Health update

My gout attack continues. Every few days it eases enough for me to risk going out. I always regret this. The trip to Earls Court (previous post) was followed by a serious flare-up. It eased off enough for me to risk the supermarket last Sunday, but then I had a full day on my feet on Monday, shepherding Mum around the hospital and back to her care home. By the time I got home (very late) I was in agony, and it hasn't let up yet, in fact today ( Friday) it's the worst it's been all week. I am trying cutting out diet coke and Boost bars to see if that will help. The most annoying part (apart from the pain) is the inability to go Xmas shopping- something I really enjoy. 

Mum was at the hospital for a consultation resulting from chest pains over the last few weeks. She has had 3 visits to A&E (mainly accompanied by C3*) for heart investigations. When I was with her on one of the days they took so many blood tests it was scary. Anyway, the upshot is that they are 95% certain she has myeloma, a blood cancer. It was a shock to discover this out of the blue when we turned up at the hospital for what I thought was a cardiac consultation on Monday. It literally made my knees give way. The final 5% certainty can only be ascertained by a bone marrow biopsy, which is not recommended for someone of her age and frailty. Chemo is the only treatment for this cancer, and that is not recommended either, as it is unlikely to improve her quality of life. Mum's dementia continues to worsen. It is so sad to see her like this. 

C2* has very recently had to have a triple coronary bypass. This was also a shock. The surgery went well, but he got an infection which extended his stay in hospital. He has also been left with atrial fibrillation - his recovery is going slowly. 

Little Pea had a bout of very high temperature this week, but luckily, it turned out to be tonsillitis, rather than anything more serious. He seems to be prone to picking up bugs, and his autism makes it hard for him to reason with over taking antibiotics ( his medicine is orange-flavoured, and he hates orange-flavoured things). ToryDory has a painful sinus thing going on herself, also needing antibiotics, which makes it that little bit harder for her to cope with an unwell Pea. 

Bex has a throat thing which is making her tired and miserable. 

To top it all off, C3 has a chest infection, so he can't visit mum. I can't visit either because of my foot, so it all falls on K, who is popping in every day, as well as looking after C2. The woman is a star. 

All in all, we're all feeling very sorry for ourselves. 

* My brothers and I are the "Three Cs". I am obviously C1

Gout update

I am in the throes of the worst gout attack since I first developed the condition. It has now been 20 days of constant pain, varying between continuous dull throb and breath-catchingly severe pain via stiff, hot pressure. Some days it feels a bit better, the foot will relax enough to bend into a shoe and I will foray out of the house on crutches. These days have ALWAYS been followed by a bad night and a bad day. Yesterday I went to a Xmas exhibition I had been looking forward to for ages. I managed to get round half of one exhibition hall before having to give up and go home. Today I can't even stand for a few minutes. Had to sleep with my foot outside the bedclothes last night (the slightest touch of the duvet is agonising). I should be doing hospital & care home visits but I can't bear the pain of trying to get a shoe on. Even my very loose slipper hurts. The picture shows me on the way in to the expo yesterday. I wasn't smiling on the way out. 

Pink!

I've had a yen for a pink Smeg fridge for a long time now, and have finally taken the plunge!

It was about time. Our chest freezer was constantly icing up, and the old fridge had a broken veg drawer, a broken bottom glass shelf and a sagging door. In fact, when the delivery guy went to take away the old fridge, the door came off in his hand. 

The new one is a fridge-freezer, so no more backache whilst scrabbling in the bottom of the freezer. And did I say it's pink? PINK!!! 

Cazz did cook

Time to make the Xmas pâté. I have blogged the recipe on my tumblr, so there is no need to repeat it here. Suffice it to say, the pâté is good. 

I tried two new gadgets today. My shiny cast iron mincer, and the dough hook for my hand-held mixer. 

Neither of them worked quite as well as I had hoped. I thought the dough hook might save me some kneading time for the bread I was making, but the mixer motor probably isn't powerful enough. The hook did collect up some dough, but not all of it, and I ended up kneading by hand anyway. It would probably work ok for pastry, which is lighter and needs less work. The bread turned out ok though. I made some rolls to have with meatball burgers, and a loaf of fennel-seed and raisin bread (I bought one once from Carluccio's and really liked it). 

I was using pork mince for the pâté, so decided to make meatball burgers à la Toria  (recipe on CazzCanCook). They were really good. 

