It's June! In fact as I start writing this it's June 28th... and I'm just starting writing, while also watching a makeup tutorial online, itching because of nettle stings (more on that later) and painting my nails a pink Barbie would be proud of and I in the end couldn't get opaque enough and hated. One day I'll find the perfect pink nail polish, but as yet, they're all either too warm toned or too pale. Maybe I should just mix the duds together and make a frankenpolish?
Am I procrastinating? No, of course not, I'm multitasking!
Luckily this month is going to be a lot about one thing...
Good Omens
For months, in fact since the cast was announced and we got our first glimpse of the characters nearly two years ago, I have been saying that so long as David Tennant and Michael Sheen didn't overact, that Amazon's adaptation of Good Omens, would be good and I was looking forward to it.
It's my big sisters favourite book, my mum and little sister love it too, and I came to the game late, reading it at the end of 2017, and as my first experience reading both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, it instantly became one of my favourite books too. So there was fear with its adaptation, but the six episodes were released on my birthday, and while I'd sworn I wouldn't put my big sister through watching it and her hating every minute, we all decided to try the first episode as a family.
Watching nervously, it got to the titles...
I was vindicated! It was great. The vindication and the show.
Go watch it!
Link || Good Omens || Amazon Prime || IMDb || Wikipedia || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook
Ineffable Husbands
Harry and Ginny, in JK Rowing's Harry Potter, have it in the books, but it's just all of a sudden there in the films without any real build up and little chemistry between the actors (Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright). There's time in the book to gradually lead the reader into believing the romance, whereas in the films, Ginny just seems conveniently there.
Claire and Henry, in Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, another of my favourite books, those characters have chemistry, no matter their ages, they had it in buckets, but because they had to cut away so much of the build up from the book, and miscast (in my opinion) Henry with Eric Bana, meant that Rachel McAdams, who I thought was well cast as Claire, didn't work. It turned a beautiful and complicated relationship into something more like time travelling grooming. This was a dumpster fire of a film and should be avoided. Read the book, it's beautiful, and never, ever watch the film!
Chemistry is incredibly important, especially in adaptations because in the book, you have chapters and chapters (even multiple books) to reveal and develop chemistry between characters, there's time that there just isn't in films, where it needs to be almost instantaneous, without actively spelling it out to the audience. Sheen and Tennant, minutes into the series, overflow with chemistry, which just bounces quietly between them and grows throughout the millennia the series is set over. Which is why the book works better as a series, rather than a film. These are two actors who have known one another, but never acted together, primarily because they often auditioned for the same roles and never had the chance, and where I feared there might be overacting, there was incredible subtly and humour in the friendship, love and affection the characters show for one another. It's a bit of a love story.
The fandom has quickly taken this to heart, embracing these "Ineffable Husbands" and flooding Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, DeviantArt etc, etc, with fan art of the pair. Which is just down right amazing and adorable...
Link || Man Luo || Website || Instagram
Link || art.by.wrennuls || Instagram
Link || Claudia Gironi a.k.a. Wisesnail || Website || Instagram || Twitter || DeviantArt || Redbubble || Society 6
Link || Tio-Trile || Tumblr || DeviantArt || Redbubble
Link || Sandara Tang || Website || DeviantArt || Instagram || Facebook || Society6
Anathema #goodomens pic.twitter.com/DliSe4Uzp4— Chelsey ✨🌻 (@Cheriiart) June 7, 2019
Link || Chelsea Furedi (Cheriiart) || Instagram || Twitter || Tumblr ||
I'm particularly enamoured of Andrea C. White's digital paintings...
Link || Andrea C. White || Instagram || Twitter || DeviantArt
Honestly, this is just a few of the ones I like, when I say Good Omens has been my favourite thing of the month, I'm not kidding.
Off Camera
... this is a silly little clip, but I find it incredibly endearing that at the end Neil Gaiman got a little choked up about doing Terry Pratchett proud.
