Recipe of the week – Honey and lemon chicken drumsticks

These drumsticks are lovely and lemony and so easy to do. They are great for party food as the quantities can easily be doubled, tripled or to however many you need.

Serves 4

• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• Seasoned plain flour
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• Grated rind and juice of 3 large lemons
• Oil for frying

Pre-heat oven to 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc.

Toss the chicken onto a plate of seasoned flour then shake off any excess flour. Fry the pieces until well browned on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes.

Lay the chicken singularly into a roasting tin, drizzle with the honey and sprinkle with the lemon rind. Pour the lemon juice into the tin and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Recipe of the week – Sticky chicken drumsticks

Wonderfully sticky, yummy and great party food as the servings can be easily doubled, tripled. Plus they’re so easy to make…

Serves 4

• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of tomato puree

Heat oven to 200º c/Gas Mk 6. Fan oven 180ºc.

Make three slashes in each of the drumsticks. Put the soy sauce, honey and puree into a large sealable freezer bag and squish the freezer bag to mix everything together.

Put the drumsticks inside the bag and thoroughly squish them around the mix.

Leave to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

If the chicken has been in the fridge marinating, remove it from the fridge half an hour before you intend to cook it, to allow it to get to room temperature.

Put the chicken into a roasting tin and cook for 35 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is wonderfully sticky and cooked through.

Recipe of the week – Chilled lemon tart

A beautifully creamy tart that is so easy to make.

• 3oz margarine or butter
• 8oz crushed digestive or ginger biscuits
• ½ pint of double cream
• Large tin of condensed milk (218g)
• Grated rind and juice of 3 large lemons

Serves 6 – 8

Melt the margarine/butter in a pan or microwave then stir in the crushed biscuits.

Press the biscuit mix into the base of a 8inch/20cm loose-bottomed tin. Chill for ½ hour.

If you don’t have a loose-bottomed tin, line the tin with baking parchment, allowing an overlap over the side of the tin so you can pull the tart out when it’s set.

Whisk the condensed milk and cream with the juice and rind of the lemons until thick. If you have an electric whisk it will only take a couple of minutes.

Spoon over the biscuit base. Chill until required.

This tart recipe is so versatile:

Instead of one big tart simply spoon the biscuit mix into six or eight individual glass dishes then top with the lemon mix.

You can also make a chilled lime tart by replacing the lemons with four limes.

How about a chocolate lime tart. Mix 1 oz of coco powder to the crushed digestive biscuits then decorate the top of the tart with grated chocolate.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

At This Time Of Year

We're not so old in the Army List,
But we're not so young at our trade.
For we had the honour at Fontenoy
Of meeting the Guards' Brigade.
'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare,
And Lee that led us then,
And after a hundred and seventy years
We're fighting for France again!

From The Irish Guards by Rudyard Kipling

Coalition is the way of things in modern conflicts. It’s been 29 years since Britain fought a war alone, and more than a century to the one before that.

But fighting a war as part of a coalition can throw up some strange alliances. People traditionally thought of as “the enemy” can suddenly become allies and vice versa. Britain’s traditional enemy was always France, and yet in the two great wars of the 20^th Century France was our ally. Similarly we generally regarded Germany as an ally and yet …

For example :

The author JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings etc.) served as an officer in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1916 and with his language skills he was often called on to question prisoners. He told of a conversation with a German soldier from the Hanoverian Regiment. The soldier pointed out the irony of how at the battle of Minden on 1759 his Hanoverians fought shoulder to shoulder with Tolkien’s Lancashires against the French.

And lets not forget that while British losses between 1914 and 1918 were 704,803 some of our allies (and enemies) losses were beyond comprehension.

