CarolCooks2…weekly roundup 3rd May-9th May 2020…Recipes and Mothers Day…

Good Morning and welcome it’s time for my weekly roundup of posts…Like everyone else, I am getting used to being cocooned in my home and garden with just the occasional quick trip out for essentials…Cooking has always been a passion but not like this…There are not really abnormal shortages of food here but I am not popping out every day or at will…Shopping is planned and the storecupboard and those tins/packets at the back of it are seeing the light of day…

I have also had my fair share of disasters …maybe its because I am cooking more or maybe it’s the heat and humidity and my temperamental oven although I learnt something the other day thanks to my eagle-eyed son…The temp gauge read spot on for my cake…Because my oven heat comes from the bottom like most ovens here I have to double tin anyone who is used to ovens in Asia knows exactly what I mean…

Cake in the oven and the temp gauge shot up…the only solution we came up with was that as the heat was directly under the tin that caused the heat/temp to rise…Any other thoughts on that.?.. The way forward seems to be to put my tin in the oven while it is heating thus getting a more accurate reading and then putting my cake tin in…Thoughts?

Cake making here is not for the faint-hearted…

Monday: Recycling and Climate Change…4th May 2020…and Covid-19…

A new month already nearly half a year gone…A few months of sadness and grief for many but for all of us unprecedented times and restrictions which many of us haven’t experienced in our lifetimes…All of this is having an effect on climate change, air pollution, waste, recycling…

corona-4971013_640

I wonder what 2021 will bring will it bring changes for the good or will it instead of starting a new norm just go back to how it was?

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/04/recycling-and-climate-change4th-may-2020and-covid-19/

Tuesday: Exotic Spicy Thai Food…Ant Egg Salad…Koi Khai Mod Dang

National Egg Month which meant we will talk eggs with a difference…Spicy Ant Egg Salad…something the Mexican call caviar on land…Many of you may not have heard or tried it…some of you may have tried it or decided it wasn’t for you…Opinion is most certainly divided…

macro photography of ant

Photo by Jimmy Chan on Pexels.com

Personally, I love it!…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/05/exotic-spicy-thai-food-ant-egg-salad-koi-khai-mod-dang/

Wednesday: Whimsical Wednesday with CarolCooks2…

Hello and welcome… I would like to say that here on Whimsical Wednesdays it is a Corona free zone but this sneaky virus has crept into every single aspect of our lives…Awake or asleep it is there…It dominates the headlines and our thoughts…It invokes great sadness but also great joy…and a smidgen of hope…Nope, I refuse to mention the other 10%…My focus is coming out the other side with hope in my heart…

We are in unprecedented times…Captain Tom who has now been made an Honorary Colonel cheered me up and made my day…Here is a clip of his memories…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/06/whimsical-wednesday-with-carolcooks2-6/

Thursday: Smorgasbord Health Column – Food Therapy – #Asparagus – Nutrient-Packed and Delicious by Sally Cronin…Plus a bonus of some Asparagus recipes from me…Who doesn’t love asparagus wrapped in bacon???

 

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/smorgasbord-health-column-food-therapy-asparagus-nutrient-packed-and-delicious-by-sally-cronin/

Thursday was also National Roast Leg of Lamb Day…

I also shared our favourite Egyptian Flat Bread made with leftover lamb and some hummus…

Ehyptian-lamb-flatbreads

The plating was done by Aston who then duly tucked in… he loves his food…I don’t think I have ever seen a child who eats with such joy on his face…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/07/national-roast-leg-of-lamb-day/

Friday: Nought to write…

I came to a standstill…I started writing and then realised it was Saturday post I was writing…Doh!…my days have merged into one…the heat has gotten in and I had nothing to write…Every time I tried to do some research something on Covid-19 popped up it was also the day after my brother in laws funeral…I was sad, dispirited and just didn’t know what to write so I had a drink or two, ate some crisps and all the things I wouldn’t normally eat, cursed my oven and gave up…Not like me at all but I have this little niggle which is getting bigger…I also thought if I feel like this how the heck must someone feel if they are on their own …made me realise how selfish I was being…

sundowners maxiko-2684386_640

Image by heidi_ziller from Pixabay

I thought how old I was…next year…So I started to plan a party…I intend to celebrate that milestone in style …We are going to Koh Samui and anyone who would like to join us is most welcome…

Saturday: Exotic Thai Fruits…Matum Fruit, Thai Cherries, Gac Fruit and Mangosteen…

Some of my favourite fruits… I particularly love the Thai cherries pickled…I am partial to a pickle or two…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/05/09/exotic-thai-fruits-matum-fruit-thai-cherries-gac-fruit-and-mangosteen/

That’s all for this week…I hope you have enjoyed this weekly roundup xx  

I invite your comments…Let’s chat!

