Category Archives: Saturday Snippets

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…24th October- 5th November 2022-Monday Musings, #Chicken Pot Pie with filo Pastry , Health, Morbid Obesity, #Edible Roots…Grow your own herbs and Saturday Snippets where “Ginger” is my one word prompt.

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of posts you may have missed during the week…weather wise it has been a mixed week but the temps are dropping a little as we get into our “winter”…its nice weather to walk in though and I am increasing my daily steps gradually and feel better for it…It is enjoyable walking in the early morning nice and quiet plus you get the best of the market I am enjoying some huge passionfruit at the moment instead of being golf ball size they are like bigger versions of a cricket ball and full of lovely sweet and sour flesh…

Monday Musings… this is where normally I share some things that have thrilled me, made me think or smile or even have a mini-rant but generally it is my happy place and I hope yours …

Last week’s Monday Musings focused on Halloween as it fell on Halloween not something I grew up with we focused on Guy Fawkes which was yesterday 5th November… we loved making the guy and watching him burn and there were fireworks, baked potatoes, and chestnuts we had always had a lovely time…

Monday Musing showcased these elephants enjoying their fresh pumpkin treat it was such a cute video if you can apply that to elephants…smile..plus there were some great Halloween recipes from John… some really cute spiders.

Monday Musings…31st October 2022…Halloween…

When is a pie not a pie that is always a debate should it have a top and bottom or just a top?…this one had a top only and was filo one of my favourite pastries…I hope you enjoy!

CarolCooks2 in my kitchen…Chicken Pie with a filo Pastry top…

A healthier dinner alternative…but just as delicious,,, Onions stuffed with sundried tomatoes and cheese…

Eating for health… Roasted Onions with sun-dried Tomatoes.

Time for part 25 of my A-Z of World Cuisine and it’s France …a long-time leader around the world in fabulous food and wines,,, many dishes that wherever we live are now our favourite like Boeuf Bourguignon, Baguettes and pastries, the macaron, French Onion Soup so many dishes that are loved around the world…

CarolCooks2…A-Z World Cuisines…Part 25…France…

Obesity is not just about how much food and the type of food we eat…

Sometimes our bodies can work with us and others against us. In this post, Sally of Smorgasbord Magazine takes a closer look at Leptin which plays an essential role in our weight management.

Leptin – The Obesity Hormone.

If you are like me then I had heard of leptin but didn’t really know what part it played in our weight management..I found this post very enlightening and interesting…Please click the highlighted link below to read the original post.

Smorgasbord Health Column – #Obesity #Hunger – The role #Leptin plays in weight loss

Edible Roots…

I am always amazed at the food we could be eating especially if our survival depended on them and we don’t know because we don’t have the knowledge…I wish schools would do more to keep traditions and knowledge alive as we never know when we may need to utilise that information and have those skills and knowledge…Just saying.

CarolCooks2…Friday Food Reviews…#Edible Roots…Part 4…

Freshly picked herbs…

There is nothing like freshly picked herbs and even if we only have a window sill it’s still so satisfying…my coriander has already grown…yes it’s about 2 inches tall I didn’t expect it to sprout that quickly…

Healthy Eating….Fresh herbs from the garden or your window sill…

Saturday Snippets…my one-word prompt is “Ginger”

Saturday Snippets…5th November 2022…my one word prompt is “Ginger”

Thank you for joining me today for my weekly roundup as always I look forward to your comments…I hope my family and friends over the water are having some respite from the rain and wind…If you have your firework celebration this weekend… it’s Guy Fawkes in the UK I hope the rain stays away and you enjoy and if you have any pets that don’t like the fireworks I hope it doesn’t affect them too much…

I also hope wherever you are in the world that you are having a fabulous weekend I hope to see you here next week x

Saturday Snippets…5th November 2022…my one word prompt is “Ginger”

Good morning and welcome to Saturday Snippets where my muse struts her stuff and gives me a word…a one-word prompt I still have no clues as to where she gets the ideas for my prompt from … giving my muse a break was not the best plan… the truth is I ignored her and she is still sulking but I love a challenge and this week once again I was certainly challenged by my muse…she paid me back big time…Today’s prompt is “Ginger”…oh my what a challenge this is…

I love ginger as a drink..think “Ginger Beer”…I love cooking with ginger, ginger snaps are one of my favourite biscuits plus I always wished I has ginger hair I love the colour although friends who were born with ginger hair didn’t see it that way as pale skin and freckles came with it plus the leg-pulling and name calling in school..shame on the bullies I say as I think it is a beautiful colour hair…

I will leave you with my first tune of the day “Ginger Bakers Air Force” while I ponder on what apart from food, drink and hair I can find that is worth a mention…Wish me luck!

