Week Three..came around so quickly! Sultana Malt Loaf

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Welcome to week three, it seems like only yesterday I was having such fun with swiss folds…opps swiss rolls, hot porridge and all!

I decided on a more savoury bake this week and malt loaf is one of my childhood favourites and it is still a comfort food for me.

I settled down with Mary Berry‘s bible and read the recipe carefully, I had most of the ingredients already , the only thing I had to get was malt extract and thought (silly me) that I could get it on my usual supermarket run….oh no, not that simple.

After a detour via Holland and Barrett, I had every thing I needed and set off.

The recipe was easy to follow and I had 2 tins already. I lined one with greaseproof and used a ready made loaf tin liner for the other, just to see which was better. I made the mix, poured it equally into the tins, set the timer and waited. An hour later and they were done. It looked like a malt loaf- so there might be hope for me yet- but not sending in my application for The Great British Bake-Off yet!

It smelt good when it was done and Mary recommended that you store it in an airtight container for two days to enhance the taste and that is today……so I eagerly got the butter knife out…..cut a slice…..buttered it…….ahhhh – the taste of childhood!

Week 2……and a bit…..the lemon swiss roll

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Yes, I know…the plan was to bake a recipe a week and blog about it…..and no excuses but boy what a week it was though…my hubby had a medical emergency that I needed to help him with and when it was sorted, we got home at about three in the morning!

That evening, after very little sleep and a full day at work, I attempted the recipe..and it was a disaster. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have baked while shattered and stressed but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The tin I used was also wrong so the sponge came out a lot thicker than it should. So my swiss roll was more of a swiss fold!

Then further disaster struck…..yeah I know, not my week at all! I was making porridge in the microwave and when it was done, took it out and placed it by the sink in order to get the dates, nuts and berries I wanted to add to it. ( I was trying to be healthy!) The bowl tipped off the work surface and without thinking, I went to grab it and got a hand full of boiling porridge! OUCH! The rest then went on the floor and I must have looked a right sight because I had to get my hand under the water as soon as I could while trying to keep the dogs away from the hot gooey mess on the floor. Then i had to try to clean it up.

When the air hit my hand, it really began to hurt and I realised that I had done some damage to it. So a trip to the local Urgent Care Centre was needed where the lovely staff patched me up.

I spent a day or two feeling sorry for myself and took a retail therapy trip to Lakeland to buy a swiss roll tin. (Such a hardship…)

I rolled up my sleeves today, and tried the recipe for the second time. This time, although it isn’t as perfect as Mary Berry’s roll, I am pleased with it. It might not make the “Great British Bake Off” grade but hey, we all have to start somewhere…..

This is mine……

So , I have a day or two before week three comes around..and I have already decided what this weekend’s challenge is going to be….so watch this space.

Week One – The Coffee Victoria Sandwich Cake

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Ok, here we go, week one and the challenge is on.

I made sure I got all the ingredients in and sat and read through the recipe. Mary Berry’s instructions are clear  and concise but with no fancy terms, she inspires confidence that i can do it…..

After a confidence bolstering cup of tea, I ventured into the kitchen and got out all the equipment I needed and all the ingredients.

Putting this cake mix together didn’t take long and to be honest, it felt like I was back at school in my home economics class. At the moment it didn’t feel so much of a challenge but a revision on what I already knew but I ploughed on regardless.

The mix done, I carefully divided it into the prepared tins,  put them in the pre-warmed oven, set the timer and it was time for that ever-so-english tradition of another cup of tea again.

“PING” went the timer and I approached the oven with trepidation.  How would they look?  Was it too soon?…..or too late to take them out? Had I been a bit too blasé in setting the timer and not checking every so often?

Phew- I wiped by brow with relief, they looked risen, brown and didn’t immediately subside when I looked at them, I removed them and set them aside to cool and then removed them faily easily from the tins onto the cooling rack.

I then set to making the coffee buttercream – I love making buttercream icing but the initial mixing always creates clouds of icing sugar which seem to settle on every surface nearby!

The final step, putting it all together, would it resemble in any way the picture on Mary Berry’s book? Well, not so pretty or precise but not bad for a first effort…..

Well,, I will leave that up to you, but week one’s challenge is under my belt, i will now spend the week browsing the challenge bible and deciding what week two will bring……

Kim

Inspired by “The Great British Bake-Off” !

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2191208/Mary-Berry-helped-bake-away-blues.html

One day last week, I was browsing the news online and came across the above article, a young mum who set herself a challenge to bake EVERY recipe in Mary Berry‘s “Baking Bible” cook book. I read it with interest as I have always liked baking but have pretty much stuck to fairly easy stuff such as cupcakes which look great with little skill or effort.

