Category: Did you know?

Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia)

Did you know? Herbs

Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia)

I absolutely adore this herb and it seems insects do as well (see photo above).

Lavender has scented leaves and fragrant  flowers.  It belongs to the mint family.

We have lavender bushes by our backdoor and I always pinch a few leaves to crush in my fingers. The scent is divine.

Lavender is a versatile herb.  It is used in oil infusion, which can be used as a very mild form of sedative, it is used to relieve headache and stress.  It is also used in cooking to make lavender infused sugar.

Lavender is extensively farmed in France for its essential oil used in perfumes, soap and oil production.  It is such a treat to slide between bed linens sprayed with lavender scent.  It is very calming.

It is such a treat to slide between bed linens sprayed with lavender scent.  It is very calming.  Send you off to a relaxing sleep.

The plant is also beautiful to look at in the garden.  Lavender plants can get leggy, so cut it roughly in the autumn to get a more bushy specimen comes spring.

Did you know?

I always thought (hehehe) that lavender is named after its lavender coloured flower.  Apparently this was not the case.  In ancient times, the Romans used lavender to add to their bath water not only for the scent but for its therapuitic properties. This wonderful plant was therefore called lavender from the Roman word, lavare, meaning ‘to wash’

Lavender flower meaning is devotion and vertue.

Bangers and Mash

Did you know? Food Blog & Review
Bangers Mash, Photo by PH Morton

Bangers Mash, Photo by PH Morton

Bangers and Mash

Bangers are sausages.  The name bangers came about during the Second World War.  This delicious parcel exploded when fried because of its high water content, thus called bangers.

Bangers and mash with onion gravy is definitely a comfort food.  Easy to make using ready-made mash potato mix and gravy granules and of course the sausages.  But to make this recipe that extra bit more special, we have below a recipe that is easy to follow and yet will give you a creamy mash to go with the sausages.

Ingredients:
8 sausages
2 large onions, sliced
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp English mustard
5 Oxo cubes preferably beef or chicken cubes dissolved in 600ml hot water
salt and black pepper
2 tsp softened butter
2 tsp plain flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the mash
900g potatoes, peeled and chopped into equally sized cubes
50g butter
100ml milk

Preparation method

Using a large frying pan, heat the oil. Fry the sausages until they have turned brown/golden all over.

Add the sliced onions to the pan and fry with the sausages. Transfer the sausages and onions to a covered container to keep the heat in. Set this aside.

Using the same frying pan, make the gravy by making a paste out of the soften butter with the plain flour. Add the dried herbs and mustard. Pour in the chicken or beef stock and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil. Lower down the heat to simmer, until the gravy had thicken.

For the mash, (I would actually start cooking the potatoes first before frying the sausages) cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling water until tender.

Drain.

As the potatoes are mashed add the butter, milk and season with salt and pepper. Mix until the mash is creamy and smooth.

To serve, make a bed of mash potato. Top it with a couple of the cooked sausages and fried onion.  Drizzle with gravy.

Enjoy!

……

Tidbits:

Did you know?

Queen Victoria was very partial to sausages.  But the sausages she craved were hand-chopped rather than minced by a machine.

Month: July Heat

Did you know?

Month: July Heat

July is the 7th month of the year.  It has 31 days.

July was named after Julius Caesar.

July’s birthstone is Ruby.

The flower associated to July is the larkspur or Water Lily.

Notable Events in July:

1 July 2009, Britain has become a No Smoking in Public Day.

2 July 1964, Lyndon B Johnson signed the Civil Rights bill creating equal rights in voting, education, public accommodations, union membership and in federally assisted programmes – regardless of race, colour, religion or national origin.

3 July 1954, food rationing in Britain had finally ended after 9 long years.

5 July 1948, The great National Health Service (NHS) was initiated in Britain. Long may it continue!!!!

6 July 1952, The last tram in London finally ceased service!

7 July 2005, Terrorists attacked London transport system during rush hour.  3 suicide bombers  detonated bombs in 3 busy locations, killing 56 people and injuring at least 700.

11 July 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published.  This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature a year later.  By the way, it is my most favourite book of all time.

13 July 1985, Live Aid pop concert raised over £50 Million.  I remember this!

17 July 1955, Disneyland opened in America.

19 July 1545, the Mary Rose sank in The Solent, near Portsmouth.

20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

21 July 1884, England beat Australia in the first ever test match (cricket).

28 July 1858, fingerprinting was first used as a means of identification.

Spiders Spinning Webs

Did you know? FAUNA Photo by PH Morton

DSCN9125

Golden Spider, photo by P Morton

Spiders Spinning Webs

It is a true wonder of nature how spiders can  weave superior and intricate webs!

Spiders are a particular source of phobia for Peter and yet he was happy taking photo after photos of these eight-legged insects.

Probably spiders are less mysterious and threatening when they are outside the remit of one’s abode, afterall a man’s house is his castle and he has a right to welcome or make unwelcome anyone entering his house, including the dreaded spiders!!!

Below are the photos Peter took over a period of a week.

Thank goodness, we do not presently have any spider inside the house, not that I know of.  Probably this is because I have put conkers in strategic places. Apparently conkers are anti-spiders. It is hard and frightening to imagine a spider freely moving in the bedroom while one is unconscious to the world.

I read somewhere that everyone swallows at least 60 insects, of which 7 are spiders, in their lifetime, while asleep! Can’t bear thinking about it.

Did you know?

There is a specie of spiders that is named after Harrison Ford.

Doner Kebab Meal

Did you know?
Doner Kebab, photo by JMorton

Doner Kebab, photo by JMorton

 

Carving for a Donar kebab

Carving for a Donar kebab

Doner Kebab Meal

Friday night and the feeling is right for a doner kebab.

I know it is usually a fish Friday but just for this Friday, I or rather Peter and I fancied a bit of a doner.

It was quite lovely too.  The meat was tender with the right amount of hot spice from the chili.

Doner kebab is apparently Turkish in origin or rather the inventor was.  It was invented by Mahmut Aygun about 40 years ago when he left Turkey for a greener pasture.

Mr Aygun was 16 years old when he emigrated to Germany.  Fairly early on he realised that there was a gap in the market for old fashioned roast lamb and spices, loved by migrants like him.  At first his kebab was served on a plate with rice and vegetable.

Again Mr Argun became aware of the need for a more portable, take-away food for the on-the-go Berliners, thus, the the birth of the doner kebab, which is roast lamb with salad inserted into a warmed up pitta bread, generously drizzled with garlic sauce or chili sauce.

This proved a hit especially to late night revellers.  Its popularity has spread far and wide.

Doner came from the Turkish word dondumek means rotating meat, which aptly describe how doner is roasted upright in a rotating rotisserie.

The kebab is then cut thinly using a 19 inches long kebab carving knife.

Delicious!