Russia 1,811,000

France 1,397,800

Italy 651,000

Serbia 275,000

British Empire 251,900

Romania 250,000

USA 126,000

Belgium 58,637

Greece 26,000

Portugal 7,222

Japan 415

And from the Central Powers

Germany 2,050,697

Austria 1,100,000

Turkey 771,844

Bulgaria 87,500

I was reminded of this many years ago when I came across this war memorial in Venice. It commemorates the Italian soldiers who lost their lives fighting against the Austrians and Germans between 1915 and 1918. Note that Italy (and Japan too) fought with us in that conflict.

Recipe of the week - Sticky sausages

These are incredibly sticky and moreish. One is simply not enough….

Serves 10 – 12 people

• 2lb cocktail sausages – frozen ones are ideal
• 3 tablespoons of runny honey
• 5 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

Pre-heat oven to 200º c/Gas Mk 6. Fan oven 180ºc.

Combine everything into a bowl or large sealable freezer bag and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge.

Remove the marinated sausages from the fridge half an hour before you intend to cook it to allow it to get to room temperature.

Put the sausages onto a roasting tin which has been lined with foil (or use a disposable foil roasting tin) and cook for 35 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Allow to cool slightly before you try to eat them as they will be very hot !!!!

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Recipe of the week – cheese sauce and garlic bread

I mentioned in last week ‘recipe of the week – lasagne’ that I had a short cut for cheese sauce. Here it is…

There’s a wonderful product on the market called ‘sauce flour’ which makes perfect cheese sauce every time. It’s made by a company called ‘Carr’s’ or Sainsbury’s do their own brand.

To make cheese sauce all you do is add one heaped tablespoon of the sauce flour and 1oz of cheese, chopped into small pieces or grated, to a pan with ½ pint of milk.

Whisk until the sauce comes to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for three minutes.

You can also make the sauce in the microwave. Measure out the milk into a microwavable jug then add the flour and cheese.

Cook on High, whisking every 30 seconds, until you get the consistency you require. It should take about 2 ½ - 3 minutes.

Garlic Bread

A really quick and easy way to make garlic bread

Serves 2

• 1 part baked baguette
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated or pressed through a garlic press
• 1 dessertspoon of low fat spread
• ½ teaspoon of dried herbs (mix herbs are ideal)

Cook the baguettes as per their instructions. Allow to cool.

Pre-heat the grill to high.

Half the baguette then cut each piece horizontally.

In a small bowl add the low fat spread, garlic and the dried herbs. Mix well.

Spread the garlic ‘butter’ over the four baguette pieces.

Place under the grill until the garlic ‘butter’ has melted and the baguette is golden brown.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

It’s gym Jim but not as we know it

This morning I did something which I never thought I’d ever do – I joined a gym !!!!!

A couple of months ago when I went to see my GP I explained that I was having problems with my weight. Because I’m not moving around as much I’m not burning off calories, so the excess weight was giving me a rather large spare tyre…..

“I know just the thing”, said Dr Blake, “I’ll arrange some neuo-physio for you and I’ll refer you onto the Sunderland Exercise Referral Programme”.

Twice a week I attend a hourly neuo-physio session with Christina at the Royal Hospital (full details will appear in the Joint Journal in the coming weeks) where she gives my abs, my cardio-vascular system and everything from the waist up a good workout.

The Referral Programme consists of fifteen weeks – with a personal trainer at a gym….

This morning ‘Scott’ my personal trainer handed me my gym membership card (again full details will appear in the Joint Journal in the coming weeks).

I can’t believe it – me a member of a gym !!!!!!

Marie

Daylight robbery

I got an email from our energy supplier E-off (name changed to protect the guilty !!) to say our latest bill was ready to view online.

I did and we were £176 in credit.

A couple of days later I received a letter from E-off to say that they had reviewed our monthly direct debit payments and were going to put our payment up from £76 a month to £106 a month.

I appreciate that energy companies have put up their prices recently, however wanting an extra £30 a month is not on. So I gave them a ring.

“I’m sorry Mrs Harper but the payment increase is not negotiable”, said the snotty little man.

