Christmas Cake

I woke up about 5 o’clock this morning with a sore neck. I couldn’t think why though – what had I been doing? Then I remembered. I’d made Christmas cake yesterday.

Because of my advancing dotage, I could not remember the last time I’d baked a Christmas cake (I used to make them all the time). Furthermore, I’d forgotten that I had a recipe for a perfectly straightforward and acceptable fruit cake – so easy, as it only has four ingredients (see my other blog).

Nevertheless, I set about searching for an easy recipe and came up with this from the BBC: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/you-it-christmas-cake

You’ll see that Step 3 suggests that the butter, sugar and vanilla are ‘beaten’ until light and fluffy. Well, I’m too old for all that beating malarkey so I got my trusty (rusty in parts) Kenwood Major (Model #A907D) down out of the attic, so it could do all the hard work. I knew it was well used when I took possession of in in the late 80’s, but according to the Kenwood site, it could have been built in the late 70’s. So, I let it acclimatise overnight before starting work on the cake.

Everything weighed out and ready (butter softened as required), I set about beating the sugar and butter in the ‘Major’. I then left the room to pick up some mail and when I returned the kitchen was full of smoke and there was a ‘Major’ meltdown. It was unplugged as quickly as it could be (… the precious butter-sugar-vanilla mix rescued) and thrown out the back door as rapidly as possible. Luckily the extractor fan did a brilliant job of clearing the smoke and it wasn’t long therefore, before I was faced with the prospect of ‘beating’ the sugar and butter ‘until light and fluffy’.

That’s hard work I’ll tell you! 

But two paracetamols and another couple of hours sleep made it all worthwhile. I can’t wait for my first slice of cake, with a nice piece of cheese and (possibly) a brandy.

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I’m Still Baking

Way back at the outset of this year’s first lockdown, I started baking again.

For many years prior, I’d been happy with walking into the village and buying superb bread from The Handmade Bakery.

Whereas they were once located in the back of The Green Valley Grocery, just behind where we lived; the bakery moved itself to larger premises just a short walk up the canal. Here they flourished, with their share-a-table café being always full and a huge selection of bread being baked behind the well-stocked counter.

Once the Covid-19 lockdown commenced this activity stopped. Bread and ultimately flour, became hard to find. I touched upon these efforts in a blog post back in June. My Facebook posts at that time became a record of the different (not just bread) recipes I was playing with. But I never stopped baking bread.

I regularly bake the first recipe I developed (let’s face it, there are so many basic recipes that this one surely can’t be just mine) and have adapted the weight of flour I use to make pizza, bread rolls and burger buns. As I’m interested in easy recipes that take little effort, I have also begun to bake the Artisan Bread, that I first saw Betony bake. She showed me the website where she’d found the recipe and away I went.

This second type of bread is much chewier than the other and can be hard to shape – but it tastes wonderful (especially with olive oil and balsamic vinegar). As both bakes make far too much bread for us to eat immediately, I cut the first one into three and the second one into two – freezing the results for future use. That way, I always have bread on hand for when I need (no pun intended) it.

Also see THIS SITE for a superbly easy cake recipe.

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A bijou restaurant in Slawit

This lockdown is certainly stifling the more usual good life. It causes problems, but then it also offers opportunities.

This week, Sharon cut my hair for the second time in six weeks.  She went much deeper and shorter this time, and it looks fine. Good work for a non-hairdresser. Had this occurred pre-Covid*, I may have shown my appreciation by booking a meal in a restaurant somewhere. I may even have asked a couple of friends to join us. However, all restaurants are shut tight and we have to stay away from friends. Quite rightly, given the seriousness of the virus.

So, tonight Sharon has been invited to a special little restaurant in Slaithwaite, just two covers, but with all the care and attention I expect from exceptional restaurateurs. We will be opening her favourite white wine, the last of our Vouvray collection bought when we were last in Vouvray itself.

A selection of Euro-themed hors o’euvres will be followed by chicken and ham tagliatelle, all home-made, including the basil infused pasta. Pudding has yet to be decided as the chef is a bit slack when it comes to puddings, but there will be pudding! The two cheeses offered at the outset are from Spain (actually from the Basque region of Spain, so the producers probably don’t see it as Spanish) and Italy – a delightful blue cheese. They may also be served post postres. The tomatoes are infused with basil, olive oil and garlic.

We may have a ‘proper’ version of Carmen playing on the T.V. at the same time – the last Carmen we attempted to watch on YouTube was awful – far too much thought had gone into making it awful too. Fancy going all the way to the Opera House in Madrid and being faced with interpretive dancing!!!

That’s it. Need to lay the table 😉

*This would never have occurred pre-Covid, my hair hasn’t been subject to wifely attentions in almost 40 years.

