(no subject)

[turps]

I don't know why but Movies 24 has shown all Christmas films today. It's made for excellent background watching.

For the last few weeks I've been making flapjacks for James to take to work. He likes them to snack on but at £3 a piece at his work canteen we decided surely I could make them cheaper, and I can. Except, despite following the same recipe each week sometimes they come out really crumbly and the ones I made yesterday were a disaster. They fall apart as soon as they were picked up and at this point I've been left with a load of syrup covered granola.

So, I found another recipe today, and it included condensed milk. I knew I had a tin of that so decided to start over and make a new batch, expect, the condensed milk was actually tinned caramel. I'm sure it's the extra sweet but delicious stuff pensnest put into the death by chocolate cake at Camp Sparkle, meaning it's nothing like condensed milk, but I threw caution to the wind and used it anyway. The flapjacks seem to look okay after I took them out of the oven, but I'll let James taste them I think. Plus, the molten caramel will probably take that long to cool anyway.

I've started to watch Ru Paul's Drag Race UK with James. We knew about it before but it's the first time we've actually followed the show and have got quite invested, so much so we've downloaded some of the US seasons to start watching too. My favourite queen has gone but I'm rooting for another now, especially after watching the self filmed lockdown special. It was so sad to see how they'd all had their incomes torn away when the entertainment industry shut down and was a sobering show to watch really.

To end on some not so good news. My MiL was taken to hospital this morning. She's had a chest infection for a while and it got worse so they've taken her in. Which is the best place to be, obviously, but you can't help but worry. She's got her phone and is keeping in touch as best she can, but I suspect everyone is waiting for the result of her COVID test before being able to relax a little.

Comments

[dine]

another example of the two countries separated by a common language - I read James snacks on flapjacks at work, and it took a moment to remember that in the UK they're not pancakes. I hope the second batch turned out ok, and the caramel is tasty

[turps]

I didn't realise that flapjacks are pancakes in the US. It would explain why when I was looking at recipes some were titled British Flapjacks.

They did come out okay, they've stuck together anyway which is a step up.

[i_amthecosmos]

Speaking of experimenting, I bought a can of table cream, a common Mexican/Latino item. I expected it to be more like thicker evap milk, but it was closer to canned whipped cream. It made excellent mac and cheese.

[turps]

Canned whipped cream sounds interesting, also, perfect for mac and cheese.

Sometimes these experiments really do work out well.

[sperrywink]

Oh, no. Good luck to your MiL.

And good luck making flapjacks. Who knew they were so fickle?

[turps]

My MiL is in the best place, but it's still a worry. Plus, the paramedics have put in an adult social services note after seeing the house had no heating or hot water. Though, I think that could be a positive in the long run.

I know! They're supposed to be easy to make. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[turlough]

I'm very sorry, Terri, but Christmas films in March is just WRONG!

I've only ever made flapjacks once and they stuck together as they should. That recipe didn't include condensed milk though, just ordinary cream and syrup. It sounds like the can you had was dulce de leche. It's actually related to condensed milk! If you boil an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in lots of water for a while you'll end up with tinned caramel. These days they sell it in the stores so you don't have to make it yourself. The cans look really similar - at least the brand they sell here in Sweden - so it's easy to pick the wrong one by mistake. Anyway, I hope the flapjacks stuck together properly!

That sounds very worrying about your MiL! I'll keep everything crossed it's not Covid and that she'll start getting better soon.

[turps]

They were playing the Christmas films, how could I not watch them!? *g*

I really don't know what went wrong with my flapjack recipe the other week. I suspect I weighed something wrong because the stickiness just wasn't there.

I never knew that about boiling the condensed milk to make caramel, but yeah, the tins do look very similar. The second lot of flapjacks did stick together, though with the amount of caramel in them I would have been surprised if they hadn't. It's good that James has strong teeth.

Thankfully my MiL doesn't have COVID but is still in hospital, though is much better than she was.

[frausorge]

I'm glad I read the comments because I didn't know flapjacks were something different in England. I learned something! I hope the caramel batch were tasty. It sounds like a promising combination, anyway.

I hope your MiL gets the best care.

[turps]

I didn't know they were different things either. Normally I'm aware of the different words for the same things but this passed me by completely.

The caramel batch was very tasty, but very rich.

My MiL is getting there.

Hope you're doing okay, you're always a miss when you don't comment for a while. Not that I mean you have to every post, just I get used to seeing you around ♥

[frausorge]

just busy! ♥