Thursday, January 26, 2012

Oscars, UK Food, Lego Man.

They announced the contenders in the Oscars the other day and this Oscaryear I found I couldn’t be less interested, I didn’t really know any of the movies so I don’t really care what’s nominated. That may not stop me sitting up til all hours to watch the actual award show although I don’t know what’s happening. We shall see. If you are not feeling similarly disinterested, you can go to the Oscar page and see the full list. Getting that link, I see that one movie I know about is listed, The Artist. That is a silent movie at which people have asked for their money back because they can’t hear the dialogue. I know, I mentioned that before, but it’s a story that amuses me.

I missed out on Burns Day yesterday didn’t I? Not that I think anyone would want a recipe for Haggis. I’ve never had the opportunity to try it although I would love to. I’ll put it on my bucket list. I wonder if the PuddingsCanadian version would taste as good as the original. I know black pudding here tastes dry and horrible, even in the UK they have generally tried to make it healthy, which is a crime. I did find a butcher who sold the original black pudding last time we were there, deeelicious. Someone mentioned white pudding, never tried that either. In fact I had never heard of it when living in England. Don’t really know what it is, guess I should Google it. It turns out it is an oatmeal pudding very similar to black pudding but doesn’t contain any blood. Something I didn’t know, there are a lot more puddings in the UK than I was aware of. Guess I don’t know the land of my birth as well as I think I do.

Matt has been saying for years that he would not go to Mexico if you paid him. We keep hearing details of people being beaten up; a Winnipeg woman was beaten up last weekend and there has been a headline on CBC talking of an Ontario man who says he was beaten viciously in the same area near a 5 star resort. I have heard it said that if you stay on the resort its OK, but these people seem to have been beaten on the resort. As Matt says, criminals will go anywhere.

Two Toronto teens are in the news at the moment for having sent a Lego man into space legoman- it was carried by balloons; on board were four cameras. Apparently the Lego man reached 80,000 ft. (3 times the height of a cruising jetliner) before falling back to earth 97 minutes after being launched and the interesting video footage taken by the cameras is shown in the article with explanations by the two young men who built the whole set up.

A traditional thing to serve on Burns Night is Atholl Brose, you can still make it even if Burns Night has passed. New Years or Hogmanay is another traditional time for this. I tried making it once and wasn’t unduly impressed. Whether I didn’t do it right or what, I’m not sure.

Atholl Brose SyllabubAtholl Brose

I have included the 8th Duke of Atholl's recipe.

Ingredients for Atholl Brose:
75 g oatmeal
2 Tbs liquid heather honey
whisky to make up 1 quart (2 pints)
450 ml cold water

1. Put the oatmeal into a bowl and mix it with the water until it is a thick paste, then let it stand for 30 minutes, after which pass it through a fine strainer, pressing down with a wooden spoon to expel the last of the liquid. Throw away the dry oatmeal and mix the liquid with the clear heather honey, stirring with a silver spoon until it is well blended. Pour the mixture into a quart bottle and fill up with whisky, cork it well and always shake the bottle before pouring. It can also be used as a dessert (Atholl Brose Syllabub), by adding about 4 tablespoons Athol Brose to 4 tall glasses, topping with sweetened whipped cream, and sprinkling with lightly toasted oatmeal mixed with a little ground nutmeg.

Servings: 4

Recipe # 2
This one I have just found on the internet sounds much better to me, it has cream in it after all:

This easy to make Atholl Brose recipe can be made in a few minutes and can be made on the day it is to be drunk but tastes much better if stored for a week.

Ingredients For Atholl BroseAtholl Brose2
One bottle of Scotch whisky
10 fluid ounces (Half Pint) of double cream
450g of clear Scottish honey
The whites of six large eggs
One handful of fine ground oatmeal
Directions To Make Atholl Brose
1. Soak the oatmeal with the Scotch whisky and set aside.
2. Beat the egg whites until they become stiff.
3. Fold the cream into the egg white mixture.
4. Add the honey.
5. Blend in the whisky and oatmeal mixture at a slow but steady pace.
6. Pour the liquid into some bottles and set aside for one week. Shake each bottle of Atholl Brose each day.

Have a great day

Jo

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