But back to the gadget testing. The mincer's main purpose in life is to mince liver for Xmas pâté. It worked, but there were some problems. 

The first was the amount of space for a "catching vessel". Liver is really oozy, so needs to be caught in a bowl. The only one that would fit under the mincer was a shallow soup bowl with a wide rim. The bowl didn't have the capacity to contaim all the minced liver in one go, so several transfers were needed. There was a lot of drippage from both the bowl and the mincer during these transfers. The liver also started to seep out behind the ring that holds the blades in place, then eventually backed up and oozed through the handle seating, dripping onto the floor (but fortunately not onto my feet). It was also a nightmare to clean- lots of corners and angles inside for stuff to get caught in. The mincer is very pretty to look at, but I can't even use it as an ornament, as it is so heavy it's likely to make my shelves tip over. 

Sadly, neither gadget gets ten out of ten today. 

Cazz Can Cook

I decided to collect all my recipes together in one place, so I started a new tumblr blog called "Cazz Can Cook". You can link to it from my list of blogs down there in the left hand corner. So far it has bread pudding, five-spice lamb and sea pie. (Sea pie and bread pudding are reblogged from my other tumblr, and have also appeared here). 

From now on, as  I make a dish, I will blog it there. 

Look forward to Italian style chicken, christmas pate and (if she gives permission) Tori's meatball burgers. I plan to make all these in the next few days. 

The quest for Waitrose

I needed to grab a couple of grocery-type things, so decided to take a trip to the new Waitrose in Greenwich. 

This turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. In Greenwich there are signs pointing towards Greenwich high road and Lewisham ( don't know why- the shop is actually off of Creek Road- the opposite direction). Anyway, a 188 bus is supposed to go there, so off I trotted. 

I knew it was not far out of the town centre at Greenwich, so when the bus went over creek bridge and I hadn't spotted it, I got off and started to walk back. Oh look- there it is …

It had started to rain quite heavily. No umbrella of course. Then this happened …

I got really wet. 

Anyway, finally found my way in and was disappointed in the range of goods on offer- very limited range of bread in particular. Service was dreadful. My cashier was the only one working on the tills, and was dithery and wanted to have long conversations with everyone. The woman in front of me had a trolley full and a small baby and was clearly getting agitated. The store manager decided to open up another till, and asked the woman with the baby to go over.. She unloaded her trolley, then realised (as I already had) that there wasn't actually a cashier there yet. I felt sorry for her as she waited helplessly. I had unloaded mine and was paying when the other cashier finally turned up. 

I won't be going there again. 

Anyway- I hobbled back out to the main road, only to see my bus sail by. The next bus only went to the university, but it was raining so I got on it and then stupidly changed on to a 386, forgetting that it doesn't stop at the Standard any more. On the walk back round to the standard, I got hit on the head by this…

Yes- autumn has arrived. 

Five-spice lamb

Snip a breast of lamb into thin strips, sprinkle with Chinese 5-spice (as much as you like- I used about three small pinches, to give a very subtle hint of flavour). Put in the oven and bake until crisp. (About an hour at mark 5). 

During the final 20 minutes, get cracking:

Put 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer until all the water is absorbed. This is called the absorption method. 

Meanwhile

Fry in a little bit of olive oil in this order, frying each a bit before adding the next thing:

About 1 inch of fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks. 

3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced. 

2 small red onions, sliced. 

A few mushrooms, sliced ( I used about 10 smallish closed-cup white ones)

A handful of sugar-snap peas, cut in half. 

A few cherry tomatoes, cut in half ( I used about 8). 

A good glug of soy sauce. 

The juice of a small lime (the zest would be a good addition, I think, but my lime was a bit old, so I didn't use it). 

A whole star anise. (Put this in, stir for about 30 seconds, then take it out again). (Or leave it in longer if you like aniseed). 

Finally, a couple of big teaspoons of smoked chilli jelly. (This is a magic ingredient- I use it in loads of things). 

I made this up as I went, and it turned out as a really good sweet, sourish vegetable dish with enough sauce to moisten the rice. It was delicious. 

Note: my seasoning was very subtle- I was cooking for someone who doesn't usually like aniseed. (Who ate every scrap!).  Add more 5-spice for a stronger flavour for the lamb, more chilli for more heat, different veg etc. you get the idea. 

