Monday, June 8, 2015

Wales in a weekend - leaving Llundudno

Alan and I had high hopes to really spend some quality time in a variety of places in Wales today, and we did manage this, even though we hit obstacles at almost every corner!

Our plans when leaving Llundudno were to drive the road up the Great Orme but it was closed due to a road rally! This was the Three Castles Road Rally! Our car was parked in the area that was now cordoned off so we had front row seats as they came down the Great Orme and back into Llundudno. Not quite the same as if we had been able to drive this route ourselves. But we are certain to return and will have this drive to look forward to!

Before setting off, Alan checked the map and we decided to head to Penryn Castle since it was in the general direction of Tenby, which was the last stop of the day.

We were looking forward to seeing loads of interesting places this day and started out early to accomplish all that we hoped.

As anyone from Alloway knows, the best laid plans of mice and men gang oft awry.

Penryhn Castle from a distance looked imposing and amazing but as we arrived, we noticed it would not open until 11 am! Since we arrived along with the Park Run runners, it was well before 9:30am and we certainly could not wait that long for the castle to open. I did hope that there would be a coffee shop somewhere since that is the norm for our local Park Run folks.....after the run, they meet at Rozelle coffee shop. But we had no idea how this was set up or where to go, so we headed back down the road.

Next stop was Caernarfon Castle, which according to the link provided, is possibly Wales' most famous castle! By the time we arrived here though, the sun was so strong, I struggled to get any decent photos of this huge building! The town itself is surrounded by a city wall, and it looks like it had to be cut close to the castle to allow a road to go around.

This castle is built right on the water and there was so much going on - Such a busy and vibrant city!

As with what seems to be all Welsh cities, colour is everywhere!

Watching the mainly dads and daughters do this, made me feel
a bit homesick for Destin! Been a long time since I had this
experience!

Was it market day? Only 2 stalls but they looked great!

Captain Woof

A busy harbour too

Just a beautiful place

After spending about an hour here, Alan suggested getting an ice cream, but I had my heart set on sitting down somewhere with a nice coffee and a Welsh cake or something else local and yummy. So we decided to wait until our next stop.......we ended up travelling and focusing on just getting to Tenby so didn't stop at all until 4:30!

Alan and I decided to take the route through Snowdonia National Park. It goes along the route of the Welsh Highland Railway there and we were very lucky to hear the oncoming whistle as we stopped to take photos of a little church! Timing is everything!

View of the church from the bridge over the train tracks

After this idyllic start to the day, it took us awhile to realise we were on some sort of never ending treadmill of driving through the miles and miles of marathon runners and closed roads being repaired. We kept getting our directions changed due to bridges being closed, and in such a rural and mountainous country, one closed bridge can mean endless detours and diversions!

Although I have never run a marathon, I have run some big races in the US and to do this so close to moving traffic would be unthinkable! We stumbled upon 2 big races as we crawled along to our next destination!

There are benefits of being directed to points you never knew about. I loved the name of this village. We had intended to visit the town with the longest name of all - "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch" - but I misread the article about how this town name is often shortened to Llanfair and failed to see it is often shortened to Llanfair P G. We were close to it too, but I settled for this sign:

As we were heading to Tenby, we saw an amazing looking castle up on hilltop and took the next turn to have a closer look. Another mistake - this road is one of two used to access Harlech, and is known as the Toot Road. I called it a few other choice things as our car struggled to get around the steepest and sharpest angles possible. I know if I had been driving, we would never have gotten to the top and the car would never have been the same. Thank goodness Alan is a fantastic driver! Not knowing there is a more sane way to enter and exit this town, I worried about getting back on the main road a bit while we were there. If any readers have visited San Francisco and seen Lombard Street, imagine that - only straight up. That might give you an idea of what this road is like!

Parking is also very limited in Harlech, but they appear to be building a massive car park close to the castle. We did find a place to park that was limited to one hour. Just enough time to see the castle and have that coffee I had been waiting for! Harlech looked darling too. However, my official driver had other ideas and we barely skimmed the surface of this village before heading off. To be honest, I was really surprised because this place was so cute and I was getting a bit desperate for my morning coffee and cake! (In Alan's defence, we still had hours to go before arriving in Tenby so he was right. But I should have at least gotten a coffee to go at this point!)

