Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Great Guest Tuesday with Megan Slayer and 10 things
Saturday, 9 January 2021
A Week in the Life...Of Raven-Katy-Kera....Welcome to this new year
Welcome to this new year...
Hello 2021
Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope it gets better eh?
Wonder what I'll be nattering about as the year goes by?
For a start, for the first time in I don't know how many years, The lovely hubby and I didn't stop up for 'the bells'. Whether it's because after 30-odd years we're now south of the border, on our own, we'd been up early to shop and walk, or just thought, sod it lets go and get some sleep, it will still be 2021 when we get up, whatever we do, I have no idea. Nevertheless, bed and sleep it was and we woke up to 2021.
The weather this week has been a bit different, and unusual for us. Friends 'up north' are reporting snow and big minus figures in temp. Even relatives not more tan 50 or 60 miles away have the fluffy white stuff.
Not us, and it's a novelty.
Mind you we've had ice—oh boy have we had ice. I got twenty yards down the road and turned back the other day. Not much of a walk.
But then we've had this... cold, windy, and chasing the cobwebs away...
and this.
High noon in Hornsea (East Riding of Yorkshire)
And back to ice again...
Still no snow here though we are threatened with it. The benefits of living near the coast.
Also a change after 30-odd years.
We've upped sticks. Moved near the English coast. Having a house built, and living in a rental for now. And of course lots of things that would have been useful are in storage. Lots of things that we don't really need are here with us. I've got a bikini, a summer dress and a pair of ballet flats here but not my big overlarge cashmere sweater, tatty suede Uggs or fake fur, really warm, look like a cossack hat.
Wishful thinking or 'oh hell, get stuff packed and throw the first things I find into a suitcase'?
Probably the latter. We did move in a rush. We went from let's renovate, start painting, put the house on the market next year maybe, to having sold, bought a house (or a house in the making) to finding somewhere to rent and moving in around three months. Which also meant multiple trips to the skip, and a mega downsizing.
Traumatic. I mean those rat-eared slippers, which I don't ever wear are practically heirlooms! And who doesn't have five copies of the same book?
However, we did it, and I must say how good it is to have toasty warm rooms throughout.
I'm writing, and enjoying it. Perhaps the lack of me time whilst we got ready to move makes me appreciate it all the more?
Whatever, I have a book out for the first four months of the year, which is fabulous. Well, it will be if people like them.
Jan—
no date or cover as yet, watch this space—Kera Faire The Rescuer. A Death Isle Story. (Evernight Publishing)
Feb—
9th A little Bit Cupid box set (For one night only)
and preorder Love by the Stroke of Midnight (The Island series)
and 23rd preorder The Daisy Chain
(all Totally Bound)
March—
23rd Love by The Stroke of Midnight
April—
6th The Daisy Chain
Good eh? I'm really pleased.
Better get cracking on with some stories for the rest of the year...
along with moving house, finding out we've three times as much furniture as we have room for—
deciding how to plan a garden—
planning what goes where in my new study—
Mind you we're only at the walls up, roof on, plastering being done stage so far, but I can dream.
And enjoy this next chapter.
Speak to you all soon,
love Raven-Katy-Kera xxx
ah ok, Raven will do, you all know they are all me ...
Stay safe and take care xxx
Monday, 27 April 2020
The Gluten Free author's guide to yummy home cooking (as long as you keep your eyes shut)
Hi all, yes, I know long time no chat. It's been weird hasn't it, not going out socially distancing and so no nice places to chat about.
Actually I have to to chat about The Grove in Aukland, and Ma's Food, fish and fries in Napier, and Erik's in Queenstown and Wanaka, New Zealand.
Yes, just before we all battened down the hatches we were in New Zealand, on the most amazing holiday. We got home two weeks before we began the stay at home. Those gluten free places were absolutely spot on. In fact Erik's only sells gluten free so you can imagine how brilliant that was...
Plus Voegel's g-f bread, as good as Warburton's and that's saying something.
