Bread machine book

As I promised way back in the summer, here is the recipe book which my sister gave me so that I could make good bread in my new machine.

Without these recipes I would have been somewhat lost, as the recipe book that came with the machine was confusing, to say the least.

I know that there are other, similar books but this one was already tried and tested by my sister - a big advantage.

The recipes are clear and precise, and there are also lots of coloured photographs, recipe variations, hints about how to bake and use the different machine programmes available.

I would fully recommend it to anyone starting out with a machine for the first time, or to the more experienced amongst you who would like a change.

Munchy Monday #20: Pumpkin cake

This is a very filling cake made with pumpkin and dark chocolate polka dots. It contains no eggs and no dairy and so is ideal for people with these diet restrictions.

You will need:

Dry ingredients
3 3/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 cup of dark chocolate polka dots

Wet ingredients

2/3 cup sunflower oil
2 tsp. vinegar
1 cup cooked pumpkin*
3/4 cup water
1 tblsp. golden syrup

Method:

Sieve together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ground ginger into a bowl and then add salt and sugar. Set oven to warm up (180º C). Mix all the wet ingredients together with a stick blender and add the mix to the dry ingredients. Stir well, add chocolate polka dots and stir until well mixed. Grease an oven dish or similar and spoon batter in, making sure that it is of an even thickness all over. Cook in a medium oven for about 30-35 minutes, maybe a little longer. (The oven does not need to be pre-heated, just warming up. The cooking time will vary according to the type of oven you are using.) The cake is cooked once you can poke a toothpick in it and bring it out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the oven dish.

* The easiest way to obtain cooked pumpkin is this way I learned a long time ago from my Canadian sister-in-law. Cut your pumpkin into three or four pieces and steam them for about 30 mins. in a pressure cooker. Leave the pieces to cool and then peel. Then measure out the exact quantity you need for your recipes and freeze it in bags or plastic containers.

My week

Last week was  a very busy one but I have had so much fun. Here are some photos to show just what I've been doing.

On Monday I managed to get most of the week's general housework up together. Then I started sewing...

Lavender cushions

Tuesday was quite an ordinary day. I worked in the afternoon, and my two extra little boys, as usual, came to stay over night. One thing I did do today was pick olives and sort through the ones my daughter picked in over the weekend. I began the preserving process with maybe a couple of kilos only. This summer has been a very damp one and the olives were rotting already.

On Wednesday I accomplished more specific housework + shopping and, as always, laundry... then in the afternoon, teaching. After all that, I made some forty pork and turkey burgers. Some we ate for supper and the rest I threw in the freezer.

On Thursday, my afternoon nanny job was lengthened to a full day one :) because the teachers were on a one-day strike. We made 3 batches of rainy day biscuits.  (It rained for 10 mins. or so, late Tuesday evening, so I felt authorized to make them!  Recipe to be posted soon.)

Friday, hubby and I went to "chill" in Tarragona for the morning. We walked around the port, the area of the indoor market and the back streets of the lower part of the city. I left my camera at home so there aren't any photos of this :(

On Friday afternoon I gave my English lessons, we packed a picnic supper and then we went to see a rally - the R.A.C.C. through Montmell - the mountains just behind where we live. The first car went through a little after 8:45 pm, the last at just gone 10:00 pm. Awesome.

(Photos from internet)

On Saturday morning I spent five hours working very hard in the garden weeding, watering, sweeping and tidying. Just look at those cabbages! (The favourite food of caterpillars, slugs and snails!)

In the afternoon Hubby and I went for a walk around the centre of Reus. Here are some photos:

I am also trying to concentrate more on my piano practice. I found a new piece to play which is taking up some time. (Will post details soon.)

Munchy Monday #19: Pumpkin and noodle soup

I'm sorry about last week's "munchy" - we were yet again with no telephone line. Here is a recipe which is new to us. The quantities are for 6 people.

You will need:

600 g pumpkin, peeled and chopped into largish cubes
1 cob of corn, cooked
1 tomato
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
150 g pasta noodles
1 litre chicken stock
Olive oil to fry
Croutons (optional)

Method:

Put the onion and garlic in a saucepan with a little oil and fry until soft. Be careful not to brown. Cut the tomato horizontally and grater the flesh into a bowl. Discard the skins. Add the tomato flesh to the onion and garlic mix. Cut the corn cob into slices of about 2 cm in width and add them to the onion and tomato mix. Fry gently for a minute or so and then add the pumpkin cubes. Fry a little more and then add the chicken stock to the pan. Bring to boil, add pasta noodles and simmer for 10 minutes. Check for salt and serve hot with croutons, if desired.

