Monthly Archives: March 2014

Toad in the hole

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IMG_4709edit

I’ve made this twice now, using Nigella’s toad in the hole recipe in Kitchen, except that I don’t make patties out of the sausages. I do fry the sausages to colour them beforehand though.

EDIT: 14 Apr 2014
Best not made in the lasagne dish. Pyrex dish gives a better rise. I baked it for 35 mins only; the one in the photo is a little too dark.

EDIT: 05 Oct 2015
If there is a delay between making the batter and cooking, don’t put the batter in the fridge. It will make it too cold when it hits the hot fat and it won’t rise. Also preheat the oven to 225C beforehand but turn it down to 200C when the batter actually goes in.

The Good Doctor

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Good_Doctor

I read this for the library book club. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the meeting due to work but, after reading the book, I did listen to the author talking about it for the BBC World Book Club, which gave me some much needed context.

This is a very unsettling book. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it but it’s very successful at creating a tense atmosphere. I didn’t know much about apartheid in South Africa so I couldn’t imagine the novel being anchored in a time and place. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t feel sympathetic to any of the characters, although I’m more certain that it’s because they aren’t developed enough. The book is only 200 pages long. While plenty happens, I didn’t understand the motivations of the characters until I heard the talk. I’m not sure if Id recommend this as a good read but there is plenty to think about and it’s well written.