Asian Cookery

I haven't blogged recently about cooking, as I often find that we are too quick to eat, and I end up not getting any photos. However, I can assure you that I have been doing plenty! Ive been experimenting with making my own curries with really great results. This "Very simple Lamb Rogan Josh" recipe was a real winner with the family, especially as it was accompanied by "Oven baked onion bhaji's" So simple, cheap and delicious I will never buy them again!! I had to use ordinary flour the first time I made them, and these were OK, but since, I have found Chick pea flour in an Asian supermarket (which was like an Aladdins cave!!!!). I also made a huge vat of this Chicken Byryani for Hubbys party and it went down a storm. The first time I made it, I used my own paste concoction - similar to the Rogan Josh one, but for his party, I used Pataks paste and it was lovely too. I used dried apricots instead of sultanas, and any leftovers can be served cold next day mixed with a dollop of mayonnaise to make a Coronation Chicken type dish - delish. I was desperate to try Nigel Slaters Noodle Soup, after seeing this on tv the other week ( I have a bit of a thing for Nigel Slater - and no idea why!! and his kitchen and garden are gorgeous too). I can tell you that this is now a firm favourite in the Heart Shaped household and its so simple and cheap top make. It makes a superb vegetarian dish, I added Spring onions , baby corn, green beans and mushrooms (I also added a real onion when making the paste as I have found with Indian cookery that this is slightly like adding water, but more flavour). Last night I added strips of leftover ham too. It is really filling and so so tasty.



Give it a go

Monyash/Lathkill Dale

Today I would love you to join me on the Monyash Walk in Derbyshire. We often camp around here in summer, it's a truly fascinating place. As it was Mothers Day, I got to choose the walk. Incidentally, for Mothers Day I got a cup of coffee and the promise that she will make tea on Tuesday from the Dancing Queen, and the young man gave me one of his best hugs, and a homemade card that said Mothers Day was his 2nd favourite day, Match of the Day being his favourite!! Th pictureque village of Monyash lies at the head of Lathkill Dale in the Peak District.

The young man wanted to know who had built the hundreds of miles of dry stone walls? Good question!

On the way down to the Dale, we passed some great old farms.

We found some interesting articles to take home - you can see why I was the prime contributor to my infant school's nature table!!

The Dale itself is such an interesting place. It has a river running through it, but this disappears in places as there is another huge river underground too. There are lots of old Lead Mines too, and the water disappears through cracks in the rocks into these.

Everything is covered in layers of very thick moss.

The fascinating part of this area, is that although it is really high, at one time, this part of the world was on the sea bed. You can find fossils of sea shells etc embedded in the rocks. I think that takes some getting your head around.

There are signs up asking you not to paddle in the water, or let your dog swim in it as they are trying to preserve the native crayfish that are in here.

Some of the caves are pretty spectacular too. This one gushes water out after heavy rainfall.

It was a great walk and not too steep!

We had time later to call into Bakewell (which was heaving with Sunday visitors). You have no idea of the number of tourists I had to glare at to get them to vacate the shop window of the Bakewell Pudding so that I get get a decent photo!

All in all a fabulous Sunday out.

Not only is it Mothers Day, but its also my 1 year bloggy birthday!!!! I am a bit worried that I might start repeating myself now, I'm sure one of you will let me know if I do!!

Rotherham

20 years ago, each town and city in South Yorkshire had a thriving town/city centre and fabulous markets. Then they built Meadowhall (or Meadowhell as hubby calls it). Whilst it brings shoppers from far and wide to the area, it has slowly killed off every town and city nearby. Rotherham went one step further by building a fabulous little out of town high street 2 miles out of the town centre, and slowly one by one almost all of the high street shops moved out of town to Parkgate. When Marks and Spencers moved out, that rang the death knell for this once pretty and bustling little town. The only high street shops that remain are Primark, Boots and WH Smiths. If you want a bookies, mobile phone, or (rubbish and overpriced) charity shops, then head for Rotherham. They do have a "Renaissance" program, which so far consists of building a few apartments in the town centre, but there doesn't seem to be an overall purpose for the place anymore. I think it is really sad to see, and I know its not only happening in South Yorkshire, as last year, on the way home from London, we detoured to Brackley which used to be a lovely bustling town. This too looks as if it has died a death and we struggled to spend more than half an hour there.



Anyway, my reason to visit Rotherham, was to look at the newly restored Imperial Exchange building. This is a gorgeous building right in the town centre that they are hoping to attract artists and craft business's to.

I had planned the visit on my own, but I ended up with hubby in tow as they cancelled his work day at the last minute because of a mix up. When I got into the building, I wished that I had left him at home as some lovely ladies were sewing hearts with vintage fabrics and they were inviting the public to join in.

I loved this magnificent needle felted parrot.

The building was once part of the market complex in Rotherham, featuring butchers and fishmongers etc. The old tiles in the units are still there.

I hope it is a success.

The town has a magnificent church.

One of the unique features of the town is the Chapel on the Bridge which is only one of a handful of building like this left in the UK.

Its also famous - or should that be infamous - for being home to Jamie Olivers "Ministry of Food" the centre of his "pass it on" campaign. I feel that this is a bit of a half hearted attempt by Jamie Oliver (the fact that it is never going to make him any money might be a factor in this). Even the sign looks temporary and looks as if it will be whipped away at any moment. I thought his idea was OK, but I think it really needs kids to be taught to cook in school properly again. I was taught really well at school to cook and I cook almost all of our meals from fresh, but I cannot get the kids interested at all!! There are too many distractions for them at home, whereas when they cook at school, they are full of enthusiasm for it.