Harlech Castle is owned by the Cadw, The Welsh government's historic environmental service. This is associated with the Scottish Heritage, which we just joined this year! As first year members, we would have been able to visit this castle for half price, but we didn't.....

While I was finding out about this, Alan was taking photos, so I didn't really see much since I thought we would be spending more time. Oh well, I honestly believe we will be returning to this area and this is a must see.

After leaving Harlech, we went on to Tenby, via Aberystwyth, stopping to admire this breathtaking landscape of sea with Snowdonia National Park in the background.

Aberystwyth

I must admit, Aberystwyth was a disappointment after seeing Llundudno. The buildings are colourful but the whole place is really congested and the pier just doesn't compare at all. We were not even tempted to walk along the pier since it is all covered and appears to be only an amusement arcade. Alan and I parked the car and spent only about 15 - 20 minutes looking at it and taking a few photos.

Aberystwyth Pier

A different view of the pier

With all the delays and stops we made, this caused us to arrive in Tenby just about sunset, after booking our hotel on the run, in the car! We were unable to stay in Tenby itself. I believe the sunshine and the fact it was Saturday meant Tenby and surrounding area was pretty full! We found a place about 5 miles away and it was great.

After waiting all day for something lovely to eat, once we got to this area, all the restaurants were closed! We ended up with the £3 meal deal from Tesco! However, we ate this in a lovely beach resort called Saundersfoot. One thing you need when travelling with Alan and me is a good sense of humour.

Tenby is another spectacular town but I will add our experiences there in the next blog since I believe our travels for this day are enough to take in at one time!

“Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."

"You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take more than nothing."

"Nobody asked your opinion," said Alice.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Re-discovering Wales in a Weekend - Part 1 Llundudno

Llundudno Pier and the Grand Hotel

After almost 30 years of living in the UK, I have finally been able to spend some quality time in Wales! The only other time I have had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful country was in 1986, pre-kids! My Mom and Step-Father, Alan and I travelled all over England for about a week, which included one overnight stay with a friend of Alan's at Pontypridd and a quick visit to Cardiff Castle. Ever since then, I have wanted to come back, but it has taken a while. I guess you could say life gets in the way.

However, it was well worth the wait!

Where should we go?

The funny thing is that until we got in the car and drove about an hour, we were not certain of our destination! And even before that, we were headed up to the Highlands of Scotland. We changed our minds about this due to weather, and from what I hear, they have had gale force winds and it has been horrendous. I think we made the right choice!

When we reached our destination of the day, both of us were not prepared for the beauty and peace of Llundudno! We had no idea it had a pier or that the way it is set out reminds me of what Paris would look like if Paris were a beach resort!

We passed by the Grand Hotel, which is virtually attached to the pier and never expected to be staying there that night. In days gone by, Alan and I used to jump in the car and just arrive at places - no advance plans or reservations. Have not done this in years, until this weekend. I forgot how fun it is. But also am impressed with how technology has helped. Previously, I would have to knock on the doors of bed and breakfasts to find out if they had a room and how they charged and then decide if we wanted to stay there. Nowadays, you just get out your phone, tap into Booking.com or some other service and locate where you want to stay. Sitting in the pier car park, we booked the Grand Hotel - didn't even have to move our car!

We spent the remainder of the day wandering the beaches, pier and interesting little streets all over Llundudno. We have absolutely fallen in love with this place and are plotting our next return visit!

Here area few of the many photos I took of Llundudno. One of the wonderful things about visiting this time of year, hardly any tourists! After living 10 years in Florida, I do have an idea how crowded these wonderful beach towns will be when school is out. In England and Wales, that won't be until August! So anyone wanting to visit, should do it before then! Or wait til schools go back!

Ice Cream stand on the pier

Empty pier, enjoy it while you can!

We saw bunting in so many towns all over Wales.
Can't figure out why, but it looks great!

Just a beautiful door

Takes a while to get used to the signs in two languages!

Alan's normal pose!

