Culinary A-Z, Coconut Cookies, The Ants and the Grasshopper, Neem Oil, Lemongrass Oil and Music…
Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…Especially for you just in case you missed a few posts during this last week…Time is marching on…
We are now just into the month of September time just flies…Yesterday was a sad day of remembrance around the world, particularly in the USA…my thoughts and prayers were with you yesterday as was the rest of the world…for those who lost their lives and for those left behind with memories of the horror…God bless you all xx
Last week started with No not a Disney film…but a serious look at how some countries in the world are suffering from lack of water while others have more than their fair share..there is still so much inequality in the world.
Not Disney! The Ants and the Grasshopper…
Imagine living where your village receives an average of 3 Days of rain PER YEAR.
That’s correct ..it’s not a typo…3 Days of rain PER YEAR…
Then you find out that it stems from the burning of Fossil Fuels in countries like the USA…Today I was reading an article on “What’s a Fair Share of Energy?”
Equitable resource distribution requires the world’s affluent countries to reduce their ecological impact while low-income nations gain greater access to resources until there is convergence…it was an interesting read, well researched by a group with leanings towards the left however nothing was found when they were fact-checked and their research is sound…I like to think I have moderate views I don’t lean too far left or right…but the article was interesting and highlighted differences that western worlds could and should make to help the low-income nations after all the world is all of our homes whatever our circumstances, religion, gender or social standing…
The manufacture of plastics and plastic, when exposed to the elements, releases methane and ethylene – two powerful greenhouse gases that can intensify climate change…
Wednesday I was over at Smorgasbord with Carol Taylor’s Green Kitchen…
Just to recap for those who are new here…This monthly post will cover sustainability, news on food production…changes for the better and maybe a villain or three…haha, a recipe or two including some plant-based recipes, hints and tips on making my household a little greener…aka recycling and composting.
This Month’s Recipe…Banana Bread with Passionfruit Curd/Butter…
To read the original post please click the link below…
I am loving this series and discovering much…I don’t think you can ever know everything about the culinary world there are surprises to come across…Bunny Chow was mine this month a delicious sounding dish of comfort food…It is a South African fast food often shortened to bunny … it is a hollowed-out white loaf filled with curry…A popular street food…
A familiar sight in Asia either hanging off the tree or found on all the market stalls ..elsewhere in the world they can be found in Asian stores dried and Tori found some tinned ones… on checking online I found Asda in the UK sell tinned Banana Flowers…
Welcome to Saturday Snippets where I indulge my whimsy and my passions… maybe a tune or two…something which has caught my eye this last week…just anything out of the ordinary or extraordinary…I am enjoying just taking a prompt from one word it opens up a whole world and never ceases to surprise me as I hope it does you too…
Come with me and see what I discovered…my word today is…Darling!
The prompt was a suggestion on a post I wrote about varieties of Oranges…’ My Darling Clementine”…clever to make the connection, Clive...I was a tad slower…sigh
Once againI would like to extend my thanks for the emails, messages and calls of support for our dear daughter and for us stuck here at the moment so far away…it helps enormously…Lauren now knows what lies ahead for her going forward it will be a long road ahead starting with 6 months of aggressive chemotheraphy but we hope with support and her fighting spirit she will get through this…on the plus side, her consultant has said she can attend a family wedding in a Cyprus before her treatment starts this cheered her up and she is busy sorting out her wardrobe…Thank you once again I do appreciate all the support…Much love and Hugs xxx
Tomorrow is the start of a new week I hope you will join me for next weeks posts…Have a lovely Sunday…after a wet and windy week here today it’s sunny and bright xxx
I don’t make biscuits very often…I love a homemade cookie/biscuit far more than my waistline does…over the last 18 months I have not walked as much and the pounds have crept on…as I am very close to my 70th birthday…yikes…the motivation to get those pounds off has increased.
I have started walking again however because my feet have gotten soft I gained a glorious blister the other day although I did push it and walked further than I should have… however as it was my first week back on the exercise circuit I know it was stupid of me..
