The Great British Bake Off - Series 3

Now I don't watch telly much I like to read of watch a film but the daily grind of the little box bringing depressing news, general life nonsense, reality programs and soaps you can keep.. However theres a few things I do like to watch and The Great British Bake Off is one of them,
Right from series One I have enjoyed, I am a keen baker and enjoy either being reminded how yummy the recipe was plus it's been a while since I have baked it or been shown all the classic mistakes I have made in the past not to mention little tips from Mary Berry ( who by the way I can't stand, she freaks me out with her sunken eyes and stark make-up)

My husband is a keen bread maker and he has already tried making bagels, this is something new but after being shown how simply they are to make the next morning he got up and made them, bonus for me as I love Bagels ( Recipe Below)

Watching the program makes me very hungry and I wish I could sample most of the goodies they produce, I think you should be able to purchase sample boxes to eat while viewing the program, how cool would that be!

http://www.thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/


Recipe For Bagels...
7g sachet dried yeast

4 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

450g bread flour

1. Tip the yeast and 1 tbsp sugar into a large bowl, and pour over 100ml warm water. Leave for 10 mins until the mixture becomes frothy.
2. Pour 200ml warm water into the bowl, then stir in the salt and half the flour. Keep adding the remaining flour (you may not have to use it all) and mixing with your hands until you have a soft, but not sticky dough. Then knead for 10 mins until the dough feels smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and put in a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1hr.
3. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 10 pieces, each about 85g. Shape each piece into a flattish ball, then take a wooden spoon and use the handle to make a hole in the middle of each ball. Slip the spoon into the hole, then twirl the bagel around the spoon to make a hole about 3cm wide. Cover the bagel loosely with cling film while you shape the remaining dough.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and tip in the remaining sugar. Slip the bagels into the boiling water - no more than four at a time. Cook for 1-2 mins, turning over in the water until the bagels have puffed slightly and a skin has formed. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain away any excess water. Sprinkle over your choice of topping and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in the oven for 25 mins until browned and crisp - the bases should sound hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then serve with your favourite filling.

Shaping the dough

Blanche the Bagels

Drain on a rack before baking in the oven

Allow to cool on the rack

This batch was made with Olives, Garlic oil and sun dried tomatoes

 

Book Review - The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner

After a health-scare, Brighton-based Lou is forced to confront the fact her time to have a baby is running out. She can’t imagine a future without children, but her partner, Sofia, doesn’t seem to feel the same way, and she’s not sure if she could go it alone. Meanwhile up in Yorkshire, Cath is longing to start a family with her husband, Rich. No one would be happier to have a child than Rich, but Cath is infertile. Little aware their fates are intimately linked, could these two strangers help one another out?
A story about hope, love, family and the joy and resilience of friendship, The Two Week Wait sees Cath and Lou battle prejudice and fear, question who they are as women and ultimately find their purpose in life.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+two+week+wait&tag=googhydr-21&index=stripbooks&hvadid=9671887088&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1336144991113934435&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_18j2x3l42h_e

I totally loved Sarah's book One moment One Morning, so much so I recommended it to all my friends and gave my copy to my daughter, I even wrote to Sarah and told her how much I loved it, which started a little correspondence.
So after waiting several weeks I got my hands on a copy of the TTWW, Soon as I started reading I knew I wasn't going to enjoy the book.
Once more Sarah has beautifully written this book with simple every day modern text and described some very painful and heart tearing situations, the problem for me was I knew the story because I have been through both sides of the story
Lou's Fertility treatment and Cath's cancer and miscarriage.
I read the book in a day and I do enjoy light books but I read to escape not to be reminded of my own past..

Book Review - The Distant Hours. Kate Morton

This book I picked up a long with another of Kate's book's the forgotten garden, being a thick book I thought it was ideal for reading while waiting to go in for endless hospital appointments, most of these take at least 60 minutes of waiting.

However this looked like a book that would swallow many trips to the surgery and eat away at the bordom perhaps reading the reviews it might verge on being a bit of a long and laborious haul, just like my hospital trips however very quickly I was hooked and  I didn't want it to end. I lost myself completely in it while reading, In fact I got rather cross when my name was called to go in!

The story of the three Blythe sisters, Percy, Saffy & Juniper & Meredith, their war-time evacuee Meredith,  Edie her daughter held my attention thoroughly throughout the novel. There were several twists to the tale, some I had guessed, others were a suprise. I know some people found the end unsatisfactory but for me it was the only possible ending.

Sometimes stories that jump backwards and forwards in time can feel a little disconnected but I felt the story flowed very well.
I was hoping for a bit of a ghostie lagacy with it being based in a castle and having "talking walls" & "caretakers", it  had the promise of being darker, more eery but that side didn't get explored, shame.. I am now looking forward to reading 'The Forgotten Garden'

http://www.katemorton.com/

Book Review - A Mother Wish - Dilly Court

A Mother's Wish - November 2009

Since the untimely death of her husband, young mother Effie Grey has been forced to live on a narrowboat owned by her tyrannical, crippled father-in-law Jacob. In spite of her own despair, she is determined to protect her brother Tom and her baby son Georgie from Jacob's bullying ways - for she is all they have in the world. Effie and Tom see little of the pittance they are able to earn by trading along the River Lea, and with no other family to support them they have no choice but to put up with their increasingly difficult situation. When Jacob hires Salter and his wife to run the barge, Effie's life becomes even more unbearable, and Tom is sent packing without a penny to his name. Effie is allowed to stay and care for her son, but Jacob makes it plain that her position is less than that of a servant. Forced to live on deck with little to shelter her and Georgie from the elements, tormented by the villainous Salter and his vile wife, Sal, Effie is driven to desperation an she steals Jacob's hidden cache of money and escapes with her son. As she begins her frantic search for her beloved brother, Effie vows that whatever happens she will make a home for little Georgie and keep him safe from harm. I picked up this book in a car boot with all the rest of my reading follies for 20p each, I can't afford to buy books new as much as I would like although I would dearly a few on my wish list, this does not include, ' filthy shades of grey'  ( did you see the deliberate typo?) I don't often have chance to read as much as I have done of late but when you are spending hour after hour in doctors  surgeries or hospitals waiting to get in to see the quack a good book is better then picking up those awful germ infested glossy mags they have lurking on a corner table of the waiting room. This day dreamy book was a lovely little escape to a difference place and time, I was allowed to switch of,  forgot all my troubles wrapping my self into Effie's world of making bread and ale! I like easy books that read like a good story teller, relax sit back and let the tale of woe unfold, it took me a couple of days to read in between life and chores but a restless night helped bring the book to a conclusion. A nice book to read to escape with out endless flushing / blushing and bitings ones lip ( a hint to Mr Grey) Could it be that Effie Grey is Christians Grey grandmother and Marsh house ale and cider made the Grey's very rich?