Now, home in Scotland with eating out a fond memory, and my local Coop absolutely pulling the stops out (for the size of our village it's brilliant and the staff are great) and stocking as much as they possibly can, I can get all the basics needed but there are somethings I can't. Of course they are the things I really want (Schar Rich Tea/Marie biscuits and Nairns oat and fruit biscuit breaks, M&S Butter chicken curry and sausage rolls, Genius fruit loaf) However that means a 20 mile journey, and let's face it, they aren't exactly essential.
So I'm baking. Adapting recipes from Gluten full to gluten free, Making my own self raising flour (as I can only get plain gluten free flour here) and getting a lot of satisfaction out of it (and probably a lot of inches on the hips...)
The lovely hubby is of course taste testing. He did say why did I keep baking...I replied he didn't have to eat it... His reply was a sort of a 'you what?' look.
There's been a lot of hmmm is this better, or that, or...
some failures, (first lot of pastry, no idea what went wrong, except it wasn't my usual flour) some not as good as others but in the main I've got it down to three favourite recipes, easy to make, and oh so easy to eat...
I'm not a pretty baker, but if you close your eyes as you eat the stuff...you can't see that can you?
Digestives (which I put currants into for the lovely hubby) this lot was a bit uneven, I have got better, just don't think to take a picture
Scones (and yes, my local Coop does have clotted cream...) and I make them small on purpose.
Banana Bread, which seems to be a lockdown staple in oh so many households.
I wanted to be able to add Maid of Honour buns in here—but the pastry still isn't up to scratch, must try harder.
The recipes for the Banana Bread and Digestives are both from a cookery book called Whitworth's Spice of Life, circa early fifties, that is stained lost its cover, and one of my most prized possessions. The recipes are all in pounds and ounces of course, and cooker temperature in Fahrenheit, but as I like using lbs and oz, and can translate heat to my Aga, that's fine by me. All I've done is substituted gluten free flour.
The Scone recipe is one I've fiddled with, because by trial and error we decided we wanted less salt than the recipe says. (also double the amount of xanthan gum as mine is shall we say somewhat aged...)
This week I'll be making my g-f batter for fish (flour and sparkling water), and I'm trying to make sultana cookies that are chewy not crunchy. No luck so far, but I will try again.
I'd love to try bread but...can you use yeast ten years out of date????
(Guess who mucked out the baking cupboard?)
Hopefully soon I'll be able to chat about places... until then, stay safe and happy eating,
love Raven xx
Saturday, 21 March 2020
Leah-day-Saturday. A chance to catch up with Leah Bronsen and her latest great story, Shade Addiction
I think this is just the thing to give your spirits a lift.
The lovely, and talented Leah Bronsen has a new book out...
Excerpt
Love Raven xx
Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Thoughts on clothes costs and those damned magazine features about so called affordable fashion...
My soap box is getting a lot of use at the moment. Am I getting stroppier in my old age, or am I just feeling vocal about things that annoy me? Probably a bit of both, to be honest.
I reckon I'm in one of those, you've got to be kidding me, why on earth am I wasting my time with this magazine/article/programme moods.
About what?
Clothes. Accessories...And what some so called fashion writers call affordable, everyday wear.
Only £420...$573...€350...or whatever. For an everyday item of clothing. Or a bag...pair of shoes... Yes well...
Am I the only one who think's thats not quite in their everyday affordable range? Who reads the articles and has to suppress the urge to throw said article across the room. Who would love an article where everyday is actually more of a let's go to the high street and chainstore and find something we can wear and not worry about getting curry, ink or whatever on it or ripping it? Because if it's fashionable now, it won't be next year.
It cost me the princely sum of £1 around 10 years ago and is still going strong.
My favourite, everyday top was full price, around £7 years ago and is still worn a lot. Not going out, for a meal or whatever any more, but still very wearable. I have trousers, jeans, skirts etc that still fit, still look good and weren't pricey. I hauled a pair of trousers out the other day. Lovely hubby did the 'hmm are they new stuff?' I giggled. I bought them at least 12 years ago, and they get hauled out every year.
