Colour run Saturday (photo heavy : ) )

At the Finishing line

My daughter had seen photos of this last year and was really keen to get involved in 'A Color run' this year, nothing wrong with my spelling that is how it is promoted, so when it was coming to Birmingham she rounded up a couple of her besties and sent off for entry.

Through the post came a Color run T-shirt, headband and tattoo transfers although tutus, socks and other accessories could have been bought!!!!!!

Clean, ready to start the race

As parents we were involved in transport of the highly excitable young ladies and dragged in for taking photos.

As we parked at the NEC you could hear the booming of the music near the start, there were thousands of people: old , young , babies in covered pushchairs, wheel chair participants, families etc. Head dresses galore, weird footwear, fairy wings, and flags a bundle. The over riding thing was everyone was Happy, Happy, Happy. 

Coming into the last bend

Fresh and just starting the race

The racers went off in cohorts, so we said goodbye hoping to see the girls around the coarse. Realistically we could only photo after the first colour had been thrown at them as the course wound its way in the distance. At the pink stop they were still full of running, giggles, and energy.

Still breathing

It was our time for food as we had to wait trying to judge the best time to wait at the finishing line.On reflection stand out colours and at least one of them with a phone would have been useful. Yellow, a yellow wig would have been good!!!! We became runner blind. Waves upon waves of runners bedecked in pink, blue, orange and green paint ran towards us all with 'Color run' t-shirts and all with headbands on!!!!! We waited , and waited and still waited then finally a banshee scream from them let us take the action shots they wanted. 

The finishing line was breached.

Let the paint fly

Then we descended into the cloud....... a cloud of multicoloured powdered paint. As we searched for them, the girls were given a packet each of paint to throw around.

Just so happy

Thoroughly brilliant. Everyone seemed happy and all for a good cause.

My only recommendation is definitely wear a stand out item, my eyes were literally sore with trying to focus for their group, also if it doesn't get too sweaty or fallen on do take a phone around as that would have helped.

Hysterical

Oops

Exhilarated 

Look what you did?

Matching blue hands

Where are you?

Why?

I repeat why?

Happy moments

I can't breath with laughter

Even we got covered

Ready!!!

Wonder what had been said?

Look at the floor!!

Really happy

Selfie time

Just before getting in the car!

Hysteria beginning to hit

Posing

Moreish - Goats cheese and Thyme Potato bread

For me the most moreish bread ever

Goats cheese is a bit of a Marmite cheese, so to speak, some people adore it others cannot even cope with a whiff of it as it reminds them of an animal pen. I have to say I love, love, love it, I love the texture the way it ripens from a dry core to a soft giving edge. Cheese I do love, and our town is particularly favoured by the fantastic cheese shop, Paxton and Whitfield. A shop you know is there even before you go in just by the beautiful aromas that escape the confines of the chilly interior. The blues, the smoked, the washed rind cheeses, so many....my absolute favourite is Stichelton, a cheese made in the same method as Stilton however only using unpasteurised milk, to me it is softer and has a more creamy texture, just perfect.

However this bread is just utterly moreish and is made from standard 'Goats cheese', you return and return to this bread cutting off another corner or wedge until all of a sudden it has gone.

This weekend I followed the recipe to the ounce and found that for our tastes we want more umphh.... adding more of the stronger flavours. Therefore as I write the recipe I will add in brackets quantities which will make a more umphhhy loaf, and leave out of brackets the recipe as it was given to me.

Ingredients
4 Spring Onions finely sliced (7)
1 Medium Potato (2)
1 rounded teaspoon (tsp) chopped Thyme (well you saw my quantities, probably around 3/4)
6oz Self Raising flour
1 tsp of salt
1/8th tsp Cayenne Pepper ( well probably more like 1 tsp)
1 large egg (2)
2 tablespoons (tbs) of milk
1 heaped tsp Wholegrain mustard ( 1tbs)

•  Chop all the onions across and finely and place in a bowl

Spring onions finely chopped

•  Grate the peeled potato and add to the onions

Potato, peeled and grated

•  Strip the leaves from the Thyme bunch and chop finely. Place with the other ingredients.

Thyme leaves finely chopped

•  Add the Self Raising flour to the bowl

•  Next measure out cayenne pepper to your taste.

Hot Cayenne

•  Then add - salt and wholegrain mustard. 

Wholegrain mustard, salt and egg added

•  Chop the goats cheese into large chunks, I usually use two goats cheese rounds. Use one round in the mixture and leave the other quantity to dress the outside of the bread. Mix all these dry ingredients together. Then mix in the egg (s) and milk to form the wet dough. The dough should not be dry but fairly sticky and wet.

Portion of cubed goats cheese

•  Place on a greaseproof tray. Use the set aside chopped goats cheese and press the cheese into the dough carefully.

