Friday's Kitchen: Ginger Beer Coolers

At the risk of being hounded by the vast majority of sun-worshippers, I have to say I'm not massively enjoying this heatwave!  I'm very much an Autumn and Winter girl, the clothes, the leaves, the snow and, of course, Christmas.  Holidays in the past have consisted of scraping pathetic hour-long sunbathing sessions before needing to slope off into the shade and recover.   Plus it doesn't suit my wannabe-Dita skin!

Needless to say, it looks like Summer is well and truly here and I've been experimenting with cooling drinks to help me cope with this heat!  Introducing my very own Ginger Beer Cooler...

I love ginger and I love spice.  During the early stages of my pregnancy, I was guzzling Old Jamaica by the gallon and munching on ginger nuts like there was no tomorrow.  This homemade ginger beer recipe has a strong ginger kick mixed with a sweet and sharp lemonade taste.  Perfect for an afternoon BBQ or a lazy picnic.

Ingredients: (to make approx 2 litres of Ginger Beer)
150g Fresh Ginger (chopped and skin on)
2 Lemons
3-4 Whole Cloves
4 Tbsps Demerara/Muscovado Sugar
2 Litre Bottle of Sparkling Mineral Water


Method:
In a mixing bowl, place your chopped ginger (I always leave the skin on for extra flavour) and add the sugar.  Mix together a little.

Next, using a vegetable peeler, peel the rind from both lemons and add to ginger.  Add in the cloves.  Using the end of a rolling pin, mash the rind and ginger together to release the juices, for about 30 seconds.  Squeeze the juice from both the lemons and add to the ginger mixture. stira little and leave to sit for 10 minutes or so.

Once ready, taste test the mixture and add more sugar or lemon juice where necessary.  Add your spring water and mix.  Pour into a serving jug (I always keep the ingredients in to make sure the flavour stays fresh and sharp, but you can remove by pouring through a sieve).

Serve over ice with a sprig of mint (gnome is optional)!  Enjoy your sunny afternoon!

Throughout August my recipe posts will all be based on a 'Change One Thing' theme to really challenge my baking and cooking skills and encourage healthier eating.  If you are a blogger and would like to link up your recipe ideas with this theme, please email me at missemmaberry@gmail.com

Ashes To Ashes: A Review of James Herbert's 'Ash'

Fan? Much? My cluttered bookshelf

Earlier this year, one of my favourite author's James Herbert, one of the most well-renowned horror writers, passed away.  He was 69 years old, no cause of death was published and, in my opinion, he has left a gaping hole in the world of horror fiction.

'Ash' was Herbert's last, and potentially his most controversial, novel to date.  A mammoth paperback at nearly 700 pages long, Just this fact alone set it apart from his usual quick-scare paperbacks.  The artwork was a mark of Herbert's usual foreboding, ghoulish imagery, but the tone of the book immediately felt slower paced, easing you in with several character introductions.  All this from a man who, in 'The Dark' (my first descent into Herbert-madness), shocked his reader with a particularly nasty killing by a 4 year-old, just 5 pages in.

Herbert chose to re-visit one of his familiar characters, skeptical and moody psychic investigator David Ash,for this story.  Those familiar with his character, will no doubt remember the traumas he suffered in 'Ghosts of Sleath' and 'Haunted', yet his indifference and quest to find rational explanations for strange goings-on remains un-perturbed.  Ash is hired by a mysterious group of people who run the equally mysterious 'Comraich Castle', a secret home from home for the both very rich and very disturbed, when a terrible and seemingly supernatural murder occurs within the grounds.  Cue exposed secrets, reams of 'dead' celebrity psychopaths, some particularly nasty and bloodthirsty wildcats and the suggestion of a secret royal son residing in the grounds, as the reader is taken on a twisted journey with Ash and his sudden sidekick, psychologist Delphine.

All in all, Herbert's last masterpiece is everything you would both want and expect from a horror story.  Herbert manages to provide his usual mix of grisly murders and intrigue throughout even if, at times it felt as though some of the most important characters and plot points were glossed over in favour of love scenes.  There were still plenty of shocks, gore and scares to carry me through the pages, though I didn't stay as gripped as I had done his other books, The Magic Cottage still being an unbeaten favourite.

I don't know if I felt this because I read this book post Herbert's death, but there was something chillingly finite about this book.  The controversy of the inclusion of such characters as Lord Lucan and other notable murderers from history, alongside Herbert's own dig at his previous works such as The Rats, suggest to me that he may even have known his time on this earth was limited, hence giving himself the freedom to push even more boundaries.  Either way, the lagging pace at certain points didn't make this book any less than enjoyable than the others and if Herbert wanted you to ponder the blurred line between fact and fiction ever after, he succeeded in doing so, in his unique, horrific way. 

Coming soon: A review of Jeanette Winterson's 'Why Be Happy, When You Could Be Normal?' 

Do you have book you would like me to review?  email missemmaberry@gmail.com

Friday's Kitchen: The All American Breakfast!

Prior to having my daughter, Daisy, breakfast was usually something of a rushed affair of branflakes and throwing tea down my throat, in between putting make-up on whilst the other half opts for another ten minute 'snooze'.

These days, with Mr Peachy having to work weekends, breakfasts on his days off are something I really look forward to and, if time allows, I like to treat a lazy Sunday breakfast as I would an evening meal.

They say diets always start tomorrow...well this was definitely the case when I decided to try my hand at American-style pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.  What was always a pre-holiday early morning treat at the airport, seemed to be the perfect way to snuggle up with the family on a rainy Sunday.

For the pancakes, I used a Nigella Lawson recipe; a woman I strongly admire for her refreshing attitude towards food and balanced eating, not to mention her ability to look forever on-point, curves and all.

Here is the recipe:

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/american-breakfast-pancakes-141 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1 pinch of salt 

1 teaspoon white sugar 

2 large eggs (beaten) 

30 grams butter (melted and cooled) 

300 ml milk 

225 grams plain flour   

butter for frying 

Method: 

The easiest way to make these is to put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz. But if you do mix up the batter by hand in a bowl, make a well in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, beat in the eggs, melted butter and milk, and transfer to a jug: it's much easier to pour the batter into the pan than to spoon it. 

Heat a smooth griddle or pan on the stove.

When you cook the pancakes, all you need to remember is that when the upper side of the pancake is blistering and bubbling it's time to cook the second side, and this needs only about 1 minute, if that.  I managed to make about 8 large pancakes from these measurements.

Stack the pancakes as you cook them, serve with lashings of maple syrup and grilled smoked bacon and add a steaming cafetiere of good coffee.  Add to the mix a good black and white film and there you have it, a perfect Sunday Breakfast and a treat for a deserving Dad this Sunday!

Have a lovely weekend folks!

E x

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