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Wildfood campsite

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby halfateabag » Tue May 19, 2020 5:12 pm

Herbs, sorry to hear your troubles, moan away, if it gets it off your chest.....

I have done my baking and I have collected Wuzzle from the vets. Last Friday I noticed him straining to wee and did nothing so called vets and they let me have some meds for him. He seemed fine over the weekend but yesterday morning after catching a mouse, he was squatting but not weeing at all, so straight to the vets. It's a worry with males when they get cystitis because their bladders can burst and that is the end of the cat ! :o He has had treatment and is now seeing but needs to be monitored. He will be allowed out tomorrow morning but I will have to try and watch to see what he 'does'. On Sunday I have to try and collect some of his wee and take him back to the vets next Monday for a check up. The other 2 don't seem to have missed him at all.....

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby oat » Tue May 19, 2020 5:34 pm

Afternoon everyone.

I have just made Nigellas lemon polenta cake and she says to prick the cake all over with a cake tester, not a skewer as it would be too destructive. I was wondering what the difference is, as I don't have a cake tester and the only other thin metal thing I can think of is a knitting needle, I'm sure I saw my mother prod the Christmas cake with number 13 :D

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby mistakened » Tue May 19, 2020 5:47 pm

oat wrote:I have just made Nigellas lemon polenta cake and she says to prick the cake all over with a cake tester, not a skewer as it would be too destructive. I was wondering what the difference is, as I don't have a cake tester and the only other thin metal thing I can think of is a knitting needle, :D

I am sure that somewhere Nigella recommended a strand of dry spaghetti as a cake tester

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby KeenCook2 » Tue May 19, 2020 5:52 pm

oat wrote:Afternoon everyone.

I have just made Nigellas lemon polenta cake and she says to prick the cake all over with a cake tester, not a skewer as it would be too destructive. I was wondering what the difference is, as I don't have a cake tester and the only other thin metal thing I can think of is a knitting needle, I'm sure I saw my mother prod the Christmas cake with number 13 :D


Maybe she's thinking of those old-fashioned skewers? the ones that are a bit like a corkscrew?

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Uschi » Tue May 19, 2020 5:53 pm

Knitting needles are fine for the job!

My mother always had a pair in the kitchen drawer just for that purpose. I had them after her, but they got lost. Must replace them as Axel has no skewer.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby scullion » Tue May 19, 2020 5:57 pm

i use little bits of dry spaghetti instead of cocktail sticks to fix the bacon round sausages (all vegetarian). by the time they're cooked the spaghetti has 'disappeared' except for, maybe, the tiny bit that's proud of the bacon.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby PatsyMFagan » Tue May 19, 2020 6:24 pm

ChinchillaLady wrote:As promised, Cream Cracker Recipe!

Half teaspoon fresh garlic paste
1 rounded teasp poppy seeds
225gr plain flour
hals teasp fine sea salt
1 level teasp baking powder
50gr chilled butter
3fl oz single cream

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, rub in butter or whizz in processor ( I used processor) until it looks like fine breadcrumbs, add poppy seeds. Add garlic paste and cream then 3 or 4 tablespoons water to pull mixture together. Knead dough until smooth. Cut in half and roll thinly and cut into rectangles using a sharp knife. Transfer to a lightly greased baking tray and prick all over. Bake @ 180c for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly brown.

This makes quite a few biscuits and they keep well in an airtight tin too.


Just had a go at making these ... I didn't have 'fresh garlic paste', or poppy seeds, so subbed onion seeds and a clove of black garlic.

I have a couple of questions though... I baked for the full 15 minutes and they didn't colour at all, which probably accounts for them staying soft (I may now bake again until they do colour and perhaps harden off). HOwever, I also I don't know if I rolled them too thickly. I recently bought a Joseph Joseph rolling pin with the discs that you use for relevant thicknesses. I have been frustrated where a specific thickness is required as the discs I have are either too thick or too thin :roll: so used the 4mm ones . I now have to find a suitable tin. :roll:

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby oat » Tue May 19, 2020 6:35 pm

Thank you!

Used a size 13 knitting needle. I went to get the spaghetti . . . . . . it was fettuccine :klingonbanana

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue May 19, 2020 6:36 pm

I've just had to look up cake testers. I had no idea such things existed :oops:. They look very elegant. I use a thinnish skewer which came with a cooker which had a rotisserie many years ago.

What a lovely afternoon, we had such a nice walk and ended up driving separately to a family run smallholding I didn't know about which sells plants galore and lovely fruit and veg. Apparently there are usually very few customers there at a time, which was the case today. I shall be going there again.

Thanks for posting the cream cracker recipe, I couldn't find it yesterday and had to look on the internet. I had no idea before yesterday that cream crackers contained cream! I shall definitely try it.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby aero280 » Tue May 19, 2020 6:44 pm

Herbi. Please don't hide money in books. It's the first place thieves look. It seems the mentally frail choose books to hide things

I had an aunt who did this and when we found it, it was clear that a lot of it had gone missing. She had a lot of books.

