Great British Bake Off 2016 Week 2 - Biscuit Week

So who ever wants an over 30cm high gingerbread representation of anything at an event? Nobody I can think of so I won't be making anything huge in gingerbread this week.  Who likes gingerbread enough to want to eat it anyway, particularly about 2kg of the stuff?
So it's biscuit week and I've made some iced beach huts in honour of my lovely friend Melinda who is leaving me after 11 years 10 months and a day.  We'll still be friends but now we'll only be friends without the backup of being colleagues.

Melinda is a bit of a rock for me, she made me feel welcome when I joined St Dunstan's (a bit of a shock to the system joining a 90 year old charity that still had records of people born in 18xx), she was there to eat some of my shiny cake when I was encouraged by Adrian to 'get rid of all of it'.  She is my favourite shopping companion because I can share my cellulite and excess central blubber with her without hating myself.  Melinda is a great day hotel companion - when on business and everyone else is being a bit serious and managerial we can giggle like naughty boarding school girls yet still get the job done.  Away on holiday we enjoy the same things, paintings, opera, handbag buying and taking refreshment.
Melinda is also a bit bonkers - this picture was taken at 17.14 yesterday.  That was 14 minutes after her contract of employment ended and she's still working while I stand behind her tapping my watch and wanting to start the weekend.   I hope your new employer appreciates your dedication, exuberance and doesn't mind your colourful vocabulary.  Good luck, I look forward to Bucharest (or is that Budapest or Dubrovnik?)
I did make the full complement of 24 iced biscuits even though only 15 made it into the photo - I can't claim to have completed them in 150 minutes.  Surely the time constraints on GBBO are not real?  My huts were made in instalments fitted around work, book club and discussing the pantry with a carpenter and cooking and eating dinner but added together my minutes would have exceeded 150 by far I'm sure and I can see they are a little rustic and rough around the edges.  How Andrew produced those perfect bee biscuits in less than 2 and a half hours is beyond me.
I love the Bake Off including the Extra Slice but my problem is I want to try every bake and I can't keep up with the eating, although this is encouraging my attempts to get running again (at least my weight remains neutral this way).

Great British Bake Off 2016 Week 1 - Cake Week

I have to disagree with Mary Berry when she says Jaffa Cakes are nowhere near as tricky to make at home as you may think.  That's not my experience.

It looked quite easy and I have a rounded bottom bun pan so how hard could this be?  My first batch were a disaster because the sponge all stuck to the pan and I couldn't get them out in one piece.  Not one to give up too easily I went to every cookshop in Horsham (admittedly that is only 5 different places, but still) to try to buy a better quality non sick pan - no luck.  Then I tried the same 5 places for lecithin spray - no luck there either, but I did manage to buy coconut oil spray - still not slide out sponge but removable with the application of a plastic spoon and each was more or less in one piece.  

So I persevered with the stuck to the pan cakes and my first batch of jelly worked okay.  I didn't have a packet jelly so I improvised with some St Clements sauce and leaf gelatine.  That actually worked really well, tasted good and kept its shape.  Colour was a bit umber but hiding under chocolate who’d notice?  

The chocolate was not so easy to temper as you might think as my thermometer decided to behave the way my Renault 9’s engine did when I blew the head gasket – up and down like a maniac so quite difficult to follow.  Applying it was a challenge too, I opted for a silicone pastry brush in the end but it looked more like I’d used a trowel.  Who knew Jaffa Cakes had a criss-cross pattern?  I learned after a number of failed attempts that this is achieved by pressing the fork lightly into the soft chocolate, lifting and repeating at 90˚.

I've now been through a lot of eggs and caster sugar and created a lot of washing up.  I’ve eaten quite a lot of very ugly Jaffa Cakes and inflicted some of them on my lovely and polite colleagues who ate them without laughing but didn’t ask for another.

Not one to give up too easily I then found a very expensive non stick pan in a shop I hadn't tried on my first attempt and started the whole rigmarole again.  Still a bit sticky but not quite so bad.  I’ve decided to turn them over (I know this didn’t work for Andrew in the tent but mine are a bit more like double sided mini flying saucers so you can’t really tell they are upside down) and let the smooth tops be the bottom and the rough bottoms be covered in chocolate.  Taste is okay but I’m not sure how you're supposed to release fatless sponge from the pan when you can’t line it with greaseproof paper.