Autumn

Autumn has pretty much arrived. The cyclamen are flowering and I am starting to feel "nesty". 

The house is pretty tidy throughout, and I'm getting the urge to decorate. I need a new dressing table, having broken the drawer in the one I have at the moment. Sadly, the local antique shop, where I expected to be able to get one, has closed down. At the moment, I am still using my old dressing table, with the bottom drawer wedged half-open. 

I've started embroidering a cushion cover. Turquoise! It will be ok, because we already have a turquoise footstool. 

I bought new flat ankle boots- a black pair, and a self-indulgent dull silver metallic pair. I completely wore out last year's black boots, so I did actually need some, and I got both pairs at a discount, so it's not as extravagant as it sounds. 

I have begun my Xmas shopping. I can only carry a small amount of stuff at a time now, so will need many trips. My threat to buy a donkey adoption certificate for anyone who doesn't give me a wish list soon is now on file…

 I got my first pension statement today- annoyed to find I will be paying £70 a month in tax. Sigh. 

I did nothing in September that could be called "cultural". I did finish reading the first MathsBookClub book, which we will be discussing during October; and I did eat out several times. I am getting braver about eating out alone; and this month I went to Cafe Rouge and Jamie's Italian, as well as Wimpy and the Giggling Sausage. The monthly food pic shows that I did eat quite a range of foods this month. Last night's meal was chicken risotto, which I forgot to photograph.

. 

Winter is coming…

It's turned cold. Last week we had our first chilly day, and the boiler celebrated by breaking down. We hadn't even tried to put the heating on - just turned on the hot tap and suddenly…

Anyway, the boiler man came the next day and got it going again, but we found a tiny leak from the radiator in my bedroom, which could be causing the pressure in the system to drop. We need a new valve- goodness only knows how long that will take to come, and in the meantime there is a chance the boiler might break down again at any time. The heating did work last night. Fingers crossed for today. 

I was randomly looking through craft blogs and came across several devoted to Sasha dolls. I bought one of these for a couple of quid at a church fete way back in the eighties, and it has been languishing about gathering dust pretty much since then. I now realise these things are worth a fortune! Several hundred pounds if in good condition, even without the original clothing!  I cleaned my one up, and combed her hair (fun)- and she is in very good condition, still has original stringing for her joints, unfaded paint on her features and can stand unaided. I made a new set of clothes and she now stands on the shelf in my bedroom. I won't let her gather dust again!

The big news is that Pea has settled in well at school. He looks so grown up in his uniform, and I feel so old…

Bread pudding

After the barbecue on Saturday, we were left with two whole baguettes, which went stale. I used half of one to make giant croutons to go with dinner last night (half-inch slices spread thinly with garlic butter and baked for about 10 minutes); but what to do with the rest of the bread? I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of throwing out so much food. 

I'm going to make bread pudding, which I love, but haven't actually made for about 30 years. Everyone who makes it seems to have a different recipe, but I found one that looked do-able with my available ingredients (this is a "leftovers" dish after all). I needed a recipe with no milk, because I only have enough for tomorrow morning's tea. 

So, to begin…

Step 1: break up bread into the kitchen scales pan. I need 8oz for the recipe, but it looks as if I have about twice that. I will make a double size pudding. This bread is REALLY hard and stale. I can only break it into big pieces. Hope it breaks down in the liquid. There isn't quite a pound of bread, but I have a sliced white loaf in the fridge- a couple of slices of that make up the weight. 

Step 2: check that the eggs are ok. There are two boxes in the fridge. One box went out of date 6 weeks ago (was buried at the back of the fridge), but the other has 2 eggs in it and hasn't reached its use-by date yet. Put them in a pan of water anyway, just to be sure. They sink, so they are ok to use. 

Step 3: soak the bread in water for 30 minutes to soften it

Step 4: get out the dry ingredients - suet, mixed dried fruit, sugar, mixed spice. I don't have mixed fruit or mixed spice, but I do have sultanas and allspice, which should be fine. 

Step 5: put on shoes, brush hair and head out to shop for sugar. I would have substituted granulated for the soft brown specified, but I don't have enough of any sugar. This is annoying, as I didn't want to shop specially for this recipe. Anyway, buy sugar (corner shop has no soft brown, but I buy demarara, which will have to do). 

