Gram flour has a very different texture and can be used as an egg replacement (like the cooking water from chick peas which is basically chick pea flour in water). I have some in the kitchen, but it's not something I can use often as it's another thing limited on the menu by my daughter's gut problems (hEDS). Especially as I can use eggs, which are an acceptable protein compromise instead of meat, which is always good in my book.
I made banana bread last week with GF flour, dairy free marge and yoghurt, which works. It doesn't keep as long, but it's edible, unlike a much loved tea brack recipe that has never come out pleasantly with GF flour or a pear and chocolate cake, the only food I've binned recently.
I agree with @ThunderBunk, I don't think I'm going to be able to cook GF, dairy free, Yorkshire pudding or toad-in-the-hole without chemicals I don't really want to use. If you don't believe me, read the labels on GF stuff. I do all the time and then regularly wonder if I really want to eat it.
I found some reduced GF croissant on this week's shopping trip. Even commercial croissants would fail in a competition as dense, heavy and leaden. My daughter likes them as a treat, but they are expensive (£2.50 for 2 at full price).
I’m having the vaccine (first dose) tomorrow. It’s many years since I had any sort of vaccine, so have no idea if I’m likely to have any reaction, but presumably it will be mild!
Re: online groceries, there's a part of me that thinks if you don't absolutely need them, maybe it's best to leave the slots to people who do.
A lot of me agrees with you, which is partly why I'm dithering. In a sense it's no major problem for me to do our shopping, but it would take out of my week the riskiest thing I currently do when it comes to the virus. It's academic at the moment anyway, there being no available slots around here either with Tesco's or Sainsbury's.
I went for a damp walk this morning with a friend and am now holing up at home for the rest of the day and listening to CNN while fiddling around on the internet. I've got a busy afternoon and evening of Zooms, including a half-hour online chat with some friends to celebrate today's happenings in America. Thinking of them all today.
As I'm travelling in and out to Edinburgh every day, I don't imagine doing my own grocery shopping will add hugely to my risk factor, especially as I do some of it when I'm en route anyway.
Sorry - cross-posted with Puzzler - I was replying to Nenya.
Listening to Joe Biden’s speech and looking forward to eating the pork which I can smell cooking in the slow cooker.
I've got my slow cooker on too, cooking the bolognese sauce on low as it has been all day. It was a lot of chopping and preparing first thing but I made enough for two days, so we'll have it with spaghetti this evening and jacket potatoes tomorrow.
@Piglet - yes, I can see that if you're travelling to work every day doing the shopping could have a different take.
We thought we'd get into the spirit of inauguration day by having martinis before dinner. So far I'm on my third and the lodger, who is meant to be cooking, appears to be horizontal for the rest of the evening 🤣
Third? Heaven knows, I can put it away, but one Martini (based on a 2:1 vermouth/gin mix) is Enough. I just hope dinner doesn't involve any interactions with hot frying pans.
That sounds like an excellent idea, TheOrganist. I may follow your boozy example before close of play tonight.
MotherinElmet has had a letter asking if she wants to go to a vaccine centre, but the nearest is a city and a half over so she'll be waiting for her GP to get in touch. At least she's on a list.
I am really feeling for all the people who have been flooded out not far from here. However are they coping in this weather and with Covid still raging?
I’ve just taken the puppy for his walk and it’s heavy, freezing, driving rain. I cut the walk short after ten minutes, even Echo was miserable and he usually loves his walks, whatever the weather.
A sort blustery walk in cold rain for me. I've spent this morning prepping for a tutorial (children and social inequality) and will be phoning my co-tutor after lunch to discuss it.
I really need to do some more marking this afternoon.
I made the risi et bisi for supper last night and I have to say it was jolly good. There's another lump of leftover gammon in the freezer, so I'll definitely be doing it again. In fact, I think it would be worth buying a small joint and doing it à la The Organist, then having lots of leftovers!
The sn*w in Linlithgow hasn't really amounted to much: they'd ploughed nice little paths on the pavement by the time I was walking to the station, so walking wasn't too bad. There's a bit more in Edinburgh though, which made for a cold wait at the bus stop.
