Sunday 30 May 2010

An entire day later...

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And following on from the previous post, this is what 160 collated conference packs look like.


And an awfully long time after that, they've all been individually personalised as to when-people-have-booked-for ... and are in their envelopes.

Oh, I do still need to put the stamps on. Tomorrow, I think.
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Saturday 29 May 2010

RNA Conference Pack 2010

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Where have I been for the last couple of weeks? Writing a masterpiece?

Erm... yes, in a way...

Ta-dah! The component parts of the first 160 Romantic Novelists' Association Conference Packs 2010!

And from another angle, just to get the height of those piles.

I suppose I'd better collate them and put them in the envelopes now.
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Monday 24 May 2010

Diet Bread

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"What's that?" I hear you all say, ears pricking up in anticipation. "Bread that you can actually eat on a diet instead of crossing the room to avoid?"

No, sadly. This is Georgian 'Diet Bread'. In those days, there wasn't the phrase 'to go on a diet' like there is today. It had a much wider meaning than simply to lose weight. This recipe incorporates fennel and sage in the dough to aid digestion and, er, movement. In other words, it was a bread that helped with your general diet.

The diet-bread rolls shown were made by Pat as the refreshments for last week's lecture. She has many historical recipe books and likes to treat us to something authentic each week. This time she spread half the rolls with butter (above) and the other half with potted cheese (below), giving a completely different taste. The potted cheese was made by mixing grated cheese, butter, mace, cinnamon and a dash of sherry, then pressing the mixture into a pot before spreading. A sort of upmarket Ploughman's to go with the subject of the talk - "The Inns, Taverns and Alehouses of Georgian Suffolk"!
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Friday 7 May 2010

Simple Supper

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After wrestling with Summer Party timings and Conference timetables (they put up a heck of a fight, you know) all evening I fancied something simple and quick and nice to eat before doing some of my own work.

This is my staple Roast Pepper Medley, which I serve straight from the pot:

Mixed peppers, de-seeded and sliced (Why do recipes always say that? Does anyone ever not de-seed them first?)
Onions, sliced
Garlic, peeled and chunked
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Chestnut mushrooms, quartered
Splash of oil
Extra good shake of oregano

Mix all in an open casserole, put into hot oven of Aga for 40 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Then lift out and add chopped, cooked chicken. (Vegetarians: it's still good on its own)
Leave medley to rest in its own juices (and also because the peppers burn the roof of your mouth if you eat them straight out of the oven)
And that's it, no salt, no pepper, nothing.

If you have to share with someone else (are you there, daughter?), you also need to add pasta twirls. But it was just me tonight. Yum.

What are other people's favourites when it's late and they're hungry?
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