Good morning and welcome to this week’s Whimsical Wednesdays with moi…Carol, Caz whatever you want to call me as long as it is not too late for dinner…haha

Did you know? 

Prior to World War 11 more than half a million stretchers were produced in preparation before World War II even began. Someone had some foresight, didn’t they?  Stretchers, which were no more than two steel poles flanking a stretch of wire mesh, were quick to mass-produce. They were also easier to clean than conventional wood or canvas stretchers.

Photo credit: STML on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

During the war, many of London’s housing estates lost their original metal railings when they were manufactured into weaponry to serve the war effort. With a large stockpile of stretchers following the war, the London City Council decided to have the stretchers welded vertically together, fixed onto poles, sunken into concrete, and used to replace this missing fencing. The two kinks in the poles, designed so that they could be rested on the ground then picked up easily, can still be seen on the railings today.

Circular recycling at its best…

Time for a story…

This is a continuation of a short story started by author Steph Richmond with the offer to contribute …intrigued I took her up on this offer so as you will see I write the occasional chapter…Will this be finished who knows.?.. The girl as yet doesn’t have a name just an unknown past…Enjoy!

January is National Soup month...For those of you who live in the Northern Hemisphere, the months of January and February are typically the coldest.

I love soup, most soups but my all-time favourite is tomato soup… Preferably made with fresh tomatoes but I also and this is a hankering back to my childhood love canned tomato soup and very occasionally I treat myself to a can of tomato soup…

Ingredients:

• 8 or 9 tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 3 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered
• 2 small yellow onions, cut into wedges
• 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 5 cups homemade vegetable broth
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• olive oil

Let’s Cook!

Preheat the oven 375F/190C

Grease two baking sheets and place tomatoes skin side down on one, then lightly coat the peppers and onions in olive oil and place on the other baking tray also throw the unpeeled garlic into the tray…Pop it in your preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

When the tomatoes and peppers are roasted heat your vegetable stock in a pan big enough to take the tomatoes and peppers. Add your roasted tomatoes and peppers to the vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Allow your soup to cool slightly and then either using a stick blender or your liquidiser blend to your desired consistency… I prefer mine a little chunky. Taste and season.

Serve with a swirl of cream or natural yoghurt if liked…

Enjoy!

Did you know? On January 10th 1863 the World’s first underground railway service opened in London. It was the Metropolitan Line which runs between Paddington and Farringdon.

Time for a tune…

This is The Supremes, featuring group member Barbara Martin. She was one of two other original members (the first being Betty McGlowan). She left the group because she got pregnant. The other three went into music history.

Then on 15th January 1983, Phil Collins had his first UK No.1 single with his version of ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ a hit for The Supremes in 1966. Collins’ version was the first track on the very first Now That’s What I Call Music CD.

I like both versions …but Phil Collins just has the edge for me…

For those of you who love pizza and bagels although I don’t know why they were put in the same category on Pizza Day…The bagel makers have decided they are having their own day so today has been designated National Beigel day...I haven’t had a beigel since I left the UK…I used to love cinnamon and raisin bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese I am salivating now… I have thought of making them and got as far as reading a few recipes and it seems they are boiled first…Has anyone made their own and are they good and relatively easy to make or are they quite time-consuming?

I have been told you make a lean dough which is a dough with little or no fat or sugar…Then they are cooked for 1 min each side in a beigel water bath…to which honey or barley malt syrup can be added and then they are baked…

Mmmmm I am sure they would take a tad longer than it took me to type that…I do have very happy memories of eating a salt beef beigel the last time I was in the UK…very nice it was…If you are celebrating beigel day then post your pics with a #nationalbeigelday 

Beavers…Cute furry animals that build dams is what I think of if I hear the name beaver…Beavers are also known as a ‘keystone’ species because of their significant positive effect on the environment.

So much so that Beavers are being reintroduced to Cumbria after 400 years as it is thought that they might reduce flooding.

It seems very much to me when you read and look around that much of what is being done is to repair what man has undone…All of of our global warming and climate change has one cause…man…

It seems we find something which is useful or profitable or edible…and we hunt it until it is extinct we now are reaping the benefits and some of us are madly back peddling…

Anyway, this is not the post for doom and gloom I am happy that beavers are being introduced back into the wild and there are plans to introduce other animals back into the wild I do hope that they are left to grow and thrive and do what they do best…

Thank you for joining me for Whimsical Wednesday I hope you have found something of interest or that just made you smile xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you again for joining me for Whimsical Wednesday I hope you have enjoyed yourselves…If you have please leave a comment as I always enjoy hearing from you it makes my day xxx