Note: As I like fish very much I served this as a supper starter, followed by baked panga and then, for dessert, fresh fruit and a cookie.

(I think next time I will just empty a small tin of corn into the soup instead of the cob which was difficult both to prepare and to eat.)

La fira del vent, Pla de Sta. Maria

We visited this air fair last Saturday morning and had a great time. The fair was all to do with things powered by air one way or another or that use wind as a means of steering or motion. There were other stalls and exhibitions including a steam railway locomotive collection and also the normal olive/bread/cheese/hand-made crafts stands. Here are some photos:

 

 

Sideways pottery!

Biplane in the clouds

Biplane from W.W. II

David jumped from a paramotor at 700 meters

His brother, Albert, did the same jump

Let's take a walk around the village. It isn't very big, in the middle of a plain and normally very, very quiet.

Note the star of David on the "bridge"

Street with the church at the end

Bobbin lace curtain plus letterbox

Hopefully we can go back next year and make a day of it, take a picnic, etc. The visit was short but sweet and the village only 25 minutes away.

Family poetry

Naughty Nina's Cooked Pumpkin Poem

I like cooked pumpkin

Can't think why.

You would like it, too,

If only you would try.

I don't mean to eat it, silly

I mean to throw it 'round.

And what a lovely mess

When "splat" -- it hits the ground.

Mummy doesn't like the colour

Or the noise it makes 

But I'm going to persuade her

No matter what it takes.

I throw it at the wall,

And some lands on a chair, 

And you will have a problem 

If you sit down there. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Thurprithe!

I have long since been waiting for a moment like this... Mum is lost somewhere in one of our bedrooms, doing some kind of housework. The best part is that she has gone and left her computer and her Blogger account all to myself! [rubs hands together with an A.-ish smile on her face - you can add a deep, mischievous laugh to the picture if you know me and have enough imagination].

Must make the most of the situation. ^^

I know every daughter who loves her Mum uses the expression of "My Mum's the best mum in the whole wide world!". If some of her girl friends happen to be around at that precise moment, and they happen to love their Mums almost as much as she does hers, her comment will most likely become the cause of a pitched battle.

But - my Mum is most definitely the best mum in the whole wide universe! (I know L. will agree with me on that, so a bit of help in trying to convince the world of that fact will be appreciated, thank you!)

Just to prove my point, here are a few examples of why she's so special (unless it's winter, during which I loose some of my colour, I am the darker one in the picture and my Mum is the blondie):

She's so loving and caring!

My Mum holding me as a baby.

  She's very self-denied.

My Mum sleeping with me in my bed after one of my nightmares (believe me, it was a pain. The only difference in behaviour between day and night in my case was the fact that I had my eyes shut).

She is tons of fun, and (I believe) one of the main causes of why we're so crazy!

My Mum encouraging me to roll down a grassy field last time we were in E. (I was twelve and not altogether so sure about being crazy. Don't worry, I was soon cured of that).

 She's a very good teacher, both to her children and to all who come to her for help!

My Mum and I with some of my books. We've always been encouraged to read and pursue knowledge.

She was top of her class while studying for a Doctorate in Cuddling and Comforting.

Mum and I during a cuddle.

 She is the best example of what a Mum should be.

From right to left, my sister L., my Mum and I. Don't we look like very well-behaved daughters?

I will miss you much, darling! Love you all around the outside! ♥

Munchy Monday #18: Pumpkin and potato puree

I thought I would dedicate most of the October "munchies" to the pumpkin, a member of the gourd family. It is classified as both a fruit and a vegetable, and can be used as a sweet or savoury. We eat it both ways.

You will need:

Equal quantities of raw pumpkin and potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 medium sized onion, roughly chopped (for every 4 medium sized potatoes)
Salt and pepper
Water to cover
2 or 3 knobs of margarine (optional)

Method:

Gently fry the onion until soft. Do not brown. Add potato and pumpkin cubes and fry for another minute or so. Add enough water to cover, add salt and bring to boil. Gently simmer for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the potato and pumpkin cubes are just soft. Remove from heat, add margarine and blend until smooth. Once served, shake a little black pepper over each dish of puree.

