Yet more about coffee measurements: starbucks version

They suggest, 2 tablespoons (10 grams) to 6 floz (180 ml) of water.
I did check by weighing the 2 tablespoons of starbucks fground coffee; impressed, it ddid indeed weigh 10 grams!

I mixed it with the specified amount of just-boiled water and it made an excellent brew; sweet and warming.

The one I used was Colombia; described on the packet as "balanced and nutty" it is quite coarsely ground. I steeped the mixture ofr a couple of minutes then ppoured through a sieve into a small mug. excellent.

Not so excellent was the effect on my husband, who chose to interpret "balanced and nutty" as an invitation to give of his best behaviour; alternating between sweetly polite and Professor-Branestawm crazY1

maybe i should have bought the other flavour, "balanced and lively"

More about coffee quantities

This is definitely a "King Charles's Head" area for me; the obscurity and ambiguity of the proportions suggested by coffee sellers.
Today I found a brilliant clear video...I make no apology for posting this link!

http://www.coffeedetective.com/how-to-make-coffee.html

The Mineral Food game.

Years ago, one of my children read in some educational book that virtually all human foods were either animal or vegetable; the only two minerals that humans regularly consume being salt and water.
(Obviously this does not count the trace elements and minerals to be found within the foods)

This was discussed over the family dinner table one Hallowe'en. We began to think of others...the first two nominations were Rock Buns and Sand Tarts (An American biscuit sprinkled with coarse sugar)
Water Biscuits, someone else offered.
Stone Cream, I countered.

And thus was born the Mineral Food Game which we have played on and off in the family, and also on facebook, for the last year or so.

Lots and lots of suggestions have been recorded...contibutions are still being accepted!

Here's an incomplete list of the best suggestions!

Sand tarts
Stone cream
Water biscuits
Gravellaks
Seaside rock
Ices
Minerals
Mississippi mud pie
Lime juice
Key lime pie
Lime anything etc etc...
Granita
Salt crackers
Stonefish
Rockfish
Soda water
Sodas
Soda crackers etc
And of course, Lime Soda!

and so on...all offers accepted...no, they won't be!! it must be a mineral and SOUND like a mineral food. But suggestions gratefully received...

Coddle

Dublin Coddle.

Traditional Saturday-night supper in our nation's capital. Plain family food, local ingredients and simple equipment.
Quantities are approximate, as always: this is a rough guide for about four people.

Half a pound of pork sausages
About 6 bacon rashers
Five large potatoes, peeled, or more if small.
2 or 3 onions
A handful of pot-herbs
Pepper but not salt

A good large saucepan that will hold them all with enough water to boil them.

Cut up one of the potatoes into cubes about the size of Monopoly dice and put these into the pan first. Then chop the onions roughly and put them on top. Cut the sausages into one-inch lengths, approx - maybe, thirds? and cut the rashers into similar-sized squares. Add to pan. Then a small handful of parsley and thyme on the stalk, known in Dublin as "pot-herbs", and pepper. Cut the remaining potatoes into quite large chunks and balance on top of the other ingredients. Cover carefully with hot water just up to the spuds but barely to cover them. Bring to the boil on a brisk heat and as soon as it boils, immediately turn the heat down to simmer: cook gently until the potatoes are soft.  
Do Not Stir!
(Because that would break up the spuds, which should stay on top and remain whole)

If it has turned out right, the small cubes of potato at the bottom of the pan will have disintegrated and thicken the liquid, while the large ones on top retain their shape and firmness.

Ladle into wide deep soup plates, eat with a spoon.
Traditionally serve with bread and butter, (batch loaf, of course) and stout for those who like it!

It is permissible in certain circles to sprinkle in some commercial brown sauce such as Kandee, to season each bowlful as the diner may wish. However no other additions are correct in my opinion. Carrots in particular are often suggested, but they contribute a watery sweetness which does no favours for the firm, earthy, salty flavours already present.
At a pinch, I would permit the inclusion of some pearl barley; but it is not the purest form of the dish.
Above all, the dish must be gently simmered - "coddled" - and must not be too watery: it is something between a soup and a stew and a substantial meal in its own right: cheap, too!

Macaroni Cheese, traditional Irish recipe.

An excellent simple standby dish, always popular.
You can knock this up quickly from store-cupboard ingredients, so quantities are necessarily variable - if you only have 2 tomatoes and 2 rashers, that's what you use.
You also need a little butter and flour and some milk to make the sauce; and cheese to grate into it.
And macaroni, of course!