Pratchett passed away in 2015, but Gaiman revealed in an interview with CNET, that the year before he had written to him, saying:
"[Pratchett said] 'you have to make it, because you're the only other person who has the same passion for and understanding for Good Omens I do, and I want to watch it,'" Gaiman explained. "I said OK, and then he died, which suddenly turned it into a last request."
If you own a copy of the book, flip to the back few pages. If you own an older copy like my mums (1991), you might just find the last few lines of the book. If you have a newer copy like mine (2006), you will find that over the years the publishers began to include answers to frequently asked questions. The last of which is this:
At the premier a seat was left empty, with Pratchett's iconic hat and scarf, accompanied by a big bag of popcorn. A nod to a promise made good to an old friend and another of Agnes Nutter's Nice and Accurate Prophecies come to fruition.
Link || Neil Gaiman: Making Good Omens was Terry Pratchett's last request by Erin Carson via CNET
Dear Netflix
Nearly twenty thousand people signed a petition for the Christian group Return To Order, demanding the cancellation of the series. They suggested that it made a mockery of God for the following reasons:
- An angel and demon are good friends, and are meant to be earth's ambassadors for Good and Evil respectively.
- This pair tries to stop the coming of the Antichrist because they are comfortable and like the earth so much.
- God is voiced by a woman.
- The Antichrist, who will oppose the Kingdom of God, is portrayed as a normal kid that has special powers and a mission to destroy the world which he doesn't really want to do.
- There are groups of Satanic "nuns" that are chosen to raise the Antichrist.
- The four riders of the Apocalypse, God's means of punishing sinful earth, are portrayed as a group of bikers.
Okay, lets address these in order.
An angel and a demon are good friends whilst still doing their respective jobs... doesn't that just prove that people - even celestial beings - can put aside their differences and find the good (and evil) in one another?
They're trying to stop the Apocalypse because they like the earth... they were put on earth to monitor humanity and both like it enough to consider it worthy of saving? Isn't saving something better than destroying it?
God is voiced by Francis McDormand, a woman. I know that God is most frequently referred to in masculine terms, so I did a little research and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church No.239, it says "God is neither man nor woman, he is God." God transcends human sexuality, so wouldn't God being voiced by a man be just as offensive?
The Antichrist is portrayed by a normal eleven year old boy, a child. But importantly, a child on the cusp of puberty who is full of hormones, rebellion, desire and attitude towards authority figures. “This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). Teenage hormones are scary enough, but it also means you're one tantrum away from the apocalypse.
Satanic "nuns" are chosen to raise the Antichrist... well, saintly nuns might lead him away from apocalyptic behaviour and seeing angels and demons can't be friends and need to stay in their lane, so should the Antichrist.
The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are portrayed as bikers... as a drivers sometimes there's nothing more frightening than the sound of a motorcycle and having it fly past you at twice your speed seemingly from nowhere. The four horsemen arriving in a herd of single riders on their motorbikes seem just as intimidating as horses. Plus, still kind of horsepower in the end.
I'm not trying to belittle anybodies beliefs. I'm not personally religious. My own belief is you treat people the way you wish to be treated. You try to be kind. You try to be compassionate. You try to be generous within you means and generally you try your best not to be a dick.
Anyway, irony for this particular petition other than their trying to cancel a show which as far as I'm aware is a one off with no sequel officially planned, is the fact that they sent it to Netflix, who promptly responded:
ok we promise not to make any more https://t.co/TRPux36kcX— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) June 20, 2019
And Amazon Prime Video agreed to join in the cancellations:
Hey @netflix, we'll cancel Stranger Things if you cancel Good Omens. 😉 https://t.co/EJPmi9rL7g— Amazon Prime Video US (@PrimeVideo) June 20, 2019
A fair decision.
