Books about brownie guides

Onto more book purchase confessions.  These books have all arrived in the last week or so.  I was browsing through Juxtabook's blog the other day and was reminded about the author Verily Anderson by this post here which links to a biographical article about her.  I decided that I was in the mood to reread her Brownie books and ordered a host of 1p copies from Amazon (ok, I know it's £2.81 by the time you factor in the postage but never mind).  I am really looking forward to reading them, they are the perfect follow up to school stories for a wet and miserable May.

I am SURE that I read more books from this genre when I was a child.  I was only ever a brownie for about a year as our local pack wasn't terribly exciting, but like boarding school I was always fascinated by the idea.  I've had a google but I can't think of any more titles or even find some sort of fan page.  Can anyone help me out here?

Cake eating for sport

Well, cake eating could easily be a sport.  It certainly seemed that way when I hosted the Oxford Free Cakes for Kids volunteers meeting last weekend.  I made four sorts of sweet treats in the end: carrot cake, gluten free marmalade slice, smartie cookies and mini Victoria sponges.  I had hoped for the beautiful pictures, but people turned up early and I didn't get a chance!  Much cake eating was done, but there was still a huge amount of cake leftover which Mr W and I have been ploughing our way through over the last week.  I've put on 2lb I kid you not which is not great so close to the start of the open water swimming season.  So no cake for me now, need to try to focus a bit more on starchy carbohydrates rather than sugars at least 6 days a week! 

But onto what I really meant when I wrote the title of this post "Cake eating for sport".  I borrowed a book from the library recently called "Go faster food".  It's written by a marathon runner married to another marathon runner who wanted to come up with recipes to sustain them during busy working lives training for marathons.  It gave me a good recap of good nutritional advice but obviously the recipes were quite interesting too.  I wasn't especially inspired by the savoury options so much but more by the cake (surprise surprise), and since Mr W is embarking on a 400k cycle ride this weekend (yes, that'll be through the night - I think he will be starting at 6am and then completing it about 2am; fortunately the organisers are supplying a hall for people to sleep in so he can have a rest before he drives home (thus preserving my night's sleep!!) I thought I'd make something from it to help with the carb-loading beforehand and post race recovery.  I offered him the choice of two recipes that caught my eye (will probably make the other one next week as I happen to have both sets of ingredients to hand), he chose the honey, lime and ginger oaties.  They are described as a bit more cakey than a flapjack, but are very similar to flapjack in construction - melted butter mixed with sugar, honey, lime juice and zest, and ginger syrup mixed with raisins, oats, flour and stem ginger.  Fingers crossed that they do the trick!

I don’t know what it is about this time of year; maybe it is the anticipation of summer being met with miserable weather (SURELY by May we should be sitting out in the garden?), maybe it is the Bank Holidays which fall in term time and thus have to be worked, deserving some sort of treat, but always around this time of year I find myself buying books. It was worse of all the year that I started this blog when I bought about 10 Persephone books and numerous Viragos in the space of a few days.


This year has been no exception; I mentioned on Saturday my delightful jaunt to Woodstock where I picked up two books. Prior to that I had a little bit of a splurge getting some Girls Gone By books. I don’t feel in the mood for anything very literary at the moment, and school stories seem A Good Thing. I’ve finally dipped my toe into the waters of Chalet School fill-in fiction. I have read all of the Chalet School books so many times that I am desperate for some new stories featuring my favourite characters, and despite having previously been very dismissive of this “fan fiction”, I enjoyed the Antonia Forest fill in so much that I thought I would give it a go. A number of authors have written fill-ins, but I feel that being published by Girls Gone By is probably a good seal of approval, so I randomly chose a few. I also bought The scholarship girl by Josephine Elder having enjoyed some of her other books for both girls and adults.

These books have all arrived in the last week and I am looking forward to some fairly easy reading and escapism into the world of school (how is it that school stories become escapist? I’m sure when I was a child school was anything but, but now that I work full time I hearken back to the days where I got to spend time with my friends every day and go home at 4pm).