Step 6: squeeze out as much water as possible from the bread. This is a HORRIBLE job. It's so slimy, ugh. Beat the lumps out of the softened bread with a wooden spoon. 

Step 7: add the rest of the ingredients and mix well

Step 8: pour into a dish and bake for an hour at gas mark 4. (I used my roasting dish, lined with foil to stop it sticking to the dish). It looks pretty horrible at this stage. 

Step 9: test after an hour. Put back in oven for another 15 minutes- still a bit wet in the middle. 

Step10: test after 15 minutes. Put back in oven for another half an hour at mark 3 ( this isn't in the recipe, but I am using my judgement here). 

Step 11: take out of oven and sprinkle top with sugar. It looks ok. I don't have a cooling rack, so I'll have to let it cool in the tin. 

Can't resist trying a slice, even though it's still really hot. 

Delicious. Not the same as when my Nan used to make it, and different from shop-bought. Seems a bit lighter, and the allspice is quite different from mixed spice. 

I hope it is as good when it cools down. 

The recipe I sort-of used is here:

http://www.messybeast.com/dragonqueen/real-breadpudding.htm

Soundwaves

Today is full of noises. 

Hammering and crashing from the building site across the street( which woke me up).

The washing machine sounding like it's about to take off. The spinning terrifies me - will I ever get used to it?

The constant drip, drip, drip of the tap in the kitchen. 

Children kick, kick, kicking a ball against the garden wall. WHY AREN'T THEY AT SCHOOL?

The fridge humming loudly. 

Next door's dog barking. 

The letter box. Local newspaper; pizza leaflets; junk mail. Ooh, an actual letter with a hand-written address!

Oh. It's my P45 from the university. I've really left my job…

It's September!

Time to catch up with this blog again. Lots has happened, so it's hard to know where to begin. 

Mum's Alzheimer's has progressed to a point where she needs constant supervision, so my brothers and I made the big decision to find residential care for her. Fortunately dad had made ample provision for her and we were able to find a good care home. Since moving in , her physical health has improved, and we know she is well looked after. I visit every week, and she has settled well. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease, but for now, the memory loss is the only real symptom. She still recognises me, and we can still have a chat, but sometimes the conversations take a strange turn, as mum's memories of other people get mixed up with her own memories. Sadly, she does not remember any of her great-grandchildren, as her short-term memory capability had already been lost before she met any of them. 

I have been keeping a project365 blog this year- here are the summer highlights. 

In June, I went to the scoop open-air theatre twice- once for a play that got seriously rained off, once for opera;  joined ( and left) a tai chi class - sadly, my knees won't take it now; went to the cinema once and out to dinner twice, and attended one art exhibition. 

In July, I had to give back the iPad I had on loan from work, so I invested in a new iPad mini to replace it, and I love it. Mum moved into Abbotsleigh Mews. The weather got hot and I dug out my old fans; then visited the Fan Museum open day and bought another one. I joined a twitter-based maths book club and luckily already had a copy of the first book. Cliff had a birthday barbecue-luckily on one of the cooler days. It was really hot this month - I stayed at home mostly and tried to keep cool. 

In August, I retired from the university. 

We got the garden tidied and bought a new umbrella and barbecue. I also replanted the herb pots, which seem to be doing ok. We've had two barbecues this month- one for Ed's birthday and one to celebrate my retirement. I bought a couple of things for the house- a new side-table and a magnetic spice rack. Had the annual trip to IKEA so Bex could choose a desk and a brilliant chair. We found and uploaded all our old Venice photos, and broke two shredders while getting rid of old correspondence (finally resorting to making papier mâché). 

The house is tidy!

I also started keeping a food blog - (Bex says this is a "hipster" thing to do). 

I actually ate all these things ( but not always for my main meal). There were four big "en-famille" meals-two were barbecues, one was a birthday buffet. I "ate out" three times- twice at Nandos and once in the IKEA restaurant. Looking at this, there isn't really a lot of what I would call "junk food". 

Today would have been my first day back at work after the summer. I'm embarking on a new phase of my life …

Birthdays catch-up

Well, there have been four birthdays since my last post. Mine, my mother's and both my daughters'. None of us have had big celebrations- it hasn't felt quite right. And I only have pictures of three of the cakes. Maybe next year we'll go crazy.