I got the thermometer under control this time but then the jelly wouldn’t set.  It pretended to be set when it came out of the fridge but instantly melted when it reached room temperature which was really inconvenient as it slipped out from under the chocolate on the first three before I noticed it had melted.

I’m not giving up but I have run out of eggs now.

I don’t even like the combination of orange and chocolate and I’m supposed to be trying to lose weight.  

Maybe I should try the drizzle cake – Might have more success with that.  Fatless sponge doesn't seem to be my friend but then Andrew pulled a great shiny cake out of the bag and his Jaffa Cakes came last in the technical challenge.
... A few days later. Finally cracked the jaffa cake.  Cakes released, jelly set, chocolate spread without going all round the bottom.  Not sure I'll bother with them again and still disagree with Mary about how easy they are to make.

On the other hand the shiny cake looks much more impressive but I found it easier to make.  Slight mishap when I forgot to add the melted butter until just before opening the oven door so had to divide it and mix into the pans but I think I got away with that.  My my sponges were a bit short making it a challenging to create 4 layers but overall much more successful and only one attempt to complete the whole cake.  Might do this one again, the caramel cream is lovely even though I forgot to keep some aside to pipe on the top.  Major problem is now I have this cake and need someone to come and help me to eat it.

And so to biscuit week

25 Hours in Helsinki - Sisters on Tour

All started well at Heathrow with a relaxing drink in the lounge and no last minute panic.  Ironically we decided against buying any duty free booze for the trip - a grave mistake.  Alcohol is very expensive in Scandinavia and also, we discovered not as easily available as in the UK.  Reminded me a bit of South Africa in the days when the liquor was all caged off and not for sale on a Sunday.

Airports look the same everywhere but I still find it a little exciting to see the name of the city sticking up from the airport building (I know you can't really see it here but I know it's there).

I am a bit of a rail enthusiast and find an attractive railway station worthy of recording.  It would also be true to say that there is not really much else in Helsinki on the midsummer weekend to see, do or experience.  Everything was closed - shops, museums, galleries, theatres, restaurants, pubs, bars, EVERYTHING.  A lawyer and a smiley arm rubber together in an closed city was not a fun combination.  We tried as hard as we could - even contemplated leaving Helsinki for Estonia until we discovered that was closed for the weekend too.

So we appealed to British Airways for a change of return flight and hot footed it back to Blighty and the Ickenham Festival.
The crew on the return flight took pity on us in the form of lots of complimentary champagne and our short break was successfully shortened even further.

This was the only alcoholic beverage we could buy in Helsinki over the weekend.  When we enquired about vodka or full strength wine we were told that they were only available at government shops that would not reopen until we were safely back at work.  To be honest that really put the lid on the trip - even slipping into a coma was not available in Helsinki.
I'm sure there are other times of year when it's a fun place but I don't think I'm going to take the chance again.

Wednesday 15 October 2014 - Interesting Day

A poorly planned working Wednesday in October starts with the usual drive to Brighton followed, after a mornings work by a dash to Gatwick to get to London to meet one of the Hillside Book Clubbers for a quick drink at her club in the hope of meeting Lynne Hatwell, the Dove Grey Reader who was giving a talk the next day that neither of us could attend.
I had expected a brief meet with Lynne, a quick drink and then home for the usual dinner in front of the telly.  I hadn't expected to take a surreal journey from one interesting encounter to another.
I was a bit behind schedule to be honest and should have got an earlier train but I would have missed all the fun.  On the 14.08 train from Gatwick to Victoria I sat opposite someone clicking away on his MacBook and as you do on London trains we ignored each other.  Then at East Croydon another passenger boarded and sat beside me and these two men knew each other and began an interesting conversation about the film Tristan Loraine was making (thats the MacBook guy) and the art Gordon Cheung (the East Croydon passenger and contemporary artist).
As we approached the conversation overflowed to include me and another woman who proudly described herself as an investment consultant which has a certain irony as she was addressing someone who is accusing some of the worlds largest companies of damaging the health of their customers and someone Wikipedia describes as an artist whose work captures the mood of the global collapse of civilization where moral, economic, and environmental crises have spun out of control.  I did not own up to working in human resources!
After a bit of the usual at work I set off in the rain to meet Cheryl for our rendezvous.  After crossing the road to meet her at Green Park station I turned around to find her standing where I had set off from.  Given that poor start its not really surprising that we had two failed attempts to find the University Women's Club but we got there in the end.
We ordered a G&T and then managed to be seated in the corner of the room chatting to the Dove Grey Reader and Susie Partridge chatting about books when a stream of women who were very obviously not English started to arrive.  Beautifully made up and coiffed, perfect smiles and stylish clothes were the clues that this was the Daughters of the American Revolution.  In their midst was their President General Lynn F Young wearing a glittering sash of diamond and gold badges, like a Brownie on steroids.  Compared to these polished creatures I felt like a peahen looking on a peacock displaying and shaking his tail feathers.
I half expected to meet David Suchet on the return journey but that will have to wait for the next time.
Thanks Cheryl for inviting me - I had a most interesting afternoon.

