Thursday 31 January 2013
31 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Workers in the kitchen cooked us
canapés (9)
Solution – saucepans
Workers
in the kitchen – well, I suppose that saucepans are workers in some senses!
Cooked
us canapés – the letters in "us canapés" are cooked ie mixed up to
get saucepans.
Decline road movie (6,9)
Source of clue – NZ Herald
Hint – the
solution is the name of a movie
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
I
stumbled over this neat little book, The
Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, quite by accident – and found
a little gem. As the title suggests the
book is set in Guernsey during WWII. The
book was published in 2008.
It
was written by Mary Anne Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows who did the final
edit as a result of Schaffer being extremely ill.
It
is a book in letter format, which doesn't always work. But I liked this one. It is a quick read with a lot of humor in the
darker setting of the German occupation of Guernsey. It has been made into a
film but I haven't seen it so don't know if it is any good.
Be warned, if you read the book, you will want to go to Guernsey. I haven't managed it yet but hope to one day.
Wednesday 30 January 2013
30 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Near end of flight in the dark (5)
Solution – nightNear = nigh
End of flight = last letter, or end, of the word "flight"
Nigh + t = night or the dark
Workers in the kitchen cooked us
canapés (9)
Hint –
the first letter is s
Need some inspiration: Try Slow Cooker dishes – Part II
Here's
the second part of Slow Cooker Need some inspiration? I hope you enjoy the links I am featuring
here and that they inspire you as they did me.
We
start off with this Slow Berry Cobbler by
Katie Kate's Kitchen. Fancy being able to do a cobbler in a
slow cooker!
This
Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken looked
easy to do and yummy. Thanks, What's Cooking in the Burbs.
I
loved the idea of this Greek Chicken Pita from Random Bits.
You
gotta love these Crockpot Maple Glazed Meatballs by Michelle's Tasty
Creations!
Talk
about comfort food. Here's Jenny Eatwell's Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder with parsnips and celery in cider.
And
last, but not least, (never met a cliché that I didn't like…) here is Crockpot Beef and Broccoli from This and That. Thanks Marly.
Tuesday 29 January 2013
29 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Empty tin in tank (6)
Solution – vacant
Empty
= vacant
Tin
= can
Tank
= vat
The
"can" is in the "vat" – so you also get "vacant".
Near end of flight in the dark (5)
Source of clue – NZ Herald
Hint – this
is a charades clue
Meatloaf with Red Bell Pepper surprise – Getting ready for Food on Friday!
This
meatloaf which had a surprise layer of red bell pepper
(capsicum) didn't turn out perfectly but it was still very tasty.
First
I cut up some red capsicum (bell pepper) into largish slices- enough to spread
out to make a layer in my meatloaf tin.
Then
I made up the meatloaf mix. Ground beef
(mince), a spoonful of mustard powder, generous splash of Worcestershire sauce,
an egg, salt and pepper (lashings), a squeeze of tomato paste, a sprinkle of
turmeric and finally some breadcrumbs – not too many just enough so the mixture
wasn't too sloppy.
I
lined the tin with baking paper (so that it would be easy to turn out after
molding). I then put half the meat
mixture in the bottom, then the layer of bell peppers and then the rest of the
meat. Press it down and let it sit in
the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes or so.
Turn
it out into a larger roasting dish. Put
grated cheese (I used mozzarella), grated nutmeg, breadcrumbs and knobs of
butter all on top.
Bake
in a moderate oven for 45 minutes and enjoy.
PS Next time I would pre-cook the bell pepper so
that it could be squeezed in more – it was still fairly crunchy when it came
out. It was also difficult to slice the
loaf without it falling apart.
Monday 28 January 2013
Flag of the week: Kenya
28 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Solution – beef
Producer
of honey = bee
Fine
= f
Bee
+ f = beef, a meat
Empty tin in tank (6)
Source of clue – NZ Herald
Schubert
Schubert is one of my 3 main men – in terms of classical music – Bach, Brahms and Schubert! All three of these guys spoke German but Schubert was an Austrian born in Vienna He was one of 13 children, of whom only 5 survived – the infant mortality rates were so high back then in the 18th century.
It is amazing how much great music Schubert produced considering he was only 31 when he died.
He wrote some lovely songs, or Lieder. He wrote over 600 Lieder in total. Now, if only I could sing….
My favourite Schubert Work is his Piano Sonata in E flat Major – although I never mastered playing it!
His work didn't become famous until many years after his death.
Sunday 27 January 2013
27 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Solution – bans
If you outlaw something you ban it.
Music groups = bands
With no drummers initially – means you delete the initial or first letter from "drummers" from bands – and you get bans.
Producer of honey and fine meat (4)
Hint – an abbreviation is involved in this charades clue
No Fuss Chicken Roast
If
you are like me, sometimes you just can't be bothered doing the fiddly
bits. On a night like that I just banged
out a very simple no fuss chicken roast.
Put
one free range chicken into a roasting pan.
Stuff a lemon in halves inside – pepper and salt the lemon halves before
you shove them in.
Sprinkle
the chicken skin with turmeric, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, ginger and salt
and pepper. Rub this all in – I suggest
you use disposable gloves for this if you are going to be handling vegetables
afterwards.
I
didn't bother to tie the chicken up with string. Just let it do its own thing. I put a glug of red wine into the bottom of
the roasting pan and it was all good to go.
Then
I left it on the bench for half an hour to start coming up towards room
temperature. Ideally it should have been
longer.
I
heated the oven up to 200 degrees C (approx. 400F) and then when I put the
chicken in I turned it down to 170C (approx. 330F). And then I did nothing else until taking it
out to eat it. No basting. Nada.
I won't tell you how long to do it – it depends on how cold the chicken
was when you put it in, how big it is and how hot your oven is. I generally just wait til it is lovely and
golden and I can see the skin breaking away in places. I sometimes even get all technical and use a
meat thermometer but not this time. The chicken will be moist because the
temperature is not too high and the red wine in the bottom keeps it moist – you
could use white wine, stock or just plain old water – all of them will have the
same effect.
I
served it with my crispy roasted potatoes and that good old standby frozen peas.
Saturday 26 January 2013
26 January - Solution for the last clue and the next cryptic crossword clue
Solution – Cape Cod
The solution is, of course, a famous resort area in the US. You can also get to it by scrambling the letters in "A PC code" ie Cape Cod is created out of those letters.
Outlaws music groups with no drummers initially (4)
Hint – this is a deletion clue.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)