This young mum worked her way through Mary Berry’s book, not front to back, but ensured she covered every recipe – boy was she eager! She baked 2-3 recipes a week even when she was on holiday.

I admired this lady and decided that after watching “The Great British Bake-Off” that I should set myself some culinary challenges and this article inspired me.

So, I went online (ahhh retail therapy…), ordered my copy and waited for it to come through. I then sat and flicked through all the recipes, some I had no worries of completing, others I had fancied making and some looked a real challenge!

I decided that one recipe a week, most likely a weekend challenge is what I would go for and announced on Facebook what I was going to do.

My hubby , work colleagues and in-laws will become the taste panel and hopefully give their verdict and (hopefully not too much) constructive criticism!

Watch this space – week one – decided to start with a fairly simple (hopefully!) coffee victoria sponge cake………

Kim

Public outcry for the investigation of Belfast City Council – Written by Penny Tilton

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I’ve been reading many articles relating to the case of Lennox and Belfast City Council and came across this article written by a lady in the United States.  There is an awful lot of common sense in this article and I felt the need to share it with you:

Published :  Examiner.com on July 14th 2012

The public is asking for an immediate investigation into the Belfast City Council (BCC) and their handling of the historic Lennox case. Several high profile people have publicly spoken out about the way BCC handled the Barnes family and their dog Lennox’s case.

In 2010 the dog warden seized Lennox from the Barnes home under Northern Ireland’s dangerous dogs order (DDO) or the better term, breed specific legislation (BSL).

View slideshow:Evidence of some of the BCC lies

The BCC shame

The BCC shame

Photo credit:

Lennox army

The Barnes had paid BCC Lennox’s license fees for five years, every year the same description of his breed was labelled as “bull breed.” Lennox is an American bull dog and lab mix, proven in DNA testing; this breed does not fall under BCC’s DDO listing; but in May of 2010 Lennox was still seized and held under the DDO.

BCC courts rejected any evidence the Barnes attorneys would present. BCC courts rejected the DNA tests, and ignored the Barnes expert witness they presented on Lennox’s temperament, BCC courts did listen to a non certified dog handler when he stated “the dog is unpredictable.”

A dog warden who testified that she was “afraid of Lennox,” was publicly exposed to the perjury she committed, but still holds her position and is rumoured she was given a promotion.

At the beginning of 2012 pictures of Lennox’s health leaked out to the public. The pictures revealed Lennox with major hair loss and a neck injury. The Barns asked the BCC court if they could have their Vet evaluate Lennox’s health and have him treated, BCC denied their request.

There was a media blackout on the Lennox case.

The BCC refused to re-home Lennox to the United States even thou there are cases of dogs given the control (exemption) conditions so he could be re-homed.

BCC refused to allow the Barnes to say goodbye to Lennox before they killed him, and now refuse to give his collar to the Barnes as a keepsake.

There was no justice in the Lennox case, it seemed to be stacked in the BCC’s favour from the start, and the public is asking for an investigation. It was the public’s tax money that funded the one sided case and the public has the right to know how the money is being spent.

More Examiner articles you may enjoy:

Belfast city council public enemy number one

Belfast city council making animal sounds when…

One American woman’s fight to move a mountain for…

The ironic one day fight for life Patrick and Lennox…

Thank you for reading and sharing these animal articles. We can make a difference in the lives of animals around the world.

Breed Specific Legislation

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Lennox - A girl's Best FriendI know I haven’t blogged anything for over 6 months now, maybe that’s because not much has gone on in my life that I felt anyone would wish to read about,  but this subject has angered me so much and made me sit down and start typing….

What is Breed Specific Legislation?   Well it’s basically exactly what it says on the tin, although it mainly focuses on “bull breeds”.  In the UK this is particularly the case for the American Pit bull, to name just one.  So why the fuss?  Well the law doesn’t actually state Pit bull as such, it in fact says Pit bull TYPE and that is where the issue lies.

Over the past 2 years the biggest case has been over a dog in Belfast, Northern Ireland called Lennox.  In Belfast all dogs have to be licensed with Belfast City Council and in Lennox’s case his license stated that he was a BULLDOG, no mention of the word Pit bull anywhere !!!

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OK so from birth Lennox was classified as a Bulldog until 2 years ago when Belfast City Council’s dog wardens, whilst “raiding” the house by mistake, decided to take a tape measure to Lennox’s head and so decided he was of Pit bull Type and therefore was an illegal dog.  Whilst Lennox’s owner, the Barnes family, refused to turn Lennox over, the council applied for an injunction and returned to seize Lennox and lock him away in an undisclosed dog kennels, where he would then become the responsibility of the Council for his welfare.

