Wulf's Web-den

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Tuesday 21 February 2012
by wulf
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Today’s Pancake Recipe

My normal pancake recipe has been 1 egg, 2oz of plain flour and 5 fl oz milk. “One, two, five of E, F, M” is fairly easy to remember. The problem is that I’m much more used to working in metric measurements and, anyway, how many ounces is an egg?

Since today is Shrove Tuesday (AKA Pancake Day!) I decided to experiment. The proportions I used were 1 large egg (which came to about 50g), an equal amount of plain flour and double the amount of milk. That gives me “one to one to two of E, F, M”. That is just as easy to remember although I did also add in a small amount of baking powder and a pinch of salt. I used about 1tsp of baking powder, which is 5g or 10% of the amount of flour; the salt was a nominal amount and not measured: “1B:5E:5F:10M”.

The result was a reasonably thin pancake that had a bit of body thanks to the action of the baking powder without become too thick to roll up. To be truly scientific I ought to experiment with all sorts of permutations but I am happy enough with the result (and don’t want to see my waistline expand too much) so I shall stick with that for now.

Monday 20 February 2012
by wulf
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Feedly

As well as posting something to my blog most days, I also keep up to date with numerous other blogs and information feeds. I’ve settled on using Google Reader, which is just as well as most of the competition seems to have withered away. It is very functional but it can seem ugly. Enter Feedly: not a new place to keep up to date with your feeds but a new interface layer on top of Reader.

I have been using Feedly for two or three months now and am generally very impressed with it. It took a little while to learn the interface but it generally works well. I particularly like the way you can select different types of display for different types of information; I see pictures from my Flickr contacts as a wall of thumbnails but news from the Oxford Mail (who are not very generous with the amount of information they put in their feed) uses a more prosaic list of headines and summary sentences.

What is not to like? I do find that the site is broken from time to time and also that bits of the interface sometimes change without warning. However, given that I can always fall back on Google Reader and the list of what is waiting for me to read is synchronised between the two. It is like having the choice between a cheap newspaper and a glossy magazine which magically have the same content. If you use Google Reader it is definitely worth taking a look at Feedly.

Sunday 19 February 2012
by wulf
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Sumo Wrestling

The reason I ache today is not Friday’s tumble but last night’s sumo wrestling. Don’t worry — I haven’t put on the pounds I’d need to come near the traditional build but I was helping down at the St Clement’s youth club, Overflow, last night and they had a pair of padded “Sumo Suits”.

I did have a go wearing them for a bout  but most of my evening was spent helping the young people in and out of them, acting as referee and hauling up the combatants again and again and again. The suits were pretty heavy and must have weighed more than some of the youth who gave them a go! So much for my plans for a restful weekend! Fun, though!

Saturday 18 February 2012
by wulf
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Saddle Sore

Saddle sore? I’m surprised to find the answer is “not really” despite my round trip to Wallingford by bike yesterday (about 25 miles in all). Although my daily commute to work is much shorter, less than a couple of miles each way, it has obviously helped me build up some endurance. I’m still aching from my crash and have a number of grazes that feel rather sensitive but you will be pleased to hear that me and the bike are doing find.

Friday 17 February 2012
by wulf
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Road Rash

When committed to making a blog post most days, sometimes you struggle to think of what to write and sometimes inspiration walks up and hits you in the face.

Self portrait showing grazes from my accident

Road Rash

Unfortunately, today’s inspiration came in the form of a slick road surface at a junction, my cycle home from an early meeting at work and a sudden, unwanted closeness to the tarmac! I regularly cycle that corner and normally glide round it; I don’t think I was going any faster than normal today but the back wheel suddenly lost its grip. Fortunately there was no car on my tail and the only damage seems to be a few grazes.

Having done my cathartic self-portrait session to document the event (and give time to ensure that there don’t seem to be any more serious injuries), I think I will go down to check my bike and, assuming my initial assessment that it is fine is correct, go ahead with my planned ride down to Wallingford to pick up a pair of shoes (Jane is out with the car today). They say it is good to get back on a horse if you have fallen off although, trust me, I will be taking it very carefully.

Thursday 16 February 2012
by wulf
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Sweet Pâté

Book Cover

Appetite by Nigel Slater

I made an interesting pâté earlier this week, using up the giblets that came with the duck we roasted at the weekend and vaguely following a Nigel Slater recipe. Precision wasn’t an option as I didn’t have the chicken livers, cream or brandy suggested by his recipe but I figured that duck offal, crème fraîche and whisky were reasonable substitutions.

What did surprise me though was the resulting taste. Rich, sweet and more than a hint of chocolate. How bizarre! It was not quite what I expected but was still perfectly satisfying. I must try and get the recommended ingredients and proportions and see if this is anything like the result of Mr Slater’s main recipe but I was still very pleased with it; there is a reason I keep his Appetite book on my shelves and regularly refer to it as one of my main sources of culinary inspiration.

Wednesday 15 February 2012
by wulf
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I Will Survive

A clump of daffodils, bravely flowering by a path

Daffodils by the Path

What an amazing clump of daffodils. Despite coming out far too early and then enduring some very harsh, cold weather, they are still going. I think is a bunch of survivors!