I enjoy wine. Having a glass of a nice wine is a great way to relax. Over the years I've picked up a variety of different tools for opening and handling wine, however I think I've been missing a trick. Why on earth wasn't I using this method for opening my bottles of wine? (Well apart from anything else it's complete overkill!) He makes it look very easy, though I … [Read more...] about A Hardcore Method of Opening a Bottle of Wine
cooking
Over the top Intricate Chocolate Lion
There's a new food show on Netflix called "School of Chocolate" which stars chef Amaury Guichon. I've only watched a couple of episodes, but the concept is kind of like a cooking competition combined with a teaching element. But it's not simply about making nice chocolate bars or even cakes. It's about creating incredibly complex and intricate creations with chocolate. … [Read more...] about Over the top Intricate Chocolate Lion
The Garden’s First Season Draws to a Close
This year I've spent quite a bit of time and effort on the garden. Like most other people I was working from home and not really going anywhere most of the time, so home improvements and gardening naturally got quite a bit of my attention. Prior to this year my gardening had been mostly some herbs and very little else. While some of the more recent work has been focussed on … [Read more...] about The Garden’s First Season Draws to a Close
Storing and Preserving Surplus Fruit and Vegetables
My greenhouse has proven to be a success overall. I have made plenty of mistakes and I will be adjusting how I do things for next year, though I'm also working on making sure that I make full use of it during the "off" period as well. Over the past few weeks I've been able to harvest a growing number of fruit and vegetable from the greenhouse. Some, like the strawberries, … [Read more...] about Storing and Preserving Surplus Fruit and Vegetables
Making Bread With a Bread Machine
Last year during the peak of the pandemic with lockdowns and restrictions in most places the world started baking. Oddly I didn't. I did quite a few things during the various lockdowns, including developing an obsession with all things barbecue, as well as doing quite a bit of "grow your own" gardening. But no baking. One of the things I wanted to do was to get a bread … [Read more...] about Making Bread With a Bread Machine