Reread...
Carve her name with Pride by R.J.Minney
A biography of Violette Szabo (nee Bushall) Who was the daughter of a French mother and an English father who grew up between France and England.
She was charming, brave, adventurous, loyal, tough and she died bravely and far too young after being captured by the Gestapo in France whilst on an operation for SOE.
I read this long ago ..it is an easy book to read and also a very hard book to read and probably wasn't the best choice in some ways for the moment because the loss of such a vital life is so sad.
Her behavior was so admirable and the contrast to the evil abroad was great.
I'm still enjoying "To War with Whitaker" a lighter War read.... if only because I know Hermione Ranfurly lived to be an old lady!
The sun is still shining and our ducks (Good quackers that they be) are still laying so after managing to buy a bag of gloriously shiny and beautifully lemon scented lemons I decided to make Mircrowave lemon curd and also two trays of Meringues....
Recipes...
Microwave Lemon curd.
4oz/1 stick/226g butter
grated rind & juice of 4 lemons
1 cup/198g sugar
8 egg yolks
large heatproof bowl
............
mix melted butter with lemon and sugar add egg yolks whisk
zap in microwave for 1 minute
whisk
zap for 1 min
whisk
zap for 1 min
whisk
keep going until mix is thick enough to coat back of a spoon and a thermometer registers at 185 degrees f
spoon into clean dry jars
cover, cool and store in the fridge
Result 3 pots of rich sunshine yellow, tangy and totally Yummy lemon curd.
Meringues
Beat/whisk the 8 egg whites till stiff
add 1 cup/198g sugar
and 1/4 tsp cream of tarter (if you have it)
Beat/whisk till stiff
spoon onto baking sheet
bake at 275 f of 2-3 hours
I was going to take a snap of these but the family (and I) didn't want them to risk going off so we ate them .....lol ...if one is hiding in the tin I'll take a snap.
On the neighborly front my neighbour who likes a good golden age mystery asked if I had "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie ...the answer was yes and no ... I have the green penguin with the original title and almost wrapped it's cover in brown paper when arranging a socially distanced hand over.
I also found my copy of Murder on the Orient Express which she hasn't read yet ..a much easier book to loan. We had a nice chat and she kindly sent our Guinea pigs some apples and then retreated with the books and a pot of lemon curd.
Now I think it's a pot of tea and some tangy lemonness on toast.
Trying to think why Carve Her Name With Pride rang such a huge bell when you mentioned it in your last post. I fancy it must have been a well known book or more probably 'film' when I was young, eons ago. Suspect it was a frequent Sunday Matinee movie on the TV or something. I've never read the book so will keep an eye out for that.
ReplyDeleteYour handing over of the AC with the original title made me feel for you. Not your fault but awkward.
We were in Scotland about five years ago and stopped at teashop in a community hall in the middle of nowhere for a cuppa as it was raining and chilly. They had fruit loaf and homemade lemon curd on the menu and I had to order it. My goodness I've never tasted anything so delicious... I bet yours is every bit as nice. I may try it.
Cath you are so right ..starring Virginia Mckenna in 1958 ..I must've seen it too ... https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x684znd
DeleteIf you have lemons? the curd is really easy (and if I can't mess it up that means it's practically twit proof...lol)
Now you mention fruit loaf ..it sounds ever so appealing ..I wonder if I have some dried fruit hidden away ?
Hi Val. Hope all is well with you? Life's a bit strange here at the moment as my husband is in hospital.
DeleteJust popped in to say that I finished To War With Whitaker and what a brilliant read it is! Loved it to bits. Did you know that there's another book of her diaries, 'After the War with Whitaker', diaries edited by her daughter. It's cost me an arm and a leg but I've just ordered it.
You can use the microwave to make lemon curd? I am so giving this a go. Thank you. I love lemon curd. Also, can I say, the imagine of receiving a book and a pot of lemon curd (at a safe distance), sounds absolute bliss. Lucky neighbour.
ReplyDeleteWe are so lucky the ducks are laying so well at the moment ...def rec the lemon curd ...erm I think we need to make some more!
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