“That’s never been the case in the past”, I replied.

He typed away on his computer, “I can reduce it down a little by £2 extra a month so you would be paying £104 instead”.

“There’s no way I’m paying that”, I said defiantly.

“You could do try and do something to reduce your energy consumption”, he said, patronisingly, “get a new boiler”.

“Got one”.

“Loft insulation”.

“Got it”.

“Turn down your boiler thermostat”.

“We have”.

“Get cavity walls fitted”.

“We can’t. There’s rubble between the bricks”.

“I’m afraid you’ve just lost yourself a customer”, I said, “if you insist that I have to pay an extra £30 a month then you leave me no choice but to change energy suppliers”.

No doubt he’ll have heard this all before, however I’m a person who does not do idle threats. I actually carry them out.

Half an hour later and we have saved £170 a year by switching to Scottish Power….

Later that day I got a telephone call. It was E-off.

“I understand Mrs Harper that you are switching energy suppliers to Scottish Power. Is that correct”.

“It is”.

“Could you tell me why you are doing so”.

I told him. He then started blabbering on about how competitive E-off were compared to Scottish Power.

"If that's the case how come I can save £170 by switching to them. I'm sorry but you have lost a customer. Please excuse me as I'm in the middle of eating my dinner. Good bye...."

Recipe of the week - Lasagne

An extremely quick and simple way to make great lasagne. I love it served in individual dishes but you can make it in one big one then divide it out.

Serves 2

• 6oz of mince, preferably lean
• ½ pint of cheese sauce
• Dolmio Bolognaise sauce (320g jar)
• 6 sheets of lasagne
• Black pepper

Pre-heat oven: 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc

Dry fry the mince in a frying pan until brown.

Put the bolognaise sauce into a bowl. Add a little water to the jar, give it a good shake, then pour the juice into the bowl.

Remove the mince from the pan using a slotted spoon to drain away any excess fat then mix it into the bolognaise sauce.

Make the cheese sauce and add black pepper to taste.

Spread a little of the bolognaise sauce in the base of either two ovenproof dishes or one large ovenproof dish. Top with one sheet of lasagne if using individual dishes or two sheets if using one dish. Do this twice more.

Pour the cheese sauce over the lasagne, making sure that it’s all covered with the sauce.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

It's delicious served with garlic bread.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Recipe of the week – Chicken curry

This is a lovely thick curry which isn’t too spicy. If you prefer it hotter simply add more paste. If you’re not a garlic lover, please don’t leave it out as the curry is very bland without it. Just add one clove instead. Trust me you won’t be disappointed.

Chicken Curry

Serves 2

• 6oz of chicken cut into bit sized pieces (you can use more chicken if you like)
• 1 green pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 button mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, grated or pressed through a garlic press
• Two teaspoons of oil
• 1 pint of hot chicken stock (from a stock cube is fine)
• 1 tablespoon of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of curry paste (Pataks Balti is perfect)

Add the oil to a frying pan and cook the chicken pieces on a medium/high heat for about 15 - 20 minutes until they’re browned and thoroughly cooked inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and put to one side.

Add the chopped pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic and cook on a medium high heat for approx five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the plain flour and the curry paste and mix well. Add the hot stock and again mix well. Finally add the chicken back to the pan and give it a good mix.

Cook on a medium high heat for approx 20 - 25 minutes until the curry is thick.

Serve with rice.

The curry can also be made in a slow cooker

Add the chicken pieces, pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic into a frying pan with the oil and cook on high for five minutes. Stirring occasionally.

Add the plain flour and curry paste and mix well. Finally add the chicken stock. As a slow cooker will not boil away the liquid, you will only need ¼ pint of stock.

Transfer to the slow cooker and cook on Low for 8 hours. The curry will not be as thick as one done on the top of the oven so don’t panic if it’s slightly runny….

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

Starting tomorrow…

…will be further adventures from the ‘Joint Journals’.

