The Bluestocking - Raiders of the Lost Sparp

[lcakethereforeIam]

Welcome everyone. Wipe your feet, it's been wet out.

Don't forget to namechange before posting if necessary.

A) There's a Tunnocks tree?!
And
B) You look terrifying!

I love you fuzzy its a game near halloween.

Was this a hit and run raid? 🤔

With the assistance of eldest sprog I baked some biscuits. We cut them into Halloween-type shapes and, tomorrow, we're going to have a go at icing them.

I have never iced anything in my life.

I am not a hit man.

I've been googling how to make a piping bag....I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight.

@Boiledbeetlejuice who are you and what have you done with BoiledBeetle?

Snowballs are good to roll away, leaves abound as hiding places for critters.

i have not confessed, (well not just yet anyway a deal may need to be done)

The snack cupboard is a lot more roomy than it looks.
I think there's enough to share between us all, I can't scoff all these by myself!

Just as the hat of serenity brought contentment and good hair, the MASK seems to have unleashed something very very bad. The Bluestocking may need its first exorcism

📖🔔🕯

ps, have I had a babyberry, and if so how?

oh I see, babyberry is from a school and is doing work experience

You want to get the additive-laden coloured icing that comes in tubes.

Saved me much trauma writing things on birthday cakes (and, one notable year for 5th November, all the words of 'Remember, remember...'

As I recall, 'gunpowder', 'treason' and 'plot' were the most popular words to consume...

<sinks into a comfy chair> Morning All 🤗I have just got back from a lovely autumnal walk with Boots [my dog]. I think I will indulge with a pumpkin latte today.☕

Morning i had to have a lie in due to last nights excitement. Off to watch the Darlington thread in a bit.

I’ve never tried a pumpkin latte. It’s always seemed like a strange idea to me given that pumpkin is a rather bland fruit. I assume it means ‘latte spiced with the mix used to make pumpkins taste of something in a pie’?

Not such an odd idea as the children in Hogwarts drinking pumpkin juice as some sort of Halloween treat - that surely requires magic to make palatable?

Mmm - lovely...Its the spice of a pumpkin latte that appeals to me, cinnamon nutmeg and a touch of clove.

Over here we know autumn is at hand when the electronic sign outside Dunkin’ Donuts says “Pumpkin spice is back!”

But why do we call it ‘pumpkin spice’ in the UK, where pumpkin pie isn’t really a thing (I don’t think I’ve ever eaten it here or seen it served) but we have lots of delicious things which use these spices?

maybe this one really is JKRs fault for introducing the idea of autumnal ‘pumpkin juice’?

I don't like pumpkin and I don't like cinnamon/ clove/ nutmeg spice.

Bah humbug.

I think pumpkin spice is probably an Americanism. We had pumpkins carved for Halloween when I was small but we would not have dreamt of eating it and my DM rarely threw food away.

I remember somebody telling Boily to be aware that they had pins and a piece of card - and they weren't afraid to use them😁
edited to say that this was in response to Magpie's reminder of her and Boily's relative sizes.

Who would say such a thing!? 😬

We used to carve turnips, though I must admit I have never been wild keen on turnips as food. I can thole them in a stew but that's about it.

I'm very partial to mashed turnip - either on its own with butter and a pinch of nutmeg as an accompaniment to a roast, or in rumbledethumps.

The internet reckons Irish people drink 'lambswool' (ale, spices, apple pulp) at halloween, which just shows you can't trust the internet. Tay, red lemonade, the first hot whiskey of the winter are all credible. Not that.

I love pumpkin pie. Over here it's very common to buy a can of pumpkin puree (which is often made with butternut squash anyway). It's an easy thing to make and everybody here likes it. But pie isn't the only use for pumpkin - it's great roasted in chunks like any squash, and it's great in a veggie curry along with something beany like chickpeas.

Pies are The Thing for Thanksgiving (which is upon us soon) - I love a pecan pie as well as a pumpkin pie, and a coconut cream pie or a chocolate cream pie gets my vote too. I don't mind fruit pies like apple or blackberry (no blackcurrants or any other ribes allowed in Maine though) but I don't feel enthusiastic about them.

I get very confused between turnips and swedes. In my head, turnips are small white vegetables with a little purple tinge to them around the root and stem, and swedes are large root vegetables with orange flesh. I'm not wild about turnips, but I do like swede mashed with lots of butter and black pepper, also in a veggie soup. However, I frequently hear people use the word 'turnip' when to me what they mean is swede.

In Ireland the yellow-fleshed veg are called turnips. We don't really eat the smaller white-fleshed ones. What are rutabagas?