Sunday 24 November 2013

Latest news re cancer

Will have to have 2 more sessions unfortunately,as it hasn't shrunk as much as expected.  This will take me up to Christmas ,and finish ( I hope!) in the first week of January.  To think it has almost been nine months since I was diagnosed. 
Still, I made a huge fish  pie for yesterday's lunch, and then today did a chicken dish with pancetta,garlic,and onions plus porcini mushrooms and sour cherries . Potatoes with olive oil, garlic and rosemary, and then Claudia Roden's Clementine cake ,made with half a dozen eggs, boiled and bashed up clementines, sugar and ground almonds, done in the food processor,which is so easy, then cooked for an hour in a moderate oven. With it I did a compote of clementines and  cranberries. Shared with my second granddaughter,and her friend who is at Uni here.

Saturday 9 November 2013

One handed chopping using my trusty device

Here you can see something I use almost everyday to peel, chop and slice vegetables one handed. I got this from the hospital 10 years ago, lots of trial and error but still works well enough.q

Here's how it works:

I always lay the peeler device thing on to a damp cloth first - this keeps it firm and stops it slipping.

Impale object on to triangular spikes

Using peeler or knife to peel or slice, flipping your veg over and spiking again to peel the under side. I find it easiest using a knife. It works for most veg, but long and thin roots such as carrots and parsnips I usually cut in half first.




Friday 8 November 2013

Cauliflower cheese,with ham and tomatoes, plus curry the curry is chicken, chickpeas and cauliflower,with red onions, garlic and ginger ,with a few cardamom pods, and mustard seeds.plus tomato passata to give colour to the Curry.

Food cooked over the past two days.

Yesterday I made a carrot cake, which I haven't done for months.

Carrot cake.

150mls sunflower oil.
125 gms  caster sugar
2eggs

125 gms plain flour
Teaspoon of cinnamon
Teaspoon of bicarbonate
Teaspoon of basking powder 
250 gms of grated carrots 

Mix the first 3ingredients together, and add the dry ingredients to the wet then mix well.
Pour into a greased and lined tin, and bake at 160o for 40 minutes, 
Test for done ness. And turn out when cold.
Ice with a mix of cream cheese, icing sugar and butter,with some grated lemon zest.
The cheese makes it rather wet,so make sure you have the consistency you wish for!