Link || Thousands petition Netflix to cancel Amazon Prime's Good Omens by Alison Flood via The Guardian
Link || Good Omens: Christian group petition Netflix over Amazon show via BBC News
Link || Christian Group Petitions Netflix to Cancel Amazon’s Good Omens, Netflix ‘Agrees’ by Jordan Crucchiola via Vulture
Link || Don't Be A Dick Enamel Pin by Veronica Dearly
An end to the whole silly business...
I promise, this is the last thing I'm going to say about Good Omens.Read it! Watch it! It's amazing.
What's in a name?
... turns out I was right!
A couple of weeks later, through the letterbox fell a letter for me saying essentially: I'm sorry, but we don't believe you say who you say you are, so your vote doesn't count. Please send back these forms and reassure us you are in fact who you claim to be.
I'd waited a couple of weeks to sign, nervous of screwing up my signature, which is exactly what I then did. Luckily they sent out another set of forms (I guess as a matter of routine in case it didn't arrive), which is great! But what are the chances I'll sign them properly this time?
None. There was none. I cocked it up again, worse than the first time and ended up sending the first set.
Signing documents always causes me anxiety. I don't think this is an uncommon phenomenon, especially for people around about my age or younger, who with the advent of chip and pin and subsequently contactless payments, haven't had to sign and resign their names a thousand times over to use cards or cheques. And to make matters worst, the first time I had to sign anything, I was in my early teens, it was childish and naïve, and I've been lumbered with it, or a slightly cruder version of it, ever since. Honestly, mine is currently just a rubbish scribble I can't consistently recreate.
I know we rely heavily on fingerprints and face recognition, passwords and passcodes... but, shouldn't signatures be like your drivers license, and you have to renew and confirm it every few years?
Just a thought from someone who apparently sign their own name convincingly.
Jon Stewart
I'm not going to say much about this one. But Jon Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show, comedian and writer, making a heartfelt and impassioned address to the U.S. Congress, trying to ensure that the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund would continue to give out benefits for the next seventy years.
Stewart is an advocate for the veterans and first responders involved in the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Men and women, who whilst doing their duty to their city, breathed in pulverised concrete, asbestos, lead, glass, plastics and other chemicals and debris from the cloud which fill the air around them and settled over New York after the towers collapsed.
Most of Congress couldn't be bothered to show up. Which is shameful.
But Stewart and his speech were anything but. I loved him on The Daily Show and I miss hearing him give his incredibly impassioned and intelligent monologues about the news and politics, and it was wonderful to hear him stand up for people who are literally dying because of their actions in the aftermath of terrorism.
Link || Jon Stewart Lashes Out At Lawmakers Empty Chairs [...] by Dareh Gregorian via NBC News
Link || Jon Stewart demands Congress act for 9/11 responders: 'They did their jobs – do yours' by Sabrina Siddiqui via The Guardian
Dissolve in Scottish Rain
I've had this song stuck in my head for days now. I keep seeking it out. Seeking out the original, other covers. I think it's out of my head, that there's something else taking its place and then it reappears.
Biffy Clyro - who I talked about my deep seated love for last month - and covering Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit, a band I knew about, but hadn't really taken the time to listen too. I'm sad for that now, because while there's five albums I get to discover, the reason this song exists is partly because the band no longer does. After the death of it's lead singer and songwriter, Scott Hutchinson in May of 2018, the band announced that the band didn't exist without him, that he was irreplaceable.
Their final album, Tiny Changes, is a reworking of their second studio album The Midnight Organ Fight, on its ten year anniversary. Hutchinson and the band were working on the album prior to his death and didn't just want a repressing of the original, instead they wanted something special. Instead they asked other musicians and friends such as Biffy Clyro, Julien Baker, Benjamin Gibbard (Deathcab for Cutie), Aaron Dessner (The National), Twilight Sad, Manchester Orchestra and Lauren Mayberry (CHVRCHES), who they had shared the past ten years with, to record their own interpretations of their album tracks.
