Chatback number 22

[Jungle Jane]

Afternoon,nice sunny day here too. Have you used cups as a weighing method instead of scales,filling a cup rather than looking at numbers,would make it easier for children I thought,it does feel like playing in a sand pit have a great day!

[Snoop Puss]

Afternoon all.

Very lazy morning reading Nigella Lawson's domestic goddess book, which arrived yesterday. Seeing as we're talking weights and measures, does anyone have this book? On page 249, she's got various lists of ingredients for 25 December cake, each list being suitable for different sized tins. This I can understand. But up above, she has column headings that as far as I can tell are weights that just refer to the amount of fruit. I've never made said cake. If I decide to make one, it seems to me I can just choose a list of ingredients that suits my tin size. So why have this heading? Does it serve any purpose that I haven't grasped?

Other than that, all I've done is finally bite the bullet and lob any tomatoes and rip up pepper plants that are beyond saving after all the rain. No idea what happened to the aubergines (fruit, not plants), but they seem to have rotted from the inside out. So a lot of those have been chucked too. Not much left now in the way of tomatoes already. If we're lucky, the plants might put out some late flowers. By way of compensation, the cabbages are looking healthy. Got to look on the bright side...

I haven't seen much of the smiles today. I wasn't paying them much attention, so they went on their way. I warned them not to bother you too much, Nicos, so unless you break out some sweet delight or pizza (they love pizza as well as cake), you shouldn't be too molested.

Have a lovely rest of the afternoon, everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Afternoon,nice sunny day here too. Have you used cups as a weighing method instead of scales,filling a cup rather than looking at numbers,would make it easier for children I thought,it does feel like playing in a sand pit have a great day!

JJ I use cups mostly it’s for US recipes, and things like oatcakes it’s an easy and quick way to bake.
I’m sat in the garden just now taking a break from gardening and enjoying the sunshine

[greenishfing]

Just back from the allotment and relaxing with a coffee. When will I learn not to pick blackberries while wearing shorts and sandals? They weren't even for me. The nettles did the worst damage.
Snoop I once made a Nigella Lawson 25th Dec cake that had chocolate in it. I imagined that it would be even better than normal as I am a real chocolate lover. It was really not my (or my husband's) cup of tea?
On the subject of cups I made a New Zealand recipe the other week that measured the ingredients in cups. I discovered that a NZ cup is different to a US cup.
Next job is to pod some peas.

[Snoop Puss]

No chocolate in this one, gf. Not sure I'd like a Christmas cake with chocolate in either. Unless it was just a chocolate cake, in which case I'd be happy to eat it any time of year.

As for measuring cups, I use them for some things, but much prefer weighing ingredients. That said, I make Rachel Roddy's yogurt and lemon ciambella for which the yogurt pot is the measure. I'm careful when measuring out the flour and sugar, but I bet the contents vary quite significantly from one cake to another. Always works really well.

Plus, I presume it doesn't entirely matter whether you're using a yogurt pot, NZ cup, UK cup or US cup, as the proportions of the ingredients will stay the same so long as you're not weighing butter, for example. The Rachel Roddy cake uses oil, which makes for far fewer likely problems.

[Peteyd]

A nice sunny day today, got the grass cut this morning and spent the afternoon just me and the little one as MrsD was out playing with her band.

We're still getting really good bunches of sweet peas. clinging on to summer for just a little while longer!!

[Mr Bones]

Morning all

Sunny day for us too yesterday (at last - and the beeb didn't even forecast it). Looks good for today as well. Shame about your aubs Snoop Puss makes me realise what a good growing climate we have.

In bed with a cuppa at the mo
Happy Mondays, enjoy your day

[Snoop Puss]

Morning, all.

Yes, Mr Bones, Spain is a massive country. It isn't all wall-to-wall sunshine, like on the costas. And look at Nico's climate too on the first frosts thread.

So, today. Been out and walked the dogs and Frankie. Now having a brief break before going out to water and then I'd better be hard at work at the computer.

Picked our first figs yesterday. A good two weeks earlier than usual. Lovely and jammy. Loads more to come and lots of trees around so I can get some good big ones for the freezer after all the rain.

Better get on with things. The smiles got a bit distracted by some bee eaters this morning and left us partway through the walk. I hope they remember to head north rather than south.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning it looks like being another sunny day here

We've got a Robbin that's been hanging around the garden for a couple of weeks it follows us around usually especially when I'm picking beans and raspberries its always underfoot. It takes worms/spiders from the compost lids when we hold them out we've not had a Robbin getting this close to us for a long time.

Enjoy your day

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Just dashing off to do a grory hop.

Overslept!….see you later peeps!
Watch out for those smiles of Snoops…we’re going to have pizza for supper!

[greenishfing]

I was thinking that the breadmaker might be dying as the last two loaves hadn't risen well but I am now happy to say that it was the yeast that was letting me down. I opened a new box of yeast yesterday and put a tiny bit extra in as I'd been having problems. I've now got an explosion of a loaf! So happy.
Another wonderfully sunny day here. Off to the allotment shortly.

[bramble]

Good morning all.
A misty start to the day but its beginning to lift.
It's been a scorching weekend spent mostly on the beach.

Snoop we are15 miles outside Malaga in a Spanish area and love the easy access to so much fresh fruit and veg.
We go to the farmers markets every day.
Lots of fresh fish and sardines cooked on the beach.
We have been coming here for the past 25 years but usually October/November time.
Have a good day all.

[Snoop Puss]

^Sounds wonderful, bramble. Have a lovely time.

[Nicos]

Afternoon!

Grory hop done - including impulse purchase of a kilo of ripe figs ( see Snoop - all that talk of fresh figs!)
How wonderful to have your own.

Bramble - that sounds absolutely delightful. Do have a paddle and splash around in the sea for me won’t you?

Talking of hot - I think today is turning into a belter for us.
It was registering 28*C on the way home at 11.30 uk time…and it’s getting hotter by the minute

I had noticed Hibou is starting to grow her winter coat, but today she’s splayed out legs a-kimbo just trying to stay cool.
On really hot summer days she used to sleep on our lounge floor (when it was tiled )as there is a water source flowing underneath so there was always a cool area there.
it’s now we’ll insulated and wooden floor boarded so although warmer underfoot in the summer, it’s delightful to walk on now in the winter. It’s where I would sometimes do the ironing and I’d get ankle/foot/shin ache from standing there in winter.( equivalent of an ice cream headache maybe?)

Off out into the garden with my book…there’s a nice breeze starting up…

Enjoy your day peeps.

[Snoop Puss]

Grory hop done - including impulse purchase of a kilo of ripe figs ( see Snoop - all that talk of fresh figs!)
How wonderful to have your own.

Not just our own. Other people's too... So many fig trees here and nobody picks them is my excuse. The ones we don't eat (and we don't take that many, honest, in comparison with the kilos and kilos available) provide food for wasps, ants and birds, boar and foxes, possibly badgers if the branches are low enough. I know of a well over a dozen fig trees within ten minutes or so on foot from our house.

Oh my goodness, I've just thought... Nigella has a tarte tatin with a Danish pastry dough base/top. I bet a fig one would be amazing. I might try that this weekend.