I have to say it's rather nice to get home to boxes of fresh fruit and vegetabkes.  Look at my lovely apples, bananas and oranges!  Oranges and bananas do particularly put one in mind of warmer and sunnier climes.  I saw a recipe for a mincemeat and orange flapjack so that may get made this week.

Onto the veg.  This week we have jersey potatoes (covered in mud, necessitated scrubbing - I don't think I've ever scrubbed a potato free of mud in my life!), lambs lettuce, cherry tomatoes on the vine, radishes, courgettes, avocado, broccoli, and beetroot.  It's nice to have some salad stuff this week as we didn't get any last week, and I have a quiche in the oven which will do for the next three nights with the lovely salad veg and jersey royals.

As for the beetroot, my heart sank a bit.  It's the third time we've had them now, possibly even the fourth, and I'm a bit beetrooted out.  Last time I made sweet potato and beetroot curry, but I haven't really got much else to use them with this time.  Another risotto perhaps; roasting has also been recommended I think previously.  The beetroot also need a good scrub as well...

It's been a bit of a miserable week.  In the scheme of things a cancelled swimming race, more perpetual rain and yet more dental issues (suspected gum infection this time, necessitating mouth temperature food and exceptionally nasty antibiotics) are frustrating/annoying/painful and only grim in lowercase.  But it seems like GRIM things are happening to so many people who I know and are close to at the moment that they are by far outnumbering the GOOD things.  And even though there are good things happening, such as tomatoes continuing to grow and getting to the end of the week, it feels like they are so small that they can't possibly counteract the grim things.  It's a balancing dilemma that has really been on my mind.

So today, I tried to think about things a bit differently.  I'm not going to be able to do anything necessarily to counteract the GRIM things.  And I can't stop the little grim things from getting me down.  But perhaps I can try to achieve some small good things and eventually they will start to add together and make things feel a bit better...  A culmulative effect perhaps, I hope it will work a little.

So, with a cancelled swimming race, I decided that I could still swim outside, but that I would prefer to swim somewhere nice and warm given that it was cold.  About 6km from where I live is the little town of Woodstock which has a small 25m outdoor pool which is usually too warm to swim in, but today it was just the job.  It takes about half an hour to cycle there as it's uphill and invariably into the wind, but the cycle ride back (it's a circular route) takes you through Woodstock, and gives you glimpses of Blenheim Palace and Oxford airport, and through some country lanes.  It's only the second time I've made this outing, but it is a perfect Saturday trip.  The pool was practically empty, and swimming backstroke looking up at the sky made me feel very small and insignificant but strangely grounded.

The other reason for going to Woodstock was the rather wonderful Woodstock Bookshop.  It's an independent, few of which seem to exist these days, and always stocked with lovely books that I want to take home.  Mother-in-law gave me a book token for my birthday which I discovered last night was far more generous than I had expected, and I'd asked the WB to get in a copy of the Slightly Foxed edition of Look Back with Love by Dodie Smith. It is a mark of the sort of bookshop that WB is that they already had a copy on hand.  Browsing idly, I also picked up The JM Barrie Ladies Swimming Society.  Given that I smelt of chlorine and had wet hair and had been cheated of my openwater swim this weekend it seemed like a good thing to get.  I had been offered a lend of a copy, but a book token is a good excuse to buy a book to read right now.

Oh, and if any of you have had anything significantly more GOOD than GRIM happen recently, please share it.  I'd genuinely love to know that good things are currently happening to the people that I know and care about.

Verity's Veg Box part 4

 

I am always excited to get home from work on a Tuesday and see what the veg box man has brought me!  Well, I usually have a good idea from the website but it's so exciting to see it in the flesh so to speak (can you say flesh about vegetables?).  Having made a super beetroot and sweet potato curry last week, I am all set for the arrival of this little beast.  Do you recognise it? 