— Frightened Rabbit (@FRabbits) June 17, 2019
This also coincides with Hutchinson's family starting the charity, Tiny Changes, in the singers honour (the name coming from the lyric "And while I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth" from Head Will Roll Off). The charity aims to raise awareness of mental health issues, causes and impact on children and young people, and help support and advance how the issues are treated.
Two worthy memorials.
The album is set for release on the 12th of July.
Link || Tiny Changes || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook
Link || Frightened Rabbit || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || YouTube || Soundcloud || Spotify || Apple Music || Amazon
Keep Going
Austin Kleon first encouraged people to Steal Like An Artist, not to rip off or plagiarise other peoples work, but to study and learn from the people and styles of art we admire, in order to inform and develop our own creative style. Then he encourage people to, Show You're Work! because after you find you're style and choose a creative carrier, you need to share it and allow others to discover your work. Now he's just encouraging us to Keep Going, and instead of being a book on a lecture he gave, or the logical next step in the series, this book he wrote because he needed to read it and encourage himself not to give up.
Feeling less than creative is something I live with daily. It's not being unable to be creative per say, it's feeling unable to locate that one idea, that one style that will sustain creativity into productivity, and not only be fulfilling to me, but be desirable to others. What if I pour my heart into it, what if I waste too much money in the pursuit of it, only to have no one want to buy it? I know the logical answer is you don't know until you try, and it's better to try and fail than not try at all. I know that logically, but logic and fear aren't friends.
Keep Going by Austin Kleon, is probably the book I needed to read as well, and there were definitely a few things that make creativity difficult. For example, I spend far too much time on my iPad, it's become a crutch to keep my brain busy and prevent it from torturing itself, but it's also not letting my brain be imaginative. Add to that social media, which is great for inspiration and communication, but it's also a breeding ground for comparison, disappointment and envy.
Also, as Kleon says in the book, "Job titles can mess you up." Which is true, because calling yourself a jeweller makes you think that's all you can do and branching out looks flaking and could alienate the people who enjoy your work. The year I went to New Designers, a gallery approached me, and asked which was my work, to which I told her I'd made the chess sets. This person instantly lost interest in me and began to walk away saying "I'm only interested in jewellery", this was fair enough, but incredibly rude and indicative of my experience there. I'd put myself in a niche with my designs, and my god I was made aware of it. We're all supposed to be brands now, and have a brand identity which is instantly recognisable, and the worst thing in the world is to be seen as off-brand, but it's constricting and can kill creativity.
"You could sell that." This is such a double sided comment. Wonderful in one way, because the person saying it is enthusiastic, they thing whatever you've made other people would like, but when you've just made something for fun, or out of curiosity, it's also a comment that sucks enjoyment out of the process. Sometimes you just want to make something for the sake of making. To play. To relax. To refuel.
"We all go through cycles of disenchantment and re-enchantment with our work. When you feel as though you've lost or you're losing your gift, the quickest way to recover is to step outside the marketplace and make gifts." (p.94) This is something I actually do. Specifically, I make silly things for my little sister, usually out of felt. I make things for her because I know the "you could sell that" comment will rarely, if ever, come out of her mouth. Plus I can make her a felt No Face from Spirited Away or a Gudetama with his terrifyingly perky bum, and have fun. It's the same with making some of the window displays for work.
"You could sell that." This is such a double sided comment. Wonderful in one way, because the person saying it is enthusiastic, they thing whatever you've made other people would like, but when you've just made something for fun, or out of curiosity, it's also a comment that sucks enjoyment out of the process. Sometimes you just want to make something for the sake of making. To play. To relax. To refuel.
"We all go through cycles of disenchantment and re-enchantment with our work. When you feel as though you've lost or you're losing your gift, the quickest way to recover is to step outside the marketplace and make gifts." (p.94) This is something I actually do. Specifically, I make silly things for my little sister, usually out of felt. I make things for her because I know the "you could sell that" comment will rarely, if ever, come out of her mouth. Plus I can make her a felt No Face from Spirited Away or a Gudetama with his terrifyingly perky bum, and have fun. It's the same with making some of the window displays for work.
