Morning.
Lyrics - Race, life’s a race
I'd like a PW like that postie!
Glad to hear that the rib is ok OH. Sorry about the typo.
Hope you're feeling better today emzap.
What: swim
Why: I've only swum once this week
Last hard: haven't done hard for a while
Last rest: 4/8
Comments
Morning!
Unusual to be 2nd on thread
What: rest or gentle swim
Why: racing tomorrow
Last hard: Tuesday
Last rest: Wednesday
Lyrics: ?no (although sounds familiar)
Actually definite no to lyrics .
However one of the kids used to say to Elspeth when she was getting hurrying for something (unecessarily) : "life's not a race ... you'll only get to the end quicker!"
Morning!
Yesterday's lyrics were: "Abraham, Martin and John", a tribute number to Lincoln, Luther King and Kennedy, who were all assassinated. Must confess had to look up who did the original (Dion); covered by Marvin Gaye.
Today's lyrics: no
What: either rest or a gentle 10-15 mins
Why: legs need looking after. Must stretch though!
morning,
lyric - dont think so
what - easy or maybe rest
why - tired, recovery
last rest - 3 weeks
last hard - Tuesday
have a lovely weekend
Morning
What: see Alehouse above
Why: see Alehouse above (and racing tomorrow)
Last hard: Wednesday
Last rest: yesterday
Lyrics: nope
Last Christmassy thing eaten: yesterday
Feeling much better LMH just a little tired. I always do the next day after a reaction like that.
I'd like a PB like your PW one day Postie!
Happy Friday.
Nothing today for me
Tomorrow I'm jumping in the Sea
Then bike and run
Never had so much fun
Hope I don't have to stop for a pee
morning all
had a n amazing deep tissue massage last night, it went on for 1hr 30 mins!! I was going to sleep until she hit the calves....
wow Paddy, hope it goes well!
what: biked in this morning and will hop back on and bike home later
why: missing my bike is all
last hard: this morning
last easy: weds
have a lovely weekend all, got a lot on myself, 2 mile club relays tomorrow and then the Essex way relay on Sunday where I will be driving more than running!!! Although my leg is 5.7 miles and plan is to run back to my car...
re cake making, who has a good and easy xmas cake recipe then? I feel I should have a go this year! My daughter will be impressed...
emzap hope you are feeling better today
Wabo: my basic Christmas cake mix is below, although I often tinker with things and may put in, say, some dried apricot, mixed nuts or a little ginger. I'm still on Imperial measures...
8 oz of raisins, 8oz currants, 8 oz sultanas
4 oz mixed peel
4 oz ground almonds
4 oz glace cherries
8 oz plain flour
teaspoon mixed spice
pinch of salt
8 oz butter
6 oz soft light brown sugar although sometimes use dark
4 large eggs
At some points you may need brandy!!
On one bowl I mix the first, fruit, ingredients, then in the largest bowl that I have I mix the flour/spice/salt, then add the butter, then the eggs one at a time. Then add the fruit mix.
I use an 8 inch round tin which I line, and then wrap the outside in brown paper to decrease the chances of the outside of the cake burning. Then bake at around 140c for around 3 to 3 and a half hours. Cool then add brandy and wrap in foil.
Over the next few months add more brandy! Decorate a week or so before Christmas.
Enjoy!
Last year was my first attempt Wabo but I was impressed with the result (if I say so myself). It's an amalgamation of a couple of different recipes from friends - and has no mixed peel as I detest it!
8” square tin, double lined with greaseproof, outside covered with brown paper, stood on a baking tray.
Combine 312g raisins; 312g sultanas; 255g currants with 170g glace cherries, quartered; 85g chopped dates; 85g chopped almonds. Soak overnight in 4 tblspns brandy and 4 tblspns orange juice.
Combine 312g plain flour; 71g ground almonds; 1 tblspn mixed spice.
Beat together 255g dark brown sugar; 255g softened butter; 2 tblspn black treacle; 5 eggs.
Fold flour mix into butter mix, add fruit.
Bake at 140C for 3 ¼ hours. Test with skewer then again every 15 minutes until cooked. Cover top with greaseproof paper if necessary to prevent burning.
Cool fully in tin, prick holes in top then spoon over 2 tblspn brandy. Leave lining paper around a cake, double wrap in tin foil.