Caister Soul Weekender 2014

A weekend in Great Yarmouth at the Vauxhall Holiday Camp

Mums on Tour go east to Caister-on-Sea for two days of northern soul, dancing in uncomfortable heels, late night chips with curry sauce (or mushy peas - minted or otherwise) and lots of sweeping in the caravan.  Thanks to Jodie for driving Marguerite, Pippa and I there and back and for having a car that fitted all of our luggage. We arrived at the Vauxhall Holiday Camp just in time for dinner.  Not wanting to eat chips and mushy peas for 2 days in a row we decided on the first restaurant that we found only to discover it was a little bit posher than we had planned for.  The food was delicious and the Greek Cypriot Nutritionist host was charming.  We managed to get back to the camp as Alison and Helen arrived  and we all set off into the thick of the dance.  Not having quite enough stamina to keep going beyond 2am we turned in.

After a fry up on Saturday morning a group of us went into the metropolis of Great Yarmouth.  The taxi set us down outside what must be one of the world's less interesting visitor attractions 

Scroby Sands Wind Farm Visitor Centre.  

The allure of this attraction failed to draw us in and we went for a stroll on the beach instead where Marguerite had a paddle and my introduction to Great Yarmouth was a flabby man doing pushups and alternating swigs of whiskey and coke from two bottles they were sharing.  We walked around the and saw an interesting mix of people who seem to have a propensity for stealing restaurant menus if the behaviour of the staff at the Swoosh Cafe Bar is anything to go by.   We gave up looking for a cash machine that didn't charge and headed back to the caravan.

Preparations for the big night started with included lots of hair curling and positioning of berets.  No tour would be complete without Marguerites cleavage putting in an appearance.
Getting ready to go out is sometimes the best part of the evening, great company - and its really hard to curl your own hair.
The transformation took a while and a few bottles of fizz but French Resistance got it's six new recruits and we made it out on time.








Helen had a little mishap with the curling iron so Alison took over while Helen ran her burned fingers under the tap.

United United Kingdom - Sheep say no

There's More to Orkney than Fudge,  day 6 - 19 September 2014

Woke up to the news that we were still in our home country which was good start to our last day.

We visited the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodger.  There is speculation about a connection between the two and they are quite close geographically and also date wise.  The ring of Brodger is featured in the advert for the Ryder cup that's on TV (but fortunately not for long as it had thankfully ended) at the moment.

 Best sight of the holiday, the campaigning sheep.

Referendum Day

There's More to Orkney than Fudge,  day 5 - 14 September 2014

On the big day itself we busied ourselves around the islands starting at the Brough of Birsay.  Planning a visit to this tidal island needs to take the tide tables into account because you can only cross at low tide when the causeway is not covered by water.  Viking settlement with traces of earlier Pictish inhabitants.  Interesting triangular stones used in the construction.

Make sure you don't step back as it's a long, cold and rugged way down.

You can't see it but I know it is there on the land in the distance is a memorial to Lord Kitchener (of Your Country Needs You fame).  He went down with HMS Hampshire when it struck a German mine in the water you see here on 5 June 1919 along with 600 others.

We made it back over the causeway in time and then went back in time again to the Iron Age to the Broch of Gurness.

Zoom forward 2,00 years to the very modern, very slickly marketed Highland Park distillery.  The northernmost distillery of Scotch (only by half a mile) in the world.  In order to be labelled Scotch whiskey has to be created and matured in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years and 1 day.
I was going to buy a bottle but one of the other tourists pointed out that it was on offer in Tesco's for £8.00 less per bottle than it was on sale for at the distillery.  He went on to add that the Kirkwall Tesco had sold out on the day the offer started so I bought a bottle at Horsham for the offer price.   The two Orkney distilleries (the other one is Scapa) both make single malt whiskies and I had my own blind tasting session.  I really wanted the Scapa one to win because I like the bottle more but the Highland Park tasted better.