So what will happen to towns like Rotherham? What purpose can they serve in the future? I think that town planners have a lot to answer for. I did really well to take so many photos and not get a chav in any!!!

More images

Well done Rosie for spotting that the film location was indeed Pride & Prejudice featuring Ms Kiera Knightly balancing on top of a rock at Stanage Edge.


And to the other Rosie, did you seriously think I wouldn't take a photo of Little John's Grave? (Little John as in Robin Hoods big Mate)

I thought I would share some more of the photo's I took the other day. Blogging helps me spot things I have never noticed before, and a lot of the smaller details that give me great joy.

Hathersage Walk

For hubby's biggy birthday, we both took the day off work, and after breakfast in a wonderful Italian cafe in Sheffield, we headed out to the Peak District for a nice bracing walk in Hathersage. As funds are extremely low - owing to the recent boiler crisis, we kept out of the shops, and headed through the woods and up the hill.

How utterly sweet was this little fella - I was still a bit wary of his horns though.

The views over Hathersage and beyond are truly beautiful.

We headed up passed North Lees Hall - now houses 2 self catering apartments. It looks a fabulous place to stay. It is believed to be the inspiration for Mr Rochesters house in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte stayed in the area a few times.

I thought that this looked a dodgy crossing for 2 old codgers with a combined age of 100 years!! but we made it.

Its a bit steep for me, but hubby calls it a gentle slope!!!!

There is a fab crystal clear pond at the top. It gets full of frogs, but I inspected and found no evidence of frogs spawn. I reckon it will be later this year because of the extreme cold temperatures.

We followed the stream back down the hill.

And we said a big "Thank You" to Evelyn. Hubby now wants to be a footpath inspector.

We found a cottage - I think estate agents would call it "ripe for renovation"!

And I'll leave you with yet another film location. Can you remember seeing these rocks in a film over the last couple of years? Its a film I bet you have all seen. Answers in the comments box, and I'll let you know next time if you were right.

We then went home, and had a party with a few family and friends, got a bit drunk, nearly killed a few pensioners on the Wii fit board, ate too much food and had a real laugh. He had a great day bless him.

Pamper Swap

With some trepidation, I put my name down for Michela's Pamper Swap. It is only the second swap that I have done - I get a bit scared by them (don't ask me why!). Anyway, I was delighted to be paired with a blogger that I hadn't met before - Juanita. This meant that I had a whole new blog to discover! Juanita is from Singapore but lives in Switzerland and she has a great blog, so why not pop over and introduce yourself - tell her Diane sent you. I posted my parcel to Juanita yesterday, but her gift for me arrived today. Everything was packaged so beautifully - with a smattering of hearts too. She had also included something for the Dancing Queen.

The parcel contained some fab herbal teas - ones that I haven't tried before. Some gorgeous fragrance burning sticks, a recipe book, but best of all, a wonderful pair of Juanita's earrings and a necklace. I am wearing them as I type. They are really lovely. I wear earrings all the time - I feel naked without earrings and lippy!!!

The package for the DQ contained some funky badges that she absolutely loves.

Thanks again Juanita - you made my day!
And can I just say a very big well done to Michela for orchestrating such a well organised swap!

A huge dose of perspective.

Well done to all of you who spotted that we were indeed at the most impressive Salford Quays, in the extremely sunny city of Manchester. And a big well done too if you recognised Audrey Roberts from Coronation Street (in the black leather jacket). Ive not watched any soaps since hubby and I got together - (I couldn't stand the constant moaning and tutting all way through!!) but both hubby and I recognised her - it must have been the hair!!

Hubby had always wanted to visit the Imperial War Museum of the North, so we drove over the Woodhead Pass to what we Yorkshire folk like to call the "wrong" side of the Pennines. It was far too dark in the museum to take decent photographs, but it is well worth the trip if you get chance. I don't know what it is with boys and war, but whilst hubby and the young man thought everything was exciting, I found the exhibits quite traumatic. They have lots of very personal possessions from people who were caught up in wars from the 1st World War to present day. When you read such poignant letters in a soldiers own handwriting, or see possessions that belonged to a nurse who was working in Hong Kong, and was captured and interred in Japanese prisoner of war camp for years, then the human toll seems enormous.
They had a special exhibition by Don McCullin - a photo journalist who spent his whole career photographing every war since 1960. I found every photograph harrowing and couldn't help but cry looking at the faces of innocent people - from babies to very old people - who are caught up in such unimaginable circumstances. I have never seen anything as moving. Apparently, he suffered a few breakdowns in his line of work and he realised that he was addicted to it. His work is truly a really important legacy to mankind.
Another thought that struck me, as I wandered from 1960 - the Berlin wall being erected overnight and the cold war, Biafra, Cambodia, Bangledesh, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Bosnia, The Gulf etc etc etc - to present day, is that these are actually my years, the years I have been alive. Apart from making me feel really really old with all this history under my belt, it made me realise that I take peace in my life, and my freedom totally for granted when so many women my age have gone through so much.
As we watched a film where a lady my age told the story about a family in Bosnia who were made to leave their beautiful town, lovely home and everyone they knew because they were the wrong "race" - even though their families had lived there over 200 years. 2 years on, whilst they were safe and healthy, they still didn't know where they would end up. Unimaginable. It made my whinging about having to fork out £2500 unexpectedly for a new gas boiler, when the old one wasn't quite 4 years old pathetic. It certainly put things firmly in perspective for me and I count myself so lucky to feel so safe, sound and warm with my family around me.