It's been a bit hit and miss weather wise this weekend, bits have been really sunny. Other times it's been more miserable.
So what do you do when it's drizzly and a tad chilly? You pop on your cosy new hoody and make a Key Lime Pie of course.
I love love love Key Lime Pie. I've tried several different recipes, most of which were complicated, needed too many ingredients and used up every bowl in the house. Not something I'm interested in adding to my repetoire.
Then I found this recipe. It's perfect. It's only 5 ingredients, requires very little faffage and uses hardly any bowls at all!
Compulsory Ingredients Picture
See only 5 ingredients! It's brilliant.
Buttery Biscuit Base
Weigh out your biscuits and blitz to crumbs.
If you don't have a fancy blitzing machine it is all sorts of fun to put the biscuits in a freezer bag and go to town on them with a rolling pin. In fact, even if you have a blitzing machine, this is a good idea anyway, especially if you've had a bad day at the office.
Melt the butter (or marg in my case). Just do it in the microwave. It's easier.
Mix the two together til it looks scrummy. Then tip into your tin and compact together. The only way to do this really is to get your hands in. It just works better that way.
Now, out your biscuit base in the fridge for a little nap while you get on with the next bit.
Lime-tastic Topping
First, get your zest on with those limes.
Then juice!
Top tip! Microwave your lines for about 30 seconds and then roll them before you try to get the juice out. You'll get so much more for your money.
Put the cream and condensed milk in a bowl. Mix.
Chuck in the lime juice. Oh god! It looks awful. It's curdled! DON'T PANIC! (As the Hitchhiker's Huide to the Galaxy would advise) It'll all come together in a minute.
Get a whisk and mix up. Look, it's fine again.
Add about 3/4 of the zest and do a final stir to incorporate.
Assembly.
Pour the limey, creamy goodness onto the chilled base, make sure not to totally scrape out the bowl though. That's your reward for putting in the effort making this beauty.
Sprinkle the left over zest on, just for pretty's sake and stick back in the fridge.
Presentation Time!
It took two of us and three spalutas to get it out of the base of the tin and onto that plate!
But doesn't it look pretty? Not bad for just 5 ingredients!
Alternative Presentation Idea
Another great idea for these is to make them individual sized. They look so cute in the little ramekins (mine have been acquired from buying Gu Key Lime Pies in the shops!) and it saves on the hassle of trying to get it out of the tin!
Do you ever have those things you just can't quite let go of?
I am currently trapped in an argument with someone who is very dear to me. I love reading his blog and he frequently cheers me up when things aren't going well, and for this I owe him the world. Happiness is everything. But that doesn't mean I won't tell him he's wrong to his face and go out of my way to prove this.
What is this argument? Political? Financial? Religious?
It's about chocolate.
I maintain that Twirls and Flakes are different things. He says a Twirl is just a Flake in a dress.
For balance, if you want his argument - here it is.
I am happy to admit that they look pretty similar. I can't deny this from his evidence and it would be foolish to pretend that this evidence does not exist. However, I am not basing my argument purely on looks. I am deliving deeper into this than, frankly, a sane person should.
For balance (again) I have recreated his experiment.
Top Left: Flake, Twirl, Ripple. Top Right: Cross Sections (knife)
The first thing I discovered was that my Ripple had started to melt somewhat. Or maybe that was just the Galaxy-ness of it. You can clearly see that in the TR and BL pictures the Ripple is much thicker in texture than it's Cadbury's counterparts. It also, was not as tasty.
As mentioned before the Flake (on the left of the above pictures) and the Twirl (in the middle in TR and BL and on the right in BR) do look very similar. Especially in the knifed cross sections. I do think though that in the bitten cross sections that the inside of the Twirl looks looser somehow, more free flowing. I also think that the lengthways cross section is very telling. The Flake looks much drier and there are clearly more defined folds in the Twirl.
My next argument though is based on taste and texture. I firmly believe that a Twirl tastes creamier than a Flake. A Flake is designed to crumble and it does this job well. But in order to do so, it has to be quite dry. Add you can taste this when you eat it. It doesn't melt on your tongue the same way and it doesn't have the same mouth feel. (That might be a bit chefy, I don't know). It almost leaves you feeling thirsty. This is presumably why they put Flakes in ice creams. So you can quench the inevitable dry mouth feeling!
I feel that this leads nicely into my next point. Nutritional Values!