.I am on week 2 of Sally’s…Smorgasbord Magazine… 6 weeks glycemic plan… it’s going well and I am sticking to low glycemic foods plus staying within the boundaries of medium rated glycemic foods and have totally eliminated the high glycemic foods…maybe I will have one cookie as my treat…
It’s surprising how quickly the urge to eat everything sweet or salty (crisps) decreases…I feel less bloated and am sleeping better…
These cookies are my basic recipe and you can add whatever you like ..grate some lime or orange zest is quite a nice addition…Drizzle a lemon, lime or orange icing over the top…
I know biscuits/cookies can never be healthy...homemade ones don’t last as long not because you eat them all in one day but because they go soft…A manufacturer’s bottom line is profit and shelf life by making them at home we can substitute sugar for a stevia-based one or whatever our favoured sweetener is…we can choose the flour we use maybe wholemeal or spelt…we use better quality ingredients like real vanilla extract or vanilla beans…The bottom line is we try to make the best tasting cookies without the preservatives…
Eaten and enjoyed they are a nice treat…x
Ingredients:
150gm rolled oats
100gm plain flour
100gm light brown sugar( I used raw sugar)
100gm desiccated coconut
100gm butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp of boiling water.
Let’s Cook!
Set oven to heat at 175C, gas mark 4.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, flour, coconut and oats mix to combine well.
In a small pan add the butter and golden syrup and melt the butter. meanwhile, bring the kettle to a boil and add two tbsps of boiling water to the bicarbonate of soda in a small cup. Add this to the melted butter/syrup mix. It will foam a little.
N.B if you leave it on the heat…like me…and turn back to line your tin…It will foam and it went all over my ceramic hob…the rest you can guess…sigh
Make a well in the centre of your dry mix and pour in the melted butter/syrup mix. Stir to thoroughly combine and it will form a slightly sticky dough.
Roll out balls and put on a baking tray leaving a space as they will spread on cooking ( the mix made 15 balls) Slightly flatten with your hand.
Put in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
THE BISCUITS WILL BE SOFT TO THE TOUCH BUT WILL HARDEN ON COOLING.
Don’t make the mistake I made when I first made them and thought they weren’t cooked and gave them another 10 minutes. They were a tad harder than required when they cooled down…haha…I could build a wall with them…Opppps
Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of posts…A little later today as it has been one of those days…Things have hotted up here…I did my first shop online since I have lived here…They apologised that they couldn’t deliver today but they would tomorrow by 10.00am…no delivery charge either…However, we heard this afternoon that all the stores would be closed and only the markets would be open how long for I don’t know…The borders are closed, no flights, all the stores/bars only food outlets remaining open.
Scary times for the world…It does sadden me when I see that people are still partying on beaches and other places and ignot=ring the call by governments to isolate themselves socially…Utter madness when they don’t know who they could be infecting…
That’s my rant over please stay safe, grab your favourite drink whether it be a green smoothie, a cup of chai or like me oolong green tea…
Monday: Recycling and Climate change day…16th March 2020…
There were lots of positive steps last week however this week although there have been lots of sad news about deaths through Covid-19 however because of the closedowns around the world nature has soon come back to canals in Venice for a start, water is clearer and the atmosphere is cleaner and that is just after a few weeks …I hope when this is over many lessons will have been learnt and maybe just maybe things will change for the better…I do hope so…
Tuesday: Thailand…Down on the Farm…Jambulan Plum and Mulberries…
Some beautiful fruit was the theme of Down on the Farm…This week or yesterday my neighbour presented me with a lovely bag of pomegranates they picked from their tree…
I tried to keep it as upbeat as possible last week given much of the news is depressing…Xander went down really well you loved him as much as I did a wonderful child…Bowie and Space Odessy…and Barnums Circus..and some really lovely Coconut Cookies I ate the last one today…I wonder what this week will bring…
We also had Eat your Purples by Sally Cronin…I love my purples and am seeing more and more purple veggies for sale here…Purple sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower…I am really getting my purples…Are you?