In the end Keep Going is a creative self help book, or at least a creative "yep, that's me" book which makes the feeling of not currently feeling creative, feel normal and expected. Kleon's writing is enjoyable and familiar and this out of the three books is the one I've connected with the most, the ridiculous number of markers I stuck in its pages probably attests to that.
If you're in a slump, I'd give this a read, if only to realise how normal you are and how you probably aren't doing anything wrong, you just need to give yourself time to get your mojo back. And remember...
If you're in a slump, I'd give this a read, if only to realise how normal you are and how you probably aren't doing anything wrong, you just need to give yourself time to get your mojo back. And remember...
Link || Austin Kleon || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook
Curated Snapshot
A poignant post given my reading material in June.
Negative Reaction to Positive Action
I am overweight. The last time I lost weight and started feeling more positive about my body, I'd gotten the courage to go cycling every day. I went around the fields near my home, I'd always enjoyed cycling, enjoyed seeing the countryside like that, and I started seeing the positive benefits of it despite being embarrassed. I stopped doing it partly because I got busy and didn't have as much time, but also because I cycled past the brother and girlfriend of one of my sisters friends, and as soon as I went past, they burst into laughter and I felt so embarrassed and ashamed that I didn't want to go out on my bike. So I didn't much after that. I didn't want to risk being embarrassed even though doing it was making me feel better in myself.
Something positive became negative because someone I really didn't care about reacted negatively.
Nike introduced into its stores plus sized mannequins to positively advertise their sportswear and it was met by negativity, mockery and disgust by a large portion of the internet. This is probably the same portion of the internet who like to fat shame by using concern. Fortunately the other side went off on them for fat shaming and congratulated Nike for embracing the fact that everyone should have access to their products and an average/plus-sized mannequin can showcase it just as well as the ones we are pushed to believe is the "ideal".
Just because you're overweight doesn't mean you're not health conscious, healthy or active in the way that may make you want to purchase actual sportswear!
I am ashamed of my body. I hate it. I hate everything about it. I have done since I hit puberty and my body started to change, because I wasn't as skinny as the other girls in my class, because I had the audacity to have hair where all women do, but society say we shouldn't, because I wasn't as pretty as other girls or what we were all told in magazines and TV we should be. Twenty plus years of hating my own skin...
... is it any wonder when we live in a world where we fat shame a body positive mannequin?
Fat Rascals
Fat Rascals are a bun that my dad loves. So what better thing to make for fathers day.
Somewhere between a scone and a rock cake, they are a traditional teacake from Yorkshire, and have been made famous by Betty's Tea Room in York. I've been on a mission to recreate them since they are my dads favourite, and this is the closest I've gotten so far after mashing up three different recipes.
Ingredients:
- 150g plain flour
- 150g self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 130g cold butter
- 100g caster sugar
- zest of 1 orange
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2tsp ground nutmeg (I also added a little mixed spice, a couple of shakes from the jar)
- 50g raisins
- 50g sultanas
- 50g currants
- 2 large eggs
- 90ml milk or cream
- glace cherries
- blanched whole almonds
Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 200℃/180℃ (Fan)/400℉/Gas Mark 6.
2) In a large bowl, sieve together the two flours along with the baking powder. Add the cold butter, cut into some cubes and rub into the four mixture with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3) Add the sugar, lemon and orange zest, spices and dried fruit before mixing well.
4) Add 1 beaten egg and enough milk to turn the mixture into a soft dough.
5) Divide the mixture into six equal (ish) balls and shape them into rounds approximately 2cm deep and 10cm wide. Place onto a non-stick or baking sheet lined baking tray.
6) Mix the yolk of the second egg with a tablespoon of water or milk and brush over the surface of the fat rascals.
7) Decorate with two cherry halves and three or four blanched almonds to create a face on the bun (see photo).