 It's a Kohlrabi!  Research tells me that it is a root vegetable, a bit like turnip.  Feeling a little unadventurous this week, and wanting to make use of a swede I picked up "reduced for quick sale" to 19p the other day, I've got a casserole in the oven, which also utilises a potato and an onion which have been languishing in the larder, as well as some of the carrots, and some chestnuts.

What else did we get?

Carrots, I've mentioned, the remainder of which will be made into a carrot cake when I host the Free Cakes for Kids volunteers meeting on Saturday

Broccoli, flat beans (discovered that I LOVE these after last week - have never seen them in a supermarket although I'm reliably assured that you can get them in Waitrose), courgette; these will all be made into risotto or rice and pesto with vegetables which is one of my fall back meals for myself.  Easy and gluten free.

Two large beef tomatoes, one of which has found its way into tonights risotto, and the other of which is adorning Mr W's cheese sandwiches for tomorrow and Thursday.

A red pepper which will be made into a veg chilli possibly with some courgette/carrot (memo - must buy more kidney beans)

A butternut squash which this time I shall make into a prawn, butternut squash, tomato and chilli risotto.  This is based on a pasta dish I had at Zizzi's in pre-gluten-free days (although I think they now do GF pasta) which I love.

Catching up with growing things

It's been a while since I've blogged about growing things.  Or rather not growing things as the picture below shows.  I mentioned I think that Mr W planted out my courgettes whilst I was confined to bed post wisdom tooth, much to my horror.  With all of the "drought" that we've had in the last week, the poor little baby plants stood no chance and have literally been washed away.  I cried.  

However, a couple of people have reassured me that it's not too late to try again, so having repotted on my tomatoes into larger pots this weekend, I used the remaining compost to replant some courgette seeds.  You'll see here that the tomatoes are doing rather well, as is the parsley.

Finally, for Christmas, I gave Mr W a grow-your-own chilli plant.  He ignored it until Easter when I made him plant it, having read the packet and realised that it takes 90 days to grow chillis.  They seem to be doing rather well so far.

 

Library loot

My library loot posts when I feel that I have got some particularly good books from the library tend to be somewhat sporadic and I never manage to get them to tie into the Library Loot blogging event. But anyhow, it's a rainy Sunday and I've just remembered that I've got several good books out which I'm quite looking forward to reading which hopefully I'll be able to tempt myself with this week.  They're all from reservations rather than from random browsing.

The univited guests (Sadie Jones); greatly enjoyed Jones' last two novels, but I believe that this one is quite different, a mystery story in the early twentieth century. I've seen a number of reviews of this one recently.

Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond); this is an autobiography of a woman who swaps life in LA for life on a ranch. Based on a blog, I have a feeling this could either be really irritating or absolutely fascinating - I hope that it is the latter.

Salvage the bones (Jesmyn Ward); this novel was on many people's projected Orange longlists, and as such interested me. Since some of my favourite books didn't make the Orange longlist, I'm keen to read other people's favourites too.

Battle hymn of the tiger mother (Amy Chua); I read a review of this recently and it sounded fascinating. It's all about the differences in raising Chinese and Western kids and about the cultural differences.

Weekend catch-up

It's been an insanely busy week again, and I'm just not sure where the time goes!  I would love to blog every day as I sometimes used to, but I have barely had any reading time, let alone blogging time.  A large part of this week seems to have been taken up with getting wet in one form or another.  April showers have been the order of the day since the government announced the drought, and I only managed 1 out of 9 cycle rides to or from work last week in the dry.  I'm contemplating doing a service to the nation by getting some new waterproof trousers to match my new waterproof jacket; I know the rain would stop if I had some.