The Ginger Flower…

In Thailand, the beautiful pink flowers of Torch Ginger are used in decorative arrangements and eaten in salads or stir-fries… They are said to have medicinal value and are very high in antioxidants.

There is also the ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium) it isn’t a true lily but a rhizomatous member of the ginger family. Some folks know it as butterfly ginger because when its pure white blooms open fully, the spreading petals remind you of a butterfly’s wings.

They release an intoxicating, sweet scent, which some compare to honeysuckle. They’re excellent for cutting and bringing indoors. A cluster of flowers atop a cut stalk placed in a vase opens one by one, perfuming a room for up to a week.

My parents loved Fred and Ginger and I remember the music and the dance…

The time of year is coming when if they are not already the internet will be awash with beautiful Gingerbread houses and cute gingerbread men all ready to be hung on the Christmas tree…

Humans aren’t the only ones who rock the red. The animal kingdom is diverse in hair colour too and there are some gorgeous shades of red. You will find red skin or red markings on snakes, frogs, fish, insects, and ginger animals with fur or feathers…

Gingercake Mountain is a peak in North Carolina and has an elevation of 1,263 metres. Gingercake Mountain is situated nearby to Sitting Bear Mountain and Daniel Boone Wildlife Management Area and Ginger but it’s vanished…

Ginger – The Vanished Town between Emory (Rains County) and Alba (Wood County)
By Elaine Bay.

https://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/4070.asp

Ginger Beer… my mum used to make it and I have memories of the corks popping out while it was fermenting in her pantry. She used to feed the root and then pass half on to a friend a bit like we pass on our sough dough or kombucha. For so long I kept saying I am going to start a ginger beer plant as I have such happy memories and love a drink of ginger beer.I am now the proud owner of one and love it…

The true Ginger Beer Plant dates back to around the 1700s and is not actually a plant at all, instead it is a living organism. This organism forms a gelatinous cluster which moves about within its jar naturally, when used correctly it can allow you to make a lifetime’s supply of authentic, naturally fizzy alcoholic Ginger Beer that used to be commonplace in most UK households.

Easy to make just follow the instructions below…

  • Dice a tablespoon of fresh ginger root into small cubes and place this into a sterilised jam jar three-quarters full of de-chlorinated or mineral water.
  • Add two teaspoons of white sugar.
  • Cover the top of the jar with some muslin to allow airflow but protect it from debris or insects falling into the jar.
  • Leave the jar in an exposed place at room temperature, e.g. a kitchen shelf.
  • Every day for about a week add two teaspoons of sugar and two teaspoons of fresh diced ginger root.
  • If after one week the mixture is frothy with a pleasant odour it is ready to use. If it is mouldy discard it and start at the beginning again.

Garfield…my girls loved this ginger-coloured cat…Garfield is a fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. The comic strip centres on Garfield portrayed as a lazy, fat, and cynical orange tabby Persian cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, fellow cat Nermal and exercise….everything teenage girls can relate…smile…

I’ll leave you this…I did prefer the other version but I couldn’t go without mentioning “Ginger Spice again my girls were fans of theirs in their heyday…but they have done very well for themselves…

Thank you for joining me today as always I look forward to your comments…I’m now listening to Flashdance after inflicting you with ginger spice…smile…

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…23rd- 29th October 2022-Monday Musings, #Ricotta, Walnut and Blackberry Toast , Health, Morbid Obesity, #Edible Roots…and Saturday Snippets where “Lost” is my one word prompt.

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of posts you may have missed during the week…weather wise it has been a mixed week but the temps are dropping a little as we get into our “winter”…its nice weather to walk in though and I am increasing my daily steps gradually and feel better for it…It is enjoyable walking in the early morning nice and quiet plus you get the best of the market I am enjoying some huge passionfruit at the moment instead of being golf ball size they are like bigger versions of a cricket ball and full of lovely sweet and sour flesh…

Monday Musings… this is where normally I share some things that have thrilled me, made me think or smile or even have a mini-rant but generally it is my happy place and I hope yours …

Last week’s Monday Musings focused on “housekeeping” our blogs with one of the aims being to combat scammers and bots…not wanting to give these stupid girls a platform I also highlighted the vandalism of work of art plus a great video on how waste is being utilised in India it makes good viewing and made me feel hopeful as I do think the use i=of plastic crept up during the covid quarantines…

Monday Musings…24th October 2022…

Tuesday it was another breakfast/brunch with meat…this is one of my favourites as it has fruit, walnuts and ricotta on some lovely sourdough or wholemeal bread it is delicious…

CarolCooks2 in my kitchen…A breakfast/brunch treat…Ricotta, Blackberry and Walnut Toast.

