I know that reading History doesn't sound half as interesting as the Art of Eating Chocolate but we've done that for this year, it's now time to kick-start old brain back up into gear again.
As you all know, unless you are a first time Dear Reader of my Blog, that she reads a lot of books. Thank heavens for our fabulous Library, for they have all manner of books AND magazines.
Yes, magazines! Including very old copies of Vogue no less, they're upstairs in the research section. You can't take them out of the building but there are proper reading racks and chairs and the whole place is wonderful.
But back to the title of this morning's post. She was cruising the crime aisles looking for a book when she saw a long row of books by an author whom she has never read, so she thought 'in for a penny, in for a couple of this woman's books'.
ANNE PERRY ~ Published by Headline.
The book she sat up reading last night is titled 'Midnight at Marble Arch', the story is set in London in 1896. The plot is extremely good, characters well described, all historical details correct, the author knows her A-Z, A-Z is the London street map and you certainly don't see the end coming, that's for sure!
Modern history was not something that she learnt at school, her parents were her teachers of modern history but one subject she was never taught anything about is the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa or the First, come to think of it.
I lie.. she does know that it was after the First Anglo-Boer War that the British Army stopped using their scarlet uniforms, too easily seen by enemy snipers, and changed to wearing khaki instead.
She knows of names like Kruger, Rhodes, Kitchener, Smuts and Botha but why did it start, what caused it, when was it.. etc, etc. Most of us, of a certain age, know that Winston Churchill was a war correspondent, that he was captured and held as a POW ~ prisoner of war ~ by the Boers. He was actually captured by Louis Botha.
But who was Jameson? When and what was 'Jameson's Raid'? And why are we wittering on about Anglo-South African history when she read a book set in Victorian London?
Ah, Dear Readers, well, you see, that's all rolled into the plot of this historical novel and it is all due to the ability of this clever author who has sparked her interest in South African history, for tomorrow, before she goes to work, she'll be off.. like a rat down a drain pipe.. to the Library.
SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND
She thinks this phrase should be above the entrance of every Library in every country around the world, for 'history' is being made and created even as we write this post and this is why the ability to read ~ literacy ~ is absolutely vital, for if someone is illerate, they cannot read anything.
They cannot legally drive a car for how would they pass their High Way Code exam? They are and would be unable to understand written instructions on how to do or make anything. They are and would be severely handicapped.
But there are many thousands of people of people all around the world ~ we are NOT talking of people who are Dyslexic ~ who went to school, who have apparently been 'educated' and yet teachers have failed to pick up that the pupil cannot or does not know how to read.
We have said this before, that she will eternally grateful to both her parents for giving her the love of books and reading and teaching her world history, even if they didn't get around to teaching her about the Boer Wars.
And now it is time for us to think about what YumYum HQ has to offer us in the way of sustenance. For we had that Chicken 'Oyster' ~ and it was not that piece which is located underneath the bird ~ last night for supper, oh yum, slurp-the-durp!
She marinated it for several hours in olive oil and CousCous spices, took the skin off, sliced the meat into fat slices and poached it in herb stock dissolved in a little water with the marinade.
Herb stock is easy-peasy to make. Take your favourite herbs, we use lots of: curly parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary and origano. She strips all the leaves off the woody stems, chops everything up very finely, puts them into a little water together with a smidgen.. aka a tiny amount.. of olive oil and boils it until they're a squashy mess, then freezes it in ice cube holders
We had the leftovers of the Maftoul to which she added a handful of frozen vegetables, they got tipped in on top of the, by now, cooked chicken, stirred well and left to heat through with the odd stir now and then to prevent it sticking to the pan.
But that was yesterday. What's for lunch today, I guess I'll just have to go and see, won't I? PipPip..
GeeGee Parrot.
April 6th, 2015.
As you all know, unless you are a first time Dear Reader of my Blog, that she reads a lot of books. Thank heavens for our fabulous Library, for they have all manner of books AND magazines.
Yes, magazines! Including very old copies of Vogue no less, they're upstairs in the research section. You can't take them out of the building but there are proper reading racks and chairs and the whole place is wonderful.
But back to the title of this morning's post. She was cruising the crime aisles looking for a book when she saw a long row of books by an author whom she has never read, so she thought 'in for a penny, in for a couple of this woman's books'.
ANNE PERRY ~ Published by Headline.
The book she sat up reading last night is titled 'Midnight at Marble Arch', the story is set in London in 1896. The plot is extremely good, characters well described, all historical details correct, the author knows her A-Z, A-Z is the London street map and you certainly don't see the end coming, that's for sure!
Modern history was not something that she learnt at school, her parents were her teachers of modern history but one subject she was never taught anything about is the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa or the First, come to think of it.
I lie.. she does know that it was after the First Anglo-Boer War that the British Army stopped using their scarlet uniforms, too easily seen by enemy snipers, and changed to wearing khaki instead.
She knows of names like Kruger, Rhodes, Kitchener, Smuts and Botha but why did it start, what caused it, when was it.. etc, etc. Most of us, of a certain age, know that Winston Churchill was a war correspondent, that he was captured and held as a POW ~ prisoner of war ~ by the Boers. He was actually captured by Louis Botha.
But who was Jameson? When and what was 'Jameson's Raid'? And why are we wittering on about Anglo-South African history when she read a book set in Victorian London?
Ah, Dear Readers, well, you see, that's all rolled into the plot of this historical novel and it is all due to the ability of this clever author who has sparked her interest in South African history, for tomorrow, before she goes to work, she'll be off.. like a rat down a drain pipe.. to the Library.
SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND
She thinks this phrase should be above the entrance of every Library in every country around the world, for 'history' is being made and created even as we write this post and this is why the ability to read ~ literacy ~ is absolutely vital, for if someone is illerate, they cannot read anything.
They cannot legally drive a car for how would they pass their High Way Code exam? They are and would be unable to understand written instructions on how to do or make anything. They are and would be severely handicapped.
But there are many thousands of people of people all around the world ~ we are NOT talking of people who are Dyslexic ~ who went to school, who have apparently been 'educated' and yet teachers have failed to pick up that the pupil cannot or does not know how to read.
We have said this before, that she will eternally grateful to both her parents for giving her the love of books and reading and teaching her world history, even if they didn't get around to teaching her about the Boer Wars.
And now it is time for us to think about what YumYum HQ has to offer us in the way of sustenance. For we had that Chicken 'Oyster' ~ and it was not that piece which is located underneath the bird ~ last night for supper, oh yum, slurp-the-durp!
She marinated it for several hours in olive oil and CousCous spices, took the skin off, sliced the meat into fat slices and poached it in herb stock dissolved in a little water with the marinade.
Herb stock is easy-peasy to make. Take your favourite herbs, we use lots of: curly parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary and origano. She strips all the leaves off the woody stems, chops everything up very finely, puts them into a little water together with a smidgen.. aka a tiny amount.. of olive oil and boils it until they're a squashy mess, then freezes it in ice cube holders
We had the leftovers of the Maftoul to which she added a handful of frozen vegetables, they got tipped in on top of the, by now, cooked chicken, stirred well and left to heat through with the odd stir now and then to prevent it sticking to the pan.
But that was yesterday. What's for lunch today, I guess I'll just have to go and see, won't I? PipPip..
GeeGee Parrot.
April 6th, 2015.
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