lemon sponge pudding

lemon sponge pudding
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Went for awalk this afternoon in the unexpected sunshine trapped some of the sun in this pud.

Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
1 ½ lemons , zested and juiced
100g sugar
2 eggs
100g butter , plus extra for the bowl
100g self-raising flour ( I used plain with 1 tsp of baking powder)
4 tbsp lemon curd home made by my Dad!
To serve: custard or cream

method:
1.Butter pudding bowl. I put 4 slices of lemon in bottom which sort of worked
2.Whizz the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until pale and fluffy.
3.Mix in the eggs one by one.
4.Add the flour and pulse until incorporated.
5.I added half the lemon juice right the end thankfully it didn’t split
6.Pour the batter into and cover with a lid or clingfilm and microwave on medium (650w) for 4-6 minutes.
7.Heat the lemon curd the rest of the lemon juice(to taste) in a small pan. Spoon over the top and serve.

Hurrah another Street Card!

Nine of spades
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Dodging the showers yesterday I spotted this in the gutter hurrah !
I do love them 34 to go! more here

My Ikea album cover life ....Oh You pretty things

Are you cross with your dresser...
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Are you cross with your dresser...
Here's my latest Ikea collage: Mrs Jone's kid in his lotus eater phase whiling away his unhappy hours away on his best damsk flicking his German mime artist Top Trumps into a top hat (probably).

Of course those delicate Americans had a more butch sleeve as they tend to get a nosebleed and have a fainting fit at the the sight of someone with different coloured irises! Must be hard work being outraged all the time.

Laters. have a jolly weekend.

Promised land waiting

A brace of sad news today with the passing of Charlie Gillet and Alex Chilton.
I always liked Charlie's shows even though if I'm honest he didn't always play stuff I liked but it was always refreshing to hear someone who genuinely loved the music he was playing. I only recently heard Big Star I must admit for years I confused AC with Alex Harvey and only recently via Stuart Maconi had the 2 separated in my mind.
Anyway I really Love Promised Land by Johnny Allen (which for those who don't know CG introduced to us all) it never fails to cheer me up. So over to Johnny with teh travel news!

Huw in the club - and other great pictures

Huw in the club - Cardiff
Originally uploaded by Maciej Dakowicz

I found this set of pictures using the marvelous http://fffflckr.com/
 application which lets you search flickr using your favourites and those of your favourites (if you see what I mean) .

It threw up this  fascinating series of pictures from The Glamorgan County Council Staff Club in Cardiff, Wales sadly now closed by Maciej Dakowicz.

I love the shots of people having fun and enjoying their weekend.
It's a cliche to say peoples lives are written on their faces but it's a true cliche.

It does raise a slight issue that's been in my mind for a while. I love pictures like this and those of the famous series Martin Parr took in New Brighton. I take if not similar ones  in a similar areas ie. in around Deptford and Barnsley etc and I have nagging fear that they could be seen  put it bluntly as "laughing at poor people".

I hope I'm not I just find these subjects fascinating, refreshing and surprising. We live in an increasingly
homogeneous world and these sparks of humanity, these unguarded moments and the individual acts of creativity are heartening. Of course the distance between the aspiration of some the signs etc and the reality of the shop or the pub they are attached to is ironic but also hopeful and very human.
One last defence whenever I'm somewhere posh I take picture there too

Happy Mothering Sunday!!

Happy Mothering Sunday!!
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

As usual we turn to Greggs to find out how they are expressing important emotions/events in butter cream and sponge batter.

In their the shop the other day to get a loaf the cheery staff were discussing accidents. After a grusesome discussion of a friend's latest surgery the woman serving me chirps up

"well there's always some fing worse that can 'appen, I've never 'urt myself badly".
"what d'ya mean" he colleague loading the steak bakes chips in "you, fell through that plate glass window the other day!!"
Laughing my server replies "oh ya I woz forgettin' THAT! what am I like?...I only broke me glasses tho' and that gurls shoppin!'"

Anway love to ya muthas! today as always

Beer here there & everywhere

Out about in London’s brilliant parade with BLBW for well with some inevitability some beer we went to the London Drinker beer festival at Camden centre.
It was jolly perhaps not as good as the Hackney one in December but the beer was good. Ales to look out for Acorn IPA, Urban Dusk from Redemption (a lovely best bitter from Tottenham’s finest) and a lovely IPA from Fullers Bengal lancer which won’t be around for long so hurray while stocks last.

