Mission Accomplished

[lathany]

I visited the baby clinic this morning and successfully obtained a list of mother and toddler groups in the Feltham area. Bea and Ryan need a little more company than just me now, so it had to be done. There seem to be plenty to choose from, each charging £1 or 50p per toddler (covering tea, biscuits and a drink for each child). I'll probably start with the one that meets on Thursday mornings in the High Street library. If that isn't working out I'll find another one. And, yes, I definitely have mixed feelings about going along.

Whilst we were there, the usual weighing took place :

Beatrice : 23lb 14oz (10.83kg)
Ryan : 22lb 3oz (10.08kg)

And, yes, if you check against last month's figures, they are actually lighter. This is caused by the difference between the summer wear (to deal with still-present heat) and the heavy cord dungarees that they wore last time.

My other news is far from gripping. I caught an advert on CBeebies announcing that Storytime next week will be read by the EastEnders cast (the actors of Kat, Ian, Martin, Sonia and Roy from the looks of it). And Tesco still aren't stocking chocolate pots.

A cooking question - does anyone know a good recipe for spaghetti carbonara ? It doesn't have to be traditional (ie. versions that use cream are more than acceptable).

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

At home I've got a great recipe for a quick-cheaty version. I'll try and remember to dig it out - prod me if I forget/you don't get one elsewhere in the meantime.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

The only time I've made carbonara, kauket and I made it up as we went along. As I recall, once you know the ingredients the rest is quite intuitive.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I've done it that way - but it never seemed to work as well as I hoped.

[floralaetifica.livejournal.com]

Daniel does a really good one. IIRC it goes like this (feeding 2):

Put the pasta on to boil.
Fry some bacon (about 4 rashers maybe, chopped into bits) and, if you like, onion (but not more than half) and a spoonful of very lazy garlic.
Beat an egg, and add half a small pot of cream. If you like you can add a little bit of grated cheese.
When the pasta's cooked, drain it and put it back on a very low heat. Add the bacon/onion and the egg/cream mixture, and stir gently till you think the egg is cooked enough for you. Then add the rest of the pot of cream, stir in and serve.

The last stage, adding the 2nd half of cream, is the one that makes all the difference - if you like you egg well cooked, as I do, the carbonara can come out a big dry, and adding that last bit of cream before serving keeps it moist and creamy.

Carbonara

[triskellian]

I generally go for something (for two people) along the lines of:

Two eggs (very fresh), mixed with about half a small pot of cream, lots of grated parmesan, small amount of white wine (of the order of a couple of tablespoons), some sort of miscellaneous herbage (oregano particularly), salt and pepper.

Fry small pieces of bacon and/or mushrooms (fungus as bacon replacement for veggies), boil pasta.

When the pasta's cooked, drain it quickly and tip it back into the cooking pan (off the heat), then quickly stir in the egg and cream mixture. Keep stirring till the eggy bits start to solidify. If you've taken too long draining, and the pan's too cold to cook the egg, put it back on the heat again very briefly, but make sure you keep stirring. Mix in bacon/mushrooms. Scatter with more parmesan. Eat.

This is where I demonstrate my cooking ignorance...

[lathany.livejournal.com]

...what is "(very) lazy garlic" ?

Re: This is where I demonstrate my cooking ignorance...

[floralaetifica.livejournal.com]

Sorry! Very Lazy Garlic is a brand. Basically it's little bits of chopped up garlic in a little bit of preserving fluid (might be vinegar or something similar, I'm not sure). It comes in jars. It's incredibly handy, you just stick in a teaspoonful instead of chopping up a bulb.

Re: This is where I demonstrate my cooking ignorance...

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Garlic paste is better for things where you don't need 'chunks'.

[metame.livejournal.com]

All sensible recipes/procedures. As a couple of variants:

I like green pepper in addition to the bacon, and cooked at the same time.

I also tend to add a smidge of the (onion and) bacon-y oil to the pasta along with the onion and bacon before adding the cream/egg gunk. Mixing it in separately helps coat the spaghetti more nicely, I think.

Used to be one of my favourite 5 minute cookings (quick cook or fresh spaghetti), but I haven't made it in ages. I blame people who don't like cream... nutters.

[leathellin.livejournal.com]

I blame people who don't like cream... nutters.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

Many thanks for all the recipes

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know how it works out...