Thread 14 - TalkLair: “What The Hell Are We Supposed To Use, Man? Harsh Language?”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 13).

Summer should be well under way, but the chilly wind, grey clouds and pouring rain beg to differ. Looks like 2024 continues to be a washout - on the bright side, the Tories got washed out too! In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Just polished it off as we speak! Very nice! I got distracted: today's project was going to be the Welsh cakes.

Excellent! Welsh cakes to follow.

Ta da! 😀

They look delicious! Welsh cakes are lethal and best made with lard as well as butter (although I suppose not if you are veggie). Does vegetable shortening work as well?

Ooh, those look good! Fess up, how many have you eaten so far?

I nipped round my mates and gave him some, cos they're nicest while fresh. And his aged Mum will like them. But i fear in my rush I may have over-generous, and given too many away! 😀I generally use half butter, half butter sub (actually Lidl 'Perfect for Cakes' (and that makes great pastry, I find), but in this case, I used all butter.

Oh dear, you'll have to make some more!

I always make Welshcakes with all butter. They’re delicious but definitely best fresh.

We’re just back home after a fabulous holiday in Wales, DH loaded up every spare spot in the car with Welsh cakes!

I’m definitely going to try making our own soon.

I remember a stall in the indoor market in Swansea where they used to make them to order.

They’re pretty easy to make (and you can go rogue with non-standard ingredients) but I think my milkman will deliver them if asked.

I've been making them since I was in my early teens - taught by my Welsh dad - but this has made me realise I haven't made them for about 10 years. Time to get back to work on that!

I only started making them a few years ago (because my brother gave me a griddle pan as a present, optimistically hoping the result might be homemade Welshcakes when he came to visit) but they’re in my history too. My parents made them when I was little and they were ever present in my aunt’s farmhouse kitchen in west Wales. And at university I shared a flat with a Welsh girl whose answer to any crisis was “have a Welshcake”. The Ian I have probably isn’t the best option but it works just fine.

I have a very very Welsh friend, at whose wedding enormous platters of mini Welsh cakes in the shape of hearts were part of the catering, and we in the choir each got a mini lovespoon in our thank you for singing party bags. It was lovely and one of the very few weddings that really stands out for me.

I've looked up some recipes for Welsh cakes, IMO the ingredients and method look very similar to scones. Which makes sense, as their texture and flavour were very similar to scones (but superior!). As soon as we have finished our car-load of Welsh cakes, I'll have a go at making some <cultural appropriation>.

We did a few days of Welsh Duolingo before our holiday, which at least allowed us to say good morning, thank you, goodbye, those sorts of basics. I'm now wondering whether to continue with it - a second British Language seems rather tempting, especially as this place is one of our favourite UK holiday destinations! The grammar looks hellish complicated though.

We had a great time in North West Wales last year. Fabulous scenery. We stayed near Porthmadog and called into Portmeirion.

I also love bara brith.

My DSIL's family are from south Wales and we stayed with them near Tenby a few times when they still lived there. Lovely part of the country. I haven't been to North Wales since 1963 so I imagine it's changed somewhat - my DH wants to do more touristing in the UK so we'll end up going no doubt at some point.

There's a Welsh cakes recipe on the Simple request for 'gender critical' activists thread.

I've just dug up a few potatoes to go with dinner and was surprised to find they are black. The variety is 'Blue Anneliese' and Mr Veg put them in but said they looked more brown at the time. We were both very surprised and are now very much looking forward to dinner.

morghew.com/shop/blue-anneliese/

Goodness me...

https://morghew.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DSC05159-scaled.jpg

Nice. We've got purple rain and lily rose this year.

https://www.patchseedpotatoes.co.uk/product/purple-rain-seed-potatoes/

https://www.patchseedpotatoes.co.uk/product/lily-rose-seed-potatoes/

I have grown nothing this year which is a bit rubbish of me. Those look like some interesting potato choices though!

My family is mostly from Wales (my parents came from different areas in south Wales and my sister lives in the north) but I was born and raised in London and not Welsh speaking. I can manage good day and good night and counting and a few odd words but that’s it really. I should probably make more effort!

Those lily rose potatoes are a gorgeous colour.

The Blue Anneliese were good. I cut them up small and cooked them with green beans and orange sweet pepper in an omelette, very colourful. Good flavour and creamy texture. We'll try those again. I'll steam some today and see what they're like that way.

We sometimes get fancy blue potatoes in our veg box, but I've never seen such spectacularly dark ones!

I may have to start a thread in Property/DIY later, but am floating my question here first, in case somebody has the answer:

Our porch has a half-wall with a sandstone sill. (All the stonework on the house had been painted, for many years, since long before we bought it. We have had it repainted once since we moved in, this was a couple of years ago.) This particular sill has had a long-standing problem with weathering and eroding; clearly pre-dating the original painting and meaning that new paint doesn't stick and just weathers off as well. It is obvious to me that no amount of repainting is going to help. I tried Googling "replace stone sill" but the main hits are all fancy stonemason type things. I was thinking rather of a concrete sill as it is just going to be painted white. Is a concrete replacement advisable, and what sort of trade should I be Googling for?

@Kucinghitam is there a stone sealant that would help?