Skara Brae, bump in the road and the Italian Chapel

There's more to Orkney than Fudge, day 4 - 17 September 2014

While all the residents of Orkey were making their last minute decisions about whether to remain in the Union or notwe were heading back in time 5,000 years.
It was Skara Brae that brought us to Orkney.  Ever since I first saw Simon Schma's History of Britain I've wanted to visit and it didn't disappoint.  

Skara Brae is one of many surviving Neolithic monuments that remain unaltered I imagine this is due to the remote location and sparse population and because the Romans never occupied Scotland or its islands.
The settlement hugs a dramatic coastline now but when it was inhabited it was further away from the sea and there was a freshwater lake in between.

It doesn't look much in a photograph but the dry walls that survive have survived show a primitive but quite comfortable settlement with stone furniture and built in beds.
The local laird William Watt of Skaill discovered the remains on his land in 1850 after a violent storm uncovered them.




The laird's home Skaill House, built in 1620 for Bishop Graham who was the bishop of Kirkwall Cathedral,  is also open to visitors, there is holiday accommodation there but we didn't see it so I have no idea what it's like.  To modern eyes it feels as though the house is placed in a very remote and inaccessible location but when it was built the sea was the highway which puts a different perspective on it's location.
The house has been renovated and presented as a family home of the 1950s.  In the library there is a bookcase that opens to reveal a secret hiding place for valuables.

After leaving Skara Brae we headed back towards Kirkwall.  We stopped on the way at this bumpred tomb.  This bump in the road doesn't look very exciting from this view but it is amazing inside.  You enter through a low tunnel and have to be very careful not to bang your head on the enormous stones that from the tunnel.
in the 12th century Norsemen had entered the tomb, probably to shelter from the Orkney weather.  While they were in there they made several graffiti including the famous dragon.

A few miles and 5,000 years forward we stopped at the Italian chapel.  Built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII the chapel is beautiful from the front and inside but a side view reveals that it is a converted Romney hut - very enterprising prisoners.

We finished off the day with a stroll into Kirkwall and a drink at The Reel where one of the people we had met at the dance on Monday came and chatted to us.
We left it a bit late for dinner where everywhere we tried was closed except the Dil Se Indian restaurant where we had a lovely, inexpensive meal served by charming staff.

Scapa Flow, good food and guide cats

There's more to Orkney than Fudge, day 3 - 16 September 2014

Day three started well with black pudding, bacon and baked beans.  Took the bus to Houghton and walked onto the ferry to Lyness on the island of Hoy.  Not realising we could ride up top and enjoy the view we sat in the dungeon that was the passenger lounge for the crossing.
There is no alternative way of crossing back to the mainland so you have to make sure you don't miss the ferry back.

It's only a short walk from the ferry terminal to the Scapa Flow museum and as we approached I was surprised to see what looked like a Russian flag flying there.  When we got there it did turn out to be a Russian flag alongside the Union flag at this memorial with inscription in English and Russian erected in memory of the brave men who manned the arctic convoys during WWII.

Lyness was the Royal Navy base during WWII and was also the base for the salvage of the scuttled German fleet in 1919.  James Isbister was the first civilian casualty of WWII, killed by Luftwaffe bombs jettisoned over Stromness after a raid on Scapa Flow, on 16 March 1940
Unseasonably warm weather is relative, it was windy (see the flags) and cold.  My new hat came in very handy.


Behind me is Scapa Flow, the body of water, where on 21 June 1919 the captured German fleet of 74 ships hoisted the Imperial German Ensign and 52 of them were scuttled on orders of their German commander rather than letting them be used by the Allies.

The 833 men of HMS Royal Oak mentioned on day 1 were torpedoed in this body of water by german submarine U-47 on 14 October 1939.Behind the museum building (where I had a very nice bowl of home made lentil and vegetable soup) up a flight of stairs is a large oil tank.



Inside the oil tank is an eclectic mix of exhibits including a searchlight, bren-gun carrier and a boat that sailed to Orkney from occupied Norway and a small theatre layout showing a video about the history of Scapa Flow.
How often do you watch a movie inside a large oil tank - selfie was obviously called for.

This stylish fence is part of the anti submarine boom net strung from shore to shore during both 20th century wars.
I recommend a visit to Lyness for anyone visiting Orkne, very moving and interesting perspective on 20th century naval history.  make sure you bring a jumper because the museum is not heated apart from a small room at the back where you can watch any of the various videos in relative comfort.

