Maureen

Thank you! I feel a sense of achievement!

Today I baked some sun-dried tomato bread rolls. They are not difficult to make, but you do need plenty of time, as the dough needs 'to rest'. Well worth the effort though - we ate half of them just out of the oven, and they were great.

twisty as in fusilli?

M&S Dark Choc Jaffa cakes. Wolfed down 4 with my coffee.

How could you bear to do that?

http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/baked%20beans Dictionary definition of baked beans.

Hi Angel, haven't talked in a while - hope you are well. How does Jean Plaidy compare to Philippa Gregory? I have never read her, but I notice that she has loads of historical novels. I have read Philppa Gregory's Tudor series, and I was wondering how they compare - as I would like to read something else prior to that period.

Welcome to BCF

Cadbury's Luxury Cookies

Tess Gerritsen was the featured author here at one time. Check out her interview here.

What about the Septimus Heap series? I have not yet read them, but bought the first book and it seems like an interesting series.

And how do you come to that conclusion? I believe I said 'Baked beans are made from Haricot beans, but not vice versa'. And when I say 'so British', I'm not including America in the mix - the context was Europe.

Next time to go to a store ask for haricot beans and see what you get.

You are totally missing the point. I never said the British invented beans. But 'baked beans' - tinned and in tomato sauce - are mostly popular in Britain. I have never been offered baked beans for breakfast in France, in Spain or in Italy. You might be offered some over here, because we cater for the British tourists, but our local breakfast is more often toast, bread or local pastizzi.

But they are not baked beans. Baked beans are made from Haricot beans, but not vice versa. I might be wrong, but I don't think anyone eats haricot beans on toast We use beans in soups too - the kind of beans that you have to leave soaking in water before cooking, but I would not describe them as baked beans either. A local favorite snack made of (broad) beans is bigilla. We usually serve it at gatherings, with drinks or at parties, with local 'hard' water biscuits called galletti. Delicious.

That's not what I have in mind when I hear the term 'baked beans'. For me baked beans are the ones in a tin in tomato sauce, such as Heinz, that British people like to eat for breakfast. What you are describing is a pork and bean stew (cassoulet).

Made from baked beans, like Heinz for example? With tomato sauce in a tin?

What is 'sobronnade'?

Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride. A truly enjoyable book - comfortzone genre. It's the first book for my by this author, and I think it is his debut novel too. I will surely be checking out the rest of his books though.

I managed to get a number of red wine stains off my winter white pair of trousers with Vanish a few weeks ago.....

That and serving bread and butter with meals

Baked beans are so very British aren't they?

OHHHH Chrissy, my mouth is watering. That sounds glorious!

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood. I really struggled with this book for the first 200 pages or so. It was so dull and boring. However about half way through, my persistance paid off, and although I will not say it was a great read, I can honestly say I'm glad I read it. According to wikipedia, this book won a number of prizes. There are a number of stories going on within the book - almost like a matryoshka doll, excerpts of these stories are narrated during different timelines, with cuttings from newspaper articles giving flavour and reality to the main story.

Ok, so I need to update this. I've since read 101 days in Baghdad by Asne Seierstad, (author of bookseller of Kabul). This is the story of a Norwegian journalist who was in Baghdad during the March 2003 attacks. She tells of her constant efforts to stay there to continue her reporting, trying her utmost to find the real stories and thoughts of the Iraqi people, which are totally different to whatever statements/thoughts/stories are permitted by the Saddam regime. She describes the aftermath of the attacks, life for the locals, from the poor, to those who are better off, financially. A great read - this was eduacational and informative.