Stephanie Jane: My Week in Review to the 28th January

Sunday 28 January 2018

My Week in Review to the 28th January

First up, huge news that it is my niece's birthday today!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

We've had a quietish week this week with just one excursion of note which was a cycle ride from Puerto de Mazarron to Bolnuevo and back. We went out by the roads and returned as much as possible along the seafront promenade so got to see different things to the last time we visited Bolnuevo. I loved this statue of a diver. There wasn't a plaque I could see anywhere identifying the sculptor though. Dave also spotted a trio of flamingos! They are in the centre of this photo below although you'll probably need to click into it to enlarge it - and squint - to see them The birds are white, not pink.

There's an old aqueduct that we've passed several times on our way in Puerto de Mazarron. It has a sign board, by parking up safely nearby is tricky. Dave remembered in time to stop last time though. Apparently the aqueduct was still in use for irrigating agricultural land until just a few years ago when the water source dried up.

In other news, two cooking experiments turned out surprisingly well for me this week! Firstly I wasn't able to find the usual dried yeast sachets at Consum to was recommended to try fresh yeast cubes instead. A pack of two 15g cubes is just 29 cents and worked brilliantly. In my standard Slow Cooker Wholemeal Bread recipe, the change was that I dissolved the yeast in the warm water and then added the salt, oil and flour as usual. The rolls came out even bigger than they normally do! And the fresh yeast is less than half the price of the dried.

I also made a batch of Scottish Drop Scones with aquafaba (chickpea water) instead of egg. These worked perfectly too and the banana slices I fried alongside the pancakes were an excellent topping. I had the liquid from a 400g jar of chickpeas which I used instead of one egg. Everything else was as per the recipe linked here.