Burgers, beer and sunshine

Marvellous mum and dad and Brainy bro came down for a visit this weekend and we had a lovely two days.

Darling boy was poorly on Thursday night and during the day on Friday the nursery called twice to ask if they could administer calpol (the magic medicine for children that cures all ills) He was running a temperature and non-specific grumpy. However, this was all forgotten as soon as he glimpsed Grandpa and Bubba (Uncle Brainy bro was travelling own from Manchester and would arrive way past Darling Boy’s bedtime) Darling boy LOVES his Grandpa and Bubba and finds them extremely funny, Uncle Brainy bro is pretty funny too.

We had a great day on Saturday, we went to the shoe shop (more on that later) and the food market to buy eggs and wave hello to the chickens that accompany the stall holder each week. After the weekly chicken chat, we retired to the Four and Twenty to show marvellous mum and dad the delights of this batty establishment. We each had coffee, chat and cake. Darling boy had a nibble on a piece of scone and buttered teacake, but really was too tired to eat (ahhh, poppet) Brainy bro had plumped for the coffee cake and I went for an orgy of sugar, manifested in a merguingey roulade, filled with toffee and pecans. MY WORD, I practically vibrated out of the shop, the sugar rush from this outrageous cake was really something. As ever, the portions in the Four and Twenty were generous and even after sharing out spoonfuls of the roulade, it was just too yummy that I managed to gobble it all.


Back at home, Darling boy slept off the excitement of the morning, Handsome Husband and Brainy Bro disappeared off to the pub to watch the rugby and I relaxed at home with marvellous mum and dad.


Whilst Darling boy was sleeping, we thought we would get busy in the kitchen. We had decided to have burgers for dinner and as four ultimate beef burgers and one spicy lamb burger as a ‘here’s one I made earlier’ were defrosting, we got out the power tools ready to make coconut ice-cream. Marvellous mum famously doesn’t share the sweet tooth that dad and I share, but she is partial to coconut ice-cream. I thought I would pick up a coconut from the shops in honour of their visit and give it a go.

I couldn’t find a recipe I liked the sound of that was baby proof (coconut, vodka and mint anyone?) so I thought I would make it up as we went along.

Dad, a complete whiz with all things DIY, in fact he is a pro, drilled 2 holes in the coconut so we could get the milk out, then bashed it with a hammer to break it open. Marvellous mum and I chipped away at the flesh whilst listening to David Bowie singing about life in Mars. Eventually we had enough flesh to whack in the magi-mix. One chopped up coconut later, I combined it with everything else and popped it in the ice-cream maker. After its icy spin, it was ready for the freezer, but not before the chief ice-cream taster, Darling boy had awoken in time to sample his first coconut ice-cream- he approved and in the freezer it went. Yum!


Recipe
The milk and chopped up flesh from one coconut
½ pint double cream
4oz caster sugar
Power tools optional



Method

Drill

Drip

Hack

Chop

Combine

Churn

Freeze

Eat

After these labours and the chaps had returned from the rugby, we sat in the dappled sunlight of the terrace under the vines and drank tea and ate vanilla cupcakes and according to age and taste, read last weekend’s papers or ‘That’s not my penguin’. We found out in the Review section, that David Bowie was right after all, there is life on Mars, well, at least this is the evidence of sea water on one of the moons that orbits Mars, which although is accurate, doesn’t scan quite so well.


For dinner, we turned the kitchen into a DIY burger bar, with the burgers a-flippin’ and the buns a-toastin’ I prepared a ‘platter of plenty’ as christened by Brainy Bro, the plate of cheddar, sliced red onions, gherkins and tomatoes for us each to accessorise our burgers. Out of the roasting aga, came a hot tin of crispy potato wedges which we dipped in ketchup and mayo. A green salad was present, but if only to make us feel a bit better. Burgers, beer, family and sunshine, what a happy day.

After the indulgence of the burgers, we followed up with coconut ice-cream and a tour of marvellous mum and dad’s holiday pictures from their recent trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The two combined made me feel quite tropical, well, its certainly the nearest we will get to an exotic hot holiday anytime soon.

Ice-cream o’clock and the Supremes

What does any sensible girl, who has to get up at 5.30am the next morning start doing at 10pm in the kitchen? That’s right, start making ice-cream for the first time of course. This sort of thing is very me, you will come to discover, the unusual time-keeping and totally impractical decisions.

I haven’t ever used my ice-cream maker before, as I’ve never had a freezer big enough to accommodate the separate mixing bowl that you need to pre-freeze as well as all the frozen food, ice-cubes, baby food and UFOs (or unidentified frozen objects) I don’t think there is a freezer i n the land without UFOs stowed in their chilly bellies. Lots of icy things in Tupperware whose label has dropped off. I think they might be casseroles?

Anyway, I am here to tell you my friends that making ice-cream is a complete doddle and very tasty indeed (though you knew that about ice- cream before, dur!)

Likewise, if you have never made custard before, and rely on Mr Bird for your essential partner to your apple crumble (I must tell you about Mr Bird sometime, it’s the most romantic story ever) you need to give making it yourself a go. If I can do it at bedtime, on the aga, then I reckon anyone can do it. The quantities of eggs, sugar and milk seems to vary from recipe to recipe, but I went with;


3 egg yolks (with the whites stashed in the freezer to make meringues or cats tongues at a later date, or indeed macaroons, yum! Don’t forget to label them, hoho)
3 oz caster sugar
300ml milk
300ml double cream
2 tsp vanilla essence (or a proper pod if you are minted)
Motown Gold on your ipod
(I find the symmetry of this recipe very pleasing)


You heat the milk to boiling point, whip it off the heat. Beat the yolks and sugar in a separate bowl, add the milk and put it all back in the saucepan on a low heat and stir for 10minutes or so, dancing about to Diana Ross and the Supremes (this bit is essential) Then once it has thickened and looks custardy, splash the saucepan into a sink of cold water and carry on beating from time to time. When it’s cold, add the double cream and vanilla essence to taste. You need to make your ice-cream custard much sweeter than normal custard as the cold will turn the volume down on the taste.

So, I had done all of that and, after some instruction reading shenanigans, got the machine all set up. I turned it on and poured the golden yellow mixture into the frosty bowl. The ice-cream maker churned its magic on the custard and after 10-15minutes it was ready. I tasted a sneak preview before popping the rest in the freezer. It was so scrummy, so creamy, and vanillary. Handsome husband was dozing on the sofa, but I woke him up to taste the fruits of my labour. He was very impressed and we agreed that a certain little someone would also probably by very keen too.

Now I have conquered vanilla, next on the hit list for ice-cream is strawberry, blackberry and chocolate. Not all together of course, but 3 more ice-creams. I plan to reduce the berries to a sweet goo before using them. We are having friends and babies to stay soon, so I will get busy with my new best friend – the ice-cream maker- and fill up the freezer with ice-cream, all whilst still imagining I am in a gold dress, with a giant beehive, dancing to Diana Ross.