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Moving on

We Spent a couple of weeks in Spain, early in December before returning home on the 19^th.  Because of this we’d used postal votes in the election for what good they eventually did.

I may well reflect on the election result and what that may mean later.

This year, we stayed at home to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with family and friends. It is the first time in many a year that we have been home at that time of year. But, it was very enjoyable.

We spent Christmas Day ay Betony and Josh’s.  I think that I believed Betony’s invite to be along the lines of ‘come along and I’ll do Christmas dinner’ but I was mistaken. I spent a fair bit of Christmas Eve doing food preparation for the day (making soup, cooking ham, peeling vegetables, preparing stuffing etc.) and then Sharon went along on the day to ‘help’ do the cooking.  The meal was great, the company was great and it was a pleasure to be cooked for on the day.

Following that, we went up to Carol’s on Boxing Day to join her and Mick for what turned out to be a meal. Others had been invited too, but apart from Joanne and family, they had been and gone by the time we got there.  So, we all played cards with Florence, while Carol and Joanne finished off in the kitchen.  Another really enjoyable day.

On the 28^th, we went up to Emma’s for tea. We took Chester with us too as Betony was a bit poorly and tired (she’s pregnant too).  It was great to see the girls again. We’d been up at the beginning of December for Amy’s birthday but that was a school night, so we didn’t see much of them. Today’s meal was great too, two kinds of pork from the local butcher’s https://www.jbrindonaddy.co.uk/ – Thank you Emma, another lovely day.

For several years prior to us wintering in Spain, Sharon and I had alternated New Year’s Eves entertaining or being entertained by Tony and Gill.  Having decided to spend late December in the U.K. this year we were able to recommence this arrangement. We invited David and Gail to join us and a jolly time was had by all.  We had –

Parsnip and Ginger Soup;

Cod wrapped in Serrano Ham, baked and served with mustard sauce;

Carrillada with creamed potatoes and broccoli,

Chocolate Pudding and…

Cheese.

We arrived in Spain late on the 3^rd January 2020 and I’ll pick up the story now, over on the holiday weblog.

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Robin Cake

The other day, I asked a couple of Facebook groups if anyone had a Robin Cake recipe.  I wasn’t disappointed with the results and recorded over half a dozen different methods/processes.  Today, I set to and baked two cakes, following two of the many recipes offered.

But, first of all: What is Robin Cake?

Sadly, I cannot find a definitive answer, other than it seems to be fairly local to me, in and around Huddersfield.  My mum used to cook it all the time.  There was always some robin cake in one of her cake tins.  Other tins might have had iced buns in them, made from a similar recipe.  The robin cake itself however, was never iced or decorated in any way.  It would be made one day and then kept for what seemed like ages (perhaps a week), towards the end of which time a bit of butter on your slice wouldn’t go amiss. 

Mum is beyond telling me how to make it now, but it seems that she gave Sharon a recipe some time ago.  This was the first of the two I have made today.

I make no apologies for the use of lard, or for employing imperial weights – these are old, traditional (family?) recipes, so they are what they are. Some of the other recipes, not cooked today, use all butter or all margarine, so – it’s your choice.

Recipe 1 (Mum’s/Sharon’s)

12oz self-raising flour,
10oz sugar,
3oz lard, 3oz margarine,
4 eggs,
2 t’sp BiCarb,
pinch salt,
‘some’ milk.

The METHOD for this cake used the creaming method. I creamed the sugar and fat together and then add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time. I then added the dry ingredients (which had been sifted together). I added enough milk during this process to leave a fairly sloppy but not too runny mix.  It was baked at 170^oc (fan oven) for almost an hour – which might have been a tad too long. It was still sloppy after half an hour and sank soon after I prodded it – so the final ten minutes I gave it might have been unnecessary.

 

Recipe 2 (From Mandy Haigh, her Gran’s recipe – Facebook)

12oz self-raising flour,
7oz sugar,
3½oz lard, 3½oz margarine,
2 eggs
pinch salt,
‘some’ milk.

The METHOD for this was to rub the fat and flour together and then to add the sugar.  I added the sugar early because it helped to more easily distribute the higher fat to flour ratio. Then I added the beaten eggs.  At this point it became obvious that the mix would be too stiff – so I added about the same volume of milk (as egg). The mix was slightly stiffer than recipe 1, but it soon sorted itself out in the oven.  This cake was also baked at 170^oc (fan oven) for about 40 minutes. It was a much more confident bake than recipe 1.

Of the two cakes I have cooked today, the second recipe has worked the best.  They both taste ok, but recipe 2 was closest to what I remember (still not ‘quite’ right though – so I will have to try another recipe next time).

 

Also see:
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Look,+learn,+taste+and+buy+at+museum+bake-in%3B+Buns+and+biscuits+great…-a0264153390

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Jerez de la Frontera

I can’t say that we were over impressed with Jerez.  Sadly, because I had built up a fairly high impression of what it would be like, I was quite disappointed. I expected a gentility that simply wasn’t there (imho).

