“Man Up” review
Have you heard of the rom-com, “Man Up,” starring Simon Pegg and Lake Bell?
We rented it last night, without having any background on what it was about, and found it positively charming. Simon Pegg and Lake Bell have great chemistry and the film features some nice shots of London. Plus, Lake Bell’s British accent is very believable and good (and she’s genuinely likable. Another one to watch with her: “In a World.”)
Oh yeah, and it’s 88 minutes (meeting my “I’ll-give-any-movie-a-try-that is-90-minutes-or-less rule). (I’m a busy lady.)
Check out the trailer! (Or don’t! Go into it blind like I did – that works, too!)
Straight Outta Teignmouth
Oh, Interwebs … you are a true time suck, but so many gems abound.
Take, for instance, this little beauty I found on my Facebook feed.
For anyone who has passed through the west coast of Devon, you may know Teignmouth. It’s a pretty little seaside town, where my husband grew up, and I find this video so amusing and evocative – I feel like I’ve just visited. Amazing.
Victoria Sponge success
Ages ago — ages and ages, long before kids, the Kardashians and the invention of cronuts — I loved Nigella Lawson’s cookbook, “How to be a Domestic Goddess.” It was a great cookbook, filled with recipes for breads, cakes, cookies and puddings.
And then I made her Victoria Sponge recipe and it made me rethink everything that I once believed to be true. I don’t actually remember why it was so bad. I just remember not even eating it and throwing it away. I made a small note at the top of the recipe “BAD 😦 ” and haven’t tried making this cake again.
Fast forward all of these years and my daughter wanted to have high tea at home so a cake was in order. I looked for a recipe – so many British recipes were still in British measurements and I didn’t have the energy or inclination to do the conversions. So I found one on Food.com that got nearly 5 stars and took a gamble.
As it turned out, then gamble paid off. The cake was so moist and delicious and ridiculously easy to make. The only adjustment I made was to double the recipe since my cake tins were larger than 8 inches (how large? I have no idea – again, I didn’t have the energy to measure them).
VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE
INGREDIENTS
3 large eggs, weighed in their shells
butter or soft margarine
caster sugar
self-rising flour
raspberry jam (or jam, jelly or curd of your choice. I used Bonne Maman’s Four Fruits preserve)
powdered sugar to dust on top
DIRECTIONS
The measurements for this recipe are equal amounts of sugar, flour and fat to the weight of the eggs. Weigh the eggs first – if the eggs weigh 8 ounces, you will use 8 ounces of sugar, 8 ounces of butter or margarine and 8 ounces of flour. If the eggs weigh 6 ounces, all the other ingredients will be 6 ounces – easy!
Set oven Gas 4 160C (fan oven), 180C or 360F: grease and base line the bottom of 2 x 8” sandwich tins – cake tins.
Cream margarine or butter together with the sugar, until light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs, and then add them to the mixture, gradually and beating well after each addition.
Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture with a metal spoon.
Divide equally between the 2 prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven.
Remove and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from the tins and fill with raspberry jam when cold, to avoid the jam seeping into the sponge.
A light dusting of powdered sugar on the top will finish it.
Place on an attractive cake stand or plate, and serve in dainty wedges with freshly brewed tea.
If you use butter remove from the fridge to soften before using. This is not necessary with soft margarine.
If large eggs are used they may weigh 7 ½ ozs/210g. If so make sure you use this weight for the other ingredients.
A smaller sandwich cake can be made with 2 medium eggs. Weight about 4 oz/55g. If so, use 2 x 7” sandwich tins and the cakes and the cakes will need less time in the oven – probably 20mins.
Serves 6-8.
The Great British Bake Off
Have you seen The Great British Bake Off?
This is the first year that we’ve been watching it (you can find most episodes on YouTube without much delay) and I love it – love the challenges and the recipes and the Britishness of it all.
Where else can you see home bakers create things like this:
And even this…
Yes, it’s high drama and hot kitchens and creative handiwork. Check it out, if you like a good bake off!
101 free things to do in London with kids
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is one of Time Out Magazine’s 101 places to visit in London with kids.
It’s been awhile since we’ve been back to London, but when we do, I’m bringing Time Out Magazine’s list of 101 free activities to do with kids in London.
Guide to gins of Scotland
I love this guide to gins of Scotland, courtesy of 5pm.co.uk. How many of these have you tried? I have only tried Hendrick’s. Clearly I have much work to do.
Misconceptions about Newcastle Brown Ale
Have you seen the latest Newcastle Brown Ale advert “Misconceptions”?
i just saw it for the first time yesterday and was sure it was a goof — until I Googled it and discovered that it was a real ad. What say you? Yay or nay?
(And for the record, it’s been years since I have had Newcastle, but am thinking of trying it again … I, too, thought it was too bitter at the time).
Yorkshire Mr. Men
Ah, I love the Mr. Men series. Mr. Tickle, Mr. Messy, Mr. Nosey. So iconic!
But this did make me laugh – well, why not a Yorkshire Mr. Men series, right?!
BRITRISH.COM 