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.

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 once again for reading this post I hope you all are having a great weekend, stay safe and wash those hands xx

30 thoughts on “CarolCooks2…weekly roundup 3rd May-9th May 2020…Recipes and Mothers Day…”

  1. acflory

    Wish I could suggest something for the oven but I’m not sure what double tinning actually means? Two baking dishes together to even out the heat?
    Actually, unless this is double tinning, how about one tin on the bottom shelf with water in it and the cake on a higher shelf getting a little cooled by the evaporating water?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I put a tin with a rack on the shelf when heating the oven and then when it reaches the heat put my tin with mixture on the rack… If I add the double tinning when oven has reached temp it increases heat too much very complicated with bottom heat oven… Nightmare is the best word and as it isn’t big enough for two shelves can’t add tin with water no room the ovens here only support one shelf… Baking here is a task and a half… Sigh

      Liked by 1 person

      2. CarolCooks2 Post author

        Yes it is, Meeks.. Thais stir fry and ovens are in short supply… Plus small and basic… You get the odd place which can get a super duper one but the cost is way over the top imported from the US.. Ovens just are not the thing here you get lots of table top models but again only one shelf position…. I have got used to it but now I baking more it has caused a few problems.. sigh

        Liked by 1 person

      3. acflory

        We’re in a similar boat. The lockdowns mean there are certain things we can’t get – like decent bread. That means making your own, but our electric mixer is too much of a ‘toy’ to be able to knead bread dough. And frankly, doing it by hand has been less than stellar, so the Offspring has ordered a real mixer, with a dough hook.
        I’ve wanted one for ages but the cost was simply prohibitive. Surprise, surprise, the price has dropped by almost half. An odd silver lining but we’ll take it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      4. CarolCooks2 Post author

        Lovely…Lots of bread I have been hand kneading but it gets so hot it is like a sauna in my kitchen…I got a bargain buy one get one free on fans just waiting for delivery…

        Liked by 1 person

      5. acflory

        lmao! Definitely a couple of silver linings. 🙂 My problem at the moment is that we’ve had a cold snap and my dough just doesn’t seem to want to rise. I suspect the amount of fruit I put in [fruit bread] may also be an issues, but the cold doesn’t help.

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  3. dgkaye

    Oh, I’d love to join you Carol! There in spirit! And I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your brother-in-law. These are truly awful times we have to make the best situation out of. Stay safe my friend. And oh, ya, I’m willing to bet it was the tin overheating. ❤

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    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Thank you… they are indeed such awful times.. Yes my plan seems to have worked baked two cakes yesterday..
      Thai ovens certainly defy all logic when cooking.. But heating the tin with the oven seemed to do the trick fingers crossed… Be well and stay safe dear Debby Hugs xx

      Liked by 1 person

  5. koolkosherkitchen

    Dear Carol, my great-grandmother used to say that a lady should choose the age she is most comfortable with and stay with it for the rest of her life (she lived to 93). I am always 18, and I hope that for your significant birthday, you follow this advice. Stay the way you are, dear friend, and grow younger every year!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Sheryl

    It’s so frustrating when there are issues with oven temperatures. I’m not familiar with double tinning for cakes, but with cookies I really like pans that are double layered with an airspace in the middle. Happy Mothers’ Day!

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Pingback: CarolCooks2…weekly roundup 3rd May-9th May 2020…Recipes and Mothers Day… | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

  10. CarolCooks2 Post author

    Hi Robbie… each to their own I never in million years thought I would eat ant eggs.. As for the oven I have baked 2 cakes today and rather than starting it high I lit it on the lowest setting.. Put the tin and rack in left it for half hour and the temp was just over what I wanted put in cake tin and 2 perfect cakes.. Ovens here don’t have thermostat so we need a separate thermostat its only way to get a temp reading plus its calor gas as no piped gas here… Thank you for your advice.. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  11. robertawrites235681907

    Hi Carol, no ant eggs for me, thank you. We have horrible ants here just like our aggressive African bees. Send over the murder wasps, lets see who the winner will be! WRT your oven, if the tins are metal, the temperature will increase quickly, that makes absolute sense. If they are glass or ceramic, the temp will still climb but more gradually. Maybe the best way is to not the temp before and after and then just deduct that amount as you go forward. Just a thought?

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