It was then off whizzing through the night to Battersea which picking itself up from the disappointment of me and BBLW no longer living there has got even more la-di-da. Had a jolly time at a new pub amongst the gilded youth of the south shore (shoulder pads and loud voices are back in or never went away I’m not sure).

It is a different world, the beer was good and the place was buzzing. It was odd to see that “brewing Up “ by BB is now aspirational amongst the other tasteful poster and oh they have He-man wallpaper in the bogs!

Anyway wandering home via the Kings road with its orange trainers and cafes that sell champagne for breakfast I made a little film...” we’re not Deptford anymore Toto”....

Quote of the Day:

On the tube: a friendly group of museum workers on their way home, sharing horror stories of their difficult customers.Apparently on being told there were no more places left at a sleep over event for their little “Saffron” the reply came back from one Uber mum

“ you do realise she’ll won’t get into Cambridge now!”

Moon washed college walls

On the way back from the shop last night  (see earlier recipe!). In the carpark beneath my window was this poor dead starling seemingly having been stunned or meeting a similar fate. Near by a bright red umbrella was swirling in the wind and next to a bin was a toy drum. All we needed was a jester or a boy dressed as a drummer boy and Fish to pop up and I would have walked into a Marillion lp shoot! :( thankfully I got home unmolested by Grendle or similar and watched the Fantastic Four which was surprisingly good.

To remember the true hell of Fish and the boys go here and watched through your fingers skip to end and see Mr Dick wearing a helmet and playing army!

new toastie flavour discovered possibly:

Just a quick one: Just made a spinach and feta toastie (recipe 1/2 block of feta, one tin squeezed spinach 1/2 onion found in fridge& blasted in microwave all whizzed  up, seasoned  and toasted to steamy loveliness makes about 4) do you get them in cafes if not why not it was delish.
Anyway has anyone spotted the same sort like Borek or similar?

Ikea record sleeve : Townes House living

Townes house
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

We're  S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G....
Saw this sleeve of "cult" singer Townes Van Zandt eponymous 1969 lp in Uncut the other day and thought I wonder where you can buy a nice colander and salmon mousse mold like that ?
The answer being of course rocks favourite shop.... Ikea!
Townes doesn't look that impressed sadly.

Holding out for a Hero!

To reheat an old joke I followed Heather Small's advice and searched for the hero inside myself

Update I edited this page go feed up at it starting every I clicked on here's the link

It was "Uncover" all along....

You can call me Dave

People on the radio keep mentioning St David's day.... good luck to all Welshers today if you having a party hope it stops raining long enough ;-) .
Not sure about all these national days myself seem a bit simplistic. I seem to have to have about 400 allegiances some stronger than others the fact I was born in England doesn't seem chief among them, partlicualry as the raise of nationalism seems to have brought out rather petty squabbling and nastiness between the people on these wet islands.

 I mean we are weird mixed bunch already lets not fall out  don't want to be all modernist but our similarities far outweigh any divisions but  then a again I'll not stop anyone wearing a flower on their hat or drinking too much stout.
That being said if you don't already love Joy Formidable your a horrible anti Welsherist and  Windsor Davies* will come and shout at you or summat.



* the things you learn Windsor Davis was born in canning town see I was right it way more complicated

all that glisters isn't golden syrup

all that glisters isn't golden syrup
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Went for a nice stroll round the edge of the isle of dogs had hoped to walk via the 2 foot tunnels but was bit too long and the end bit at Silvertime you couldn't get that close to the river so did the last bit on the DLR.

It was really interesting never been eastwards on Isle of Dogs. It was the usual mix of dull and lifeless private housing and odd river side oddities (the bits people actually like!) .

I got the usual looks for poking around on various beaches and even told off by one of the flat dwellers. She was a bit put out when I pointed out it's didn't belong to her flat and depending on the tide I was probably on the Queen's bit and she'd said it was ok. I almost wrote F off in stones but was in too a good mood.
Anyway here's some more pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/bltpicons/sets/72157623526123542/