Friday: CarolCooks2…This week in my kitchen…Everything cooked from scratch…
I have been busy cooking and also thinking about what I can make if food gets rationed or we are unable to get out to buy some…These are unprecedented times so I for one am not sure where this will end…This last week it was some simple bread recipes …
That’s all for this week…Thank you for reading…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
In my kitchen… where you will get an insight into what I have been cooking this week…Plus a bit of chat and trivia it would be boring otherwise…wouldn’t it? I am also guessing that for many of you life has changed this last month or two and if you are now at home it also gives the chance to cook more especially as you have time and maybe cannot buy as much or any of the things you normally buy so are having to make your own or improvise…and make do…
Having grown up in a family where my mother and grandmothers cooked from scratch maybe it was a little easier for me…I then had children (6) that meant a minimum of 8 to cook and feed every day plus the extra kiddies who would wangle a dinner invite…haha…It was a bit of a home for waifs and strays at times…
Then I moved here…Many of the ingredients I cooked with I cannot get here or are imported at cost and often very rarely available so at times ingredients have proved a challenge however it has forced me to improvise and substitute ingredients but overall I believe I am a better cook for it…
I have also learnt that many foods I took for granted and thought I couldn’t make …Well, I can…Always cheaper, bigger portions than the sometimes tiny jars and packets you buy…no chemicals and fillers…and not as time-consuming as I thought they might be…Taste-wise always superior…
Over the next few weeks, I will give you some hints and tips using minimal basic ingredients most of the time and healthy most of the time for foods you can make at home …Also if you are really struggling to get meals on the table tell me what ingredients you have and I will come up with a meal plan…Just e-mail me if you would rather…carolcookstwo@gmail.com Happy to help…xx
I am being preventive so have opted to stay in where possible and keep away from people…I made my favourite biscuits anything with golden syrup and I am hooked…These little biscuits well they are not really biscuits more like cookies as they have a softish very slightly chewy texture…Carol’s Coconut Cookies…
smart
smart
These cookies are my basic recipe and are my experimental recipe I am already planning what I can add to them but this time I left the recipe as it is..no walnuts or raisins…
Ingredients:
150gm rolled oats
100gm plain flour
100gm light brown sugar( I used raw sugar)
100gm dessicated coconut
100gm butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp of boiling water.
Let’s Cook!
Set oven to heat at 175C, gas mark 4.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, flour, coconut and oats mix to combine well.
In a small pan add the butter and golden syrup and melt the butter. meanwhile, bring the kettle to the boil and add two tbsps of boiling water to the bicarbonate of soda in a small cup. Add this to the melted butter/syrup mix. It will foam a little.
N.B if you leave it on the heat…like me…and turn back to line your tin…It will foam and went all over my ceramic hob…the rest you can guess…
Make a well in the centre of your dry mix and pour in the melted butter/syrup mix. Stir to thoroughly combine and it will form a slightly sticky dough.
Roll out balls and put on a baking tray leaving a space as they will spread on cooking ( the mix made 15 balls) Slightly flatten with your hand.
Put in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
If the bread counter is empty…Grab some flour if you can any flour as bread is very adaptable, some yeast, Oats, baking powder and baking soda you are then equipped to make some beautiful bread…Can’t get yeast …no worries we have that covered…Milk and we are sorted you can now make some beautiful bread.
This first recipe is from Sally...A beautiful yeast-free Irish soda Bread…
The second recipe is a favourite of mine… Buttermilk Bread…
Both easy to make and great spread with butter or jam, toasted, eaten with soup…both lovely loaves of bread and who doesn’t love the smell of fresh bread?
Let’s Bake!
Buttermilk Bread…
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of lukewarm water.
1 cup of Buttermilk.
1 tbsp quick yeast.
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
6 1/2 cups of bread flour.
Melted butter to brush the top of the loaf.
Let’s Cook!
Mix water, buttermilk, yeast, salt, sugar in a bowl. Add the flour. No need to knead..lol
Just combine all the ingredients together..lightly cover the bowl and leave to rest/rise for 2 hrs.
The bonus of living here is dough rises quickly...I love using yeast now.
You can use the dough immediately, or store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.
If you are using now preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dust the dough with flour and very lightly knead, shape into a round. Cover and rest for 90 minutes.
Oh, and I made a cut into the top of my dough just like a cross.
Bake in the middle of the oven for approx 40 minutes until golden brown and delicious.
Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter.
Leave to cool before slicing.
Enjoy!
If like me you can’t always get Buttermilk or it is very expensive then here is a recipe to make your own Buttermilk.