We have just eaten this for supper and it is so filling. To follow we had "picanton" with a sauce made of mushrooms, young fresh garlic pieces, asparagus and baby prawns.

"Picanton" is a small chicken which is only 20 days old or so. What is it called in English? Can anyone enlighten me, as I couldn't find it on internet.

How to make clouds

We did this experiment whilst studying the water cycle.

You will need:

A medium sized clear glass bowl (Pyrex type)
A flat plate that will cover the bowl well
A good quantity of ice cubes
1/2 litre boiling water

Method:

Fill the plate with as many ice cubes as possible. Pour the boiling water into the bowl and cover the bowl with the plate full of ice cubes. Watch how "clouds"  form under the plate due to the colder temperatures.

Note: This experiment is supposed to be done in a darkened room, using a torch to see the clouds. I needed light to take the photograph. I'm sure you get the basic idea, though.

To finalize the water cycle study, I ask the children if they understood that whatever water they use is, in effect, re-cycled over and over again. Yeeeeesssss, they answer. So, that last glass of water that you have just drunk, could well have been drunk by a dinosaur some six thousand years ago. Stumped! Ahhh, that is the best bit of the whole project!

Chris Spheeris

Have you ever heard of him? Well, up until a couple of days ago I hadn't. His music is "guitar with a Greek twist" and I like it very much. His best album is called "Eros". There are four, simply because I couldn't choose which I liked more!

Board games and card games - Part 2

Well, as I promised a couple of weeks ago, here is a list of the games I enjoyed playing with my mother, along with what my children have enjoyed playing with theirs!

I haven't classified them into any particular age group. These games are for ALL the family.

First the card games:

# SNAP
# DUTCH BLITZ
# HAPPY FAMILIES
# BOGGLE SLAM
# CONTRABAND
# WHOT
# CHEAT
# CLOCK FACE
# UNO - the normal way,
                  - accompanied by charades (hilarious)
                  - "animal" UNO (a very rough way to play)

            
Now the board games:

# MONOPOLY
# CHESS
# OTHELLO
# "LA OCA"
# LUDO
# MOUSE TRAP
# SCRABBLE
# SNAKES AND LADDERS

La oca

Here is a list of other games that we have played a lot, but they don't fall into these two categories. However, they do have the same theory behind them:

# DOMINOES
# TRIOMINOES
# TUMBLIN' TIMBER
# FLOUNDERS
# MASTER MIND
# SLAM
# OPERATION
# MEMORY GAMES
# MIKADO

Mikado

This can't be real...

Arghhhhh! What's happened to my pineapple?

I told you my children were a little different. However, this is my doing, I'm afraid ; )

Quotes

Well, art is art, isn't it. Still, on the other hand, water is water. East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now tell me what you know.
                                                      Groucho Marx

Cofrentes, València

The weekend before last we had the opportunity to make a lightning visit to this little place. We left home Friday afternoon 5 ish and arrived there 4 hours later.

As my husband had work to do, M. and myself had the Saturday morning free to do some sight - seeing.

Cofrentes has a lovely Islamic castle which is in the process of being restored. It's main parts date back to 1147 - 1172. Amongst the rubble, however, little trinkets and ceramic items have been found which date back to the Ibers, Romans and before. It is built on an extinct volcanic chimney belonging to the Cerro de Agrás volcano and there is only one possible way in.

The castle

Wall made partly from volcanic rock

One side of the courtyard

Clock dating from the beginning of the 1600's

Volcanic stone pendulum

Weights weighing 70kg and 52kg, respectively

The pebbled part is Islamic and the stone part further out was added later, maybe when the castle was being used as a palace cum residence during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The original castle's "front door" (Photo taken on leaving)

In the above photo there is something which caught on my attention. The arrow holes are orientated towards the only possible entrance to the castle and do not go straight through the wall as I have seen up until now.

Well, that is the castle. Now, here are some random photos of the rest of our morning.

The town council building and "plaza"

A view from the "plaza"

The river Cabriel where it joins the river Júcar

St. Ana street

Village rooftops

Beetle (from antennae to tail it measured 10 cms.)

Extinct volcano with the river Cabriel in the foreground

This ceramic tile panel is one of a series of 12 (?) that you can find in towns and villages in the area. This one depicts the forced exit of the Muslim people from the village and the surrounding area.

Last, but not least, this is a photo of where we had our meals. The building was first used as a flour processing plant or something of the like and then converted into a school. It is now a very recommendable restaurant.