open countryside where we rode through wooded areas, along causeways with views out over the fields and following the river into Bath.  There, after a pot of tea in a cafe, we folded our bikes (albeit with a few teething problems) and carried them on to a train back to Bristol.  I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm planning to do it again.

Bake 5 pies from my new Pieminister Pie book

I managed two.  They were the Screaming Desperado (chilli con carne in a rough puff pastry) and Porkie Buns (Vietnamese flavoured sausagement in a hot crust pastry).  I loved the filling in the first and would eat it again on its own (the pie had a 'soggy bottom'), but the buns were a sensation.  We at them on a picnic at Tyntesfield with coleslaw and my daughter's boyfriend's mother's(!) piccalilli.

 Visit Tyntesfield

We caught the bus and claimed our 20% discount at the ticket office, cafe and shop.  It was a glorious sunny day and we spent a couple of hours wandering round the grounds, admiring the sculpture exhibition, exploring the outbuildings and the kitchen garden and eating our picnic, before entering the house. Restoration is ongoing and given the quality of what has been achieved thus far, the finished article will be truly amazing.  

Make falafels
I used Jamie Oliver's recipe.  They were alright but not nearly as good as ones I've eaten from street stalls; more bean burger than falafel.  So I'm going to try out Yotam Ottonlenghi's recipe which I'm certain will be more authentic.

Read 5 books
I read three (well almost three!) - Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gayle, A Death in Tuscany by Michele Ferrara and How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.  A varied selection but all good reads.

Create a sourdough starter
My starter is well and truly established and has been used to make three loaves.

Get up early to watch Bristol Balloon Fiesta Dawn Ascent
I've watched many an evening ascent, but whether it's the satisfaction of making it up the hill that early, hot cups of tea from a flask, the absence of the fairground noise, the soft light or the anticipation of a bacon butty on our return, but this one was extra special.

Bake 5 new breads
I managed four - irish soda bread, flatbread, cornbread and sourdough.  And if I count the kanelbullar (technically buns, but made with yeast!) then it would be five.

Picnic at Bristol Zoo
I spent a leisurely day at the zoo with my younger daughter and picnicked on the lawn.  There's always something new to see and the promise of even more to entice you back.

Visit the Jeremy Deller exhibition
I'd never heard of Jeremy Deller but found his work very thought provoking.  I particularly appreciated the huge paintings on the wall.

Visit St Werburgh's City Farm, eat meatballs @ Ikea and shop at Bristol Sweet Mart
We had to go to Ikea to buy a table for my younger daughter.  I like to make the most of my £4 day rider bus ticket so we combined it with a visit to St Werburgh's City Farm and a short walk through Boiling Wells.  We enjoyed our meatballs at Ikea but sadly didn't have time for a cuppa at the farm.

Make rhubarb & ginger jam
I managed to get five jars from our new rhubarb plant.  I took a chance with a bag of jam sugar that was four years past its best before date, but we're still alive and kicking!

Take advantage of podiatrist appointment to window shop in Cotham/Clifton
I popped in to Kitchens and bought a banneton for my sourdough breadmaking and two pie dishes for my Pieministering.  Having drooled over The Philosophy of List's madeleines I'm kicking myself for not having bought the baking tin I saw on my way out.  Still, I'll be back that way on Saturday so ...

Swim and lunch at the Lido
Although I haven't technically done this during the holidays I did book our visit during that time.  We're swimming and lunching there this weekend.

Make a start on a recipe folder
Our house is littered with piles of magazines and boxes of cuttings but, with no way of knowing where any of them are when I need them, I rarely use any of the recipes I collect.  So, armed with a ring binder, an A4 pad, a pair of scissors and a Pritt stick, I went to work on the pile of Guardian 'cook' supplements.  I was ruthlessly selective and have ended up with a folderful of recipes that I might very well use.  Indeed I've already cooked two of them.

Make pizza
I made a couple of the best pizzas I've had in a long time.

Walk: Leigh Woods
I dragged my younger daughter and her boyfriend round the second longest trail, stopping to admire the view across the gorge and eat banana bread.  Despite being the weekend it was unusually quiet.

Picnic on Brandon Hill
We ate tortilla and salad and watched language students play frisbee under the trees.  Rain and the absence of the Vee Double Moo van prevented us from lingering.

Finish crocheting my daughter's quilt
It's almost there.  When I started to crochet the granny squares together I discovered I didn't have quite enough of them, so I had to rustle up a few more.  There's only five to go now and the border to add.

Walk: Bristol Old City
It's amazing how often we walk past building without actually looking at them.

So I didn't hold 5 dinner parties, visit Oxford, make tomato ketchup, take a proper look around the M Shed, watch the Night Glow, walk round Snuff Mills or Blaise Castle, shopped for clothes for work, swim in the outdoor pool at Street, make icecream, crak Prashad's khokla recipe, preserve lemons, make lemonade, have a barbecue or take the ferry boat to Beese's Tea Gardens.