Healthy - Vegetables- Fruit- Lady

Healthy Eating

Some of my regular readers may have noticed that I have rescheduled some of my older posts the reason is twofold one to combat those pesky scammers and two because my newer readers may not have read them and of course, with healthy eating posts there can also be new research or thought changes so an update keeps it current,,,

Healthy foods which may help reduce your blood pressure…

Thank you, Sally, again for resharing my first A-Z…it is serving as a good reminder for me…Please click the highlighted link below to read the original post.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Carol Taylor’s – Culinary A – Z Rewind – ‘J’ for Jelly Beans, Jalapenos, Jack Fruit and Jerky all with a little Jus

Boulangere is one of my favourite ways to eat the potato as I can’t get jersey Royals..

CarolCooks2…In my kitchen…Boulangere Potatoes…

I am pleased to promote Jacqui Murray’s new book release I am looking forward to reading this trilogy as I have thoroughly enjoyed the books I have read previously written by Jacquie…in this book tour we focus on “food” it is interesting that much of the food eaten is still eaten today although it may be cooked and not eaten raw a great insight into diet back then…Please click the highlighted link to be taken to Lucy’s world…

CarolCooks2 – Natural Selection, Book 3 in the Dawn of Humanity series by Jacqui Murray book blog tour

Time for the next instalment of  Size Matters where Sally is looking at the benefit of a good night’s sleep …a good night’s sleep works wonders for your health.

Smorgasbord Health Column – Size Matters: The Sequel – #Morbid Obesity – The power of sleep when losing weight and to be healthy by Sally Cronin

Edible Roots is the theme of this week’s posts and it is important as discussed the previous week that anything we forage or try that we haven’t tried before must, of course, be edible but also palatable…

CarolCooks2…Friday Food Reviews…#Edible Roots…Part 3…

Saturday Snippets…

One of my favourite posts of the week to write…My initial thought when my muse dropped this in my lap was that it was payback for ignoring her last week and that she had thrown me a curve ball but my research unearthed some great snippets…it just shows that initial impressions are not always right…

It also seems that “lost” prompted memories from many of you…thank you for the links Pete and Pete plus Joy had written about “Otzi the Iceman” a fascinating find by climbers please head over and have a read…Thank you for sharing this with us Joy it was a wonderful find…

Saturday Snippets…29th October 2022…my one word prompt is “Lost”

That’s what I love most about blogging is the interaction in the comments…I just love it..Thank you xx

Final post of the week…

Healthy Eating…No to Diets…Walking…is the new gym and it’s FREE!…plus walking is not only healthy but it’s social…

Healthy Eating…No to Diets…Walking…is the new gym and it’s FREE!

Thank you for joining me today for my weekly roundup a very mixed bag this last week…but also lots of fun in the comments and as always I look forward to your comments x

Saturday Snippets…29th October 2022…my one word prompt is “Lost”

Good morning and welcome to Saturday Snippets where my muse struts her stuff and gives me a word…a one-word prompt I still have no clues as to where she gets the ideas for my prompt from … this week I gave my muse a break… the truth is I ignored her something I will probably pay for big time next week but I love a challenge and this week I was certainly challenged by my muse…she paid me back big time…Today’s prompt is “Lost”…oh my what a challenge this is…

The Lost River begins and ends in a closed basin in northern California and southern Oregon in the United States.

Lost and Found.

Vaccum-Packed Frogs…

After a three-month-long tracing process to find the owners or pay out any claims, the airlines sell any remaining lost baggage to the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Clothes are dry-cleaned or laundered, jewellery is cleaned and appraised, and electronics are wiped of their memory caches and tested. Once, sorters at the Unclaimed Baggage Center discovered 50 vacuum-packed frogs packed into someone’s luggage. No word on the state of the frogs’ existence, or exactly what type of frogs they were, but the find was notable enough to become an Unclaimed Baggage Center legend.