Simply click on the link at the right of the page.

Don’t miss it…..

Marie

Recipe of the week - Boozy Christmas cake

I’ve been meaning to put up on the blog my various recipes, however, I just never seemed to got round to doing it.

So I thought I’d give them to you as a ‘recipe of the week’ slot on the blog. All the recipes featured are mine, and haven’t simply been lifted from a cookery book.

Seeing as it’s getting close to the time when you should start to be making your Christmas cake, here’s my recipe for a really moist, boozy fruit cake.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

7inch/ 18cm round tin or 6inch/ 16cm square tin

• 7oz Currants
• 4oz Sultanas
• 2oz Raisins
• 2oz Glace Cherries – chopped
• 2oz Mixed Peel
• 2oz Mixed Chopped Nuts
• 2 tablespoon Brandy/ Rum or any spirit
• 5oz Plain Flour – sieved
• 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 1oz Ground Almonds
• 4oz Soft Brown Sugar
• 4oz Butter (softened)
• 1 tablespoon Black Treacle
• 3 Eggs

9inch/ 22cm round tin or 8inch/ 20cm square tin

• 13oz Currants
• 7oz Sultanas
• 3 ½oz Raisins
• 3 ½oz Glace Cherries – chopped
• 3 ½oz Mixed Peel
• 3 ½oz Mixed Chopped Nuts
• 3 tablespoon Brandy/ Rum or any spirit
• 9oz Plain Flour – sieved
• 1 ¾ teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 2oz Ground Almonds
• 8oz Soft Brown Sugar
• 8oz Butter (softened)
• 1 ½ tablespoon Black Treacle
• 5 Eggs

Put all fruit in a bowl, coat with the alcohol and leave overnight.

Preheat oven to 140º c/ Gas Mk 1. Fan oven 130º c.

Line the tin with two sheets of baking parchment. You could use greaseproof paper, however you must grease it with butter.

Add all the ingredients except for the fruit into a bowl. Mix well. Add half of the fruit to the bowl, mix, then add the rest of the fruit and mix again.

Scrape the mixture into the tin, making a slight well in the centre of the cake - this will stop the centre from rising. Take hold of the tin and tap it a couple of times onto a hard surface. This gets rid of any air bubbles.

Cover the top and sides of the tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper or brown paper. Bake in the centre of the oven for two ½ hours for cake tin sizes 6 and 7 inch and three hours for cake tin sizes 8 and 9 inch.

To check whether the cake is done place a skewer (a knitting needle or piece of spaghetti are ideal) in the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it’s not, return to the oven for another 30 minutes and check again.

Leave to cool completely in the tin. When cool pierce the top of the cake all over with a skewer (a cocktail stick is perfect). Drizzle two or three tablespoons of the alcohol you used in the mixture over the cake. Wrap the cake well in a double layer of greaseproof paper then a double layer of tinfoil.

Leave the cake for one week. Unwrap it, turn the cake over, then skewer and ‘feed’ the cake again. Repeat the ‘feeding’ process until one week before Christmas.

If decorating the cake cover with marzipan (brush warm apricot jam over the cake before applying the marzipan). Leave the marzipan to dry for a day or two. Ice the cake either with ready-to-roll icing or royal icing.

Enjoy !!!

Ten things beginning with...

Paul posted a ‘ten things I like’ on his Gottle blog and those who commented on his post would be given a letter to use in our own ‘ten things…’. He gave me the letter ‘L’.

So here’s my ‘ten things beginning with “L” that I like’.

Livorno: A city on the western edge of Tuscany. We visited it when we were on our cruise.

Oscar Levant: an American pianist, composer, actor and friend of the Gershwins.

Lemons: Some of my best baking uses lemons – lemon drizzle cake; lemon sponge; ‘Chilled Lemon’ tart.

Lollys: The ‘FAB’ ones or any that have hundreds and thousands on. They take me right back to childhood.

