Chitchat thread #24

[JanieB]

Arternoon. Well seeds in kitchen doing well and need to go into the polytunnel, but....the cover split badly last year. My fault that it was destroyed as I didn't fix it in time. I have a new cover but haven't put it on yet. my excuse is the recent weather. Today is lovely and I should be out there.

My excuse: My ex died last year and that's when his second wife discovered she had been giving houseroom to and caring for some of my belongings. They were delivered back to me last Monday very deliberately badly damaged. The drinks cabinet and bureau were covered in bird sh1t and paint and sprayed with some sort of chemical that has eaten into the polish and wood underneath. The desktop has been locked and forced open taking lumps out of it and bending the hinges. The key is missing as are the keyhole escutcheons, slider knobs and the two carved bits that join onto the feet. The drinks cabinet apart from the above has also had the beading ripped off the corners. The hand painted japanese tea set has some plates broken.

What she doesn't know is that I decided to learn carpentry and joinery in the last two years. There was a bit of a gap due to the pandemic. So instead of being out in the garden I'm on a mission to restore my furniture. I might have to ask the "Repair Shop" or somesuch for the porcelain as it is beyond my skills.

If it's as lovely as this tomorrow I will be out in the garden as I have to wait for specialist parts to be delivered.

[Snoop Puss]

Sympathy like there, Janie. Good on you for taking steps to right a wrong.

[JanieB]

Next topic. Yorkshire pudding. When I was growing up it was made in the roasting pan the meat came out of, was large and rectangular with huge "armchairs" on the corners. Now looking at recipes for them it seems the difference is the fat that is used to make what I would call popovers. Sorry but as the granddaughter of a yorkshirewoman popovers are NOT yorkshire puddings. (Even though hers were inedible).

[greenishfing]

I am a Yorkshire woman and I remember all my Yorkshire grand parents. The pudding was not made in our meat tin. What happened was that before the meat came out of the oven a/or several, pudding tins were put in the top of the oven with fat (preferably drained from the roast) to get really, really smoking hot. When the roast came out the Yorkshire pudding batter was poured into the tins. The roast was taken out of it's tin to rest and that was the tin that the gravy was made in on the hob (thickened by leftover Yorkshire pudding batter. I basically still use the same method.

[JanieB]

Absolutely NOT popovers.

[JanieB]

Mine are awful by the way

[greenishfing]

The only advice I can really give on Yorkshire pudding is always use bread flour,let the batter sit for a few hours where it is cool, and make sure the oven and fat are both really smoking hot. Mine are usually very good (according to Mr GF) these days but have improved over the years.

[greenishfing]

Just got to add as an extra to my Yorkshire pudding advice; the first time Mr GF commented, without prompting, that they were the best Yorkshires he had ever eaten I knew I had cracked it. (He has very fond memories of the ones he ate as a child). To reiterate:always bread flour and if in doubt an extra egg too and let the batter rest for a while.

[lottie dolly]

Could not agree more GF,when i have done them in the past,i had to resort to telling them to share and not be greedy,they used to count how many puddings and people,it was so funny like kids in a sweet shop,2 dozen was not unheard off,any left were downed with treacle ext on top,i have always maintained that it is the bread flour,they seem to rise better than plain flour,night night all,,

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Much the same as GF for the Yorkshires but just ordinary plain flour. Oh for a working oven - I haven't made any since October. My mum used to say that they were to fill you up because there wasn't much meat for poorer families. Nowadays they're even designer wraps! Sacrilege. Bit warmer today and not raining yet. Have a good day All

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

All talk of Yorkshire puddings is making me want to make one now!
I prefer mine to be ‘heavy’ rather than small hard crunchy muffin sized ones.
I too leave my batter mix to stand for a few hours,use a large roasting tin , Smokey hot with fat .
…and use the mix to thicken the gravy.
I also tend to make double quantities and any eaten the next day is dry fried on the hob.
Never tried making it with bread flour…. Happy to give that a go!

Last day of sunshine apparently - it’s supposed to hit 14 C again , so more gardening for me…yipppee! The household jobs can wait.

I’m sure I’ve just seen the smiles fly past- they looked full of mischief today
First things first…who fancies a cuppa?

[Nicos]

I was just thinking Flo…what’s the first thing you’ll make in your new oven?…casserole, cake, rice pudding,bread, biscuits, Yorkshire pudding?..mmmm….

[mothhawk]

Morning all. Drizzly rain here, but mild again. Ta for the cuppa Nicos.

Three hippeastrums that I had left to dry off and rest have suddenly sprung to life and sent up flower buds, so I shall have to rearrange the windowsills to accomodate them. They'll have to squeeze in among the seed trays, and it's given me the push to chuck out a failing dendrobium to make room. It's silly, but I don't like throwing out plants that have been gifts, even when I don't much like them.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

We're back to rain again after yesterdays sunshine.

I make mine same as GF like other have said the scary hot fat is the secret to good Yorkshire pudding so when you add the batter it sizzles. Same method for Toad in the hole we had that yesterday.

No real plans today but I won't be doing much outdoors.

[Nicos]

Am I hogging the sunshine?…sorry

Our rains are due tomorrow so I need to make the most of the warmer weather today. There’s so much to do I just have to focus on one thing and get that done…little by little eh?

OH dug out my old failing strawberry bed last year transferring plants to a different site. I’ve decided it’s going to be difficult to reseed that area back to lawn so decided to make it into a wildflower bed. It’s already got oxeye daisies in there so I’ll transfer a few other self seeding flowers and sprinkle a packet of wildflower seeds in there too and make a pretty woven hazel boundary to make it into a feature.
That should make for easier maintenance in the long run.
Bestcrack on then eh?
Enjoy your day peeps…I’ll make us all a brew in a couple of hours for a treat