Delicious!

This weekend was very busy for us. On Saturday Mr Mojcek arrived home after being away for almost a month and on Sunday I was celebrating my ahem-th birthday.

As a welcome present/surprise, we made MrMojcek some locally very famous cream cakes:

They were delicious!

And on Sunday instead of making a cake, I made raspberry muffins.

More Agatha Christie

72. MURDER IS EASY
An elderly lady gets killed on her way to Scotland Yard where she wanted to report just too many accidental deaths in her village. Luckily she tells Luke about it and he starts investigating the 'accidents'. Turns out that murdering is easy - as long as no one suspects you! Plenty of accidents, plenty of digging up the past and two broken engagements.

Memorable quotes:
-"But lawyers never go to law, do they? They know better."
-"Men have courage - one knows that ... but they are more easily deceived than women."
-"I don't think a museum should deal solely with the past, do you?"

Favourite Guest Character: Luke Fitzwilliam
Mystery: ***
Final Solution: ****
Entertainment: **
9/15


71. ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE
Although insisting on his innocence, Jack is convicted of killing his mother as the key witness never comes forward. Jack dies in prison and surprise, surprise, two years later the key witness appears when he returns from Antarctica! The case is reopened and if Jack is innocent - it only means that someone else must have done it. Everyone in the family suspects everyone else, so  there's a lot of digging up the past, a lot of suspicion, a lot of family issues, mother-child relations and a lot of thinking. And not much else. Guessed the killer way too early to find the book interesting.

Memorable quotes:
-"One must take responsibility for one's actions and not only one's actions but for the result of one's actions."
-"The answers never are what you think they will be."
-"It must be pretty fair hell to be born a woman and to be born plain and unattractive, especially if that isn't compensated for by having any special talent or brain."
-"There is usually something in one's own children, some kink of temperament, some way of feeling that you recognise and can understand without having to put into words."
-"The truth often does sound unconvincing."

Favourite Guest Character: Phillip Durrant.
Mystery: ***
Final Solution: **
Entertainment: **
7/15


70. THE PALE HORSE
Witches and witchcraft! Black magic seems to be behind several persons dying of unrelated diseases, and yet Mark and Ginger cannot quite believe it. The trail leads them to a local pub, The Pale horse, and further to a professional that helps... people die naturally. A somewhat strange novel with an ingenious solution! According to Wikipedia, this book saved several (real) lives!

Memorable quotes:
-"Retire whilst you can still enjoy life."
-"You don't need to kill your victim. All you need do is - tell him to die."
-"But the science of tomorrow is the supernatural of today."
-"I knew what I wanted. Infinite leisure in which to contemplate the beautiful things of this world, natural and artificial."

Favourite Guest Characters: Ginger. And oddly, Mr. Bradley.
Mystery: **
Final Solution: *****
Entertainment: ***
10/15

Fifteen inches of pure white snow!

  Snow, snow and more snow!

Which is great, because I love snow :-)

Were it not for this...

 A textbook example of scarlet fever.

Perfect pancakes

A food post for a change!

The simplest yet currently my favourite pancakes:

125 g  flour
1 egg
a bit more than 250 ml of milk
a pinch of salt

mix till you get a homogeneous batter. 

Put a little of batter in the preheated greased pan.

And here's the trick that makes all the difference:

I usually used olive oil (the only oil we keep) but since I had some coconut oil left from making the soap, I said I would give it a try. What a difference it makes!

(Update: I should note that not every coconut oil is as good as this one. The one you buy in a bar in the supermarket is just blah. This one is from a eco-bio-vegan sort of shop).

 

 Bake until golden brown.

And although strawberry jam is very very good, as is orange marmalade come to think of it, I usually use Nutella with sliced almonds.

 Divine.

PS. Yes, I am aware that coconut oil is not the healthiest choice, but hey, I use less than a tablespoon of it.