jackal10

I agree with Tony that Simpsons is the place for breakfast. Fish and Chips. I used to like the Upper St Fish Shop in Islington, but I think its moved or closed - I've seen reports on The Fish Shop, 360-362 St John Street, EC1 . 020-7837 1199 History and tradition: Eel pie and mash shops, SImpsons, Fortnums, etc Hamburgers, Sheperds Pie: Ivy, but not downmarket. Other: Sabra's in Willesden Green for Gujerati Indian food. Blooms in Golders Green for Kosher, or the Bagel Factory in Brick Lane. If you follow Shilly's suggestion and come to Cambridge, PM me, and I'd be happy to show you around and/or cook roast beef and yorkshire (especially if its a Sunday lunchtime) from my neighbor's locally grown rare breed. Be warned however, that starting next week is May Week (which lasts for a fortnight), the period after the examinations when the students let their hair down a bit. Lots of outdoor events, concerts, plays, parties. The colleges each give a ball (18th/19th/20th), These are lavish black tie all night affairs. Tickets around £250 (including food and drink) Examples: First and Third Trinity Boat Club May Ball Clare May Ball On the 21st (Midsummer) the Midsummer Fair starts, which is a large traditional gypsy fair (carny) - over 900 years old - on Midsummer Common. Lots of rather poor quality but traditional food hamburgers, hot dogs etc. Fish and chips cooked on a coal range. You could conveniently eat at Midsummer House, before riding on the steam roundabouts, or the dodgems

Here in northern Finland they have a vodka (Terwasnapsi) infused with pine tar. Quite sweet. They also have one with black sweets (liquorice?) dissolved in it

Salt should be about 2% in bakers percentage, that is relative to the weight of flour. I make that about 1 Dsp (or two tsp) for 2 1/2 cups of flour. Salt jams the amylisation of starch to sugar. However if you are using a salt-less sponge there will be plenty. I add mine after 1/2 hour and whizz or knead it in. The other thought is that instead of reducing the proof times, reduce the amount of yeast. I wonder how much you are using compared to these other expert bakers here? Yeast needs only a very small amount, like 1/2tsp of fresh yeast or even less dried yeast.

Great! well done! Its hard to tell from the photos, but I tend to get more spread in the grigne (slashes) from the oven spring. How long was the first proof? It may be that you are still overproving. Commercial yeast is very fast and only needs half an hour or so. Otherwise maybe your oven isn't yet up to temperature. They still look a bit pale. Your baguettes also look broader than mine. More like a bloomer loaf. Mine baguettes are about 3 inches wide and maybe 2ft long, with fewer, more diagonal cuts. YMMV. I bet they taste great as well.

So have I, but thank goddness I don't have to anymore. There are two of us here, but we entertain a bit.

About 10m x 12m (30ft x 36ft) or 1000 sq ft plus 10m x 5m (450 sq ft) laundry room It was a double garage, converted.

Don't know about things coming up but some **@!! has eaten most of the row of my lovingly tended purple podded peas. Possible culprits are a) Slugs snails or other sliny things. Unlikely given the amount of slugbait, beer traps etc b) Rabbits. They are surounded by mesh, but it migh be possible for a baby rabbit to squeeze through c) Pigeons. I think most likely d) Catepillers or the like. Possible, but the damage is to big (big bites on the leaves), and too sudden, and no sign of them hiding under the leaves. Something is also nipping out just the growing tips of the pole beans in the next row as well. Fava beans are untouched. Grr...

Leave out the tofu, white chocolate, and egg whites. Make sweet green tea and set it with gelatin (follow instructions on the packet). Foam it using a foamer or whisk with a stick blender or electric whisk when half set. Fold in the whipped cream and allow to set fully. I can't tell the difference between the two forms of gelatines, but sheet is easier to control and portion. Gelatine comes in different grades and strengths, so follow what is says on your packet.

Nobody has mentioned stuffing: sage and onion or sausage meat. Essential for inclusion in the perfect sandwich of the sliced roast chicken variety

Bake hotter - 250C or so, - your crust looks a bit pale. I only use bulk fermentation and one proof, rather than two. Handle very gently, - just stretch, don't knock out the air. Don't punch down. Try retarding the bread - put it in a refrigerator overnight instead of the second (or only) proof. The outside will dry slightly and give a better crust. Also the cold dough is stiffer, easier to handle and won't spread as much. Maybe not quite so wet, unless you are suporting and preventing spreading in a pan. I find it easier to handle the soft dough in baguette pans, or on a baking sheet Try and hold the lame at 45 degrees. You are cutting a sort of flap, not straight down.

Shotgun or trap. They are a major menace. Much better in the pot. "See the cute bunnies" argh. They are high grade protein, with no closed season Chicken wire is the only other solution. Make sure the mesh size is small enough, and bury it 1ft. We've had to put up a polytunnel frame lined with chicken wire just to keep them off the veg. Lettuce can only be grown in the greenhouse, and then in growbags on raised staging... I blame the foxes. They have go so lazy, and discovered its much easier to raid dustbins, which don't run away rather than chase rabbits.

