Dead

[wiseheart]

We had the big cleaning frenzy in the morning - to my pleasant surprise, the new cleaning lady turned out to be a very "agreeable" person, as the Vulcans would say. It seems that the first impression (i.e. the introductory visit) was a bit misleading, after all. At least I hope so. Still, it was a very tiring undertaking, as I had to show her how we do everything; as I mentioned before, our flat is rather small, the furniture large, and that makes cleaning a bit tricky.

After she'd left, I persuaded Mum to do the usual Saturday washing. We were dead already, and that way we didn't ruin our Sunday, too. So, tomorrow will be free for cooking, baking and (hopefully) a bit of crafting. I'm inspired to give curiouswombat's (or rather Mary Berry's) coffee and walnut traybake a try. We love everything with coffee, and traybakes are so practical: you make the dough mix, pour it into a tin, bake it and then cut it in pieces.

So, that was my day in a nutshell, with intermittent football (=soccer) games watched by Mum. We had cherry compote, a sandwich each, coffee and ice cream for lunch - the best thing I could think of on a day like this.

Comments

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Will have to search for the recipe- lots of walnuts here that need imminent processing!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No need for searching. I'll give you the link in a few minutes.

Update: this is the recipe
https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-coffee-and-walnut-traybake/ (https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-coffee-and-walnut-traybake/)

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Tray bakes are such a blessing when family comes a-flocking!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I like them a great deal, too, even if it's only the two of us.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I would recommend reading 'spread for baking' as any butter or margarine you want as long as it isn't the 'light' version. And using it at room temperature as well — much easier and works perfectly well :)

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I have never seen baking spread here. I always tend to use butter because it tastes better...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The only time you ever see the phrase here seems to be in some of Mary Berry's books, and in recipes on the BBC website — the BBC didn't used to allow the trade names of products in their programmes — we all call Stork Stork! And butter definitely tastes better in anything where the taste is noticeable. Although actually Stork tastes in most baking .

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I wanted to ask earlier: what is Stork, actually? Some kind of margarine?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Yes — it is margarine that has been promoted as ideal for baking in the UK since it was first made over 100 years ago — it always mentions it on the tub, or wrapper. (Google Stork margarine images and if you get a British picture you can see what I mean.)

[meathiel]

That's good to hear that the cleaning lady may work out.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ich will den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben, aber ich bin vorsichtig optimistisch. 🖕

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

What's your mom's bet who'll be Europameister?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

We are both rooting for the Germans, but it's hard to tell, so no bets.
We do know who won't be Europameister, though, and that's Hungary. *g*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Enjoy the tray bake. It is a favourite amongst my friends.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The sponge is absolutely amazing!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I am so glad you like it.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a good kind of meal for a busy and, no doubt, very hot day.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Actually, we had a downpour in the morning that eased the heat a bit — that was a relief.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

I hope the cleaning lady continues to work out, always nice to have someone help out.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I hope so, too. I'm not getting any younger here. 😩