Chicken with tomatoes, mushrooms and pasta for supper tonight, I think, and possibly a foray into M&S on the way home.
We've had heavy rain in the night, a loud long rumble of thunder early this morning and shortly after Mr Nen went out for his morning run we had a downpour of hailstones. He said it was the most eventful run he's done - at least for a very long time.
I need to head out to the Post Office to get a parcel weighed (these things feel like major forays these days) and buy a couple of extra groceries for the weekend. Our Sunday group have decided to celebrate Burns Night a day early and to that end we're planning to wear something tartan when on the Zoom call, plus have some Scottish fare such as shortbread (I managed to get some gluten free ones) and to drink whisky. Also to eat Cranachan, which seems to be a whisky-based trifle which should go nicely with the shortbread and the whisky. So I need to get raspberries and cream for making that. We do have sufficient supplies of whisky, fortunately, Mr Nen having received a couple of bottles for Christmas.
I am not a fan of haggis or soup, so that cuts Cullen Skink out. But I'm sure with all the whisky-based things we'll do very well.
I'm trying to commit an Act of Civil Obedience, and to Stay At Home as much as I can, but I did have to go to the Co-Op earlier for *essentials*, as BEER, BREAD, BUTTER, and BACON.
O, and a visit to the Farmer Sea to pick up my usual bag of Drugs for the next month or so.
For some reason, BACON SANWIDGES may be on the menu for lunch. The Drugs are to be taken later on in the day...
Our Sunday group have decided to celebrate Burns Night a day early and to that end we're planning to wear something tartan when on the Zoom call, plus have some Scottish fare such as shortbread (I managed to get some gluten free ones) and to drink whisky.
Ooh, thank you. Work hours have been all over the place this week, and I've lived out of the freezer and everything is a bit depleted so I have to do a shop. Except that I don't know if I'm coming or going or which time zone my body clock is in, so I've no idea what it is I might actually want to eat. and therefore where to start with a list! And haggis sounds like a good plan
It's mild but very windy here. This morning we had to go to the DIY store because Captain Pyjamas had somehow managed to break his bedroom door handle (not the mechanism - he snapped the actual handle in two). Goodness knows how.
Putting on the new handle involved moderate amounts of swearing, because the holes that had been drilled into the door were big enough to drive a bus through so the screws provided were no good and I had to rifle through the screw box for ages to find anything that would work.
This afternoon's thrilling expotition involved the purchase of socks. I've thrown out two holey pairs in the space of a week.
I like haggis and bashed neeps and mashed potatoes...but I've not seen a GF haggis, which I would need for digestive reasons...
Years ago Nenlet2 did some radio work alongside a Scotsman who, on learning that Nenlet2 had never eaten haggis, gave him one with cooking instructions. We had it for tea with bashed neeps and tatties. Nenlet2 didn't make much comment beyond, "No chewing required with this meal, then" and none of the family requested a repeat of the menu.
In other news, I did my errands so the posting was accomplished, the weekend ingredients purchased, and I managed to get a birthday present for a friend at one of the few non-food shops that were open (a garden shop that also sells pet food - not that I bought pet food for her). I'm now settling in for an evening with "Winterwatch" on TV while Mr Nen is on a Zoom meeting with the youth group he helps to lead. Very Loud Music is coming from the study.
As a good deal of the sn*w had gone (or at least been pushed out of the way) the necessary amblage from work-bus stop-M&S-station-home wasn't too unpleasant, and I now have essentials like eggs, smoked salmon and orange juice in stock for the weekend.
I made a chicken, tomato and mushroom pasta thing for supper; unfortunately I didn't think until it was too late to start off with a chopped piece of BACON, which I think would have given it the je ne sais quoi it needed. Maybe next time.
I doubt that anyone makes haggai* small enough for just one person, and I'm not sure I'd want it more than once at a time. I do quite like it, but I see it as a very social sort of thing, to be shared with others, which obviously isn't happening.
