There’s been a lot of flooding in Cumbria today following the arrival of Storm Desmond. It’s one of those once in a hundred years rain events. There was one in 2005 as well…
The thing is, surely hurricanes and tornadoes have suffered from this widespread use of names. Once upon a time calling a big wind by a name implied it was terrifically powerful and adequately scary.
I mean the Great Storm of 1987 didn’t have a name and that uprooted most of the oaks in Sevenoaks. Mind you, most people would happily call it Michael, I’m sure.
While we had pretty consistent rainfall in the south east, there was not much more than a thimble full…so not enough to drown a mouse, let alone half of the north of Britain. No need for a name though Drizzle Dave might work.
Not that the rain bothered me. I spent most of the day in the kitchen.
First up I made a Special Sunday Breakfast. This week I created something original which just might become the Chez Gaz petit dejuener, though it does need a slight refinement in order to avoid the smoky kitchen.
And before anyone complains, ‘smoky’ is the correct spelling for there being a lot of smoke. The use of ‘smokey’ unless referring to bears or being on top of one, is old fashioned and to be discouraged (like the archaic ‘whilst’ which just makes me shudder).
And the above is not an American-ism, like so many of these things, it’s proper English as laid down by the OED!
But enough of that…And back to the Chez Gaz kitchen.
I decided to try a couple of French recipes from Rachel Khoo’s recipe book. This meant spending the day (and a bit of last night) making bits and pieces in order to put it all together for the actual meal, which only took an hour to cook.
Finally, though, I served up a delicious canard a l’Orangina followed by millefeuille aux pommes. I didn’t bother photographing the duck but here’s the pastries:
Millefeuille aux pommes – first attempt
Mirinda declared the feasting superb and needing repeating.