But I did have lunch with friends at the Tube Diner, follow the Secret Cemetery trail around Arnos Vale, attend Amnesty's Goldney Garden Party, eat kebabs and jalebis at the Islamic Cultural Fair hand out leaflets at Temple Meads protesting about the increase in rail fares, run a Bristol Pound stall at the Tobacco Factory Market, see What If and Two Days and One Night, oppose the Metrobus proposal at a council planning meeting and generally enjoy not having to go to work.    

Summer 2014: My To Do List

In my experience, the longer the holiday stretches, the easier it is to fritter it away.  So, when faced with 5 1/2 weeks this summer, I thought I'd best draw up a list of things I would like to have achieved by the end of them.  Maybe I should have added 'publish list on blog' as it's taken me over a week to do so.  But here it is:

(NB  Having decided that I was going to devote the first few days to recovering from the end of term, I based my list on 5 weeks - 7x5=35)

1. Cycle to Bath along the railway path
2. Hold 5 dinner parties (ie have 5 friends/sets of friends round for a meal!)
3. Day trip to Oxford
4. Bake 5 pies from my new Pieminister Pie book
5. Visit Tyntesfield
6. Make tomato ketchup
7. Visit the M Shed
8. Go to Bristol Balloon Fiesta Night Glow
9. Make falafels
10. Walk: Snuff Mills
11. Read 5 books
12. Create a sourdough starter
13. Get up early to watch Bristol Balloon Fiesta Dawn Ascent
14. Shop for clothes for work
15. Bake 5 new breads
16. Swim in Street outdoor pool
17. Make icecream
18. Picnic at Bristol Zoo
19. Visit the Jeremy Deller exhibition
20. Walk: Blaise Castle
21. Crack Prashad's dhokla recipe
22. Visit St Werburgh's City Farm, eat meatballs @ Ikea and shop at Bristol Sweet Mart
23. Make rhubarb & ginger jam
24. Take advantage of podiatrist appointment to window shop in Cotham/Clifton
25. Preserve lemons
26. Swim and lunch at th Lido
27. Make a start on a recipe folder
28. Make pizza
29. Walk: Leigh Woods
30. Make lemonade
31. Picnic on Brandon Hill
32. Have a BBQ
33. Finish crocheting my daughter's quilt
34. Walk: Bristol Old City
35. Bristol Packet ferry boat trip to Beese's Tea Gardens

It's an eclectic mix of cooking, eating, walking, culture and fun.

I'm under no illusion that I'll get through it all and am therefore not going to beat myself up over it if I don't, but it should stop me waking up in the morning wondering what to do with the day!    

Monthly Book 1/52

Wooh!  Not only have I committed myself to baking a loaf of bread a week, I am now about to undertake to read a book a month.  I just hope it doesn't end in tears!

Anyway, following the mantra of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, I'm joining in with Laura at Circle of Pine Trees.  Details can be found here.

My first book is Maggie O'Farrell's 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox'.  I discovered Maggie O'Farrell last summer, when I picked up 'after you'd gone' from an Amnesty second hand book stall.  I took it on holiday and sat reading it on the sofa of our Colonsay cottage looking out over the sheep grazing in the field.  It had been a while since I'd read a book I'd chosen for myself.  The last few had been selected by members of the reading group I'd been attending, none of which I'd particularly taken to, and I'd begun to wonder whether I'd ever truly enjoy a book again.  'after you'd gone' broke the jinx.  It's a good thing I was on holiday as it allowed me the hours required to finish it within a couple of days.  Whether it was the poetic quality of the prose, the graphic portrayal of loss, or the references to my beloved Edinburgh ...  Perhaps, because although I enjoyed 'Instructions for a Heatwave' it didn't grip me with quite the same force.  I'm hoping that 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' with its setting in both Edinburgh and India (where I was born and grew up, admittedly long after the Raj!) will draw me in again.

Weekly Bread 1&2/52

They say great minds think alike.  Well, having decided back in December that I would like to bake a loaf a week during 2014, I discovered that Lou Archell over at Littlegreenshed had been inspired by the same idea.  Only she's more efficient than me and turned it into a project to share with other bloggers.  You can read all about it here and join in the fun.

I baked my first loaf last Saturday, the same one I'd baked on Christmas Day.  It was a no knead white loaf baked in a Le Creuset casserole.  You can find the recipe here.  I followed it to the letter, except that although I used fast acting yeast I pre-activated it in warm water with a little sugar before adding it to the flour.  It's just as easy as it looks and produces a wonderfully crusty loaf.

Today I baked my second loaf, an Irish soda bread, which we ate for lunch alongside a bowl of leek and potato soup.  Very appropriate!  The recipe came from Paul Hollywood's book entitled 100 Great  Breads, which I bought for £3 from the book man who drops off a boxful of books at our office every month or so.  It should keep me going through the challenge.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas ...

I went to see The Desolation of Smaug, having taken the precaution of watching The Unexpected Journey on DVD to help me remember what had happened so far.