No excuses, you can buy haggis as an individual ready meal. Otherwise most of the small haggai were around 1lb, if they were still in stock.
Much nicer day here weather wise for our morning daily walk, somewhat truncated after being run off the path on Tuesday by three horses being ridden abreast down the Forest track and not moving over for anyone. Result: my daughter's dodgy joints slid out of alignment on as she was forced to move onto the slippery mud and grot off the side of the track and is still suffering now. Yes, I relocated the subluxed knee, hip and ankle, but it was a long walk home on displaced joints, which causes soft tissue damage. It's salutary to note how few people will move into single file to allow others any space to get past, let alone 2m.
I was marking til 9pm but at least I have finished this week's batch which leaves tomorrow free to do some research work.
16 year old son made chicken stir fry. Now I'm sipping a gin and catching up with the world.
I doubt that anyone makes haggai* small enough for just one person, and I'm not sure I'd want it more than once at a time. I do quite like it, but I see it as a very social sort of thing, to be shared with others, which obviously isn't happening.
* which is of course the correct plural.
It freezes well enough so if you buy a McSweens and slice it up you can freeze what you won't eat right away.
Haggis nachos are a speciality of one of the hotels here. I'm rather partial to mixing haggis with scrambled egg or egg mayonnaise.
Re: Haggis. Finding myself unexpectedly given a haggis once (large - 5 lbs?), I cooked it whole, then sliced into generous single portions, and froze them individually. I found that reheating in the microwave tended to dry them out, so simmered them gently in their freezer bags, which resulted in some loss of shape but left them with a much better texture. Not very Scottish, but I like a bit of cranberry sauce, currant jelly, that sort of thing with haggis.
I'll have a think about the haggis question - I'm probably going to do a run to either Tessie's or Sainsbury's tomorrow (when I'll also top up the WINE supplies).
I forgot to buy haggis last week; I might see if husband will pop out to get some one evening. We have it the usual way with neeps and tatties. I’m now pondering making cranachan too (...adds raspberries to the list).
Not fans of haggis here, but I am determined to diverge from our routine menus this weekend. Mr Puzzler has various dietary and digestive problems which mean he sticks to a limited menu, but I feel the need to break out. (Pre- Pandemic he would go away for a few days to visit his daughter every so often, so I could eat what I wanted.) It probably won’t involve healthy eating.
I quite like haggis, but I don’t like stuffing at all.
Today was Pilates, I really didn’t feel like it but I certainly feel better for it. Our teacher records the sessions for us to use at other times in the week. I wish I had the discipline to do so!
A friend gave me a Dairy Diary, which has recipes in it. The one for next week is for haggis samosas, so I have bought a haggis for the first time in my life. The samosas mix crumbled haggis with grated carrot, spring onions and rice. Hopefully my family will eat them.
Haggis samosas sound great (I must make some baked samosas soon, I have some filo pastry in the fridge).
A lovely day today, I went for a walk in bright sunshine and blue skies with twinkling frost on the ground.
Also a productive and low stress day; this morning I wrote a poster proposal for a higher education conference and this afternoon I did the prep for tomorrow morning's tutorial (on policy-practice gap in end of life care, my bit is mostly on autonomy, capacity and communication).
Takeaway Friday, I wonder what we'll have.
I had to go to the corner shop to replenish the office milk supply this morning (ours had Gone Off), and although there were still Patches of Treachery ™, it's actually a lovely day; the sun's splitting the trees from a cloudless sky.
Whether it'll still be like that when I'm at the bus stop may be another matter.
Not sure whether I'll stick to my usual Friday chippy habit: last week's effort was a bit underwhelming, not least because there were only seven scampi*, where they usually give you ten.
I thought I was going to be scrabbling about for something to do today, as there's hardly anyone else in the office, but I was actually kept reasonably busy.
* Again, unsure of the plural - is one a scampus or scampo, in which case scampi is plural, or if it's singular should the plural be "scampii"?
I quite like one being "scampus" - makes them sound a bit mischievous.
We've got a busy evening: online wine tasting at 6 and another meeting at 7.30 so tea will be squeezed in at around 7.10.