8) Place into the centre rack of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
9) Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack, though honestly, they're best served warm with some butter.
They also freeze really well, and just need reheated in a low oven after they've defrosted. Reheating them in the oven is probably the best way to eat them, but thirty seconds in the microwave then sat on top of the toaster for a few minutes also works pretty well.
Except, I converted the oven temperatures incorrectly when I combined recipes, so I set my fan oven to a higher temperature than it should have been and they browned way to quickly. Which meant they were also a little dry, but that may have also been down to not adding enough milk, and could have be helped by adding a little extra butter (upping it to 150g). But I'll try that the next time and see if they hold their crumb a little better.
However, they tasted bang on, which is actually more important if you ask me.
Link || Betty's Fat Rascal Recipe via Lavender & Lovage
Link || Fat Rascals by James Martin via BBC Food
Link || Bee's Hot Cross Rascals by Bee's Bakery via Jamie Oliver
6085 Days Later
 |
| by Scourgewolf |
Danny Boyle, in an interview for his upcoming film, Yesterday, with The Independent, added fuel to the zombie fire by saying he and Alex Garland have been working on a "wonderful idea" for a third instalment in the franchise. There have been rumours of this since the sequel 28 Weeks Later, came out, and having potentially the original creators attached to it again does actually make me hope it comes to fruition. Normally films being picked up after such a long time would fill me with dread, but I actually think this could be good.
Incidentally, 6085 Days is how long it's been since the original movie was released on the 1st November 2002 to 30th June 2019. Which is 16 years, 7 months and 29 days. Anybody else feeling old?
This year also marks the tenth anniversary of Zombieland coming out, and October will see the release of the much anticipated sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap. Which I am very much looking forward too.
Zombie's have been getting a little too serious over the last few years. I think it's about time for rag tag misfits to take on the undead in a more comedic fashion. Luckily there'll be two this year, as The Dead Don't Die, starring Bill Murray and Adam Driver, will be being released soon.
So, by the end of the year (with Season 9 of The Walking Dead also due for release) I'll either be completely zombie'd out, or the cat will have kept me awake enough to have actually turned me into a zombie.
I guess I'll keep you posted.
Link || 28 Days Later (2002) || IMDb || Wikipedia || Rotten Tomatoes
Link || 28 Days Later: Danny Boyle reveals 'wonderful' idea for third film by Jacob Stolworthy via The Independent
Link || Danny Boyle Confirms a Third ‘28 Days Later’ Film is in the Works by Hoai-Tran Bui via /Film
Link || Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) || IMDb || Wikipedia || Rotten Tomatoes || Twitter
Link || The Dead Don't Die (2019) || IMDb || Wikipedia || Rotten Tomatoes
Throw Down!
We've got some news that'll make your clay – The Great Pottery Throw Down is back!— Pottery Throw Down (@PotteryThrow) May 22, 2019
Can you handle the heat? Apply now 👉 https://t.co/dsCoy8mSlY pic.twitter.com/Sk1Zzf0Zkj
... let's all thank Channel 4 for realising how good the show was and how much love people had for it. and coming in to save the day and resurrecting the Throw Down. Applications are unfortunately over for this year, in case you're an avid UK potter and fancied applying, and while Keith Brymer Jones has been confirmed as a judge, we're unlikely to see the return of Sara Cox as presenter, which I personally feel is a loss, but hopefully they'll find someone good to replace her. Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding being in the end a very good due for the Bake Off, and the BBC choosing Joe Lycett for the Sewing Bee also being a good choice. There's also no confirmed date for it airing, but I'm going to assume it will be either be the very end of the year or the start of next. Either way, it's back and I'm really happy!
And I do hope they do the Russian doll week again:
Now all I need is for the BBC to recommission MAKE! Craft Britain and Channel 4 to stop giving Kirsty Allsopp every craft show, because I'm tired of her insincerity and while I appreciate everyone being encouraged to be creative and try a craft, I feel her shows often belittle truly how impressive people involved in the craft world can be.
