The Earth Beneath Her Feet

Current lock screen on my phone.At the long-abandoned Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in Hackney.

One for Anne, a savoury alternative to regular flapjacks. I've quartered the original American recipe because even Wingnut can't eat that much cheese.Cheesy Flapjacks175g oats200g cheddar cheese15g parmesan cheese2 eggs125g salted butter15g fresh rosemarypinch of black pepperGrate cheese. Roughly chop rosemary. Mix dry ingredients.Melt butter. Beat eggs with a pinch of salt to break up the membrane. Beat them together fully, but they don't need air in them.Mix everything together. The mixture...

Last night: The only thing I´m going to be making this weekend is lemon honey drinks. Baking enthusiasm gone, appetite gone, all blocked up, hard to eat. Cough. Woe. But can eat crunchy things, ok. Eat, eat.This morning: Out of biscuit error. Woe. Realise that I can make Anzac biscuits in the time it would take me to pop to the shops, with the added bonus that my kitchen is neither cold nor foggy. So that´s what I was doing this morning before getting ready.It also made me realise that...

After weeks of no baking, it's time to heat up the oven again! Top three from the last weekend.It was my first time making Dutch raisin buns. They're a bit of a faff to make -- washing raisins and letting them dry for two days, kneading the dough, letting it rest, kneading it, letting it rest. So, I was very pleased that they had the authentic taste of proper krentenbollen even if they looked pretty messy with raisins sticking out all over. 400g of raisins to 400g of flour is a lot of...

Approaching pedestrian crossing, green man is on, hurry to the kerb, green man is still on, check for cyclists running red, start crossing, check green man status, not blinking yet, reach middle, keep going, eyes on the green man, arrive on the other side, look up, NEW COFFEE SHOP!!! Gnh.

NZ had a spot of bad weather recently and this is the result. NSFW language.Eels in the Gutter

The Election Leaflets repository is still taking your calls. I've just uploaded the first leaflet from the London Mayoral elections due to take place on 3 May. Has it really been four years since we were sitting around pizza at a party, eagerly taking in the election results' Apparently so.Well, looking at this leaflet from returning (sometime) Labour challenger Ken Livingstone, I'm tired of the campaign already. Quite a bit of Boris bashing, where I would prefer positive statements on what...

Opinion was divided on whether a Xmas tree as tall as me with a price tag of £45 was perfectly reasonable or outrageous even for London. But I decided against a tree anyway because all the ones I saw were also as wide as I'm tall, which means it wouldn't fit in our flat. This made me a bit sad because things didn't seem complete without a tree, now that we're staying in London for the second year running. Just thinking about making one like last year made my hands ache though.Happily, the...

He was delicious and totally worth having to take care of for ten days. Thanks Em and Gideon for being guinea pigs.As it's Christmas, I added in all the optional extras of cinnamon, mixed fruit and apple, for that seasonal flavour, which worked out great. I don't remember my one in Leiden being nearly as good. The only problem was that it took much longer to bake than the recipe stated: a full 75 minutes instead of 60.I would've take a picture of the completed Herman but at this point that...

A few of you may already know a friendly individual named Herman who travels a lot. He first came into my life ten years ago in Leiden when he arrived with one of Wingnut's friends from Delft. He stayed for ten days and then was gone. To my great surprise and delight, he's back again. First staying with a friend in Bethnal Green, then in Bow and now with me.He's not very talkative, but cakes generally aren't. (If he is, you've probably left him alone too long...)Here's a recipe for Herman,...