But a Missile Guidance System?… The functional system was outfitted with a plaque that read, “Handle with extreme caution. I am worth my weight in gold.” After taking a few minutes to collect themselves, Unclaimed Baggage Center employees contacted the Air Force and returned the fighter jet gear…

There have been many tales, books, and films on lost cities on land and under the sea…some have been found/solved and some are still a mystery waiting to be solved…

The dream of El Dorado, a lost city of gold, led many a conquistador on a fruitless trek into the rainforests and mountains of South America. But it was all wishful thinking. The “golden one” was actually not a place but a person – as recent archaeological research confirms.

Fascinatingly, many aspects of this interpretation of events have been validated by painstaking archaeological research – research that also reveals the exceptional skill and scale of gold production in Colombia at the time of European arrival in 1537.

Some lost species have been found…

In 2017, Re: wild started a global quest to find its 25 most wanted lost species—and since then, Team Re: wild has found EIGHT. That’s right. More than 1/3 of a list of animals and plants scientists feared lost have been FOUND.

https://www.rewild.org/lost-species

Lost and Found.

Maybe you’ve lost a pair of sunglasses. Maybe you’ve found someone else’s earring. Maybe those items turn up in a lost-and-found area somewhere — a hotel, an amusement park, a railway station or a school. That’s great and all, but it’s likely that your experience pales in comparison to these cool, unique and weird artefacts that have turned up in lost and founds around the world.

The Bureau of Found Objects in the southern end of Paris is a massive repository of the city’s lost items. The centralized collection was formed in the 1800s during the time of Napoleon and now receives up to 700 items a day that have been found on the metro, in restaurants, museums, airports, streets and other locations. Although some of the items eventually are claimed, many are not, including a real human skull that was found in a Paris train station near the catacombs. The city’s catacombs include 200 miles (322 kilometres) of tunnels that have walls neatly lined with about 7 million human skeletons, some dating back more than 1,200 years. Although no one at the bureau quite knows how the skull was removed, chances are some “body” is missing it…

Lost and Found.

There is no end to the objects found in a lost and found…One set of objects, however, prompts a string of questions about the circumstances that would lead to its residence in a hotel for abandoned things: a wedding dress and matching shoes, all of which are new, clean and in a garment bag as if it were the day they were to be worn. Although the bridal set’s origins are a mystery, bureau employees point to a well-worn story that it was left in the back of a cab after a lovers’ quarrel — and never sought again…how about finding a 5.8-carat diamond and platinum ring inside a sock and tucked in a suitcase…an unclaimed suitcase I will add…

But an unclaimed headstone fully engraved…eventually, it was bought by a visitor to the unclaimed baggage centre and turned into a coffee table…also never claimed. a prosthetic leg, with an athletic shoe, attached, that still awaits its owner.

Even Uber Cars have created a lost and found index…with Saturday Night being the most likely time to leave something behind even a “live lobster ” on occasion…

London Undergrounds Lost and Found Department highlight the sheer volume..there really are some careless people about…

  • 12,000 umbrellas
  • 11,000 keys
  • 1,300 wallets and purses
  • 120 bags of shopping
  • 70 pairs of glasses
  • 62 dummies
  • 30 laptops
  • 21 bottles of fragrance
  • 8 sets of false teeth
  • 6 guitars
  • A cat
  • A lizard
  • A hamster
  • A full-size house carpet
  • A judge’s wig
  • A prosthetic leg
  • A 6ft Inflatable dinosaur
  • £15,000 in cash!….wow that is astounding…

I hope you have enjoyed to today’s Saturday Snippets ..will it make you more careful? As always I look forward to your comments x

CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…16th- 22nd October 2022-Monday Musings, #British Egg Week , Health, Morbid Obesity, #Edible Roots…and Saturday Snippets where “Infinity” is my one word prompt.

Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of posts you may have missed during the week…weather wise it has been a mixed week but the temps are dropping a little as we get into our “winter”…its nice weather to walk in though and I am increasing my daily steps gradually and feel better for it…It is enjoyable walking in the early morning nice and quiet plus you get the best of the market for the first time I found some lovely fiddlehead greens on a small stall that was obviously a few homegrown veggies and some foraged greens…Lets have a look at last week starting with …

Monday Musings… this is where normally I share some things that have thrilled me, made me think or smile or even have a mini-rant but generally it is my happy place and I hope yours is…

The post started with why the British call sausages “bangers’ and then my horror at why on earth “jumper munchers” as my son calls them thought it would prove a point by throwing tomato soup at a Van Gogh painting…or milk over a supermarket floor in Scotland…please click the link to read more rather than me having another mini rant…

Monday Musings…17th October 2022…Tomato soup was thrown over a Van Gogh Painting and that’s for starters!