Have you half a pack of cream cheese a couple of rashers of bacon, a slice or two of ham or a small piece of chorizo sausage lurking in the fridge…some breadcrumbs and some Jalapeno peppers…Fancy a snack..easy…Although I have used bacon with mine any of the above will be great just crumble the chorizo and cook then add to the cream cheese which if you haven’t enough cream cheese bulk it out by adding some feta, sour cream any other cheese play with the flavours use up your odds and ends…
Next week flatbread and pizza bases…again so easy…so if you are faced with not a lot on the shelves check out the herbs and spices, always grab some flour and milk…cheese if you can any sort it can all be used…cheese sauces for starters, pizza topping…
No tinned tomatoes then buy a couple of kilos of beautiful red ripe tomatoes and make your own it is so easy…You can then make soup, pasta sauce topping for pizzas…Fresh herbs can be frozen so pick them up they will all add a zing to your sauces and pizza…
It will also save you money...ready meals are expensive and not healthy and often not big enough for a growing lad or hungry hubby…
I hope this has given you some ideas...the stockpiling and panic buying has horrified me I have family and friends in the Uk who can’t even get milk for their babies ..yet it is on e-bay for extortionate prices…If anyone I know is doing that and profiting from other peoples misery and worry then I will unfriend without hesitation…It is disgusting behaviour there is no need if everyone just shopped as normal there would be enough for everyone. Appalling behaviour…
That’s all for this week from me please stay safe and think of others we are all in this together…x
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!
Welcome to Whimsical Wednesday…before I start … I know many of you are self-isolating and may be worried about loved ones…I am starting with this video because it made me smile and I hope it makes you smile and I hope it makes you know that there will be a future and a bright one if this little chap is in it…so adorable…Enjoy! xxx
How beautiful was that and expressed in a way that only a child can…
I hope everyone enjoyed their Corned Beef and Cabbage yesterday on St Patricks Day…Seeing all those images made me really want some Corned Beef it is something I haven’t eaten for a very long time…Methinks I may have to see if I can replicate that here and brine my own corned beef…Corned Beef and Cabbage seems to be more of an Irish/American dish rather than Gaelic Ireland.
In Gaelic Ireland, cows were a symbol of wealth and a sacred animal. Because of their sacred association, they were only killed for their meat if the cows were too old to work or produce milk. So, beef was not even a part of the diet for the majority of the population. Only the wealthy few were able to eat the meat on a celebration or festival. During these early times, the beef was “salted” to be preserved. The first salted beef in Ireland was actually not made with salt but with sea ash, the product of burning seaweed.
It doesn’t, however, take away from the fact that it is a delicious plate of food whatever its origin…
March ….weatherwise over the centuries it is a mixed month, in history, it has been violent and gloomy over the years in view of what is happening and what the ethos of Whimsical Wednesdays is I am going to try my utmost to keep the mood light…
Nothing lighter than space and today 18th March 1965… Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov left his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, he became the first person to walk in space.
How exciting would that be?
Of course, space is a popular topic especially when it comes to music and films…Apollo 13, E.T, Alien, The Martian, Space Odessy to many to mention…
Time for a tune…
I love a bit of Bowie…
Time for a recipe…
Coconut Biscuits
I don’t make biscuits very often..almost never but once a packet of food is opened here because of the humidity doesn’t last long it either goes off or the ants take residence. I was guided by the desiccated coconut and the golden syrup which was a gift from afar… aka visitors and the rolled oats which I mistakenly bought instead of the porridge oats.
These cookies are my basic recipe and every time I make them I add something else just because I can.. I am already planning what I can add to them…I can’t help myself…
Ingredients:
150gm rolled oats
100gm plain flour
100gm light brown sugar( I used raw sugar)
100gm dessicated coconut
100gm butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp of boiling water.
Let’s Cook!
Set oven to heat at 175C, gas mark 4.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, flour, coconut and oats mix to combine well.
In a small pan add the butter and golden syrup and melt the butter. meanwhile, bring the kettle to the boil and add two tbsps of boiling water to the bicarbonate of soda in a small cup. Add this to the melted butter/syrup mix. It will foam a little.
Make a well in the centre of your dry mix and pour in the melted butter/syrup mix. Stir to thoroughly combine and it will form a slightly sticky dough.
Roll out balls and put on a baking tray leaving a space as they will spread on cooking ( the mix made 15 balls) Slightly flatten with your hand.
Put in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
THE BISCUITS WILL BE SOFT TO THE TOUCH BUT WILL HARDEN ON COOLING.
Don’t make the mistake I made when I first made them and thought they weren’t cooked and gave them another 10 minutes. They were a tad harder than required when they cooled down…haha…I could build a wall with them…Opppps
Enjoy!
