11.10.08
Finding the Pate
So, I’ve been experimenting for some time on creating pate. I always try to follow a recipe accurately before attempting any changes, this is especially so for food recipes that I am unfamiliar with.
I found a recipe in a relatively old book first published back in 1966 called “500 Recipes: Dinner & Supper Parties” by Marguerite Pattern, a woman who’s had hundreds of books published, and is even having more books published to this day.
On the top corner of this book, there is a print [3/6] which I suppose means the book is the 3rd one in a series of 6, of which I don’t have and I certainly wasn’t around back in 1966 to pick up cooking tips.
The recipe required what I always thought would be good in a pate: livers, garlic, cream and brandy. This particular recipe required the ingredients to be combined raw and then put in a buttered dish and put in an oven to cook. Interesting, considering that when I’ve looked online for a recipe, the recipes have all cooked the ingredients in various stages before combining, blitzing and poured into a dish and left to set in the fridge before being ready to eat.
So far though, I have been having trouble with success of cooking in the oven from raw (sorry Ms Pattern), in fact after the initial first recipe, which I felt lacked a particular richness I was after. I attempted multiples of times to make it with differing changes each time. Version number six still lacked something(s). So then I thought to attempt one of the online finds: 100 Year Old Pate
Result: it’s not bad, it’s definitely getting closer, and it does pack a lot more flavour in and I would recommend it. However, there’s still that little something I’m not getting, but at least it’s less messier than blitzing raw liver (try blitzing without a food processor with a lid). On a positive note: I’m definitely a few steps closer to the pate in my mind now.
11.12.07
Spelt Mix Bread : Recipe
This is the mentioned Spelt Mix Bread, it’s based on a base recipe I use, and from which I deviate from when introducing changes. I can’t have too much yeast, so I reduced the amount of yeast to half. Unfortunately, my digital scales can’t handle small amounts, so I can only tell you I used half a teaspoon of dried yeast.
Spelt Mix Bread
Ingredients:
Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes.
2. Place in a warm place to leave to rise for 5 minutes.
3. Take out and knead for 20 minutes.
4. Leave in warm place to rise for 1 hour.
5. Take out and knead for 5 minutes.
6. Place in oiled bread tin and leave in warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
7. With 10 minutes to go till the dough is ready. I turn on my oven to heat at 190C for 10 minutes. When it’s time to take dough out, the oven is preheated and ready for dough. You might have an oven which needs longer to preheat, so remember to take this into account.
8. Place oiled bread tin and dough into preheated oven for 25 minutes.
9. Take bread out, let to stand 5 – 10 minutes and turn out onto rack to cool.
Craving for bread
I have a huge craving for bread. In our latest experiment with replacing yeast with bicarbonate of soda, it has gone wrong (too much, too salty). So I’ve gone and made a bog standard spelt mix with half the amount of yeast. The bread hasn’t risen much, but it’s still tasty.
Recipe to come.
11.07.07
Hairy Tale
So the first 5 days I washed on the first, the third and then the fifth day, each time pushing back the boundaries of fatness build up. Every morning I brush my hair well with my new bristle brush making sure to brush out the fatty roots, or so I think. I see myself as redistributing this fatty goodness all around and away. My fourth wash was done with a two day break instead of the one, which brings me up to my third day break otherwise known as “Day 11″. I have discovered that the back crown area fattens up the most. I have also discovered that wash day is where my hair looks the worst, and this is after the wash. Although my hair is starting to feel like it’s going to need another thorough rinse tomorrow, I am interested that it is looking at its best ever. This is how my hair looked previously after washing it in shampoo for the first day, subsequent days meant the hair looked duller, worse, no volume and greased down.
Now, although it greases up, my hair has volume, there’s glow and it looks good.
10.30.07
Say “Poo” to the Shampoo
In my bid to minimise contact with chemicals of all sorts, I have embarked on a quest which so far has filled me with an odd sort of queasiness. For one not normally prone to queasiness, it has been different.
The task is to go without shampoo. I can wash my hair, but I can only wash with water. It’s only been the 3rd night and I’ve had to wash it again tonight, greasy … maybe, paranoia … probably. During a normal week, I will wash my hair once, maybe twice. It doesn’t oil up quickly. I’ve already hit that limit now. I’m wondering how it’ll go.
08.27.07
Passing on the burden
I read a rather eye opening article the other day about mothers passing on around 50% of their cocktail of chemicals to their daughters, depending on the chemical some take days to break down, others take years. I read the short one, but here’s the original one.
06.05.07
Worms
They have arrived! One day ahead of predicted scheduled delivery. After quickly reading through the instructions several times, we proceeded to inflate the soil brick that the worms were to burrow and eat through as their starter. Once inflated, we then proceeded to fill the bin with foam, cardboard, soil, and then for the squeamish part, opening the can of worms.
I must admit, with the lights on, cameras poised and then peeling back that lid, we were a bit disappointed…. the worms in the pot also shared it with compost. All I could see was the slight glimmer of slimey worm underneath the surface. Skugg was about to put away the camera when I tipped the contents into the bin and lo and behold, there were quite a few of them.
The instructions said to leave the bin in sunlight so that the worms naturally burrowed downwards, but it was late, the sun had set, and I think all the flashes from the camera did a good substitute. I finally fed them a small meal of egg shells, lettuce and radishes. Placing one more piece of cardboard on top, the lid was closed. Sorted!
The amusing thing was that my can of worms came by business post! 
06.03.07
Over zealous
Hmm… the instructions say that after 2 true leaves have formed I am to plant them in the ground. Since I live in quite an urban area, I don’t have access to ground but will enthusiastically plant them in pots. Another problem I realised after, was that real leaves are star shaped (almost), and the inital two leaves that sprout are actually the protective leaves from within the seed. G’ah! I hope I haven’t done too much damage planting them in my ‘grounds’ today.
06.02.07
I’m a subsidised tree hugger!
Thanks to the subsidies from my local council, I jumped at the chance of getting a wormery. I always feel guilty when I put vegetable peelings and such into the bin, particularly after a big chopping session.
For those who don’t know what a wormery is, according to the green gardener:
A wormery is an easy to use & efficient system of converting ordinary kitchen waste into top quality compost and concentrated liquid feed through the natural action of worms.
I’m not particularly fond of worms, but I hope we’ll get along.
Day: 16
Meanwhile the Luffa seedlings are growing up and it’s around time to pot them into larger containers.