From a scientific(ish) perspective, they can't be the same because the nutritional values, per 100g are not the same. The Twirl has slightly more calories, fat and sugar. This I think is what leads to the more creamy flavour. If you look at the ingredients overall, they are the same. But clearly in different quantities. And as anyone that has ever cooked before knows, quantise can drastically change the outcome of a recipe, resulting in a different end product.
The Flake was launched in 1920. The Twirl in 1987. And in 2003, this turned up on the scene:
Now why, pray tell, would Cadbury bring this out if they already had such a product under the name of Twirl. They just wouldn't. Therefore, a Twirl can't be a chocolate covered Flake, because that up there, is a chocolate covered Flake.
So... What can we conclude from this little foray into chocolate comparisons?
The nutritional value of the Twirl and Flake are different.
The Twirl and Flake (in my not so humble opinion) taste different.
That I can't eat a Flake, a Twirl and a (fun size) Ripple without feeling sick.
That I should find something better to do with my time.
I have asked 6 people so far, and all say that they are different. But that isn't good enough for a certain someone. I should let it go... But I just can't.
I can't believe we're already half way through May! It only feels like two minutes ago that I was trying to think of all the different lunches to eat in April.
One of my favourite lunches to make is really easy. Pasta salad. The best bit is the basic thing is all store cupboard ingredients. Of course you can jazz it up by adding fresh stuff but you can whip up a pretty darn tasty lunch in mere minutes with the help of a few jars.
You will need:
Cold cooked pasta (deliberately cooking too much when you make your spag bol is a great tip)!
A jar of pesto (I'm using red because that's what was open, but the traditional green basil pesto is delicious)!
Other things you may want to use:
A jar of chargrilled peppers
A jar of sundried tomatoes
Fresh cherry tomatoes
A pepper
Herbs (basil and chives are really good)
Spinach (or other salad leaves)
Spring onions
Cheese
Maybe a meat?
Anything else you like!
The Ingredients
I've gone for a very red themed pasta this time round. Because I'm using red pesto I haven't used the sundried tomatoes but if I was using green pesto I totally would!
Oh, and yes, that is my incredibly old iPod charging up there.
Chuck in the ingredients!
First, stir a generous spoonful of the pesto into your cold pasta.
Then chuck in everything else! It's really that easy.
Chop everything up into nice bite-sized pieces. I recommend doing this with the cherry toms too. I know they look prettier whole but trying to spear a cherry tomato with a fork is quite tricky!
The last thing to go in should be any herbs and salad you want to include as you don't want to bruise them by stiring them round too much. I've gone for chives and because of this I haven't used any onion. That would be a bit overwhelming!
As you can see, my chives are almost flowering. If the flowers had been open I would have definitely thrown a few of those in. Not only do they look super pretty in a salad, they are scrummy!
All that is left to do is eat it!
It is great as a packed lunch to take to work and also would make a lovely addition to a picnic or possibly as a buffet option at one of the many summer BBQs I'm sure we'll all be hosting this summer here in bonny Britain (I jest of course... We'll maybe manage one BBQ which will be conducted under an umbrella)!
I'd love to know about any other simple lunch recipes. I'm always on the lookout for faff-free foods.
It only takes a hint of sunshine to make Britain go crazy. Today has been the first properly lovely day in ages and people were out in shorts and t-shirts and sandals.
Photos of beer gardens are popping up all over twitter.
My boy was probably attempting to catch skin cancer by sitting out in the back garden.
Even I got into the spirit walking home without my jacket. (I am almost always cold).
There was one crazy girl though, walking through town though in a full on parka with the furry lined hood up at lunch time. There's always one.
The only downside to the sunny weather is not being able to enjoy it to the full. Today I watched the sunny weather from my desk while day dreaming about picnics and trips to the beach. Imagining going to a theme park and purposefully going on the water rides to cool down. Thinking about star gazing and not having to be totally freezing. Planning the perfect BBQ. Just because I am trapped inside doesn't mean I can't plan how I would spend my time in the sun if only I were free.
Yesterday, I bought a maxi dress. I also bought suncream because it was on offer and when you're as pale a me you need to stock up on factor 50 when it's on a good deal. I am also on the look out for a straw hat. Because you know, those are cool right?
The weatherman tells me this nice warm spell is meant to last over the weekend. Make the most of it because I can only conclude that, by doing the above shopping, I have jinxed summer and we will all have to put up with rain and probably snow flurries. I can only apologise.
The three best things people have said to describe me at work are:
'You run like a fairy'
'Why are you always dressed like you're going to a party? Or for afternoon tea?'
And my personal favourite...