Feed with 2 tblspn brandy every two weeks.
Afternoon!
The two recipes are very similar: I also often put dates in but have never bothered to soak overnight.
What: 15 mins gentle
Why: recipe says so.
The key with Christmas cakes is not so much the recipe, as in the cooking. (IMHO)
Problem 1-
With it being in the oven for that length of time, the outside edges and corners can catch, almost burn, yet the middle not yet be cooked.
TIP 1)- Insulate the cake tin by wrapping 2 layers of brown paper round the outside.
TIP 2)- 140C is for a regular oven, make that 130C for a fan oven, and keep the cake near the bottom. Rotate the cake halfway through cooking, but don't open the door any earlier.
Problem 2-
The cake domes up, meaning it's a bugger to ice nicely.
Tip 3)- When you put the mix in the tin, hollow out the centre quite severely. It reduces, rather than eliminates the dome.
Tip 4)- Invert the finished and matured cake. I'm afraid that you have to cut off the dome to get it to sit flat.
Tip 5)- Don't bin those offcuts, stir them into a litre of freshly home made vanilla ice cream and freeze it. Ta Da! Christmas cake ice cream.
Look lads, let me talk to my wife. She makes the best Christmas cake in Ireland. All I know is that there is some mountain of stuff in the bowl when she starts mixing. And I'm fairly sure if you ate too much of it you wouldn't be driving home!!
blimey look at all you lot and the recipes and tips!! I will take a bit of this one and that one and a tip from paddy a tip from blisters and ta da!
blisters I have to say the ice cream sounds amazing!
Wabo, there's one problem. It doesn't last long.
I did do a variation once, because I was given some unused Army rations: tinned fruit sponge pudding. A little soaking in rum, a little extra cinnamon and WOW, the base for a great ice cream.
Training: 100 lengths (2.5km) in the pool. That was an odd session. I know that I'm crap at length counting. I get bored. The first 16 felt great, but wasn't. At 32 the pace was holding steady. At 64 I had somehow knocked great lumps out of my previous best. I may have miscounted by 10 lengths! At 100 lengths it certainly looked like a pb, but I was still confused. Whatever, it is totally irrelevant, but 63 minutes of swimming done.
Evening all! Just over 9 miles after work today, nice and easy. Lyrics - naw!
Hello fruit cakes... (Aka Christmas cake recipies)
Rest yeasterday as so dammed tired
What 5.25m easyish
Why - Still a tad tired
Last hard - WedsLast Rest - Yesterday
Lyrics - No
Take care
Evening
What 10ish commute
Why why not
Lyrics No
SWoD ???
Blisters - doing the longer sets I find it easier to count in kilometres as in 2 x 16 lengths and 1 x 8. Of course you could just have been swimming well!
Blisters: you count in 26s! First 26 lengths are girls' names (length 1 as many as you can think of beginning with A, length 26 as many as poss beginning with z). The next 26 are boys' names. The next 26 are countries, or types of car, or dogs, or whatever. I know swimmers that have used this and never miscount.
Re cakes, I have never had a dome effect on my Christmas cakes: just push it down. If the worst comes to the worst you turn it over to cool, and can always ice the bottom as it is always flatter!
Wabo: good job the Spurs players have their names on their backs. You wouldn't recognise them otherwise given that they have signed a whole new team nearly.
My problem is not the numbers or the names or stuff, it's that my mind wanders. I'm thinking about what number or name I'm on now, what number is the next one, how many to do to get to 64, how many breaths per stroke, or strokes per breath, what the time is, what my time for 16 would be if multiplied to get 64 or 100, what time when I finish, what length was I just on? No that can't be right it's an odd number, would that be up or down from the last one, now I'm at the end again. It was 40 when I adjusted my goggles, therefore it's 42, or is that 44?
I have enjoyed swimming in the lakes over summer. I only have to count up to 6 on the small lake, or 4 on the big one. And that's for full IM distance.
Icing Christmas cakes? Always cool it upside down, and always ice the bottom.
Blisters - on the rare occasion I do a long swim, I press the lap button on my watch every 10 lengths. When you check back afterwards you can count up the sets of 10 and any missing (or extra) lengths show up up as the time is wrong. I dont swim long very often though, 100 to 400m reps with 10sec rests is a better use of my swim window.