I'll hold my hand up, I do have a few, more expensive items. The dress I bought to wear as mother of the bride...(Probably never to be worn again) A designer outlet handbag (that was from my lovely hubby, and only gets used when it isn't going to rain) A big midi length warm puffa-type coat...(worth every penny when several years ago we went to Iceland)...
I might not be typical, in that I work from home, and my everyday wear tends to be jeans or hippy skirts, flip flops in summer, trainers in winter, and whatever top I grab out of the wardrobe. Which is full of clothes...most of which are high street, and sale bargains.
What do you think? Do you like reading about stuff you'll never wear or afford, or just sometimes would you like an article that you can relate to?
Happy shopping,
love Raven xx
Saturday, 7 March 2020
Dear British Airways, long haul, Gluten Free doesn't mean Bland and boring., and inedible.
Yes, of course people who can't eat gluten may also have to follow another diet, but, gluten free means exactly that. No more no less.
No wheat, barley, rye and in some cases (like me) oats. Change those round and you get no... BROW...
Easy eh?
You see British Airways, the thing is...I'd love to say BA-GF is Blooming Awesome-Great Food.
Sadly I can't. To me it's Blooming Awful-Grotty Food.
Unless it's the London to Glasgow route and back. The food is excellent, some of the best GF airline food I've had. So you can do it...
Gluten Free does not have to be bland. There is more to a gf meal than overcooked flavourless chicken, soggy rice, overcooked and tasteless veg and wait for it...lettuce, lettuce, melon, melon, melon...
If other airlines can produce good tasty gf food, why can't you?
(Thank goodness for fizz)
Jet 2... excellent breakfast, lovely roast chicken dinner.
Qantas...some of the best lamb chops I've ever tasted... A gorgeous tomato and bean soup...
Cathay Dragon...congee...Nice fruit...
I've eaten well on Virgin, KLM, Qatar...
Why, oh why, are you so lacking here?
Recently we flew home from Hong Kong.
The first course arrived. Salmon. Okay, it had no taste and came with enough lettuce for three meals, but still. Ohh, I thought things are looking up. I was soon disabused of that idea.
In the main, the choice of food put together on the plate was to be polite, interesting to say the least. In fact at one point the purser and I had a good laugh (it was that or cry) as we tried to decide what the lump of some white stuff was. To be rude, it looked like something the cat had sicked up. I think (though I can't be sure) it was egg white scrambled egg...It tasted of cardboard. This was served with soggy carrots, the inevitable soggy spinach and tasteless boiled potatoes. Why oh why? (sadly no photo as I didn't have my phone handy)
As an aside, how come potatoes for breakfast but not for dinner (you guess, the tasteless chicken came with spinach and soggy rice. There was a lot of lettuce as well.
The bread rolls... best to draw a veil over them. (at least they aren't stale rice cakes, but they were still inedible.)
And...mega moan, why do you not have a choice of gluten free meals to preorder in business or first?
We've paid the same price as other passengers in those seats. They get a choice. We get take it or leave it, and have no idea what we will be eating.
Plus, it seems to me you're onto a good thing when whatever class you're in, you get the same gluten free meal. The other passengers don't, so why do we? And, to say, well, gf needs to be produced separately, is no good reason. Produce two options, say we need to preorder...
I doubt you'll read this, let alone answer, but I feel better getting it off my chest.
We're flying with you later in the year. Do you need a consultant on what is a cheap, easy and tasty gluten free meal? If so, I'm your woman.
And just to finish off, hows this for a pud?
Wednesday, 29 January 2020
It's Bethday, today. A chance to find out about Beth D Cart's new book, The Scarlet Dove
I'm privileged to be able to show this gorgeous cover and give you some info about Beth's latest book, The Scarlet Dove