Combine ingredient and place on greaseproof paper

•  Place in the oven at 190c for 45 minutes (50), depending how golden it looks I sometimes turn the oven off and leave the bread in the oven, on the timer, for another 10 minutes

This is a great bread if you are doing a family snack type lunch, we have used this in the lounge with the extended family to have a full cheese board, tapas style dips and nibbles, large pork pie and scotch eggs with salad, coleslaw and chutneys. On those occasions two of these will be needed or ? you could make the following

Sage, parsnip and parmesan bread or

Feta, black olives and Red onion bread

Follow the same recipe but use sage instead of thyme, parsnip instead of potato and parmesan instead of goats cheese. Vary quantities to your liking. 

Again with Feta use it instead of goats cheese and red onion instead of of spring onions, keep the potato and the wholegrain mustard.

A Favourite Cheesecake

This is the easiest and only Cheesecake we make. It is soooo easy to make and apart from letting the jelly set too much there really is nothing that can go wrong.

Lime and Lemon with Passionfruit Cheesecake

Ingredients

300g/12oz Rich or Light Cream cheese

100g/4oz Caster sugar

Salted butter

300g/12oz Double cream

1 Packet of Lemon or Lime jelly
Juice of two lemons
Base
150g/6oz Chocolate Hobnobs or Digestive biscuits
25g/1oz Demerara Sugar
75g/3oz Salted Butter, melted

On trying to be slightly more healthy we have tried this with Light and Lightest cream cheese and both work just as well as the full calorie killer cream cheese.

• To start with I suggest you get the jelly mixed, that is split the small cubes into 250ml of boiling water, when these have dissolved top the fluid up to 500ml with extremely cold water to quicken the setting process and place in the fridge (keep an eye on this as you don't want it to set just to approach setting).

Break up cubes of jelly



Add boiling water to the cubes then once melted add water

• Grease the mould and lay down some greaseproof paper. I use a spring mould as it is so easy to extract the Cheesecake at the end.

Weigh Hobnobs

Crush chocolate Hobnobs

Melt butter

• Place the butter in a saucepan and melt along with the sugar, this then is mixed into the crushed biscuit crumb. Quickly lay this in the bottom of the mould, this is a fine layer. Place also in the fridge.

Mix melted butter, crushed hobnobs and sugar and spread into tin

• The double cream needs to be whisked carefully until gently thickened. In another container mash the cream cheese a little to break it up, add to this the lemon juice, caster sugar. Now mix in both the thickened double cream and the setting jelly.

Whip cream until fairly thick

Weigh cream cheese and mash until soft

Add caster sugar

• Work relatively quickly and scrape all this mix onto the biscuit base in the mould, try and make it level and then leave it to set in the fridge.

Mix the cream, jelly, sugar, lemon juice and cream cheese toget

The best thing about this cheesecake is that it can be frozen at this stage, we have sliced it and wrapped individual portions or for Christmas frozen a whole one.

To finish the cake just add whipped double cream on top to decorate, we create a barrier and then flood the top of the cake with a coulis of some variety, today it was 'Passionfruit'.

Pour mix into Spring mould, leave to set in fridge then decorate

Part 2 -Longcanggou - In Red Panda country but we didn't see any.....

As we travelled along away from the city the smog lifted and the stunning sharp scenery emerged, every green patch of usable ground was cultivated and huge works were being envisioned throwing up tunnels through mountains.

Our next night allowed us to stay in newly built wooden chalets, not heated but serviced with a very useful heated blanket, agghhhh.

Our chopstick abilities were beginning to be put to the test. Similar meals began to pop up, lots of vegetables with minimal meat, to add texture the meat would tend to be gristly or fatty. Initially this would not be favoured by myself however you do get used to it.... Food would come one or two plates at a time which would be gannet eaten by us, a little unseemly. Interestingly rice would only appear at the very end acting as a filler.

The next couple of days involved going up a hill stopping every few metres thank goodness for a new spot of another bird although the men did do the boyish thing of striding out on occasions leaving quite a few of us breathless on the steep inclines!! Along these area we would meet locals, in standard dress but with a fibre cape on.... the fibres were coarse almost like coconut husk gathered on the cape in a form of thatch. The area was immensely damp in general and apparently this was to allow you to continue to work, the thatch acted like it did as a roof on a house allowing the rain to sweep away and not penetrate your clothing!!

Around the chalet was beautiful cultivated fields along which I took a day off from the bird watching and got up late : ) and strolled along looking at life at MY leisure. The day was warm but with a slight morning chill, the fields had a slight haze over them and morning in the houses had already calmed down..... I walked along and found that obviously that not many tourists came around here yet, the chalets were used for wedding parties and local conferences, thus as I walked along and was noticed and stared at a lot. We had already begun to get used to this in towns and wherever we went that was not on the standard tourist trail. My dearest memory of this day was an old couple tending their field who I think appreciated the break of seeing me. They waved me over and through sign language they worked out I was married, had three adult children, what our jobs were etc. I appreciated the time as it was a lovely chance to meet some kindly local people. It also of coarse gave me a chance to take photos, at last......