It was a frosty sunny morning here and degenerated into grey skies and heavy rain this afternoon. I haven't been for a walk for a couple of days and really must make the effort tomorrow.
ETA: I dreamed last night I was going for my Covid vaccine, so it was disappointing to wake up and find it wasn't the case.
Comments
I made banana bread last week with GF flour, dairy free marge and yoghurt, which works. It doesn't keep as long, but it's edible, unlike a much loved tea brack recipe that has never come out pleasantly with GF flour or a pear and chocolate cake, the only food I've binned recently.
I agree with @ThunderBunk, I don't think I'm going to be able to cook GF, dairy free, Yorkshire pudding or toad-in-the-hole without chemicals I don't really want to use. If you don't believe me, read the labels on GF stuff. I do all the time and then regularly wonder if I really want to eat it.
I found some reduced GF croissant on this week's shopping trip. Even commercial croissants would fail in a competition as dense, heavy and leaden. My daughter likes them as a treat, but they are expensive (£2.50 for 2 at full price).
🌧 🌧 🌧
Hopefully, there won't be anything like as much flooding as has been so gloomily predicted.
I went for a damp walk this morning with a friend and am now holing up at home for the rest of the day and listening to CNN while fiddling around on the internet. I've got a busy afternoon and evening of Zooms, including a half-hour online chat with some friends to celebrate today's happenings in America. Thinking of them all today.
Sorry - cross-posted with Puzzler - I was replying to Nenya.
I've got my slow cooker on too, cooking the bolognese sauce on low as it has been all day. It was a lot of chopping and preparing first thing but I made enough for two days, so we'll have it with spaghetti this evening and jacket potatoes tomorrow.
@Piglet - yes, I can see that if you're travelling to work every day doing the shopping could have a different take.
Made first ever rye loaf today (actually 50/50 rye/white). It lacks the domed shape, but seems adequately risen.
Woke this morning to snow, which resolved into slush in the course of the day. If the forecast is accurate, tomorrow may be a re-run.
MotherinElmet has had a letter asking if she wants to go to a vaccine centre, but the nearest is a city and a half over so she'll be waiting for her GP to get in touch. At least she's on a list.
I’ve just taken the puppy for his walk and it’s heavy, freezing, driving rain. I cut the walk short after ten minutes, even Echo was miserable and he usually loves his walks, whatever the weather.
I really need to do some more marking this afternoon.
The sn*w in Linlithgow hasn't really amounted to much: they'd ploughed nice little paths on the pavement by the time I was walking to the station, so walking wasn't too bad. There's a bit more in Edinburgh though, which made for a cold wait at the bus stop.
Chicken with tomatoes, mushrooms and pasta for supper tonight, I think, and possibly a foray into M&S on the way home.
I need to head out to the Post Office to get a parcel weighed (these things feel like major forays these days) and buy a couple of extra groceries for the weekend. Our Sunday group have decided to celebrate Burns Night a day early and to that end we're planning to wear something tartan when on the Zoom call, plus have some Scottish fare such as shortbread (I managed to get some gluten free ones) and to drink whisky. Also to eat Cranachan, which seems to be a whisky-based trifle which should go nicely with the shortbread and the whisky. So I need to get raspberries and cream for making that. We do have sufficient supplies of whisky, fortunately, Mr Nen having received a couple of bottles for Christmas.
I am not a fan of haggis or soup, so that cuts Cullen Skink out. But I'm sure with all the whisky-based things we'll do very well.
Did I mention the whisky?
I'm trying to commit an Act of Civil Obedience, and to Stay At Home as much as I can, but I did have to go to the Co-Op earlier for *essentials*, as BEER, BREAD, BUTTER, and BACON.
O, and a visit to the Farmer Sea to pick up my usual bag of Drugs for the next month or so.
For some reason, BACON SANWIDGES may be on the menu for lunch. The Drugs are to be taken later on in the day...
Tomorrow moules et frites, Saturday steak, Sunday sea bass with fennel.