Jerez de la Frontera is:

1. Home to the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, which, according to Wikipedia, is one of the four greatest schools of horsemanship in the world.
2. Host to an International Grand Prix circuit, used for MotoGP, F1, F2 and World Superbike championships.
3. Home for most of the world’s sherry producers and the spiritual home to one of the biggest producers, Gonzalez Byass.

 Yet, despite all this, it appeared to me to be run down and dirty.

I accept that Jerez is a very old city, with a rich and varied history, but, despite the prestige and money those international events/producers bring into the city, along with tourists, it wears an air of neglect.  We have visited several old cities in Spain with equally rich and varied histories but they have been cleaner and their buildings have, to a large extent, been or are being maintained. I’m thinking here of Salamanca, Avila, Toledo, Cordoba and Segovia – none have the aforementioned air of neglect and yet, all have similarly long and unique histories.

unpleasant tapas

The old town’s main square and streets off it, house the restaurants and bars that provide food and drink for tourists and locals alike.  Certainly, the town comes alive at night with tables popping up where none were to be seen at lunchtime.  We chose badly at lunchtime; presented with what were probably the worst tapas we’ve ever eaten: Over vinegared Ensalada Rusa (why vinegar? Why?), Queso that began to sweat in the heat, tab-end sized Croquetas (with soggy fries for garnish) and a fairly tasty piece of ‘Lomo’ in sherry sauce – covered with soggy fries again.

Our evening meal was better.

Sharon had spent a bit of time on Trip Advisor and had come up with a number of options for us to dine at.  I put the first one (top of the list) into MapsDotMe and off we went.  Sharon saw something on the menu that she liked and I knew I would find something, so we stopped there – there was no point dragging ourselves around the town. Bar Juanito looked to be a nice place, and it was – see my review on Trip Advisor.

Before eating lunch, we’d decided to take the tourist bus-trip (City Sightseeing Jerez) which for €17 also includes a tour of the Bodegas Tio Pepe, the home of Gonzalez Byass in Jerez.  The bus trip itself was interesting enough, and explained much of Jerez’s history.  One fact that stuck with me was that many years ago (perhaps hundreds?) the city fathers allowed people to erect buildings alongside the more ancient city walls.  The idea being that this would help to preserve and protect those walls.  However, as we were driven past, I noticed that the buildings that had been erected are also falling into disrepair.  It’s sad that a city of this note and with this heritage cannot be better looked after.

Our trip around Bodegas Tio Pepe was interesting and by far the more entertaining time of our trip. It is followed by a tasting of Tio Pepe itself and of Croft Original.

Our hotel had been chosen for its position, its price and its description on Booking dotcom.  Although we’d booked and paid to visit the Jeys Catedral Jerez, the hotel seemed to be called Hotel Belles Artes (as well?) – see my review on Trip Advisor.

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Tomatoes

Whenever I am in Spain, I always take advantage of the local produce.  There’s no point going there and stewing cabbage or boiling turnips (not that you see much of those on the Costa del Sol), when the soft Mediterranean, often very local, (fruit) vegetables are in great abundance.

The aubergines, courgettes, peppers and tomatoes all have a fabulous depth of flavour – even the knobbly, small cucumbers actually have taste, unlike the long, smooth, hot-house grown phalluses available here. Therefore, invariably, the first dish made is ratatouille.

One problem with my ratatouille in Spain is that I have less access to chopped tinned tomatoes or passata. Over there they have more tomato frito, which, although a similar consistency to passata, is quite sweet and can overpower the finished flavour.

I decided therefore, to make my own tomato sauce and to use that for all of the dishes that require such a thing.

The Spanish grow some fabulously tasty tomatoes. 

Even when served under-ripe, with a little salt, oil, parsley and crushed garlic, they make a meal; accompanied by some local ‘Spanish’ bread.

For the tomato sauce, I simply chopped up a kilo of tomatoes and brought them to the boil along with a small, chopped onion, 4 peeled cloves garlic and about a tablespoon each of olive oil and tomato puree. Then, I let that lot simmer for a couple of hours, topping up with tiny bits of water now and again. I then seasoned it, blitzed it all with a hand blender and used as required (sauce for pasta, added flavour for paella, to loosen up ratatouille, slackened off as soup etc.).

I sometimes add (fresh) basil or oregano towards the end of cooking, for added flavour.

I made the same last week, with Aldi tomatoes and had to add a jar of Lloyd Grossman sauce to give it any flavour at all.

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Blunt Knives

What has happened to table knives? 

When did they begin to lose their function?

Function

The purpose of a knife is to cut, slice and chop – surely?  Yet, I’m not sure that table knives are designed to do that anymore.