I'll admit to being a bit of a snob about crafts. Or at least in how they're portrayed. I get tired of crafts being shown as busy work and now an skills.
Link || The Great Pottery Throw Down || Website || Channel 4 || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook
Pin Pennant
Every month I'd like to be trying something new off of my List of Craftiness, or at least finish a project that's been sitting or sort out something I've been meaning to do. Should I be working on productive projects? Probably, and while I've not been too crafty this month, I did do something I've been meaning to do for a while. I made a pennant for the random enamel pins and badges I've accumulated over the years.
Enamel pins are something I've always kind of loved. The ones from Sugar & Sloth being among my particular favourites at the moment, alongside the Gin pin (my tipple of choice) and my Not Today Satan pin (the quote of my drag queen of choice):
I don't actually have anywhere to put it, and the pins I have probably took up less space living in the drawer with my earrings, but when I do have a space, it will keep these little bits of lovely silliness all together, tidy and on show.
Link || Sugar & Sloth || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || YouTube
Random Instagram Love
I know jeweller Clare Hillerby's tin of gold scraps seems like an odd favourite, but it's such a comforting an familiar thing to me. As a jeweller you spend your day working with precious metals, and every scrap is precious. And I have collected, swept, strained and sorted every scrap that's passed over my bench into reuseable offcuts, used and solder covered, as well as dust. (Oh the dust.)
Yes. I have a small jar of silver dust. This sounds anal, but scrap metal can be reused, reformed or sold back to suppliers for fresh materials. It's worth doing and I like that Hillerby (a jeweller I've liked since before I officially started my course at uni) is documenting this mundane but integral part of the business.
I even have a tiny dustpan and brush for sweeping!
And finally, a regular occurrence when Sarah's anywhere near the cat...
... genuinely this illustration by Olive Dane appeared on Instagram not long after the fluffy one attacked my sisters ankles. He loves ankles, but particularly Sarah's.
Charlie
No, seriously, he fathered a litter of kittens before the previous owners got him neutered and he eventually wandered into our house and became part of the family. One of his daughters, and her mum, even live a few streets away. She's the spitting image of him!
Anyway, it's all cleared up, his fluff is back, but he's got a notch in his ear now. Still enjoys a good ear scritch though.
Mostly this month he's been huffing about being too hot again.
Thunder Thunder Thunderation
Thunder thunder thunderation,
We are the Girl Guides association,
When we work with determination
We create a sensation!
I actually quite like thunder and lightening, but am I alone in getting the Girl Guides Thunderation song in my head whenever anyone mentions thunder? It's been a long time since I was a Brownie or a Guide but the song's still stuck in my head, but maybe because the word thunderation in my family summons the image of something completely different. Thunderation is the sound of sixteen fluffy paws running towards you while you open a tin of tuna or during the zooming hour.
Four cats at one time was still less exhausting than one Charlie. The others at least let me sleep at night!
Elderflower
Ironically on the one night I didn't see Charlie, I had a full nights sleep and so when I woke up naturally at about half seven, I decided to make the most of it and head out to collect some Elderflower to make cordial. Then as I got out into the field behind the house, he appeared and after having a pet and a roll around in the grass, he followed me as I went back and forth along the path and clipped off flowers, eventually having to walk him back down our street and home. As you'd imagine, I did get a few funny looks, and lots of nettle stings. Oh the nettle stings! Feet, legs, arms, stomach... most of the rest of the day was spent feeling like I was still covered in prickles, sneezing from allergies and then feeling sticky from dealing with the cordial.
The recipe (for one batch) is the same as I've used in previous years, but last year I added in some oranges because I kept seeing them in other recipes, so figured why not...