My dad read the Hobbit to me as a child and I'm enjoying the films but, having taken the (ridiculous?) decision to film a 400 page book in three parts, the director's been forced to dwell overlong on some of the scenes, to the detriment of the narrative.  I can't believe that we now have to wait another year to find out whether the travelers accomplish their mission.

It makes complete commercial sense of course.  Witness my need to buy the DVD of the first film before seeing the second.  And I'll undoubtedly have to the same again next Christmas.

Out with the Old. In with the New.

Time for the annual roundup of the year's highlights.

Top of the list has to be our summer holiday in the Inner Hebrides, when we finally introduced our Iona to her island namesake.  I've been meaning to blog about it ever since we returned but have never got round to it.  But I'm determined to do so, so until then all I'll say is that the photograph is of the view from the living room of our lodge on Colonsay where I spent many happy hours reading and knitting (that's when I wasn't spending many equally happy hours exploring the island by bike).

On 6 January I attended my first Quaker meeting and have been going ever since.  After years of searching for somewhere I can continue my spiritual journey I believe I may have found it with the Friends.

My younger daughter was offered the university place of her dreams, at Falmouth, to study illustration.  After a year of travelling up and down the country attending open days and returning for interviews, this came as a great relief to all of us, although I did enjoy the opportunity to visit/reacquaint myself with several lovely cities.

In May I accepted the challenge to live on £1 per day for 5 days.  I am grateful for the generosity of the friends who sponsored me and the opportunity to raise the profile of extreme poverty in Bristol via two interviews on BBC local radio.

I continue to volunteer for the Bristol Pound and in the autumn was elected to the Board of Directors to represent the individual account holders.  The local currency is over a year old now and I'm really looking forward to playing my part in its continuing success.

Now that the girls have both left home I've been doing more singing.  In the summer I took part in the biennial Sing for Water on Bristol's harbourside and then I finally plucked up the courage to join the Gasworks Singers.  This is an offshoot of the Gasworks choir (of which I've been a member for many years) and is a much smaller group who sing more often at festivals and charitable events.  There was a fairly long list of songs to master before our first gig at the North Bristol Arts Trail but I managed and can now relax and enjoy the music, the friendship and the spectacular shared lunches.

There have, of course, been occasions on which to try and set the world right.  In April I paid my first visit to Aldermaston to protest against the obscenity of nuclear weapons.  In June I was in London to highlight world hunger, a week after I helped feed 5,000 people with food that might otherwise have been send to a landfill site.  It does sometimes feel as if we're bashing our heads against a brick wall but if that's what it takes to create a better world for everyone then I for one am prepared to carry on.

Fortunately there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful and that's what I plan to concentrate on in 2014.

I'm looking forward to:

• taking my elder daughter on a European city break (Prague?) after she sits her final degree exam and then to attending her graduation ceremony in the summer
• campaigning for the Green Party in this year's local and European elections and persuading people to consider the environmental impact of their vote
• getting my head around Quaker faith and practice and perhaps attending the Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath (even if it's only for a day or so)
• helping to convince more individuals and businesses of the merits of the Bristol Pound
• listening to the debate on Scottish independence and (hopefully?) witnessing the birth of an independent Scotland in September
• carrying on baking, campaigning, composting, crocheting, gardening, knitting, protesting, reading, recycling, singing, walking,  ...

Happy New Year to all of you!

On the Second Day of Christmas: In praise of Boxing Day

I love Boxing Day.  True, it lacks the excitement of Christmas - the midnight mass, the hanging of stockings, the Bucks Fizz, Nigella's Christmas Morning muffins, the ripping of wrapping paper, the candlelit dining table, the silly cracker jokes, the sparkling wine, the flaming pudding, the Christmas specials on the telly ...

But there's joy in waking up (late) the day after, that even a pile of unwashed dishes cannot dampen.  It's a slower gentler sort of day.  There's a fridge full of food to be eaten, a mountain of books to be read, CDs to be listened to and DVDs to be watched, a jigsaw to be started, boxes of chocolates to be explored - and all the time in the world to do it.

Less expectation.  More enjoyment.

PS  I may get round to posting a photo later on today.  But then again, maybe not.

PPS  In case anyone was wondering, the confit turned out alright.  A touch salty, as I feared, but no one seemed to mind.

This Weekend ...

... I discussed Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss at Reading Group

(interesting account of a year in Iceland at a momentous time, but I'm not converted to non-fiction)

... I accompanied my younger daughter to an interview at Plymouth University
(very successful!)

... I made kartoffelsalat  for a shared lunch following this morning's Quaker meeting
(eating together is the best way to get to know people and should be compulsory in all organisations)

... I entered the Observer's Viewfinder competition
(I'm sure I have the correct answer but I'm equally sure I'm not alone)

This evening I shall be eating roast lamb (lovingly prepared by my husband) and catching up on Borgen 

11/365

Reading Group

On the Twenty Fifth Day of December

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day.

Don't clean it up too quickly.

Andy Rooney (American radio and television writer)

 As if ...