Not Eden, but just outside Cambridge UK. It is, I must admit, pretty nice even if hard work. The Sundial was a present, but I think it might be from Courtyard Sundials The photo is from their website, but I don't think they will mind the advertising. I plan to get a better camera in the next couple of weeks, then look out...If I can manage to get the hang of uploads, there will be snaps of the vegetable garden, the orchard, the bread oven (with a camomile roof), the wildflowers etc etc etc...I like boasting...

I do deeply sympathise with the 1000lbs of zuchinni problem. The only way to overcome it that I've found is to pick them as zuchinni blossoms with baby fruit. However, miss one and turn your back and its a 10lb monster. I now just throw those directly onto the compost heap, rather than have them stare at me from the refrigerator before going moldy.

I hate to comment, when there are much better bakers, like Dan Lepard on egullet. French bread flour is very soft, so you may have more success with cake flour, or 50% cake flour. Baguette dough is very wet and soft, almost like a cibata, and needs support for the whole process. This is why they are traditionally proved in linen couches, and then baked in baguette pans supporting the sides for the early part of the bake. Don't overprove, and handle very gently. Most of the aeration comes from the oven spring, and you want big holes inside, so don't knock the air out. Make sure the oven is hot enough. Thin breads, like baguette, need a hotter oven than boules

Thanks to FG for uploading! This is a view from my study window over part of the herb garden to south. a) I need a better camera b) The blob on the left is an armillary sundial c) The foreground is a Perle d'Bourbon rose - good for buttonholes Behind that are mints, then salad burnet, sweet cicely, box balls, thyme, parsley and some self-sown aqualegia. Behind those are alewort, oregano, lavender, scened geraniums, bay and more ancient roses: Gloria Mundi an Lancaster. This is about half the herb garden, which is inside the U-shape of the house. It is symmetrical, but diferent herbs in the other half, then a trellis with more roses and loganberies and the jacuzzi. The trees beyond are greengages and apples. The main garden surrounds the house and is about 5 acres in all, including ponds, orchard and woods

Try http://profiles.yahoo.com/placeholderpix J

Nope, how do I do that? Meantime here is a pic click here Yes, I must get a better camera...

Good as Taramasalata is, have you tried just the smoked cod's roe on hot buttered toast, with a little black pepper? mmmm...

Taramasalata is delicious, but it isn't preserved cod's roe in mayo, though I guess you can make an approximation that way... The basic is fresh cold smoked cod's roe (Tara) creamed into a thick emulsion with onion, garlic and lots of olive oil. You can add fillers, such as soaked bread or boiled potato Eat with pitta bread.

Having converted the damn place from a small private house, I can speak. The house was originally a two-up, two down room house, built in Victorian times as a speculative development on common land, with the intent of the developer squatting on the land and eventually building terraces of houses, as on the other side of the river. The street names on the other side (Pretoria Road, Kimberly Ave etc) speak of the Boer war. The developer was stopped by the local council, and the house confiscated. For many years it was a council house, and eventually occupied and purchased by the landlord of the neighboring pub (the Fort St George). I bought it from him. Originally it had two smallish rooms on each of three floors, with a kitchen/scullery out the back. The two downstairs rooms we knocked together, and with a new double conservatory became the main dining room. The two rooms on the middle floor were also knocked into one (with a folding divider) for more dining or private dining. The lean-to kitchen was demolished and replaced with a full kitchen and walk-in cold room, cheese room/cellar, staff toilets etc. Above this is a rather nice river room, with a balcony and views of the river and common that we used as a bar, but could also be used for dining. Its disadvantage is that it is up stairs, so not suitable for differently abled folk. The top floor is a staff flat. This was over 15 years and two owners ago, so things may have changed. We also had to underpin the property, and don't ask about the drains...but that is already more than you wanted to know. Two stars would be richly deserved

New World. I prefer it to Chuen Cheng Ku. I even prefer it to eCapital That didn't last long Take it away Jon.

Close (literally), but this restaurant has trolley service

Braised jelly fish with peanut sauce Beef tripe with chili and black beans Almond jelly London, lunchtime

Depends if they are cordon (indeterminate) or bush (determinate) varieties. The former go on growing, and you pinch out the side shoots, leaving a single main stem so a stake (or wire from the greenhouse frame) is better. The latter stop and fruit, and you don't pinch them out, so they form a messier sprawl, better suited to a cage

I've tried Imagestation and Yahoo. They are rejected by egullet as the URL's are not in the right format. Any others that work?? I *really* don't want to have to put up a personal site. Imagesation nop longer allows third party access Why can't the administrators release an upload tool? Disk storage is cheap, and I don't believe it will eat that much extra bandwith, since the inline images are copied anyway...