Ingredients:
- 20-30 heads of elderflower (fewer if they're big, more if smaller)
- 50g citric acid
- 2 unwaxed lemons
- 2 unwaxed limes
- 2 unwaxed oranges
- 1.75kg caster or granulated sugar
- 1.5l boiled water
Method:
Straining: To remove impurities and get the clearest cordial I strain the liquid first through a strainer and muslin, then coffee filters.
- Place sugar into a large pan & cover with the water, bring to the boil and leave your stock syrup to cool (start with boiled water from your kettle to save yourself some time.)
- Fill a bowl with cold water and dunk and shake out the elderflower to get rid of small bugs & beasties. You won't get all of them, sorry.
- Using scissors snip the flowers directly into a large bowl, removing as much of the green stalks as possible and any brown flowers.
- Thinly slice the citrus fruits and place them in the bowl alongside the flowers.
- Add the citric acid.
- Pour the cooled stock syrup over the mixture and stir. It doesn't need to be cold, just not boiling or this will scald the flowers and give a bitter, acrid taste to your cordial.
- Cover the bowl with cling film, making sure the plastic actually makes full contact with the surface of the liquid, removing as much air from the bowl as possible. For security I put a second layer over my bowl to make sure nothing leaks.
- Leave to steep at room temperature for two to three days, stirring once a day.
- Into another large bowl, strain everything through a sieve or colander to remove the majority of the fruit and flowers. You can also add a few layers of muslin, this will mean you'll get rid of nearly everything straight away.
- Strain through paper coffee filters to remove any remaining impurities. This can be a slow process, however it also means you get a really clear cordial. Alternatively, if you're using muslin, wash it out in hot soapy water, thoroughly rinse and then restrain your cordial
- While straining and filtering, sterilise glass flip top bottles (washed & dried) by placing them into an oven set to 75℃ for fifteen minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to cool. You can also do this by running them through your dishwasher, if you have one.
- Pour into bottles and label your batch with the date.
- Dilute to taste with flat or sparkling water, add it to cocktails, cake soaks (Elderflower drizzle cake - yum) or anything you fancy!
Only problem I'm currently having, and had last year, is the slight risk of the bottles exploding...
The past two years I've had an issue with my cordial fermenting. It doesn't - in my experience - change the flavour, but the elderflower heads contain wild yeast, which when it is introduced to the sugar in the stock syrup starts to become active and turn to alcohol. If you're wanting to make elderflower champagne that's exactly what you want, in cordial however, because the you're making a concentrate for dilution, there's a higher quantity of sugar, and the year starts to become hyperactive and potentially volatile when bottled as the gas builds up.
There is one main reason I think I have been having this issue, and that is simply that I've used too many flower heads and thus have introduced too much yeast. But it's a toss up, have a cordial which has a distinct elderflower flavour, or one which is more citrus than floral. The reason I'm so sure this is the issue is last year I increased the number of blooms and this year, after not collecting quite enough, I added extra after I steeped and strained the mixture the first time.
Last year I had to burp the bottles, by opening all of them once every couple of days to release the gas and reduce the potential of one exploding, this year however I'm trying a technique used to stop wine fermenting called "cold shocking". Basically I need to keep the cordial in the fridge for up to five days to kill the yeast and allow it to settle on the bottom of the bowl, re-filter and allow to come back to room temperature and see if it starts to ferment again. If this doesn't work, I can either start the process again or keep all the bottles in the fridge.
That would be okay with two or three bottles, but I made a double batch, now we're talking about litres of the stuff!
Hopefully my grandpa will take lots of it off my hands and not give it a chance to turn into a liqueur... though homemade St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur) might be interesting, especially since the only missing ingredient is vodka. Though adding vodka may also be a way to stop fermentation.
The yeast is already hyper, why not get it drunk too!
Link || Elderflower Crunch Cake Recipe
And in the end...
That was June. A little obsessive. A little ranty. But you get two yummy recipes out of it and only the slightest chance of making things explode if you try them.
Hope your month was good, and if you're enjoying the summer so far, rain and shine.
Listening: Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit
No comments:
Post a Comment