Attempt at a good sunset with the pier .....

Evening lights on the pier

"Nothing soothes the soul like a walk on the beach." Unknown

Who ever did first say the above quote probably didn't picture someone dressed like this on the beach!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Peanut Butter Bash - peanut butter and coconut this time!

After missing two months of participating in the Peanut Butter Bash, I was bound and determined NOT to miss this month! Trouble was, I just could not find anything, anywhere, that included peanut butter and the extra ingredient - which was coconut for May. That is not strictly true, I could find loads of refrigerator type peanut butter balls that sounded delicious. One problem I have is that I try not to keep yummy goodies in my house, so the requirement has to be that it can be transported elsewhere - hence the need for refrigeration is a deal killer since I like to post whatever I bake to my son in London!

Another option I like to keep is to use British recipes since most members of the Peanut Butter Bash are American. Just makes it a more fun challenge. But challenge it certainly was this time around.

Peanut Butter Bash is a group for food bloggers and it is fun to try to find the added ingredient each month! If you are a food blogger and would be interested in joining this group here is the link: The link to our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peanutbutterbash/ .

Also, since the official Peanut Butter Bash has gotten so many requests from non-bloggers wanting to join that the group The Peanut Butter Recipe Box was created. Here is the link for that: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePeanutButterRecipeBox/). Please feel free to join the group if you're not already a member too and would like to share your recipes and have access to a number of new recipes!

Eventually I located an even more interesting cookie recipe than I had ever bargained for. From the second I read that this recipe included Black Beans, I just had to try it! Ok, it also relies on refrigeration, but I had the get out clause that I could take these cookies to my own office. That would make it more interesting to see if Black Beans really were an acceptable cookie ingredient!

The recipe I found was from Nic's Nutrition and this looks like a blog I will return to again and again!

I don't think you could do this without a food processor, but with one, it takes such a short time to make such a fantastic (and healthy) treat! I had not read the amount of cookies this recipe was supposed to make until I had finished adding all the ingredients and was surprised at how little was in the food processor! So that is why I have put the number of servings in large print!

On Nic's Nutrition, there is a warning that these cookies are very soft right out of the oven and this is true. She suggests keeping them in the fridge and that is good advice. We took them out and left them for folks to eat in the office and, after a while, they were just too soft to handle. But they are amazing straight out of the fridge!

So here is the recipe:

Chocolate Black Bean Cookies

Servings : 12

Prep Time : 5m
Cook Time : 20m
Ready In : 25m

Ingredients

1 can black beans
2 tbsp nut butter - I used crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp milk of your choice
2 tbsp coconut or olive oil
2 tbsp oat flour (blended oats)**
1/2 cup (125ml) sugar or a sugar substitute of your choice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
Optional - chocolate chips, coconut flakes, chopped nuts

*Canned Black Beans are not easy to find. But Morrison's and ASDA usually have them.

**I interpreted this to mean blend porridge oats (or oatmeal as it is called in the US) in your food processor until it resembles flour)

Oven temp - 175C/350F

1. Add drained and rinsed black beans, peanut butter, milk and oil to the food processor. Blend until the batter is smooth.

2. Add the dry ingredients: oat flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder - blend until smooth. Stir in optional ingredients, if using. (I added 1/4 cup coconut)

3. Using a well rounded teaspoon, place cookie mixture onto the baking sheet. (I used parchment paper, but if not available, grease the sheet well to avoid sticking.)

4. Bake for 20 minutes. Cookies will be extremely soft until cooled.

5. For best results, keep cookies in the refrigerator!

Yield: 12 cookies ( I got 13 and they were large cookies!)

These cookies are so dark, I imagine with all the cocoa in them, plus the black beans come to think of it, that I just could not get a good picture of them. But, take my word for it, they are good!

#peanutbutterbash

Here is the link to our Peanut Butter and Coconut recipes for the month of June!

