vital functions

[kaberett]

Reading. Solutions and Other Problems, Allie Brosh. Ongoing reading a chapter or so at a time together. We have met The Neighbour Kid...

A Taste of the Peak District, Stuart Adlington. EYB indexing: very short, insufficiently interesting to keep, but fits my Local Culinary Traditions special interest for indexing purposes.

The Little Book of Scones, Liam D'Arcy + Grace Hall. Also EYB indexing, also fairly short (60ish recipes): I had hoped that this would be my kind of hipster scones bullshit (front cover has a magpie in a top hat sat on top of a tiered cake stand!) but alas they were very much not my kind of hipsters, in that their default scone recipe contains both eggs and custard powder, which is frankly beyond the pale. Not Do. No. (Recipes subdivided into such sections as FOR THE BOWL, FOR THE JUG, FOR THE TABLE, FOR THE TOPPING, and... FOR THE RADIO. It's so close to being my idea of a good time! And it has gone to Mind for someone else to enjoy.

Doughnuts - A Classic Treat Reinvented*, Rosie Reynolds. EYB indexing. The majority of recipes in here were not doughnuts (I'm fine with the baked, savoury, yeasted dough... but I am not on board with the baking powder-based cakes or THE ÉCLAIRS). Very pretty, though.

The Land Where Lemons Grow, Helena Attlee. Also bought with the pretext of EYB indexing purposes, but I am also just very fond of this kind of Social History Of [Food]; only actually contains 16 recipes (generously, three of which are Bartolomeo Scappi and thus extremely not things I am particularly interested in). Enjoyed it enough that I'm mildly regretting having promised to send it on to a friend once I was done with it, and also once again daydreaming about growing about seven different kinds of citrus. Delighted also to have been reminded of how batshit citrus genetics are.

Hypermobility Without Tears, Jeannie Di Bon. See my last couple of posts.

Rhubarb Rhubarb, Mary Jane Paterson + Jo Thompson. Dithered over this at Oxfam full price, bought it when it was substantially marked down, am about 3/4 of the way through indexing for EYB (i.e. full first pass done, currently on proofreading pass). Tragically despite the premise -- a Leiths-trained cook and an award-winning gardener write each other letters, with garden design and recipes along the way -- this one is Not For Me. Hilariously, it's partly because of how uncomfortable I find their specific brand of upper middle class moved-to-the-countryside-for-kids midweek-lunchtime-book-club sense of humour & culture.

The Lost Orchard, Raymond Blanc. Also purchased from Oxfam for EYB indexing purposes, and currently partway through the section on heritage apples; the idea is Blanc Wants An Orchard and is exacting about choosing what goes into it. Some anecdotes, some philosophy, some explanation of how Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons works, plus descriptions and thoughts on trees in or planned for the orchards. I am currently up to C in the alphabetically-organised list of apples, and have just finished reading about Cox's Orange Pippin.

Cooking. One more thing from East (kimchi pancakes, mildly disappointing) plus a gooseberry oat crisp I have been meaning to get to since I started picking the pink gooseberries [mumble] ago.

Eating. Ruby Violet (hazelnut + hazelnut brittle, blueberry + lemon curd). buns from home (cardamom, cinnamon, garlic + rosemary focaccia).

My first granadilla, courtesy of a whim in a supermarket!

Allotment apples and tomatoes.

Exploring. Spent a chunk of Monday afternoon poking around the Camley Street Natural Park!

Growing. There are TOMATOES. There are BEANS. I harvested some PEPPERS. I'm still not doing great at, like, efficiency or yield, but hey, I'm eating some things from the plot, which is better than none.

Comments

[hilarita]

I agree with you about the basic scone recipe. Definitely no eggs, and Custard Powder WTF WTF WTF?