This last week on Tuesday it was time for a chicken recipe…a family favourite quick and easy to make using what you may have in your fridge or larder…

Orange Chicken with watercress Rice…

Having read Hugh’s post over at Debbie Gies I am in the process of rescheduling and updating some of my posts that these pesky scammers have latched onto with the aim of maybe reducing my spam…This one was “How to plan your eating around social events”

Healthy Eating…#How to Plan for social events…

Time for another episode of Carol’s Green Kitchen…

As many of you are aware I always have an excess of bananas and I am always looking for new recipes to use BANANAS in…This recipe is my take on a Tarte Tatin…using bananas instead of apples and a banana bread mixture instead of pastry the result was delicious and I will be definitely making it again…

Carol Taylors Green Kitchen…October 2022…Banana Bread Tatin, Vegan Chocolate Cake and a simple mouthwash…

Time for the next episode in this series on Morbid Obesity written by Sally at Smorgasbord Magazine…this week Sally looks at keeping hydrated and hitting a weight loss plateau…

Smorgasbord Health Column – Size Matters: The Sequel – #Morbid Obesity – Hitting the Weight Loss Plateau #fluids by Sally Cronin

Another one of my rescheduled posts this one on How to lose weight and eat the food you love…Time to get on it..and be done with the excuses we make to ourselves…

No-diets-No-excuses

Who do you cheat??? Yourself!

Healthy Eating…How to lose weight and still eat the foods you love ! How good does that sound?

Edible Roots…just remember that although a root may be edible it may not be palatable something I highlight in this post…

CarolCooks2…Friday Food Reviews…#Edible Roots…Part 2…

Saturday Snippets…

Where this week I ignored my muse and opted to play and discover what Janets suggestion of “iNFINITY” would unearth…

Saturday Snippets…22nd October 2022…Today’s one-word prompt is “Infinity”

My final rescheduled post of the week was a trip to the market…

Saturday Morning Market…Mandarin Oranges and Rosella…Jam and Relish…

Thank you for joining me today for my weekly roundup I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend as always I look forward to your comments…I hope to see you next week x

Saturday Snippets…22nd October 2022…Today’s one-word prompt is “Infinity”

Good morning and welcome to Saturday Snippets where my muse struts her stuff and gives me a word…a one-word prompt I still have no clues as to where she gets the ideas for my prompt from … this week I gave my muse a break… the truth is I ignored her something I will probably pay for big time next week but I love a challenge and this week I was certainly challenged by the lovely Janet...Today’s prompt is “Infinity”…oh my what a challenge it is…plenty of tunes(Clive)…just saying-smile-

Let’s have some music while I think about this…Enjoy!

Infinity is an abstract concept used to describe something that is endless or boundless. It is important in mathematics, cosmology, physics, computing, and the arts.

The symbol, sometimes called the lemniscate, was introduced by clergyman and mathematician John Wallis in 1655. The word “lemniscate” comes from the Latin word lemniscus, which means “ribbon,” while the word “infinity” comes from the Latin word infinitas, which means “boundless.”

How about going wild swimming in a natural infinity pool?  

If you are in or near the Lake District(UK)_…perched up high overlooking the Lake District mountains is a stunning natural infinity pool…with stunning views over the Lake District.

It even has an honesty box…I bet that the water is cold…

Well “Infinity” was challenging…I found plenty of tunes, Maria Carey and the Bee Gees of course they did…even the Beatles with the Infinity song “Hey Jude”

In my search for something in the culinary world…could I find anything that comes under infinity?…

I found a cocktail..called Infinity Pool(Batched )Mezcal Cocktail with Celery…

It’s very yellow but it sounds delicious with celery bitters…I also came across an Avengers Infinity War Cookbook,,, Spaghetti with an infinity sauce…and of course a chocolate cake with infinity in the title…but not much else…

The Infinite Monkey Theorem…The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. In fact, the monkey would almost surely type every possible finite text an infinite number of times.

That’s all for “Infinity” there is much where infinity is tagged to a name/title but of course to really understand “Infinity” you would need to be a mathematician, a cosmologist, an expert in the fields of fundamental science, computing, or the arts…I am none of those…however, I do hope you have learnt from and enjoyed the music in this post …as always I look forward to your comments…Have a great weekend wherever you are in the world xx