I designed this Red Hollyhock iPad 6 Cover

I had a photo of some lovely hollyhocks in my back garden, and I just played around with Photoshop until I made this design.  I hope you like it. 

You can buy it on Zazzle if you want to - see the link below the picture

How to Make Custard the Easy Way, to go With Pudding and Trifle

The Secret of Making Smooth Custard to pour over your Pudding

Custard is a delicious accompaniment to any pudding -
but does your custard turn out lumpy?

What goes wrong? How do you stop the lumps forming in the first place, or, if necessary, get rid of the lumps in your custard once you've made it?

The secret of lump-free custard is revealed below, and you can benefit from my experience gleaned from making custard regularly whilst I was helping to run a restaurant.

These are the Things You Need to Make Custard

- A jug,
- a measuring jug,
- a measuring spoon,
- a spoon for stirring,
- custard powder,
- milk,
- sugar,
- and, of course, a saucepan

Bird's Custard Powder

Bird's custard powder is the one I always use, although there are other brands of custard powder on the market

It has a lovely smooth texture, and is the custard powder I have used all my life.

I was very pleased to see that you can buy it in America as well as in the UK!

Buy Now

Method for Making Perfect Custard:

It's so easy to make custard - just follow the instructions on the packet or tin

This is the easy way to make custard from a packet or tin – not the gourmet’s way of starting from scratch, using eggs.

We haven’t got time for all that, have we?

As long as it’s quick, simple to make, and tastes nice, that’s all we need worry about.

That’s what you have here, in this recipe, which has been good enough for my family ever since I was a child. And that speaks volumes, because in my family, we all love our food.

• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 3 minutes
• Total Time: 6 minutes including cooking

Ingredients

• 2-3 heaped dessert spoons Powdered Custard
• 1 pint of milk or you can use half milk and half water
• 1-2 dessert spoons of sugar

Instructions

1. Basically, you put about 3/4 pint of milk (or part milk, part water although they don't tell you that) to heat up in a saucepan.
2. Put the required amount of custard powder with l or 2 dessert spoons of sugar, according to how sweet you like it, into a large jug.
3. Add about a tablespoon full of milk and mix to a smooth paste. Then gradually add a little of the warmed milk, and again mix to a smooth paste. Gradually add all the milk to the jug, and mix thoroughly,
4. Then pour the whole mixture into the saucepan, and stir furiously whilstheating it slowly on a low heat, to ensure that lumps don't form, being careful to scrape the bottom and sides. Let it bubble and boil for a minute, and you should have smooth and beautiful custard without a lump in sight.
5. If you have not followed my instructions to the letter, you might have a few lumps, and, as lumpy custard is an abomination, pass the mixture through a strainer into a jug. The strainer will hold back all the lumps.

The Secret of Making Smooth Custard Without Lumps:

Lumpy custard is disgusting!

Have patience:

- Ensure powder is completely
   mixed with liquid
- Add heated milk to mixture in jug
- Mix thoroughly
- Only then pour whole lot into saucepan
- Boil slowly
- Stir constantly
- Squash all lumps as they form

Do you like cream or sauce on your desserts?

See How You Measure Up Against Other Pollsters

What do you like on your puddings and desserts?

I like cream

I like chocolate sauce

I like custard

I don't have sauces on my puddings beause I'm too thin

Pudding? What's that? Are you having a laugh?

All or any of them, in any combination

  Show the poll results

A Cusinair Food Processor Would Help You With the Heavy Work in Your Kitchen

Amazon's product description: ".. slices whole fruits and vegetables, kneads bread dough and minces garlic with amazing ease. ...bowl is heat-resistant, cold-resistant and shatterproof. ... includes chopping and dough blades. Exclusive how-to video offers tips and techniques. Easy to clean."

I love my food processor - I have had it for about thirty years and it hasn't let me down - I use it a lot, for chopping, grating and mixing a great variety of foods, and it's great for liquidizing soup if you like it smooth

Buy Now

Like This Lens Web Page? - I need a little love!

How to Make Custard

If so, please spare a minute to rate it - give a thumbs-up

Your approval would greatly help me - thank you
      It's really good to get feedback

                                                 

 

Some of my Foodie Designs on Zazzle

You Can Get these Designs on a Card, Mug, Shopping Bag, T-Shirt , Apron or Button, on Zazzle

You can even insert your own wording, or choose the colour and style of your items. Zazzle is just such a pleasure to play about with:
                                                 
Shopping Bag – 5 Red Tomatoes on the Vine by GloriousConfusion
Create your own bag at Zazzle.

