After a couple of glasses of wine the conversation moves to the blue screen of death.


- That's why I love my mac.

- It crashes less?


- Not really but you get the little wheel. *quizzical looks fron a couple of people in the room* It's a little circle divided in little portions and it spins.

- Ah *much nodding* and?

- It's basically the same as the blue screen of death only it's prettier.


I wonder if Him Indoors would accept it as a valid argument for buying me a mac?
5.4.06 12:57


The brighter days are back so I am slowly switching out of winter mode and the garden has been calling me out for some TLC which I thought was probably deserved after the neglect of the past few months. First cut of grass for the year and thorough weeding weeding in the flower bed. The garden then repaid me putting on welcoming airs for a spot of knitting which means that Clapotis number 2 is finished at last.

clapotis scarf on wooden chair

Now all I need to do is work out what I could do with the 6 and 1/2 skeins of Summer Tweed which are leftover. I am a bit stumped for ideas at the moment.
8.4.06 18:34


*rewinds to earlier this week*


Stroppycow: I wonder how much my body will make me suffer for going out three nights in a row.


Birthday girl: Where are you going tomorrow?


Stroppycow: Shooting.


Birthday girl: What? Somebody thinks it's a good idea to put a GUN in YOUR hands?



From the same person who accused me last week of not being assertive enough, the mind boggles.
12.4.06 10:17


Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hotcross buns

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.

The Cat In The Hat - Dr. Seuss

Ok
maybe not that cold and yes the sun did shine in the afternoon but the
morning was wet and the enthusiasm to do very much was low. One thing
that requires very little encouragement in the house is baking and what
could be more appropriate than baking hot cross buns on Good Friday?
I couldn't think of anything and The Boy volunteered his services as
kitchen slave once more so hot cross buns we baked and here's the
recipe.

measuring, mixing and kneading the ingredients for hot cross buns

First
put kitchen slave in charge of measuring the ingredients. Warm 250ml of
milk and drop 75g of butter in the hot milk to melt, mix in 1/4 cup of
sugar, a pinch of sugar, 150ml of whey. Check the temperature
(somewhere between tepid and warm, if it feels hot wait a bit for the
liquid to cool down) then add a sachet of yeast, stir and leave a alone
for a few minutes.

Sift 4 cups of flour and a teaspoon each of
cinnamon and mixed spice (actually they could have done with more
cinnamon but it could be because what was in the cupboard had lost some
of its potency). Ask you kitchen slave to beat an egg while you sift Please
note that sifting is best left to kitchen slaves older than 8 or under
8s who are very well coordinated for their age, unless you do not mind
sweeping floury floors and worktops that is. Mix the dry and met
ingredients and add a cup of currants, or alternatively realise you
have ran out of currants, look through the window, observe it's still
raining, mention to Him Indoors you need currants and - as he puts his
shoes on and prepares to run out to the corner shop in the rain - feel
indulgent and decide the buns shall be unorthodox and instead add a cup
of raisins, chopped dried apricots and chopped glace cherries.

kneading, proving and shaping the hot cross buns dough

Knead for 5 minutes or so, it will be quite sticky at first
but don't be tempted to add flour, let the gluten work it magic and
soon enough the dough goes from sticky mess to elastic lump.

Put
the dough away somewhere warm and draughtproof then find something else
to occupy you for 1 and 1/2 hours (or however long it takes for the
dough to rise).

Make your kitchen slave's day as you instruct
them to punch the dough as hard as they can. Knead some more. Shape 16
balls out of the dough and place them in a lined tray. Return the
baking tray to the warm draughtproof place for 1/2 hour.

Ask the
kitchen slave to prepare the paste which will be used to draw the
crosses on the buns. It consists in a bit of flour (about 1/4 cup), a
spoonful of sugar and enough called water to obtain a pipeable
consistency. Pipe the crosses on top of the buns.

Bake 10 minutes
at 200oC and a further 10 at 180oC. While the buns are still hot glaze
them for a nice shiny finish, we used apple jelly but sugar syrup or
warmed and strained jam probably work well too.

Enjoy

adding the crosses, baking and glazing the hot cross buns
14.4.06 22:20


Ask and you shall be answered

To the lovely busybody reader whose email I have unfortunately deleted and thus cannot answer directly here are the answers to your concerns.

  • Yes, I am wearing a ring on the picture showing the crosses being piped. However what the other pictures fail to show is that the ring was not worn during the kneading process. No germs lurking in the stone setting found their way into my buns.
  • Yes, The Boy did wash his hands before handling the food, he was also asked to wash his hands again before he punched back the dough. The reason his hands a brown on the pictures is that his skin is naturally olive toned and he has just returned from a holiday in North Africa with The Boy's Father and She Who Married The Boy's Father. The olive skin comes from his dad's chromosomes, so do his brown eyes. No amount of washing is likely to change that and I can't see myself asking travellers to bring Fair and Lovely cosmetics back from India to make him look paler.
  • The black spot on The Boy's thumb is also not dirt, it's a blood blister which he acquired before the holiday started while playing outside.
  • If you are still in any doubt about whether my or The Boy's hand were clean enough to knead dough please feel free to email me and I will promptly delete your email provide you with a list of people who will happily vouch that my hand washing occasionally borders on OCD.
16.4.06 16:48


Through, wrap around, under, over, through, wrap around... ad infinitum

Close up of The Boy's hand knittingOver the week-end, while Lisa was learning to knit with the help of her mother in law, I cycled to John Lewis to get some circular needles for my latest future UFO. While browsing I saw these children sized flexible needles. Of course they had to find their way to the house. Why should I be the only person in the house half-making things and stuff to accumulate in corners and clutter the place up? No reason whatsoever.

Today after school I sat down with The Boy and the same way my grandmother taught the older of my cousins, my brother and I to knit (her rheumatoid arthritis had progressed too much by the time my sister and the younger cousins were old enough to hold needles).

close up of The Boy's <br />first piece of knitting on the needlesIt was a bit odd breaking down and explaining movements which have become automatic to me. It was even stranger trying to find suitable English words to explain how to do something I have learned to do in French (in my head I knit in French, just like I still can't do any kind of maths in English).

Very quickly The Boy had worked out his own memory aid and while preparing dinner I could hear him repeat: "through, wrap around, under, over"

He has taken to knitting like a duck to water and I guess it won't be long before Yarn Boy has some competition. OK, maybe not while all he can produce are "Jasper tail tip protectors"(TM Lisa) but give him a few years and I am sure he will discover the geek potential of knitting (via YarnBoy) and who knows he might even knit me a probability scarf based on the pattern for Pricilla's Probability Pullover. A pattern which involves throwing dice as you make up the cables has to appeal to the numbers lover in him. And who knows he might not take after me totally and might even finish some of his on the needle projects.
19.4.06 22:37


Cat 1 - Pigeon 0

the cat shows off how he is more lean mean killing machine thatn sweet kitty

Him Indoors on the phone earlier today:

You know the really dopey wood pigeon? And how you said that the cat not having eaten it yet was yet another proof the animal is going senile? Well the cat was just lulling it into a false sense of security. The thing is he cat won't let me go near the dead bird now but I've taken a picture in case you want one for your blog.
24.4.06 20:38


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