The effects of joblessness

So tired of unemployment.  I have so little to do around job hunting (which you simply can not spend all your time doing no matter what certain people reckon).  As a result of the need to fill a void left by work and the scaling back of soap related activities I have started to turn my creative writing into a... job...

As evidence of this I draw you attention to the semi-serious Progress report. I have submitted on my creative writing blog.  This is not necessarily a bad decision.  If I ever hope to publish a novel then having a fan base will actually be beneficial.  A blog is an easy way of doing this.

I am a little worried, however, that putting too much energy into writing will stop me doing other things...

Allergen friendly batter

This must seem like an odd choice to devote a whole post to.  However batter is an important fashion of preserving meat flavors in all sorts of cooking methods.  It can also be used to add a unique taste to your dish with simple additions to a basic recipe.

The only ingredients you need for batter are flour and a liquid of some form.  Below I have listed some unique batter flavours you might like to try.

Plum batter - excellent for dishes that benefit form a sweet kick

1 cup flour, 1 tbs plum jam, and enough water to make a thick batter

Lemon batter

1 cup flour, 1/4 lemon juice, 1 tbs sugar, and enough water to make a thick batter

Herbed batter

1 cup flour, 1 tbs mixed herbs, as above

These are just a few varieties.  The actual combinations really depends on your tastes.

Now for crazy poetry

Here's a little piece for anyone in need of a giggle.

The little hair brush

This is a short poem I wrote when I was much younger.  IT revolves around the surreal adventures of a hair brush. Yes a hair brush.

Who ever said your character had to be human was lying.

Crepes vrs Pancakes? What's the difference?

By looking at these photos there does not seem to any difference in these two products.  One simply seems to be pancake all rolled up.  If this is what you are thinking you are not entirely wrong.

A crepe is simply a thinner version of a pancake.  However it is how this thinness is achieved that is important.  A quick look at the difference between recipes soon shows how this difference is achieved.

A crepe recipe is identical to a pancake recipe in all but one regard.  Crepe recipes have higher ratio of liquid to flour then the standard pancake recipe will do.  So why is this?

There is actually a very rational reason for this minor difference. Crepe batter needs to have a high liquid content so that it spreads in an even thin layer over the cooking surface so that the resulting product is thin enough to be easily rolled.  Where as Pancakes are know for being thick and fluffy - this can be achieved with a thinner batter, but it easier to work with a thicker batter for nice pancakes.

Disgustingly simply reasoning, huh?  The good news is that if you find a pancake recipe you want to try as a crepe its simple to alter it too make crepes.

Almond pancakes

Today's sweet treat is an Almond flavored pancake.  For a healthy but slightly more expensive recipe you could use actual almonds - i will add a note on variations after initial recipe.

Ingredients

3/4 gluten-free flour

1/2 milk or dairy alternative

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 almond essence

1 tsp golden syrup.

Directions

1 mix flour and spice in a bowl.  

2 heat milk until it is warm - not hot!  Stir the golden syrup and almond essence into the warm milk. 

3 Stir the milk mixture into bowl until you have a thick batter. 

4 Fry in oil until cooked - turning the pancake when you see 'bubbles' on the uncooked surface.

Variations

Using Marzipan

Grate up roughly a tbs of mazipan (depends on taste at this point) and mix it in at stage 3.

Using chopped almonds

Straight forward option - mix in at stage 3.

Almond puree

Soak a handful of fresh almonds in water overnight.  Puree in a blender with a small amount of milk alternative of your choice.  Mix into recipe as normal.  Please note that this option adds to the liquid content of the pancake batter, so you therefore may wish to adjust accordingly.