I have also been doing a lot of swimming.  On Monday morning I found out that I wouldn't be able to have my usual pre-work swim on Friday as the Swimathon was happening.  This is a charity event where you can sign up for a mile, 2.5k or 5k swim challenge.  Seeing that there were places available, I decided that I didn't have to miss my swim, and, as the session was scheduled to start at 6.15, 3/4 earlier than I usually hit the pool, I figured that as long as I swam fast, I could do 5k and still get to work.  Dreaded the 5.15 alarm, as the usual 6.05 one is early enough, but managed to get up, and it was just about light as I cycled to the pool, seeing 4 bunny rabbits on the way.  The challenge was good fun and I completed it in 1:30:39, although I am convinced that I completed 2 extra lengths which would have of course taken me over the 90 minutes!  Got given a medal which I showed off proudly at work to my colleagues' slight horror, but they are used to me by now...

Today, I have been to an Openwater Swimming day in Reading.  It was mostly seminars, which were very interesting, for example, hearing about the Olympic Marathon 10k, learning more about good nutrition, a session from the coach at the training camp I went to in Feb on technique, and various other things.  One of the reasons I was keen to go was to participate in a 750m timed swim (not quite a race) as it would be my first UK openwater swimming this year.  I was less keen to get in given the weather, and particularly given that the water was only 12.5C!  However, with about 60 other brave souls I got in and managed to get round the course.  The first half was really hard as my body panicked and I became  extremely breathless due to the shock of the cold, but the second half was pretty good.  Not quite sure of my time as Mr W needed to be back for a concert, and I was desperate for a hot shower.  Here I am, the front swimmer in this picture, unable to say my name at the end of the swim.

I have managed to fit in a little bit of reading.  I have greatly enjoyed a book about a male librarian who takes up Ironman triathlon called Can't run, bike or swim.  And I've read a nice "mumlit" book called The playgroup by Janey Jones which was sweet and unpredictable.

Tomorrow will be a day of jobs and swim training and maybe some time to sit and chill out before another even more busy week ahead!

Verity's Veg Box Part 3

BOOOO.  iPhone FAIL.  I took photos of our veg box and fruit box straight into blogger last night, omitted to save the post (blogger saves automatically on the internet but doesn't on a phone it seems) and now they are gone, and the veg and fruit is all put away and already being eaten.  You will have to imagine the illustrations to this post.

I have to say it was with some trepidation that I came home on Tuesday night to unpack my veg box.  You see, I'd said no to three of the eight vegetables (fennel - can't stand, chicory - don't think I like and don't know what to do with and it sounds strange, aubergine - quite like but a lot of effort) and I wondered what I'd get in their place - would it be something weird and that I wouldn't know what to do with?

Luck was on my side.  The three substitutions were asparagus (my favourite veg probably, especially at this time of year), watercress (LOVE!) and flat beans.  I wasn't sure what a flat bean was but it made it into my risotto last night and it tasted pretty good in my mixed veggies risotto last night.  Check out these greens!!

Also, we got an avocado (LOVE!), cherry tomatoes (perfect for lunch boxes), beetroot (complete with mud on), sweet potatoes and a savoy cabbage.  The savoy cabbage is the only one I'm a bit dubious about now, although I bravely put a leaf into my risotto.

It's another difficult week cateringwise with my evening duty at work on the wrong night (how a change to the routine confuses the constitution), and Mr W out on Friday and Saturday nights and in need of something quick, so not sure how to make the best of everything yet.

I will make a sweet potato and lentil curry, based on a butternut squash curry recipe that I cut out of the Guardian a little while ago, for Mr W, which will probably do for Friday and Saturday nights and maybe Monday too.  I think the beetroot will go into a risotto to have with salmon as a Sunday treat, salmon leftover in the freezer from a supermarket multibuy offer.  I expect the rest of those green veggies will end up in risotto with maybe pesto or goats cheese for a bit of extra flavour.

In terms of fruit, we are overwhelmed by bananas.  We still had three from last week and the ones that arrived this week are already heading for ripe.  Mr W can't be persuaded to eat them at work, and tends to lose them in his rucksack with rather gruesome results, so there will be more banana and oat rock cakes as well as some banana bread or cake.  Has anyone got any other good banana ideas?  Banana pancakes are quite nice.