Monthly Archives: August 2010

Food Monday ~ Sauce for your Chips

Do you shake a blob of tomato sauce on you chips, or eggs & bacon?  I know people who cannot live without a bottle of Tomato sauce in the fridge.  Have you ever thought of making it?

On my journey down memory lane with this old cookery book, I found a recipe for tomato sauce.  I will reproduce it here.

Tomato Store Sauce

3 lbs red tomatoes
1 small onion
1 clove or more
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 blade of mace
1 dessertspoon salt
½ pint vinegar
3 ozs sugar
Cayenne

Cut the tomatoes in halves and chop the onions.  Place all the ingredients, except the sugar and the cayenne, in a pan and simmer for 1 hour.  Pass through a sieve, return to the saucepan and boil hard for a few minutes to reduce to a thin cream.  Add the sugar and cayenne.  Pour the sauce into bottles.  When cold, cork tightly and store.

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Now I challenge Not Junk Food to update it! 😉

Simple Thoughts

“Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Relationships-of all kinds-are like sand held in your hand. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. You may hold onto some of it, but most will be spilled. A relationship is like that. Held loosely, with respect and freedom for the other person, it is likely to remain intact. But hold too tightly, too possessively, and the relationship slips away and is lost.
~ Kaleel Jamison

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“Every day we live is a gift of God.”   That rule applies whether or not you believe in God, because life, unless you hate it, is surely a great gift.  We did not earn our earthly existence, but we can justify it by our good works.
~ Henry J. Stern

Joanne

Joanne was in a hurry to get married.

It was her dream since she was about ten years old.  She had spent her days playing house and nursing her dolls.  Not wanting to stay in school a day longer than needed, she left on her sixteenth birthday.  She was fortunate to find a job in a local jewellery store not far from her home.  The baubles were a far cry from the Crown jewels, more your cheap and cheerful with plenty of bright lights to make them sparkle!

How would you write the next paragraph?

Fingers

The active members of our Loose Blogging consortium are:- ConradGaelikaaGinger,  Grannymar, Magpie 11Maria, & Ramana. Some members seem to have taken the tale of Sleeping beauty to heart but I hope they do not keep us waiting for 100 years!  Wake up Anu, Ashok, Helen & Judy, we miss your contributions and look forward to the sound of your keyboards clattering in our direction.  Our topic today was chosen by Conrad.

Half Truths

How many fingers do I have?

Gosh it is a long time since I drew an outline of my hands.  The crooked fingers make not a pretty picture!

Have you counted yet?

I bet you said ten!

Look again….  I make it ELEVEN!

Counting backward from the left…

Ten, nine, eight, seven six plus the five on the right hand makes ELEVEN!

Granny, I was listening all those years ago and I can hear your laughter right now.

Thursday Special ~ It is Thursday!

A business man got on an elevator in a building.  When he entered the elevator, there was a blonde already inside and she greeted him by saying, “T-G-I-F”? (letters only).

He smiled at her and replied, “S-H-I-T” (letters only).”

She looked at him, puzzled, and said, “T-G-I-F” again.

He acknowledged her remark again by answering, “S-H-I-T.”

The blond was trying to be friendly, so she smiled her biggest smile and said as sweetly as possibly “T-G-I-F” another time.

The man smiled “S-H-I-T.”

The blond finally decided to explain things, and this time she said, “T-G-I-F, Thank Goodness It’s Friday, get it?”

The man answered, “Sorry, Honey, It’s Thursday.”

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Naturally this one had to come from a male friend!

Art with a Needle ~ Week 52

On my recent visit to The Point Village Market in Dublin I encountered some interesting Craft Artists.  I came home hungry to try out a few new ideas.  Yesterday was my first opportunity to try one of them.

A needle did make an appearance but, the project did not involve thread.

Are you curious?

I also employed the services of the following:

An old filleting knife, kitchen scissors, Food blow torch and a packing needle.  The bodkin was not called into service this time.

To begin with I went on the scrounge to my young neighbours.  Thankfully they were able to supply me with my needs.

Empty aluminium cans.  Three varieties to be exact.  I only wanted the sides of the cans so the knife and scissors were called into play to remove the ends.  The knife proved to be easier to work with at this stage.

Placed in the same order as before with the reverse side showing, notice the difference in the colour of the aluminium.

It was at this stage that the blow torch made an appearance. NB WORK OUT OF DOORS to avoid the fumes.

Nicola Loughlin, the young lady that introduced me to this craft (unfortunately she did not have a website), probably used a DIY paint removing blow torch.  I do not have one and therefore resorted to the less powerful kitchen version.

Nicola had several collages and smaller pieces on display and for sale.  She spoke of the different effect and colours achieved with using different brand named cans, from the three above and several different beer cans.

Remember this was my first attempt, and I am sure to improve with time and experience.

The Red bull can

Red Coke can

Diet Coke can

Then came the fun.  deciding on shapes and adding pattern with the packing needle (blunt ended) from the back.

Brooch shapes were what I had in mind.

The veins of the leaf were pressed on from the reverse with the packing needle.  I need to spend more time playing about with the technique to perfect it and perhaps add beads.  I do have a few brooch closures, so all I need is solder.  I do have a soldering iron somewhere in my kit….

Food Monday ~ Melon and Kiwi Fruit Salad

Melon and Kiwi Fruit Salad
Serves 6
100 g caster sugar
200 ml water
50 g fresh ginger – grated or thinly sliced
1 medium Galia melon in balls or bite-sized pieces
4 kiwi fruit – peeled and cut into wedges

This recipe can be prepared in advance and chilled overnight.
Place the caster sugar in a heavy based saucepan and put on a low heat until the sugar has melted and changed to a light golden colour, resembling runny honey.
Remove the pan from the heat; add the water, taking great care, as the mixture will spit and splutter. Add the ginger and return the syrup to the heat. Bring to the boil and simmer until all the caramel has melted.
Pour the syrup over the fruit, chill before serving.

Delicious served with a lemon sorbet.