We caught the ferry back to Houghton and sensibly sat up top this time to enjoy the spectacular view. Photographs don't do it justice so you will have to imagine it and I will remember it.
Changed at Kirkwall for the St Margaret's Hope bus for our dinner at the Creel.  Lovely restaurant with the perfect menu (this or that for for each course, no difficult decisions between multiple dishes).  Lovely restaurant, highly recommended.  After dinner we had a while to wait for the bus so we went for a walk up and down the bay and this very friendly ginger kitten accompanied us.
Then we went into the Murray Arms for a quick one before the 22.11 bus to Kirkwall and witnessed a very lively referendum debate between the patrons, 3 Scots, 1 Englishman the barman and a silent (and therefore of unknown heritage) solitary drinker.  The 3 Scots were decisive 'no' votes and the Englishman seemed to have a death wish as he was very emphatic in his support of the 'yes' vote but ended with the comment 'if it all goes tits up I can piss off back to England'.  evidence of the good natured complexion of the debate is that when we left for our bus he was still alive.

'Yes', 'No', Puffins, hats, burgers and dancing.

There's more to Orkney than Fudge, day 2 - 15 September 2014

Carefully made plans were partially successful today.  After a delicious breakfast we went into Kirkwall and had 40 mins to spare before the bus to Stromness was due so we went into the Kirkwall museum.  It reminded me a bit of the Horsham museum, small but interesting and not too challenging.  We discovered that the ba is an event that happens on Xmas day and New Years Day each year when all the boys under 16 play a type of street football competing for a leather ball stuffed with sawdust.  There are no rules other than to score the goal the Doonies have to get the ba into the salt water of the bay or the Uppies have to get it to a specified part of the city.  At 1pm the men do the same.  Most Orkney hotels are closed during the winter so this is something that remains largely a local spectacle. 

The bus dropped us off at the Stromness ferry terminal and while Adrian was on the phone to Tina our builder I amused myself reading the notice board and saw this flyer and as our dinner plans had fallen through (restaurant not open on Mondays) we decided to have an early dinner and go.

Whilst the south of England was enjoying a late summer heatwave Orkney was having its own unseasonably warm weather, but Orkney warm required the purchase of a hat and the wearing of jumpers and jackets.

Under my new hat to protect me from the Orcadian wind we headed off to explore downtown Stromness.  We had seen lots of puffin stuff (tea towels, pictures, models etc) so we asked a bird artist where we might see some actual puffins, his advice was to look in Sussex so we didn't buy one of his puffin pictures.
Three days to go to the referendum and campaigning was in evidence.  We stopped and had a lovely chat with a 'no' campaigner who shivered through an impassioned explanation of why maintaining the union was the sensible option.

A little further along the street we came across the Stromness office of the 'yes' campaign and had quite a long conversation with a chap who had spent a long time living and working in London and although I didn't agree with all of his assertions it was clear that he was very committed to his cause. He was charming too and the most interesting part of both sides of the debate is that everyone we spoke to was clear that this was not in any way an anti English decision.  When I said to the 'yes' man 'I would be very sorry to see Scotland go' he replied 'we won't be going anywhere, we'll still be friends and trading partners'.
I also got the impression that Alex Salmond is not as popular in Scotland as he would like to be, or thinks he is.

One of the 'yes' man's points was the focus on renewables, which is ironic set against the more frequently mentioned north sea oil and gas.  We asked him what the big metal donuts we had seen across the bay were (pictured here) and he said 'if you see something peculiar that you've never seen before its probably something to do with renewables' so does anyone know what these are?  

After a long and chilly day that left me feeling that the 'yes' and 'no' were quite evenly balanced and the referendum could go either way we were greeted by this cheery pair on our bed back at the hotel.

We had an early dinner at Buster's diner, an American diner with huge portions and friendly service and ventured out to find the dancing.  After a false start at the wrong venue we arrived 30 mins late. It was a really great evening, only one dancer was wearing their referendum opinion (it was a 'no' badge) and we joined in and felt quite at home.



Of course we didn't have a clue what we were doing and everyone was very patient with us.  Fortunately we sat out the most complicated dance of the evening which even half of the Orcadians seemed to have difficulty with.  We chatted to a chap who worked as an air traffic controller at the airport who told us the air traffic in the area was actually surprisingly busy as it included all the inter island traffic and the helicopters out to the oil rigs as well.
One of our new friends offered to take our photo.
The warm welcome, the dancing and laughing made this one of the highlights of the trip for me.