Opened the blinds this morning to see it was chucking down, decided I had to go anyway. The final not very well planned training session before the 5k run at the Meadows that I’m taking part in. The boss convinced me to sign up in November and it’s done its job of keeping me semi motivated through the winter months.
Started with a steady slow stride. Just round the corner there is a major junction, lots of traffic lights and at 7 in the morning lots of folk in a rush. Edinburgh, I believe is in the running for the pot hole capital of Europe. Within a very few short minutes of starting I find myself drenched in icy muddy water as a tidal wave cascaded onto the paving. A morning commuter hits one of those competing potholes full of water as they decided they needed to be the first out the lights.
I curse and carry on at a slow pace, clocking up the strides, cold and dreich, not nice, and then the positive side of it, that the exercise is in the bag for the day!
I thought I’d flash back to what was on the menu last Saturday in the hope it might give you inspiration, and for me a reminder.
Blood Oranges are in season and I’d been sitting on a Rhubarb cake recipe from the Kew Gardens cookbook. A curd is made from the oranges and then combined as a layer in the construction of the cake. Rhubarb in first, use the upside-down cake kind of technique. When it went in the oven I was sure we were in disaster territory. I’d used too much sponge on the first layer and it was more like a bunch of dumplings sitting on a lake of custard in a sponge tin. Wow, should have had more faith in the recipe and myself. I’m minded I need to write a few notes on the recipe. The curd simple to make like a fresh custard and not to worry about the blood orange season which only seems to last two weeks. I adjusted the flour to be a little more wholemeal, a little less sugar and that worked.
Main, was a fillet of salmon in order to convince the boy it wasn’t a vegetarian meal being served, when really it was. The fish played the side role to Butter Bean Stew, Kale and Sticky Blood Oranges. Taken from The Modern Cook’s Year by Anna Jones. The butter beans, definitely a keeper, the hazelnut and sesame seed topping a keeper. The sticky oranges, a bit of a faff. All in the interests of learning.
I started the plumbing job that I’ve been shirking for months, opening up the paneling, to find a bath was in the way! A little bit obvious, but none the less very frustrating! I freed one tap off within a couple of minutes. Then an hour of lying on my back, a bike torch in one hand wrench in the other. I had to give up. I just couldn’t get in, couldn’t get an angle and zero torque when I might have got an alignment. So, in true DIY style we have a half finished job!
I’ve had one delivery of an 8 in 1 tool that promised all manner of success, to find it was just shy of the fitting and I await the postman on the next delivery of another wrench. I’m not giving up yet. I’m nervous though, dismantling is usually the easy part!
The #WeekendCoffeeShare is an informal weekly link-up hosted by Natalie the Explorer that serves as weekly heart beat and sort of of a mind-dump. Helps me reflect on my week, with a list of achievements, thoughts and rambles normally whilst drinking a beverage probably listening to music.
The food look and sounds amazing!
Good job keeping it up with your running through this season. I am sure it will pay off.
Best of luck with the plumbing, that sounds brave! Thanks for the chat.
I’m out in the country but still get splashed and such too often when I run…. I hope the new tool fits and you can complete your little DYI job! Have a great weekend.
I admire your dedication to practicing for the marathon. Your dinner sounds absolutely marvelous. And ugh! Plumbing jobs are the worst. I hope the next tool works.
Thank you for your weekend coffee share. Well done with your running during winter. The foods look and sound delicious. Good luck with your DIY job.
Blood oranges sounds so interesting! I’ve never had them but heard about them. How interesting to uncover a bath! 😲 Kudos for the marathon! In the area I live in I frequently see advertisements for marathons and I keep saying I’ll do one some Saturday but I’m not the best at getting up early on the weekends… Good luck with your bath project…
There’s nothing like a goal to keep you on track over winter. The fear of the dreaded fun run used to always get me out of bed to train. I’m impressed at your plumbing ability
Oh – you were so spot on when you said that disassembling is usually the easy part. That’s the part where the mess is made and leaves the site the most unsightly while you try to sort out the correct way to reassemble everything. I have a few “messes” that have literally sat waiting for solutions for years. But you were out running in the cold and wet – good on you for shaming the rest of us into getting up and getting moving somehow.
I hope that next wrench reaches and solves the problem.
cheers
I made good progress last week. The new shower installed and in use. Still working and amazed that there is no leakage (that I can see anyway 🙂 ) I just need to patch the hole up!