Did you know?
March 20 this year the sun shines on the equator for the Vernal Equinox, giving us a near 50-50 split of day and night. In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox falls on 20th this year although it can be 19,20 or 21, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator going north…The first day of Spring…
March 21 2006… The day Twitter was founded. Founder Jack Dorsey inaugurated the social media site with its profound first tweet: “just setting up my twttr.”
I wonder if he knew then just how popular Twitter would become?
As a child, I loved the circus…the clowns but as I grew older clowns took on a more sinister meaning in my mind anyway…. and Barnums was hosted as the Greatest show on earth…That music was so exciting it added to the atmosphere of the circus…As the years went by people realised the cruelty behind the taming of the animals although my fascination was always the trapeze artists and the high wire…
How many of you as kiddies just wanted to run away and join the circus??
That’s all for today …Thank you for joining me on my whimsical ramblings I do hope you have enjoyed this post…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.
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 have a fabulous week and stay safe these are troubling times xx
Welcome once again to Whimsical Wednesdays where I unashamedly indulge myself…I do hope you enjoy my meanderings today….Come with me and let’s begin…These posts are never planned… if I come across anything which I love or which tugs at my heartstrings then I save it for Whimsical Wednesdays… the rest just happens …It is wherever my thoughts take me at that time…Mainly they are random and unplanned…I mean they are the best thoughts…Enjoy! xxx
December 5th, 1791…Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart sadly died but what a legacy he left…His music has lived on…
I could sit and listen to this for hours…Both soothing and invigorating…
Did you know? There are two islands named Christmas Island one in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Indian Ocean.
Also, the Rubiks Cube was the highest-selling Christmas toy in 1980 when it sold for $1.99 and today it retails for $10…
John Rieber never ceases to amaze or shock me sometimes with the weird and wacky finds he writes about…This is no different…Would you eat it?
I would… Doesn’t it look realistic though?
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!
She walked into the poorest part of town, feeling completely overdressed in her new outfit, it was late afternoon and she thought that if 23, Coal Street was Georges address that they could go out for a drink. She hoped he could tell her more about her family, he obviously knew something of her history.
She walked along Coal Street and watched the numbers 17, 19, 21, then there it was number 23, her heart quickened, she hoped he wouldn’t be upset to see her here. She looked around her, the street was eerily quiet, she turned and tapped hesitantly on the door.
She thought she heard some movement and then nothing, no one came to the door and now there was only silence. She hadn’t walked all of this way to just turn and go home again, she looked into the window, it was a little grimy so she rubbed her hand against the pane and peered in. It was a dark small room with an old painting on the wall opposite but there was no sign of anyone at home.
“Oy!” Came a voice from behind her. “What do you think you’re doing? There’s nothing worth pinching there.” She turned and saw the voice had come from a burly man with a full bushy beard and a shirt open to his waist.
“I’m sorry, I was looking for George.”
“Well he’s in, I saw him not more than an hour ago. Maybe you should knock again rather than peering through people’s windows.” He tutted and walked away.
She did as he suggested and knocked again, still nothing. She started to worry, what if he was ill and couldn’t get to the door or something had happened to him, she had to get into the house.
She followed the path that led to the back of the house, it went under a covered area by the side of a house and at the end of it was a tall gate that she knew would lead to the garden and outhouses. She pushed the gate and it swung open she turned right and counted three houses down, that was the back of George’s house, she hoped no one noticed her as she walked towards it.
She stood looking at the house from the back, then approached the window to take a look inside, this time she checked that no one was watching her, they weren’t. She put her eye to the glass and immediately ducked back down below the window level. It couldn’t be right, could it? Carl was in the kitchen with George, he had been stood over the old man. What was Carl doing here?
Their voices were too low, she couldn’t hear anything they were saying, she moved towards the door and quietly tried the handle, it was open. She slipped inside silently and found herself in a little hallway that obviously led into the kitchen, there was a larder to her left and the kitchen to her right. She didn’t move, from here she could catch snippets of the conversation and she heard her name mentioned more than once and the name of someone called William, she kept listening.
“You shouldn’t have said anything George, you always have to cause trouble don’t you,”
“She has a right to know, what business is it of yours anyway?”
“William has told me to get that necklace, she has no idea what it is nor it’s value.”
