In Christchurch ,there is a big fat black cat with a tuft of white on her chest called Meow. She lived with her Dad in the inner city of {Now known as the red zone},Christchurch and on the 22nd February this year all that changed.
This earthquake rocked the ground,shattered lives,scared people , frightened cats and dogs and destroyed buildings ,lives and families forever.
Meow and her dad stayed in their red zoned inner city flat for a few days after the quake,their flat being given the tempory ok structually. One night the police came knocking on the door saying they had 2hours to collect personal belongings and leave.The block of flats over the road were really unstable due to constant earthquakes.
Meow hid, she didnt want to go someplace she didnt know . Her dad stayed in the suburbs with my friend in his 2bedroom flat .Meows dad was there every night to fed her and the security checked up on the flats twice a day. One night meow wasnt that fast and her dad captured her and took her to the suburbs to live. Meow wanted her old home , so one quiet night she cllimbed out the 2centermetre open bathroom window and left. That put her dad, my friend and myself into sadness. Meows dad was really worried,returning to their home in the red zone to lay cat biscuits. The police and security guards were also looking after the animals that had lost their homes. Meow was gone for a week,when I phoned my friend and asked for meows description to place an ad on a popular trading post on computer. Then one night at 10pm, my txting machine tapped a message out to me, yes meow had been found!!!.She had walked 5km in the opposite direction of her inner city home,but had found a home with people who were putting food down. Wonderful people who had looked on line and identified her. Thanks to that family, Meow and her dad are happily reunited. This story is true with no connections to the childrens book Quaky Cat.
RECIPE.
AMERICAN BROWNIE.
250grams butter 4eggs
1/2 cup cocoa 1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon B.P.
1tea vanilla essence.
METHOD.
Melt butter in a saucepan that will hold all ingredients.
Mix in cocoa, remove from heat and stir in sugar.
Add eggs,and beat well using a wooden spoon.
Sift flour and B.P. into mixture, add essence and mix to combine.
Pour into a sponge roll tin that has been greased.
Bake at 180o for 25-30minutes or until mixture springs back.
Cut into squares when warm and enjoy.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Very English!
A Cotswold Tuesday
Cobblestones burnished by hundreds of soles
country air zoned into commercial roles
Matrons of Moreton tie on your pinnies
roll up your sleeves, imported verses homegrown!
Cotton nighties down from those freshly killed chooks
teatowel verses, well read Maeve Binchy books.
Coachload of tourists, all spoilt for choice
those dawdlers ripe, stallholders bait your hooks.
Roundness of apples, next to womb shaped pears
mellow Michaelmas daises scan the fare
ancient and modern, Morton market is hot
like mature cheddar, stone houses protectively stare.
Kedgeree
I've tasted two versions of this dish since I've been in England visiting family and am determined to make it once I get home to NZ!
It's thought that it was orginally an Indian recipe that the British adapted and bought home with them. Popular as an Victorian breakfast as it used leftovers when they didn't have fridges. Am all for using leftovers so here goes:-
A cupful of cooked rice
A couple of fillets of haddock or any tasty fish
4 eggs
one chopped onion
parsley or coriander
2 teaspoons of curry paste or powder
chilli if wanted.
last night's leftover peas
cream or yoghurt to stir in.
Gently fry the onion in some olive oil, add chilli if using, stir in curry paste/powder and peas.
Boil the fish (if not cooked) with the eggs for 6 mins.
Drain and flake the fish, you'll be able to remove bones.
Shell the eggs and quarter them.
Add rice to onion mixture and fish and eggs and stir in cream and yoghurt.
Serve immediately.
Cobblestones burnished by hundreds of soles
country air zoned into commercial roles
Matrons of Moreton tie on your pinnies
roll up your sleeves, imported verses homegrown!
Cotton nighties down from those freshly killed chooks
teatowel verses, well read Maeve Binchy books.
Coachload of tourists, all spoilt for choice
those dawdlers ripe, stallholders bait your hooks.
Roundness of apples, next to womb shaped pears
mellow Michaelmas daises scan the fare
ancient and modern, Morton market is hot
like mature cheddar, stone houses protectively stare.
Kedgeree
I've tasted two versions of this dish since I've been in England visiting family and am determined to make it once I get home to NZ!
It's thought that it was orginally an Indian recipe that the British adapted and bought home with them. Popular as an Victorian breakfast as it used leftovers when they didn't have fridges. Am all for using leftovers so here goes:-
A cupful of cooked rice
A couple of fillets of haddock or any tasty fish
4 eggs
one chopped onion
parsley or coriander
2 teaspoons of curry paste or powder
chilli if wanted.
last night's leftover peas
cream or yoghurt to stir in.
Gently fry the onion in some olive oil, add chilli if using, stir in curry paste/powder and peas.
Boil the fish (if not cooked) with the eggs for 6 mins.
Drain and flake the fish, you'll be able to remove bones.
Shell the eggs and quarter them.
Add rice to onion mixture and fish and eggs and stir in cream and yoghurt.
Serve immediately.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
1960s Mince Chow Mein
APRONS. something the women of today hardly ever wear. I found this in a mag and thought it worth printing. Thanks to McCalls pattern from the 1950s.
I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandmas apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons use less fabric to make. But along with that, it served as a pot holder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs,fussy chicks,and sometimes half hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,bent over a hot wood stove. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegies. After the peas were shelled,it carried out the hulls. In the fall, it was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected visitors drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds!.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch,waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come home for dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I dont think I ever caught anything from an apron-but love....
CHOW MEIN MADE WITH MINCE FROM THE 1960S.
1LB mince lightly browned in 4oz butter . Add 1/2 cabbage finely chopped, a handful of beans frozen or fresh, 2 cut up onions, 1 dessertspoon of curry powder, 1tablespoon sugar. 1 pkt chicken noodle soup,, 2tablespoons rice, 1dessretspoon soy sauce, and 2 1/2 cups water. simmer for 20 minutes . enjoy.
I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandmas apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons use less fabric to make. But along with that, it served as a pot holder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs,fussy chicks,and sometimes half hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,bent over a hot wood stove. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegies. After the peas were shelled,it carried out the hulls. In the fall, it was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected visitors drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds!.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch,waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come home for dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I dont think I ever caught anything from an apron-but love....
CHOW MEIN MADE WITH MINCE FROM THE 1960S.
1LB mince lightly browned in 4oz butter . Add 1/2 cabbage finely chopped, a handful of beans frozen or fresh, 2 cut up onions, 1 dessertspoon of curry powder, 1tablespoon sugar. 1 pkt chicken noodle soup,, 2tablespoons rice, 1dessretspoon soy sauce, and 2 1/2 cups water. simmer for 20 minutes . enjoy.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Reading is Sweet
When is a camel not a camel?
When it's a mobile library.
Ask Joanna Lumley at
Book Aid International
who distribute books in Africa
among itinerant people
searching for pasture
to graze their stock.
Health books for women,
stories for children
new skills read
to escape poverty.
Closer to home -
when is a carrot cake not a carrot cake?
When it's baked without sugar!
Happened at school in our block.
Crime committed by me but colleagues
still ate it and wanted me to try again!
Try out this Carrot Cake as carrots are sweet.
Cook in a ring time on 180C for 30 - 40 mins
then serve with a travel book to escape.
Shift 2 cups of SR flour into a large bowl
add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
3/4 cup crushed pineapple.
Lightly beat 3 eggs with 1/2 cup oil in a separate bowl.
Add to flour mixture and beat until combined and bake
as instructed above. Share!
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