Cooking, by Lyle Craddock

One thing I did get for Christmas was a steamer for a different form of cooking. I’m pretty impressed with it too – one thing it’s exceptional for is steamed puddings, sponges and the like. So far, my score on the sponges is one-all – the banana one came out really well, but the chocolate one was slightly shonky, as the chocolate hadn’t melted. We still don’t know why – it was warm enough, but the stuff just didn’t melt. The sponge wasn’t quite perfect, but it was OK – the entire thing was edible, but the chocolate made it look rather more unpalateable than it actually was. Ah well, it just gives me an excuse for keeping on making them ’til I get them right…

Oh, and Pewari, the recipe’s the same as for a normal sponge. (I need to buy scales, so bear with me on this) … According to Tony my haute cuisine advisor on these things, cream together 100g of Butter and 100g Sugar, add in two eggs (one at a time), followed by some vanilla essence, a teaspoon of baking powder, and about 50g of sieved self-raising flour. Line the bottom of the bowl with – for example – some golden syrup, or jam. Then put the sponge mix over the top, and cook in the steamer for 20-25 mins. Flip the bowl onto a plate so that the pudding comes out. Bingo.

Here endeth today’s domestic lesson.

Work

I swear it should be illegal to have to work between Christmas and New Year. There’s nothing going on, and to call this lot a skeleton crew would be a misnomer. Still, I suppose that at least I’m getting paid for doing fuck all. Could be worse… *Grin*

Jodrell Bank

Yesterday was a geeky day out in many ways. The friends I’ve got staying are very into things as esoteric as canal boats and astronomy, so it seemed like a good idea to mix the Anderton Boat Lift at Northwich and then troll a few miles down the road to Jodrell Bank Observatory, particularly while it’s also involved in trying to find Beagle 2.

Anderton Boat Lift was OK – interesting to see but bugger all to do – particularly as the Vistor Centre is closed from 22nd December to 7th January. Handy, when it’s possibly somewhere that sad geeky gits people would want to visit during the Christmas Break.

Jodrell Bank on the other hand was wonderful. A princely sum of £3 (for car-parking) gained us entry to the visitor centre, a 15 minute 3D film of a fictional journey to Mars (fictional, but factual, with plenty of footage of Mars landscapes including Olympus Mons and the Mariner Valley) and also a 40 minute talk on the Beagle Mission to Mars, as well as it’s European Council parent project. Well worth the money, and a truly fun day out, improved only by the wonderful views of the dish itself.

Aftermath

Well, thank the lord that’s over for another year. Come Christmas ’04, I think I’m either going to go back to helping out at a soup kitchen, or helping the Samaritans, or I’m heading off overseas for the season. Any of these options will be fine with me, although I must admit that I find myself rather fancying the idea of a Christmas in the sun, where no-one can find me. In fact yes, that sounds very seriously bloody appealing.

Seasons Bleatings

Unaccustomed as I am to this, Merry Syphilis and a Happy Gonorrhea to all my regular readers. Let the Festering Season™ commence/conclude (depending on your perspective) productively.

In the meantime, I’m off to get well and truly leathered. Spirit of Christmas, and all that jazz. My spirit of choice being vodka. *Grin* *Hic*

Asda, Moscow Manchester

In a fit of true genius, I’d agreed with my guests for the Festering Season™ that going shopping for food etc. at 1am would be a good idea. How fucking wrong can one person be?

Unshockingly, I’ve ranted about this before, but Jesus Christ, how long are the shops actually shut for? Two days at most? So why the blue blazing flibberty fuck do people pretty much empty the shelves of anything they think they might vaguely want/need? Even things they’ve never needed before. Mad panic buying – and yeah, it’s only two days of closure, and even then there’ll be stores that are open. I just don’t understand the mindset.

And Asda. What the chuff possessed me to think that would be a good idea at any time, let alone around Christmas. *Shudder*. Coming out left me actually glad that we do have gun laws in this country. Otherwise there’d have been a Macdonalds-esque bloodbath in Aisle 14, blood sprayed over the empty shelves of tampons. Because, like so many festive decorations can be made from them – either that or the entire female population of Manchester is due on – heavily – on the 25th December.

I shouldn’t be let out

Of course, the bad bit about getting paid plenty all at one is that it leaves me deeply in the arms of temptation. What that means is that yes, I’ve upgraded my digital camera. Maybe I’ll regret it come the sales, but I got it for a decent amount off the RRP anyway, so *shrug*.