A Dangerous Dog???Naturally the Barnes family were not going to give up on their “young man” and so the legal battle began!!!  A legal battle between the owners of a dog who just didn’t look right and a local government authority, Belfast City Council…   After battling it out through the courts the council won their right to put Lennox to sleep, a decision which has created World Wide anger even with a 200,000 named petition to save this poor dog’s life, but of course councils being councils weren’t going to back down and wanted to make sure they were going to get their way….  According to Belfast City Council, Lennox was humanely put to sleep on Wednesday 11th July 2012 at approximately 7:00am BST.

There is far to much about this case for me to write and re-write what has already been said.  To be perfectly honest I don’t see any point in re-inventing the wheel, not to mention that it’s difficult enough for me to write about this as it is, but I would draw your attention to the editor of Dog’s Today magazine, Beverly Cuddy’s – Cold Wet Nose Blog where Beverly has written some interesting articles about the whole Lennox case.

Someone else whose work and comments on this case are extremely important is Jim Crosby, a Canine Aggression expert from the United States.  The article he has written makes complete sense to me and the video he shows in the of Lennox’s behaviour certainly does NOT show a dog displaying any kind of aggression or any aggressive tendencies.  I urge you to go and read this gentleman’s article by clicking on his name.

Maybe by reading Jim Crosby’s article in addition to the numerous other articles floating around the internet regarding Lennox, well maybe then can you make an informed decision on this question:

Is Breed Specific Legislation Right?  Or should it be punish the Deed NOT the Breed?

Thank you for taking the time and having the patience to read my article.  If you wish to post any comments then please do so and I will try and reply to them all as soon as I can.

Lewis Brown

Jacob Sutton’s LED Snowboarder

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This is just one of the most amazing clips i’ve probably seen on YouTube.

A Night-time Snowboarding Short Lights Up the Last of the Winter Snow

Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton swaps the studio for the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, with a luminous after hours short starring Artec Pro snowboarder William Hughes. The electrifying film sees Hughes light up the snow-covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D. enveloped suit courtesy of designer and electronics whizz John Spatcher. “I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness,” says Sutton of his costume choice. “I’ve always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source.” Sutton, who has created work for the likes of Hermès, Burberry and The New York Times, spent three nights on a skidoo with his trusty Red Epic camera at temperatures of -25C to snap Hughes carving effortlessly through the deep snow, even enlisting his own father to help maintain the temperamental suit throughout the demanding shoot. “Filming in the suit was the most surreal thing I’ve done in 20 years of snowboarding,” says Hughes of the charged salopettes. “Luckily there was plenty of vin rouge to keep me warm, and Jacob’s enthusiasm kept everyone going through the cold nights.”

Feeding Lions in Zimbabwe, Africa – Shane Cleminson – Guest Photographer

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I must make it clear before anything else that this IS NOT my image.  I don’t want to be accused of stealing it….  This must be one of the most amazing images of Lions feeding that I’ve ever seen courtesy of professional photographer Shane Cleminson.

Feeding Lions in Zimbabwe, Africa – Shane Cleminson – Guest Photographer.

You can see more of Shane’s lion work at http://appletreestudiosblog.com/2012/01/20/our-favorite-lion-photos/

Tis the Festive Season!!! :0)

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Not long to go till we will be sitting down with my parents stuffing ourselves with Christmas dinner, courtesy of Mr Marks and Mr Spencer!!!

I’m sure it was only yesterday that we were doing the same thing. Maybe it’s only me, but this year seems to have flown by and 2012 is looming just around the corner… Dare I mention the London Olympics?

So what have we been upto this year? Dare I say not much really, or just the usual daily life, although there was one BIG difference this year…. Canada!!!

We’d been talking about this trip for at least 5 years and finally the time had arrived where we’d dare stick me on a plane and pray to god that I didn’t go splat and have some allergic reaction……

Before we come to Canada, there was one other little event… Yes I turned 40!!! Do I feel any different? Hummmm I can honestly say NO and still have the same pains I had at the beginning of the year.

So now to Canada…. Yippeeee!!!! Yes, I know the majority, if not all, of our blog site is about our Canadian adventure and my god what a holiday it was… What a country!!! The hardest thing must have been putting the dogs into kennels and obviously the best bit was landing and going straight to the airport to collect them, but it’s the 15 days that happened in between…

We are just hoping to win big on the lottery now so that we can pack up and permanently leave UK Plc for some remaining, beautiful Wilderness… Yep, we’d probably give anything to up sticks and settle in Canada. Let’s be honest, who can blame us?

Hopefully it won’t be another 5 years, but only time will tell….

We both hope that you have had a fantastic year and made some exciting memories.

Raising our imaginary glasses we would like to make a toast to you all and your families at this festive time of year and wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you have a peaceful and prosperous 2012!!!

Lewis & Kim Brown

P.S. and not a single mention of a camera or any photography for that matter…. Just watch this space as we’ll try and change that for 2012 :0)