Ivan Lendl: He is my favourite tennis player of all time

Left handed: Strange as it may seem but I like being left handed. It’s a very exclusive club – Alexander the Great, Michelangelo, Hans Christian Andersen, Queen Victoria, Steve McQueen, Douglas Adams all were left handed.

Lottery: A couple of years ago we got five numbers on the lottery and won £2461. One more number and we would have had a half share of £8m.

Land before Time film: It’s my favourite cartoon film. However I can’t watch it without a box of tissues handy – I’m a big softie !!!!

Licking the mixing bowl: It has to be one of life’s little pleasures, licking the mixing bowl after making a cake.

Lilt zero: The pineapple and grapefruit drink. Straight from the fridge, it’s lovely and refreshing.

A challenge for myself, the ten things beginning With “A to Z (minus L”) that I like’…

Marie

Holidays – week two

Week two started pretty much like the previous week so Saturday and Sunday were relatively quite days.

Monday and Tuesday John tackled the loft. It needed more insulation on the walls and ceiling so several polystyrene sheets were bought from Wicks (that was the order they messed up last week).

It was also a good time to go through all the stuff that had accumulated in the loft. There must have been more boxes than Pickford’s up there!!!!!!!!

Wednesday we had a day out in Weardale. We had a lovely car picnic lunch overlooking the hills near Stanhope. Then on the way home we stopped off at the Wessington pub for dinner.

Thursday we decided we’d try a new ice-cream parlour that had recently opened in Sea Road. The recent promotional flyer that had come through our door looked really enticing: a huge selection of food and ice-cream, good Wizzy access and a warm, friendly welcome - I think you can see where this is going…….

The thin tatty table menu didn’t live up to the ‘huge selection of food and ice-cream’; the no step at the entrance doesn’t count as ‘good Wizzy access’ when you have to encounter a slalom to get into the building and the ‘warm friendly welcome’ didn’t exist – we were the only customers, yet were completely ignored by the three members of staff. We walked out…..

Instead we went to ‘Subway’ for our lunch, where the staff couldn’t have more friendly and helpful. Given that Sea Road is now awash with eating establishments, I don’t think the parlour will be around for very long.

Friday we went to the Chinese again for lunch and as usual the service and food were superb.

Saturday we got Big Bertha down from the loft (she’s a huge carpet cleaner) and gave the carpets a good clean. The water that came out into the reservoir was filthy !!!!!!

We spent Sunday just chilling out and not doing a great deal – not a bad way to spend the holidays.

Marie

Holidays – week one

John’s on holiday from work for two weeks, and for once, it’s not been spent doing major DIY projects.

Saturday and Sunday were quiet days not doing very much.

Monday saw John trying to fix a persistence leak in the bathroom. So far, no water….

Tuesday I had an appointment to see the Hand (Wo)Man at the hospital. She has advised me to have surgery on my hand as it’ll only get worse. Full details will appear in the Joint Journal, when I eventually get round to typing it up…..

We then went to the Wessington Pub for lunch – two x three sausages, two fried eggs, chips and peas, followed by apple pie (no custard for me).

After that it was some retail therapy – five huge balls of wool, five pieces of fabric, two cardigans, one top, two irons and some headphones.

Wednesday we went to Alnwick to visit one of the biggest second-hand bookshops in the UK. John had been wanting to visit it for ages but we never had the time – until now. What a place it was !!!!

No sooner had John left me at ‘Cookery’ I had my eye on a 1954 four volume set on catering and a 1953 edition on ‘Good Housekeeping Complete Cookery’. John found a 1938 army manual on driving and maintaining motor vehicles – it smells like the inside of a classic car…..

After spending a fortune on those we then headed to the Metro Centre to do yet more retail therapy.

Thursday was meant to be a DIY day in the loft for John, however Wicks forgot to order his bits and pieces…. The Customer from Hell also made an appearance. Yet another problem with my prescription from Lloyds the chemist. Again full details will appear in the Joint Journal.

