We have been extremely fortunate this weekend. The Cam has risen a little but nothing that putting out the long plank doesn't solve. The wind was more worrying, and we spent time re-mooring some of the boats on the Common whose pins were loose. One of the Dutch barges further up river came loose and ended up on the weir barrier, but remained floating and was brought back to its mooring fairly quickly. The Yarwoods have blogged about it.
I really feel for those in other parts of the country where it is much, much worse.
I spent Saturday doing odd jobs about the boat. I resealed around the edge of the kitchen sink and cleaned inside my cupboards, identified a few things for the recycling shelf and various other bits and pieces. On Sunday after an outing which turned into a circuit training session when one of the rowers didn't show, I had a baking spree. I was making a couple of puddings to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner held by an American friend, so I started by baking a batch of brownies, then having some ingredients left over I improvised a blondie (white chocolate brownie) recipe with figs and brandy.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday - I wish it would take off over here. It seems to lack the commercialism of Christmas, being more about appreciating what you have than hoping for new things. And then there's the food, which is akin to a Christmas roast, but with more variety and pumpkins! I ate so much and t was all delicious!In addition to the turkey, we had mashed potato, gravy, three kinds of stuffing, green bean casserole and butternut squash salad. For dessert, there was two different types of pumpkin pie, Mississippi mud pie, Baileys cheesecake, and my brownies and blondies. The blondies in particular got a lot of compliments, so I will reproduce the recipe here, as much so that I remember it as anything else!
Fig and Brandy Blondies
125g butter
100g white chocolate
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
75g ground almonds
handful of chopped dried figs
teaspoon nutmeg
shot of brandy
Grease and line a baking tin, preheat oven to Gas Mark 5
In a saucepan, melt the butter and white chocolate, then add the sugar once they are all melted. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes (use the time to chop the figs!), then add the eggs, followed by the ground almonds, nutmeg, chopped figs and brandy. Pour into the tin and cook for 30 minutes until the top is crispy and a fork comes of of the centre clean. Allow to cool before chopping into squares.
Yum, your Blondies sound quite tasty. Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday, a time of sharing and fellowship with family and/or friends. I love it, but the leftovers do linger on!
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