Ooh, thank you. Work hours have been all over the place this week, and I've lived out of the freezer and everything is a bit depleted so I have to do a shop. Except that I don't know if I'm coming or going or which time zone my body clock is in, so I've no idea what it is I might actually want to eat. and therefore where to start with a list! And haggis sounds like a good plan
Putting on the new handle involved moderate amounts of swearing, because the holes that had been drilled into the door were big enough to drive a bus through so the screws provided were no good and I had to rifle through the screw box for ages to find anything that would work.
This afternoon's thrilling expotition involved the purchase of socks. I've thrown out two holey pairs in the space of a week.
Late brunch followed by a wet walk blew away some of the cobwebs and this evening we've just had chicken casserole.
Local river levels are very high and flood warnings have been issued. We're on a hill but people in the valley are busy with sandbags.
In other news, I did my errands so the posting was accomplished, the weekend ingredients purchased, and I managed to get a birthday present for a friend at one of the few non-food shops that were open (a garden shop that also sells pet food - not that I bought pet food for her). I'm now settling in for an evening with "Winterwatch" on TV while Mr Nen is on a Zoom meeting with the youth group he helps to lead. Very Loud Music is coming from the study.
I made a chicken, tomato and mushroom pasta thing for supper; unfortunately I didn't think until it was too late to start off with a chopped piece of BACON, which I think would have given it the je ne sais quoi it needed. Maybe next time.
* which is of course the correct plural.
Scrambled egg and smoked salmon is one of my favourite breakfasts.
Much nicer day here weather wise for our morning daily walk, somewhat truncated after being run off the path on Tuesday by three horses being ridden abreast down the Forest track and not moving over for anyone. Result: my daughter's dodgy joints slid out of alignment on as she was forced to move onto the slippery mud and grot off the side of the track and is still suffering now. Yes, I relocated the subluxed knee, hip and ankle, but it was a long walk home on displaced joints, which causes soft tissue damage. It's salutary to note how few people will move into single file to allow others any space to get past, let alone 2m.
I was marking til 9pm but at least I have finished this week's batch which leaves tomorrow free to do some research work.
16 year old son made chicken stir fry. Now I'm sipping a gin and catching up with the world.
Not a fan of mashed potato though; it makes me gag - always has.
The challenge is making a cranachan substitute for Boy #3 who's dairy intolerant.
I find potatoes that have been mashed with the masher to be fine, but creamed potatoes that someone's taken a blender to are a bit icky.
It freezes well enough so if you buy a McSweens and slice it up you can freeze what you won't eat right away.
Haggis nachos are a speciality of one of the hotels here. I'm rather partial to mixing haggis with scrambled egg or egg mayonnaise.
Today was Pilates, I really didn’t feel like it but I certainly feel better for it. Our teacher records the sessions for us to use at other times in the week. I wish I had the discipline to do so!
A lovely day today, I went for a walk in bright sunshine and blue skies with twinkling frost on the ground.
Also a productive and low stress day; this morning I wrote a poster proposal for a higher education conference and this afternoon I did the prep for tomorrow morning's tutorial (on policy-practice gap in end of life care, my bit is mostly on autonomy, capacity and communication).
Takeaway Friday, I wonder what we'll have.
Whether it'll still be like that when I'm at the bus stop may be another matter.
Not sure whether I'll stick to my usual Friday chippy habit: last week's effort was a bit underwhelming, not least because there were only seven scampi*, where they usually give you ten.
I thought I was going to be scrabbling about for something to do today, as there's hardly anyone else in the office, but I was actually kept reasonably busy.
* Again, unsure of the plural - is one a scampus or scampo, in which case scampi is plural, or if it's singular should the plural be "scampii"?
We've got a busy evening: online wine tasting at 6 and another meeting at 7.30 so tea will be squeezed in at around 7.10.
It was a frosty sunny morning here and degenerated into grey skies and heavy rain this afternoon. I haven't been for a walk for a couple of days and really must make the effort tomorrow.
ETA: I dreamed last night I was going for my Covid vaccine, so it was disappointing to wake up and find it wasn't the case.
Also pakora.