Or you could visit our Board on Pinterest - Peanut Butter Bash

“Peanut butter [is] the pâté of childhood.” Florence Fabricant

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Lasagne night

Alan and I have eaten dinner with our friends, Jim and Jennifer, regularly for years. I can't even remember when this first started, but we meet for dinner at each other's homes almost once a month. Yesterday was our turn but we were also babysitting Corbyn and I knew it would be difficult to have quality time with my grandson and cook anything complicated! That is the fun of having folks over though, cooking and experimenting......but needs must so what could I do?

Years ago, I made Jim and Jennifer a regular lasagne from my Mom's recipe and also a vegetarian one I got off of a jar of Dolmio sauce. So I decided to do this again!

Cooking these two lasagne's early in the morning freed up the rest of the day to spend with Corbyn. We had melon for starter and store bought cheesecake for dessert. Not at all like me to go so simple, and it is not fun, but there was no time to do otherwise on this particular weekend.

Corbyn didn't arrive until around 3 and we had to run into town to get his Mum a birthday gift. He picked a great one, but I am not at liberty to say what it is since it is not her birthday yet and it might spoil the surprise! He also picked new pyjamas and a dressing gown and he loved them!

He was on his best behaviour all evening, and also today. But I did feel bad that we couldn't spend more time with just him, however, this is is his home away from home and he is more than capable of entertaining himself, as it should be on occasion!

My lasagne's were both delicious and I will share both recipes.

The first is from a recipe card my Mom wrote me years ago. She would find recipes she liked and share them. What makes them so special is my Mom really did not like to cook, so a special recipe from her is priceless. The funny thing about this one though, it is me that takes the short cut! The original recipe calls for meatballs to be made and inserted within the layers of the lasagne. Well, I must confess, I have never had the patience to do this. In my version, I just cook the meat along with the sauce and forget the breadcrumbs, eggs and construction required for the meatballs. The lasagne is always a hit, so I am not ashamed to admit this!

As always, both recipes will follow at the end with no further comments or photos for ease of copying them.

Classic Lasagne with Meatballs from a hand written recipe card by my mother, Emmy Simmons

Ingredients: 8 servings

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 regular size can tomatoes
2 small cans of tomato puree or paste
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt (I always leave out the salt since there is plenty in the canned tomato products)
1/2 tsp each: basil and oregano
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (I used regular black pepper this time)
1.5 lbs ground beef (mince)
lasagne noodles (it calls for 8oz but it is always difficult to quantify this. In the UK, you get lasagne noodles that don't need to be pre boiled, and this time I bought fresh lasagne noodles that also didn't need to be cooked before hand, so really just use your own judgement!)
3/4 ricotta cheese or cottage cheese if ricotta is not available.
1/2 lb mozzarella, sliced

if making meatballs you will also need:
2 eggs
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs

Instructions:

I used two pans to save time, cooking the onions, garlic and tomatoes in one and browning the meat in another. When both were ready, I added the onion mixture to the meat and then simmered for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, if you need to, cook the lasagne as directed on the package.

In a 13x9x2" baking pan, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce, then alternate lasagne noodles, sauce, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese until pan is filled. Top with mozzarella slices and sauce.

Bake in a moderate oven - 375F or 180C for about 30 minutes until heated through.

The second lasagne entree was taken from a Dolmio jar at least 25 years ago! It is such an old British recipe that the measurements are in ounces and not grams! There was no time to convert either of these recipes yesterday, sorry!

This lasagne is absolutely delicious and really easy to put together.

I could not get a good angle of either lasagne's.
I promise, they taste better than they look in these photos!

Vegetarian Lasagne

Ingredients: serves 4 - 6

Missing in this photo is the very important
jar of Dolmio sauce and the packet of
cheese sauce!

Trim and chop the Spring onions and sauté in a little olive oil, add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute before adding the thawed spinach.

Remove from heat and add cottage cheese, season and mix well.

Layer the tomatoes, lasagne and spinach mixture and top with cheese sauce.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake 375F or 180C for one hour. (I baked it for 30 minutes and almost burned the cheese sauce! So be vigilant during baking!)

"Ping-pong was invented on the dining tables of England in the 19th century, and it was called Wiff-waff! And there, I think, you have the difference between us and the rest of the world. Other nations, the French, looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner; we looked at it an saw an opportunity to play Wiff-waff."

Boris Johnson