Friday was my birthday. The Birthday Bunny was extremely generous so I got loads of presents from him – mainly books and a two CD set of Showadywaddy, which I’m playing constantly (sorry John….).

I’m afraid there isn’t much left of my birthday cake.



Blowing my own trumpet time here as I made it – it’s yummy !!!!!

Saturday and today are more quite days.

So here’s to week two….

Marie

Keeping busy – part 1

As I’m stuck at home pretty much all of the time, stopping myself from being bored can be a little difficult. There are always things on the go.

Currently there’s:

• Two large cross stitch patterns of a tigers eye and a tiger cub
  
• A crochet blanket
• A knitted cable blanket
• Two needlepoint cushions
• Three small needlepoint scissors bags (which I picked up at the needlework class on our cruise)
• One shirt to finish off sewing, another one to to make
• Writing my second novel
• Several books to finish off reading
• Learning to play the piano and the clarinet

I’ve also been trying my hand at making bags and making models (photos of which will appear in ‘Keeping busy – part 2’).

This was my first attempt at bag making. It’s mainly scraps of material from John’s old work shirts.

I made this make-up bag from an old camisole top.

This one was my first attempt a making a patchwork bag. Again it’s made up of scraps of material. It has two flaps so you can wear it different ways.

After making three bags, and with help from my mam who’s very much into patchwork/quilting, I felt confident enough to make a proper one, using bought fabric.

It was a birthday present for Jenny (I hope she liked it !!!!!). Just for a bit of fun I quilted paw prints going up and down the bag and attached a keyring coin purse to one of the straps.

As I’ve got a huge box full of scrap bits of fabric it’s my plan to make as many bags as I can, just by using up the scraps. Thankfully a woman can never have too many bags…..

Marie

Medically speaking

Things have been very quiet in the BOGOF household – as usual – so I thought I’d briefly keep you up-to-date with all things medical (a full various of events will appear in the Joint Journal – when I eventually get them written up !!!!)

Not content with being on Kermit’s, the Man Himself and the Back Man’s consulting books, I’ve now on another two - with one more to be added later….

The first one is a pain consultant – other wise known as the Pain Man. My GP referred me to see him as my painkillers weren’t working and she’d ran out of idea’s as to what to give me. He upped the doze of one lot of the painkillers and changed the one’s I take on a night time. I go back to see him sometime in October.

The second consultant is a neurologist – other wise known as the Hand Man (even though she’s a woman. I named her that before I knew she was a female ….). Back in October I began experiencing problems with my left wrist. My GP thought it might be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome so referred me to see the Hand Man.

After performing various tests on my wrist she confirmed it was CTS. I was then sent for a further test to determine how bad it was. The test showed that I had ‘moderately severe’ CTS and the only cure is surgery.

I am now waiting on a mobile physiotherapist to come and fit me with a wrist splint to wear in bed, with an appointment to see a Hand Surgeon to be made once the splint is in place.

I finally got to see the Back Man, having waited a year to see him since my last appointment. When I saw the Pain Man he kindly explained what had happened to my back so I was pre-warned as to what the Back Man was going to tell me. He showed me my MRI scan and no wonder I am in so much pain - the vertebra had moved a huge distance away from my spine….

The only surgery that can be done is to have rods put in my spine and to try and fuse the vertebra together. However it’s a very risky operation (paralysis, loss of wee and poo functions, etc) so I’ve got to think about it and see him at the end of this month. The answer will still be the same as the one I gave him in June – no way !!!!

My ‘count to ten and smile’ attitude to life is getting harder to do. My GP isn’t sure if it’s the cocktail of 31 tablets I take each day that’s causing it or it’s everything just catching up with me. Counselling is out so I’ve got two months to see if things settle down, then I have to go on the happy pills…..

Marie