Book Book Book

You’ve heard the joke about the chicken who goes into a library and says “book, book, book”, right? No? Eventually the chicken is discovered delivering the books to a frog, who tosses them aside saying “reddit, reddit”…

Now, I love books. Especially cookbooks. Particularly if they’re vintage cookbooks. When I first published this post in 2019 there were 81 books actually on the shelves, There’s probably way more now, I never stopped buying them and J’s books are now there too; but right this minute I’m drinking tea and typing and don’t want to get up and check. There are more under the coffee table, on the coffee table, and languishing in corners. I know that I’m a bit lightweight compared to some; one blogger confesses to having around 10,000! Idk, but that seems a bit excessive…

It would be great to have enough to organise them by colour, which would have the added bonus of really annoying the rest of the family!

Anyway, like many cookbook addicts I buy books on a whim; maybe the cover looks nice, or you flick through and find a couple of recipes that you fancy. I love big pretty pictures that seem to promise a lifestyle that can be achieved, if only you try the recipes. Do we use the books? Sometimes. Too often we try one or two recipes from a book (sometimes none at all), then never pick it up again.

Oh, the guilt! Maybe I’ll feel better if I buy more books?

I really want to go through every single book, trying something different, or just trying something. It’s going to take a while though. Then we have the problem with Pinterest…

Sigh. I had started going through the books and reviewing them before the previous version of the blog went belly up. Rather than recreate those reviews I think I’ll just carry on where I left off. Let’s do this!

The oldest cookbook ever printed on a mass scale (but by no means the oldest collection of recipes) is ‘De honesta voluptate et valetudine’, written around 1465 by Italian Renaissance writer, Bartolomeo Platina.

Extra Breakfasty Muffins

As a child, I often wondered why mum never joined us for breakfast. Now I know. The hectic struggle every morning to get to work or school on time, when sleep is precious and time short. So much easier to skip breakfast or opt for a dose of caffeine and a bowl of processed cereal. After all, what difference does it make? Quite a lot, or not at all, depending on which research you read https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181126-is-breakfast-good-for-your-health

I’m sure we can all agree that if you are going to eat breakfast, it shouldn’t be a bowl of Sugar Puffs, though I confess that as something of an insomniac all I usually feel up to is something sweet and sugary, a quick fix with as little effort as possible; however, I am interested in the benefits of constructive comfort eating. Muffins are a great choice because you can make them whenever, and have them in a tin ready for bleary eyed people to grab in the morning…or early afternoon if you have teenagers. They also make a quick lunch, partnered with a chunk of cheese and a piece of fruit.

The first recipe I ever posted on the earlier incarnation of this blog was during a, now largely defunct, campaign encouraging people to be more inventive at breakfast time. I am a big fan of Susan Reimer’s muffin recipes. Here I have souped up the oatmeal yogurt muffins, a family favourite.

Breakfast Muffins

Makes 8 large or 12 small muffins

  • 6oz (170g) plain flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3oz (85g) rolled oats
  • 8oz (240g) natural yogurt
  • 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 egg
  • 4oz (120g) of soft, light brown sugar
  • 3fl oz (90ml) vegetable oil or melted butter
  • 2fl oz milk (60ml)
  • Marmalade 8-12 tsp
  • Granola or muesli for sprinkling

Line a muffin tin with paper cases and pre heat the oven to 180°c/160 fan/gas mark 4. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, breaking up any lumps. Set aside.

In another bowl stir together the oats, yogurt and bicarbonate of soda. Beat in the egg, oil and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Stir with a fork until just combined. NEVER OVERWORK A MUFFIN BATTER! Resist the urge to beat it, it’s not a sponge cake!

Put a spoonful of mixture into the bottom of each muffin case, put a teaspoon of marmalade on top. Divide the rest of the mix between the cases, covering the marmalade. Sprinkle with granola, muesli or seeds and pop in the oven for around 20 mins, though it’s best to check after 15 mins if you are making small ones.

Cool on a wire rack. Best eaten fresh, but will keep just fine in an airtight container for three days.

These are, of course, American muffins. English muffins are a yeasted bread, something like a flattened bread roll. They are split, toasted on the cut side, and buttered. Yummy!

Apple and Walnut Bircher Style Muesli

Occasionally, I attempt to rein in my waistline, which after three children and a dodgy thyroid is perhaps larger than it should be. Unfortunately, going on a trendy diet or indeed any diet, is virtually impossible to maintain.

The 5:2 diet is appealing because you only have to suffer for two days a week and the rest of the time you eat normally (or hopefully slightly more sensibly than normal). It’s tough sticking to 600 calories for a day, but you do get that first-day-of-a-diet-aren’t-I-doing-well feeling twice a week, without having to keep it up forever and ever amen.

I think the principle involved is tricking your metabolism into thinking you need to burn MORE calories to search for food rather than trying to shut down and conserve calories which is what happens in a normal diet. I tried it, but it wasn’t for me. One of the key issues of ADHD is a general inability to keep up any routine, especially one you’re not enjoying.

Anyway, you can try this Bircher style muesli, if you like, and see how you get on, while I will most likely be heading for the box of Weetos as per usual.

Apple and walnut Bircher muesli

  • 30g rolled oats
  • 80ml apple juice
  • natural yoghurt
  • 1 apple, grated
  • 5 walnut halves, chopped and toasted
  • honey or maple syrup for drizzling

Soak 30g the rolled oats overnight in the apple juice. Top with a dollop of natural yogurt, the grated apple and toasted walnuts. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Healthy and filling (if you can get it together to put the oats in to soak).

Invented by physician Maximillian Bircher-Benner circa 1900, for treatment of his patients; the word muesli comes from the root “Mues”, to puree or mash up.

Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?

Well, yes. This is not a new blog as such, but the original died due to not being updated (posts can still be viewed on internet archives). The choice was backing up the new hosting site with the old content, or starting again…

A lot has changed in my life since beginning the blog in 2015. I went back to school and got a degree, I came to the realisation that I was autistic and ADHD, my health went down the pan, I got a divorce, and – inexplicably – found love again in my mid-forties. It’s been quite a journey!

So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that who I was then and who I am now, are completely different people; with different hopes, dreams, and a better grasp of the English language (my degree was English and TEFL). Some of the old posts simply do not reflect my current system of values, so I am taking this opportunity to weed out the sick and the lame, upload new pictures, and to do some Ministry of Truth* style editing.

Enjoy!

*The Ministry of Truth, featured in George Orwell’s 1984, was responsible for updating records, to show a Government approved version of historical events.