“Leave her alone Carl, I won’t help you, she’s a nice girl. Just leave her alone.”
She heard a thump, and then a door banging. Someone had left the room. She didn’t know what to do next.
TBC.
Did you know? Neither did I…Each year on December 4th, National Dice Day recognizes and ancient gaming tool. Many games incorporate dice as a way to add random challenges or obstacles to the objectives.
The origin of dice is uncertain. However, it is known that they have been around for thousands of years. At the Burnt City, an archaeological site in south-eastern Iran, the oldest known dice were excavated as part of a 5000-year-old backgammon set.
So come on hands up was it two dice hanging in the car or a nodding dog in the back window…???
For those of you who love a Cookie, it is also National Cookie Day…Please feel free to share your Christmas Cookie recipes…x
The English word “cookie” is derived from the Dutch word koekie meaning “little cake.”
My favourite…A bit too hard to choose really …as long as they don’t contain chocolate I love them…Don’t get me wrong I love chocolate just not in cookies…
These biscuits are really easy to make and very moreish..
Coconut Biscuits
I don’t make biscuits very often..almost never but once a packet of food is opened here because of the humidity it doesn’t last long it either goes off or the ants take residence. I was guided by the desiccated coconut and the golden syrup which was a gift from afar… aka visitors and the rolled oats which I mistakenly bought instead of the porridge oats.
These cookies are my basic recipe but of course, you can add anything sultanas, chocolate whatever takes your fancy…
Ingredients:
150 gm rolled oats
100 gm plain flour
100 gm light brown sugar( I used raw sugar)
100 gm desiccated coconut
100 gm butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp of boiling water.
Let’s Cook!
Set oven to heat at 175 C, gas mark 4.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Combine the sugar, flour, coconut and oats mix to combine well.
In a small pan add the butter and golden syrup and melt the butter. meanwhile, bring the kettle to the boil and add two tbsp of boiling water to the bicarbonate of soda in a small cup. Add this to the melted butter/syrup mix. It will foam a little.
Make a well in the centre of your dry mix and pour in the melted butter/syrup mix. Stir to thoroughly combine and it will form a slightly sticky dough.
Roll out balls and put on a baking tray leaving a space as they will spread on cooking ( the mix made 15 balls) Slightly flatten with your hand.
Put in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
THE BISCUITS WILL BE SOFT TO THE TOUCH BUT WILL HARDEN ON COOLING.
Don’t make the mistake I made when I first made them and thought they weren’t cooked and gave them another 10 minutes.
They were a tad harder than required when they cooled down…haha…I could build a wall with them…Opppps
Time for a tune…
They are definitely getting more Christmassy…Yeah!
1973
MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY
SLADE
1974
LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS
MUD
1975
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
QUEEN
1976
WHEN A CHILD IS BORN (SOLEADO)
JOHNNY MATHIS
1977
MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS’ SCHOOL
WINGS
1978
MARY’S BOY CHILD – OH MY LORD
BONEY M
1979
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2)
PINK FLOYD
Oh dear…Time to close my eyes and just pick one…I love all of these…Just check out the haircut…A Mullett is what we called it…
Which brings me nicely (in the absence) of Christmas Jumpers…Yep…I am not letting it go I still would like to see your Christmas Jumpers or hats in the meantime…
Haircuts..fads and fashions over the years…Here is me way back in 1980…
Sporting the Lady Di hairstyle…very pink for some reason…
Poems I probably wouldn’t be any good at writing one…I might receive the crown for the worst poem …haha…But since I have been blogging I have read a few poems and discovered that I quite like some poems…This particular one written and spoken by Ellen Best is very pertinent for this time of year …The time of year coming brings much joy and hope to many people but it also brings sadness… and sorrow to many as well…
It is certainly the season of very many mixed emotions and I think we need to take more care if our emotions are of the joyous kind..and there is naught wrong with that…
We need to be mindful of those for whom the Chrismas season is tinged with sadness and despair if we can help with a smile, a touch of the shoulder or a hug… a gift of mince pies, a hot dinner, a sleeping bag we should…Chrismas, after all, is a time for Loving and giving…x
That’s all from me today on Whimsical Wednesday… I hope you have enjoyed reading this post…xx
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 are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…
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 have a creative week ahead xx
Retired? No one told me! 