Bits & Bobs

We've all seen blog posts discussing the best literary fiction, the top 50 websites for women, 10 awesome websites to read and talk about, the best this and the best that, etc., etc. Well today, I'm going to share some of my favourite websites and a nifty little low tech invention I've recently discovered. I'm not being paid to share these I'm simply sharing them because I like them, and I hope you will too. 

My friend and neighbour Mary told me about Olive & Sage an online boutique bursting with gorgeous vintage and modern furniture & accessories for the home and garden.  I was looking for something unusual for my sister’s birthday, and found it here!  I can't tell you what it is because my sister might see this post, but I can tell you she will love it!

If you are new to cooking or would like to brush up on your skills Now Cook It is a good place to start. The site is maintained by The Co-operative Group, commonly known as the Co-op a British consumer co-operative with a diverse range of retail businesses, including food retail, financial services and much more. None of that need concern you (or me) the important bits are the core techniques and complete recipes many of which are accompanied by videos. All the recipes are designed with new cooks in mind. I’ve been serving up food for years, but I’m always looking to improve my skills so it suits me very well. I’m going to try Shakshuka next (see pic below) simple and delicious.

Brightly run by Penguin Random House have lots of lists like those I mentioned at the start of this post but these are carefully thought out, useful lists. The purpose of Brightly is to help foster a love of reading in children, which can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Happily, lists are just a small part of the site. They cover all kinds of interesting topics and provide story time pages featuring lots of different books like the one in the following image. 

You might remember a post from the beginning of the year where I shared five of my favourite blogs and asked for links to others. Willie Wine (of comment fame) shared four more, one of which is the one you are reading right now (thanks Willie). These are the other four.

Justcats  I'm a new visitor to this blog, but I can already see why Willie enjoys it.

Linda's Peaceful Place, I love Linda’s blog and make a point of visiting her at least once a week.

My Threadbear Life  Another favourite of mine. Why not pop over and say hello to Julie, I know she will be happy to see you.

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I’ve just made these yummy biscuits. They are simple to make, buttery, crispy and decidedly moreish. The nice thing is you melt the butter in a saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients to it, so no messing around with lots of dishes. The recipe suggests making 25 biscuits, but I made 24 because they were a perfect fit for two baking trays.  I didn’t adjust the quantities of mixture, but I did cook for the full 15 minutes.  I found the recipe online, but I understand it originally came from a book called Cookie Jar by Love Food.

Cherry Almond Cookies

200g butter, cut into cubes

90g sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

280g self raising flour

25g ground almonds (5 TBS)

Glace cherries 

Preheat the oven to 180/160 Fan/ 350F/ gas mark 4.  Butter 2 large baking sheets. (I covered with non stick baking paper – much easier than buttering)

Place the butter in a saucepan and melt it slowly over low heat, without allowing it to colour.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the sugar and almond extract.  Add the flour and ground almonds to make a soft smooth dough.  Roll into 25 equal sized balls and place the balls onto the baking sheets, leaving some room for spreading.  Flatten slightly with your hands and top each with a cherry. 

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let stand on the baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Bon Appétit!

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Have you heard of Book Spine Poetry? I’ve seen references to it around the web but hadn’t really paid attention until a recent visit to Marcia Strykowski’s blog. Now I’m seeing Book Spine Poetry everywhere. The only trouble is most of it doesn’t actual rhyme but apparently that doesn’t matter. The ‘rules’ such as they are simply state: Create a poem by stacking book, CD, DVD or audio book spines. The poem should have a minimum of three titles and a maximum of eight and there is no need for them to rhyme. 

This is my first attempt, I must say I'm rather pleased with it!

The Winter Children / Left Neglected / Behind closed doors / One day in May 

I hope you found something enjoyable in this post, a new website to visit, a friend to make, or a book spine poem to think about.