'You're a gingerbread sadist.'
As it turns out, I am a gingerbread sadist. No quick death for them. It's all biting the limbs off first and dunking them into scalding hot tea. As below:
First you pull the buttons off. Then you bite off all the limbs one by one. But look, even at the point where he's down to one eye, the little blighter is still smiling. Jerk. He deserves everything he got.
A quick look at how my two admin buddies had eaten their gingerbread men proved that I'm not the only one who does this, they both just had heads left too.
To summarise, according to my colleagues, I am a fairy who is on route to derive pleasure from inflicting pain on baked goods at the nearest tea party I can find. That sounds about right to me.
It's easy to stay in your comfort zone. The phrase itself is self explanatory. It's comfy. It's familiar. It's safe. But that can also lead to it being boring.
Earlier this week I went to the theatre. This in itself isn't that unusual for me. I don't go as often as I'd like but I do enjoy a show. What was different is that we went to see something without really bothering to find out what it was. It just happened to be what was showing the day we wanted to go.
It was excellent! An anarchic, beautiful, mad, crime-doesn't-pay, political, don't-judge-those-different-from-you musical called Three Penny Opera which was all kicked of with an amazing rendition of Mack The Knife. If you want to know more about it, watch this:
I don't know what I was was expecting but it wasn't that.
It started before it had even started, with the cast milling out onto the stage, chatting with the audience, introducing each other, explaining how the whole thing was going to work. In character of course. There was a petition going round the audience. One woman has spent her day doing mainly medium level anarchy. There were cheers and chants and live music.
Someone else who hadn't bothered to find out what the show was, was the couple sitting next to me. I don't wish to stereotype but in order to paint the scene they were a slightly older couple, smartly dressed and rather well spoken indeed.
Within 2 minutes of sitting down (the play hasn't started at this point but the preshow interaction is well underway) the woman announced 'I don't think this is the sort of this I am going to enjoy'. She wasn't going into this with a positive attitude from the start.
About 3/4 of the way through she was trying to see her watch.
At the interval, they got their coats and left. They didn't come back.
I was appalled. How rude! How narrow minded! How rich are they to not feel the need to stick out a show they've paid good money for?
Okay, that last point might just be my being a bit skint. I know how much their tickets must've cost because they were right next to ours. And I would've stuck it out just for the for fact that I'd paid.
But really, it probably wasn't what they were expecting. I know it wasn't what they were expecting because before it started she said so. She thought they were coming to the original German Opera that this show was adapted from.
So yes, German Opera vs Jazzy Punk Musical aren't really the same thing. But does that really mean you should just abandon one because it's not what you were expecting?
The more I think about this the more I confuse myself.
My gut reaction was that they were narrow-minded. That they should've stuck it out. The second half was better than the first because there was a problem with the projection system in the first half. The second half had subtitles and videos. Also, during the second half we were now getting into the meaty part of the story. They missed out.
But... They weren't enjoying it, and why waste your time doing something you don't enjoy. Especially if you can make that choice. We all have to do lots of things we don't enjoy. Getting up in the dark in winter, bleeding radiators, speaking to rude people on the phone at work but they have to be done. You do them because you have to, not because you enjoy them.
But what were they going to do instead? Go home and have a cocoa? They can do that any day.
I told this story to a colleague the next day who couldn't understand it. Her theory was that it was one evening out of their lives. It wasn't like it would've been the end of the world to stay and see it through.
The person I went to the show with, took a somewhat harsher view and decided that they had gone home to their separate bedrooms to either listen to The Archers or surf the less savoury part of the internet.
The only thing I am sure of, is that I wish I had realised they weren't coming back sooner so we could've taken their (dead centre of the row) seats!
Did you know what you wanted to do as a career when you were 13? I certainly didn't.
Over 10 years later I still don't.
Today I went to a Skills Show. If you're not familiar with such an event, it was basically a big hall full of training providers promoting their courses or services.
It was aimed primarily at school age kids, not the age bracket I normally work with and to start with I was a bit out of my depth. It's not that that I was scared of them or anything (although a bus load of kids coming at you is a bit intense!) but that I wasn't sure what to say to them.
My opening gambit ended up being me asking them if they knew what they wanted to do after they left school and I was genuinely amazed by the amount of them that knew what sort of career they wanted to do.
I spoke to a lot of girls that wanted to do midwifery, care work or work with children. A lot of boys that wanted to do construction, engineering or IT. And one lass that wanted to be a tattoo artist. It made me think about how there still seem to be defined gender roles for career paths. There was nothing stopping those girls asking about engineering and nothing stopping the boys finding out about being a carer but that wasn't what they wanted to do.