                                                 
Apron – Five Tomatoes Ripened on the Vine by GloriousConfusion
Make custom print aprons at zazzle.com

                                                 
Red Hollyhocks Mugs by GloriousConfusion
Check out Hollyhocks Mugs online at zazzle

                                                 
Apron – "I Love Yummy Home Cooking" Cake by GloriousConfusion
Many more cooking aprons online at zazzle
See more of my designs in my Zazzle Store: Glorious Confusion

How to Cook Roast Turkey or Chicken

Kitchenware on eBay

Why not join an eBay auction and get a Foodie bargain?

A Small Non-Stick Saucepan and Lid for Your Custard

This one is just the right size

Cuisinart 619-16 Chef's Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 1-1/2-Quart Saucepan with Lid

Buy Now

Non-stick is best for milky products which do otherwise tend to stick to the pan. Amazon is selling this model well below the list price, so grab it while you can.

Edit

Vanilla Custard Powder

A real treat to pour over your Pudding

Laziza Falooda Mix Kesar 200-Gram Boxes (Pack of 6)

Buy Now

Vanilla has a clean, distinctive flavor - you'll love it!

Leave a Comment - What are your thoughts about custard?

Don't be a cowardy-custard, spill the beans and say what you think

What’s on your mind?
Naturally, if you wish to expand into more of an essay, that’s fine too!

It’s just nice to know who has been visiting

The Sightless - A Short Film

The Sightless - an Eerie Film

First Published on May 3, 2014 by 2nd Year Students, University of Bolton, UK

A short film loosely based on Maurice Maeterlinck' play 'Les aveugles'. 

Very atmospheric.

Have a Bit of Fun with a Blue-Flashing Kettle

This kettle is such fun - it lights up and flashes blue lights all the time it's heating up....And it's efficient too.

 See my Squidoo review of a similar kettle:

Ovente Glass Electric Kettle with Flashing Blue Lights

Here's a photo of my own kettle - I just love it: 

 

Women's Rights in Afghanistan

What is it Like to be a Woman in Afghanistan?
                                                                                 

Image: BBC News - South Asia

We all hear snippets of news about how women are treated in Afghanistan, and a little about women's rights in that part of the world, but it was only when I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini that I really began to realize the full horror of what it was like to be a woman in a culture which values women merely as child-bearing slaves.

 It would not be unreasonable to say that, by Western standards, women's rights in most of Afghanistan are precarious or non-existent.

 Women must obey their husbands, and all the males in their household, including younger brothers.  Even boys treat their mothers in ways which we would consider disrespectful.

Domestic violence (one-way naturally) is normal.  It is not illegal for the men of the household to beat a woman by way of chastisement if she does not do as they wish, and sometimes even the woman's mother-in-law will join in to beat and punish her .  There is no such concept as marital rape, and women do not have any say in the mode or frequency of sex. Basically she is treated as a slave, to do the housework, and to do what her husband and his family tell her to do.  Before marriage, she must obey the males in her household.

In some communities, an Afghan woman must not be seen outside the home without being covered with a burkha from head to toe including her mouth, and nose.  In some cases even her eyes are covered by gauze so that they can't be seen.  Imagine having to walk around in temperatures soaring above 100 degrees muffled up like that so that you don’t attract men's attention and arouse their evil desires. It makes you wonder what sort of animals the men must be if the mere sight of a woman's nose is sufficient to ignite uncontrollable passions. It brings to mind something Golda Meir said many years ago, that if men can't control themselves when they see a woman, it should be the men who are put under curfew, not the women. 

Afghan women must not talk to strange men or any male who is not part of their family, and, of course, must never have physical contact with any man to whom she is not married.

Even if she treads carefully and conducts herself according to the morality of the society in which she lives, the Afghan woman is still likely to be subjected to beatings, but would normally avoid serious injury, such as public stoning, and public whipping, judicially decreed by the local mullah, not to mention  assault by family members such as having boiling water or acid thrown over her. 

Oh, and I almost forgot – if an Afghan woman brings shame on her family, by refusing to marry the man chosen for her or to whom she has been sold or exchanged for land or other favors,  or if she has a relationship with a man, or behaves in any way which could be viewed as unseemly, her own family might feel morally bound to murder her. Quaintly enough, this would be considered to be an honour killing and would be socially acceptable.

Three thought-provoking films from YouTube about what it’s like to be a woman in Afghanistan.