Several times recently, especially in restaurants, I have been frustrated by having to use the knife provided, to ‘tear’ at the meat (etc.) on my plate, instead of actually cutting it.  I occasionally have had to retrieve a more robust vegetable, such as new potato, from wherever it has landed on the table after trying to cut it with my knife.

I’d be better off using a spoon!  

And, don’t even try to cut the nicely cooked almost al dente broccoli stem! Even Yorkshire Puddings fight back.

Design

Modern tableware is blunt.

It no longer serves its purpose and it’s probably down to some caring soul somewhere, thinking that we might cut ourselves. I do have sharp knives and the ones I use at the table, whilst not AS sharp, can at least cut whatever is placed in front of them.  However, not everyone has such knives anymore.

Some folks also (however), have ‘handed’ knives.

These are designed to make cutting easier for right-handed people.  Because there is a chamfer on one side of the blade, it allows the knife to have a sharper edge, but not one (apparently) that will allow the right-handed person to cut themselves.  However, unless this type of knife is specially designed for left-handed folks – they become impossible to use when in the hands of such southpaws.

See also Fish Knives why?.

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Free food

Sadly, I forgot to take photographs of all the ‘free’ food we were presented with in Spain this year.  Furthermore, I only remembered to photograph some of the food we ‘paid’ for.

However, all of the food was delicious.

Sharon’s tuna steak

Whilst holidaying on the Costa Tropical, in the Granada region of Andalucía, we encountered much in the way of free food; we’d buy a drink … and we’d get a free tapa! This doesn’t happen everywhere in Spain, but where it does happen, you feel welcomed and that your custom is valued.

We’ve had such tapas before further inland, and there the price of drinks compares well (often cheaper) with those prices charged on the big ‘no-tapas’ Costas.  In Salobreña and thereabouts, the prices for beer and wine were ever so slightly dearer (perhaps €1.70 – €2.00 each as opposed to €1.40 – €1.70), but every drink came with food.

Your first drink would come along and be accompanied by a particular tapa, e.g. Spanish cheese and olives. Then the subsequent order(s) would each be accompanied by different tapa, e.g. Croquetta with salad leaves or a small plate of jamón.  Even when we went somewhere for a meal, some small thing would be presented to us with our first drink.

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There are a couple of places too in Los Boliches (near Fuengirola), where such treats can be had – the difference here being that the drink doesn’t always come with a tapa. But, there are deals to be had.  A caña (small beer 15cl, 20cl, 25cl) can be had without food, but you can also order a tapa (of your own choice, not just presented to you) to accompany the drink for a combined price of (e.g.) €1.40 or €1.60. 

Often, this will be for the smaller beer, but not always.

Caña (or wine) + tapa €1.40

Caña (or wine) + tapa €1.60

Other cafes locally (Los Boliches) sell tapa separately for anything from €2.00 (these are usually slightly larger portions and – for me – often big enough to be called lunch) and in the main they are home-cooked and delicious. So far, our favourite is Bar Pepe in the Plaza Carmen.

We’re learning to avoid the places where cheap frozen ‘stuff’ is served.

I guess that all of this illustrates some of the differences between the Spanish and UK drinking cultures. In Spain, food and drink are inextricably bound together, whereas we see them as two different entities. In Spain, a workman will finish his day (or begin his midday break) with a beer and a tapa, whereas here in the UK I see all the local bars full of workmen finishing their day by quaffing pints and eating nothing more than a packet of crisps.

A simple ‘starter’ of tomato, oil and garlic.

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A nice cup of tea

What is it about a cup of tea that separates the ‘Englishman/English woman’ from the rest of the world?

[Beware – there are some extreme personal tastes and opinions below.]

Sharon and I have spent some time in the past, driving around the U.S.A. 

We would end each day desperate for a cup of tea, after driving for hours on end. Or, having woken in the morning needing our ‘morning cuppa’, we would find the only thing available to us was coffee. For those of you who have not travelled there, what I mean is ‘there is no kettle!’, only a coffee machine of some kind or another is provided, along with coffee creamer (yuk).

Here in Spain, it is a similar situation, as hotels do not provide cups or mugs, or indeed any means of making water hot at all.  At least in France you can boil water.  It’s of no use either, trying a nearby restaurant or café as there is nowhere else in the world that knows how make a ‘decent cup of tea’.

So, the trick in those places where hot water can be had, is to take your own teabags.  The ones available locally might say ‘English Breakfast’ or some similar untruth, but they will not have the strength or depth of colour I (we) expect.

There is nothing like a good cup of tea. (I hear both sisters in law suggesting the opposite however.)

Having said all of that, when I am out drinking coffee, I’d rather be in any other place than the U.K. because the coffee we serve at home is nasty.  Nuff said.

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