Now, they were only young-uns, so the job they want to do now might not necessarily be the job they want to do in a couple of years time. Or maybe it will be. Either way, I found myself thinking about the gender divide and what it means.
I decided it means nothing.
If that's what girls want to do fine. Let them. If some of them want to do engineering then great! But it doesn't mean that they all should want to do it.
I also feel this way about the glass ceiling debate. Maybe as a woman I shouldn't say this but maybe the reason there aren't loads of women in the top top jobs is because they don't want to be there? Of course, some women do want a high flying career. Some women do want to be in government. Some woman do want to be The Boss. And they are.
But isn't it also okay if they don't want to? If they feel put off or like it is something they shouldn't do then that is bad and something that needs to be improved upon. But if they don't want the pressure or just aren't interested then who is anyone to tell them otherwise?
I hope that in another 10 years time I might have a better idea about what I want to do. Ideally even doing it. But I can't see it being a really high powered role: smashing the glass ceiling. It's just not me. And that's okay.
Sunday is definitely a day for taking it easy and stocking up the freezer with lovely things to eat later in the month. Things like quiche and cake and chilli. Why slave over the stove after a hard day at work when you can leisurely batch cook a recipe for eight and freeze it in nice convenient portions? This is why when I have my own house, I am having a second freezer.
As well as a second freezer, when I have my own kitchen I fully intend to have not only a shelf but a full on bookcase in there dedicated to recipe books. I'm amassing a nice little collection already.
The problem is that I never seem to use these recipes. There just never seems to be time to make all the things I want to. I subscribe to a weekly cake magazine and I think in the 6 months or so I've been getting it I've only made 2 or 3 things from the series!
I can't be the only one doing this can I?
I love browsing my recipe books and dreaming about all the lovely things I could make but it just doesn't happen as often as I would like. The reasons for this I think are as follows:
Time: Time is a finite resource and cooking, especially a brand new recipe you've not tried before can be quite time consuming. I don't care what Jamie says. I can't whip up a meal in 15 minutes and if I'm trying something for the first time just working out how many bowls I'm going to need can take longer than that!
Cost: Trying a new recipe can often involve shelling out for new ingredients. Once you've got a store cupboard built up, flour, ground almonds, tins of tomatoes (the store cupboard works for sweet and savoury) you don't need to basics but there's always something you don't have. It might be fresh cream. It might be a particular type of cheese. Herbs or spices, it all adds up. Also, this comes back to time, traipsing around the supermarket.
Risk:This is, I think, the most important factor. The risk factor. Yes I could try that new biscuit recipe but what if it's horrible? I've spent all that time and money and effort to end up with something that might not even be tasty. It's just safer to make some snickerdoodles and be happy.
These things don't actually stop me trying new recipes. I decided to make snickerdoodles based entirely on the fact that I had seen them on one of my favourite TV shows. It wasn't even a cooking show and at no point did it explain what they were. But now I love them and they are one of my go-to recipes. But they do stop me trying new recipes as often as I would like to and that is rather sad. It's something that would like to change.
So, it turns out I am more competitive than I thought and when offered a challenge by a fellow bloggist to drink a different tea every day in May (despite not having the slightest interest or desire to drink all those fancy teas) I not only accepted but resolved to win.
Starting out from a standing point of only drinking every day tea, I have so far amassed a collection of 18 teas. Not bad for 2 days work. I have managed to do this by a little bit of cheeky shopping where I knew you get free samples and simply asking people around the office.
And boy are people interested in the idea of 31 teas in 31 days.
The competition element has certainly caught people's interest and the fact that I'm doing it just to prove I can also seems to have got people on my side. At least 5 people around my building have asked me to keep them updated on how it goes and at least 7 people have offered to bring me (or have already brought me) different teas.
I have therefore concluded that people really like a daft challenge and that this is like the strangest tea round I have ever been involved in.
So far I've had Peppermint Blend (Donanted by Mouzma) which I would give a 7/10 - I did actually have a second cup!
Today I tried Jasmine tea for the first time. It will be the last. Apologies to anyone that enjoys a cup of this but I thought it tasted like twigs and autumn foliage. 3/10 I reckon at best.
I shall endeavor to keep a record of this challenge because I really am in it for the win. But also, I'm hoping to find some new beverages to enjoy. I'd really like one of those fancy tea caddies with all the different teas in it one day.
