Simon Bradshaw

There has been much chopping and peeling and boiling and decanting into jars.

( Preserves. Lots of preserves. )

The observant will note a cake. This is not in a jar, because that would be silly. attimes_bracing had a discount bulk deal on plums, and there were some left.

Today's cooking experiment: lambs' hearts stuffed with couscous and onion.

( Cut for size and also for food that looks like what it is )

I've not said much about Hannibal yet, but from something I watched warily on the basis that the premise sounded rather dubious it turned into compulsive viewing for attimes_bracing and I. For those who've seen it, show-runner Bryan Fuller gives AV Club a detailed walkthrough of Season 1 (warning - huge spoilers).

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

(Oh, and when the Season 1 DVD comes out, please let it include the audition by David Tennant that apparently very nearly got him the role of Hannibal Lecter.)

Making pastry! I volunteered to make Apple Pie for a forthcoming Thanksgiving-themed potluck and so sought advice from E, my erstwhile coursemate on the BVC. Now, despite having acquired a Home Counties accent at Oxford so convincing she now gets the third degree from Homeland Security on visits home, E is technically eligible to join the DAR; since she is thus officially As American As Apple Pie I thought she ought to be able to tell me how to make a proper one. Sure enough she sent me her mother's allegedly infallible recipe so, as firm believer in the 6P principle I though I'd best have a trial run.

I mentioned this to my Mum yesterday whilst visiting; she thought I was a bit mad for making the pastry rather than buying it (well, I want this to be a pie I've made rather than assembled) but gave me some helpful tips on making pastry if I was intent on doing so. Apparently the idea is to gently crumble the flour and fat between your fingertips rather than knead it together - this gets a more even mix and adds air to the dough. Thus advised, and equipped with some quick calculations to turn cups into grammes, I set to work with my flour and Trex, which is apparently the best local equivalent to that peculiar US substance 'shortening'.

Well, I now have a nice ball of what looks, smells and tastes like pastry, so now to try the actual Apple Pie bit. More updates later.