I'm not sure what a safe alternative is though.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby ChinchillaLady » Tue May 19, 2020 6:48 pm

Patsy, I used grated garlic for the garlic paste and I think mine may have been thinner say about 2mm, they went a light brown and were crisp after baking. Next time I will try with the onion seeds that sounds delish.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby PatsyMFagan » Tue May 19, 2020 7:15 pm

ChinchillaLady wrote:Patsy, I used grated garlic for the garlic paste and I think mine may have been thinner say about 2mm, they went a light brown and were crisp after baking. Next time I will try with the onion seeds that sounds delish.


they are back in the oven now... getting a light tan ;) so biscuits (twice cooked) rather than crackers :?: ;) :thumbsup :lol:

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Lokelani » Tue May 19, 2020 7:31 pm

I've never heard of a cake tester, i usually just use a sharp ended serrated knife. It doesn't leave a hole anyone would notice. A sponge I don't bother, I just prod it & see if it feels ever so slightly bouncy or squishy still!

Who knew a specific gadget existed. I'd need yet another drawer if I had the right tool for every job I suppose.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Suelle » Tue May 19, 2020 8:19 pm

My cake tester is not much thicker than a darning needle (if you remember such things) and has a flat end which makes slits rather than holes, but I disagree with Nigella that it's any good for piercing holes to soak up a drizzle topping. I find bigger holes are necessary, otherwise any liquid just runs off rather than soaking in.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Craft- ... 601&sr=1-3

I usually use a cocktail stick for poking holes.
Traditional home baking, and more:
http://mainlybaking.blogspot.co.uk/

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Badger's Mate » Tue May 19, 2020 10:36 pm

Please don't hide money in books. It's the first place thieves look. It seems the mentally frail choose books to hide things


That's interesting. We've been burgled twice, drawers were pulled out, no books were touched. Mind you, they would have had to go through a lot of books and not found anything. They also opened the cupboard door under the stairs, as was done next door when they got burgled. Friends kept stuff in a safe, concreted into the floor in the cupboard under the stairs. They had the safe taken with everything in it.

Our cake tester is like a thin skewer with a plastic handle, no idea where it came from, presumably a freebie some time. I use a skewer for perforating cakes.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Grasshopper » Tue May 19, 2020 10:43 pm

Pampy - 'carers' who steal like that are not carers IMO
Teabag (Zosh) - Dyllan had a bout of cystitis a few years ago. He had a short course of antibios which sorted him out in no time.
We had a litter tray for him as he recovered. Interestingly, the girls were never tempted to use it.

:D
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Grasshopper

Spring ventures forth to plant the grain
And Summer dries the straw.
Autumn gathers in the harvest
And Winter shuts the door.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby aero280 » Tue May 19, 2020 11:23 pm

It seems to be a trait of the mentally frail that money is hidden in books. So maybe not attractive to burglars, but if a regular visitor sees a person hiding money in books, it could be a temptation. Especially as it would be difficult to say how much money was hidden, and how much, if any, was missing.

We only noticed that my aunt's money was being removed when we saw auntie hiding money. When it was checked, all the books at one end had money and the ones at the other had none. On subsequent visits we noticed that the empty section had increased in size, and also there was a book in the wrong way around between the two sides. There had only been one regular visitor, a cousin who seemed to have taken a sudden interest in auntie's welfare. The money was removed and counted and saved, and my aunt was moved to a care home.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby halfateabag » Tue May 19, 2020 11:31 pm

Grassy, thankfully having dealt with Scrumpys bout of C. I knew what I was seeing and was able to take measures, but it was a very worrying time. He has Nutracyst and some Omepradizole to take so hopefully that should sort him out.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby Grasshopper » Tue May 19, 2020 11:56 pm

Aero - that cousin should hang their head in shame!
Zosh - Dyllan hates taking pills, so one person has to restrain him (and he's a STRONG cat), while the other administers the pill.
He doesn't like having Front Line treatment either (for fleas & worms). He cries like a girl, the big wuss.
:D
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Spring ventures forth to plant the grain
And Summer dries the straw.
Autumn gathers in the harvest
And Winter shuts the door.

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Re: Wildfood campsite

Postby karadekoolaid » Wed May 20, 2020 12:07 am

Well life is starting to go backwards here.
We´ve had water problems for years, mostly because the government doesn´t maintain, or invest in the (state-owned) water company.
We´ve had electricity problems for a few years, mostly because the government doesn´t maintain, or invest in the (state-owned) electricity company.
We knew that, sooner or later, we´d have problems with the Petrol Companies, mostly because the government doesn´t maintain, or invest in the (state-owned) petrol company.
We´ve had problems with censorship and the freedom of the media for the past 20 years, because the government doesn´t like criticism.
So THIS week, everything has come to a head.
No water since 30th April - and no rain since 15th January.
There was a (brief) power cut this afternoon.
The 4 refineries in Venezuela are inoperative, through lack of maintenance, and therefore there´s no petrol in the stations. I last filled up my tank on 13th March. No solution in sight.
The final blow? The biggest cable TV provider in the country...packed up shop and left this morning, blaming government censorship and suppresion of subscriptions ( I pay about 50p a month...) So now I haven´t even got TV; not that I´m a fanatic, but I do like to sit down and watch something occasionally.
It´s like returning to my early childhood. We never even had a TV until 1960, and then it was black & white.

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