Let us suppose you are cooking for three: use about half lb of macaroni. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the macaroni until just slightly underdone; there's a reason for this!

While it cooks, cut up your tomatoes into smallish bits, say hazelnut size. Fry the rashers and chop with scissors into six or eight pieces. Make the cheese sauce, as follows:

Melt a dessertspoon of butter or margarine over a medium heat. Stir in a dessertspoon of flour and cook together for a few minutes. Gradually stir in about a half-pint of milk and heat together, stirring or whisking until they form a smooth creamy sauce. Cook slowly for five minutes. This should be quite a thinnish sauce.

Season the sauce and stir in as much grated cheese as you want, (or have): aim for a savoury taste.
Returning to the recipe:
When the macaroni is barely done drain it, put in a casserole dish, and stir in the chopped tomatoes, chopped bacon and cheese sauce. Stir together.
Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake in a 350F oven until the topping is melted and the flavours have had time to blend. Say, 12 minutes.

During this time, the slightly thin sauce with be absorbed by the slightly underdone pasta: so that both aquire the right consistency.
If you had thick sauce over soft pasta, it turns into a pasty stodge.


Notes: for 1/2 lb pasta, about 2 or 3 fresh tomatoes (tastier the better)
3 or 4 bacon rashers
Cheese; sharp cheddar is best.
sauce: season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, mustard, Parmesan (any that appeal to you)

Variations: not many really improve it. Finely-chopped onion in the cheese sauce is popular with some. For vegetarians, you can substitute the rashers with sliced mushrooms.

Fruit Salad with Syrup

Let us suppose that you are preparing fruit salad for three people. Use about four pieces of fruit, all different, and with due regard to their quality, and the variety of colour and contrast of flavour etc. An apple, an orange, a banana and a plum and/or pear, will give good results. Also consider kiwis, strawberries, peaches, grapes and melon balls.

Start ahead of time so that the fruit salad will be well chilled, which makes an appreciable difference.
Start by making the syrup; Take a common teacup or similar vessel and fill one third full with ordinary table sugar. Add a third of a cup of water. Place in microwave and heat together until the sugar melts, maybe half a minute or so. Remove and stir well. Squeeze into the cup the juice of half a lemon. Pour this sharp, sweet syrup into the fruit salad bowl (you may let it cool if you wish) and commence to cut up your fruit. Place the apple and banana pieces into the syrup as soon as they are cut, this stops them going brown. I don't peel apples and pears but most fruits are peeled. Cut into spoon-size pieces. When all are in, stir well to coat fruit and chill in fridge. Taste the syrup to be sure it is sweet and lemony-sharp.
Pour off surplus syrup before serving: each person should have plenty of syrup but it should not be a splashy experience: fruit salad swimming/floating in liquid is not the best kind.

Other notes. This doesn't need much accessorising: you can pour a little cream, unwhipped, into each serving for a smoother finish. You can try flavouring the syrup with, for example, spices, or gin, but I'm not sure it's an improvement. A bland lemon gives a bland result - try to use a fragrant lemon, or half a lime (which are very acid so go cautiously)

This is one of the earliest recipes for a beginner cook: even a very small child can hold a banana with one hand on a board while cutting it into slices with a blunt plastic knife - good training. (Forks come later). The syrup is a simple matter too, if supervised so that the hot liquid doesn't spill. And it's nice to eat, of course, and healthy too!

Cockeyed Cake

Set oven to 350 deg F. Shelf across the centre.
Get a baking tin that is about 9 ins square, and about 2 deep, or similar: a chicken-size roasting tin works well: line it with non-stick baking parchment.

Now mix up as follows;-

Sift together into a large bowl,
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour (5 - 6 oz)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (scant oz)
1 teasp bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
half teasp salt
1 cup caster sugar (6 oz)

Stir them together and then make 3 holes in the surface; a small, a medium and a large.

Into the holes, pour, respectively, 1 teasp vanilla essence; 1 tablespoon vinegar; 5 tablespoons of cooking oil.

Over the top of everything pour 1 cup of cold water (8 fl oz).

Stir everything briskly together with wooden spoon until no flour is visible but don't prolong the mixing.

Pour into prepared tin, bake in prepared oven for half an hour, then check.

Let cool in tin, it is fragile.
When cold, sift a little icing sugar over to decorate (confectioner's sugar, I think)

Needs no garnish.
Raspberries are good with it though, for a dessert.