Warming Your Muffin


Chris left Wales for Ireland very early this morning. He probably left the house as I was putting up the sixth unit of blood up for my patient  in the wee small hours.
All I know , was that when I got home the dogs had infiltrated the living room ( thanks to Albert who has the ability to open the kitchen door) and had merrily dotted the carpet with several little puddles.
Of piss.....it's not their fault.....its Winnie's leaking fanny that causes the problem.......

So I've shampooed the carpet, walked the dogs in the pouring rain and have just lit the fire. The cottage now looks homely and warm and everything in front of the fire is steaming gently.
My twin sister has just emailed me, wanting to know what I want for Christmas. and looking at the fire this morning, I know exactly what I shall ask for..
I want an old fashioned toasting fork!
As children we would often toast bread, muffins and crumpets in front of the fire. The ritual was always fraught with a tiny bit of danger. Of slightly scorched kiddie fingers, smokey tasting toast and proper butter stains.over your front.
If you were toasting bread. It would always be thickly sliced bread, an inch thick.
It was like toasting very small cushions .

The older we get, sometimes the more we enjoy recreating the happy memories of the past.
It's a miserable wet day today.....so...I think I'll treat myself to a crumpet this evening.......I'll fashion a short term toasting fork out of one of Chris' knitting needles.......and will give the toasting a bit of a go........




77 comments:

  1. "It's a miserable wet day today.....so...I think I'll treat myself to a crumpet this evening"

    Ah... an occasional treat can be enjoyed all the more than a regular one.

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    1. There speaks a man who understands crumpet

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    2. Ah well now... Appreciation does not imply understanding, although I have some inkling of the basics.

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  2. You have a gift for titles.

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  3. Muff in and warming. x

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  4. Anonymous10:48 am

    Maybe use two (metal, not plastic) knitting needles through the bread slice? So the bread won't slip around.

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    Replies
    1. Or just skewer a French loaf?

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    2. Anonymous7:02 pm

      Silly me. I was only envisioning toasting one slice at a time. But a whole loaf at once? I bow before your efficiency.

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  5. You have started a longing in me for a slice of old fashioned toast , the bread in France does not lend itself to a slice of real toast lovely . We have a dog with a medical condition that means she cannot go more than about an hour and a half with out peeing , so we take it in turns getting up in the morning and mopping up , thank goodness for tiled floors .

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    1. Yes .......I think that is going to be our option chris

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  6. uh, I would have your head on a toasting fork if you used one of MY knitting needles! I would not do that if I were you.

    that said, the fire looks like a nice place to spend a wet cold day.

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    1. I have turned off the lights and am looking at the glow of the fire right now x

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  7. Rainy days have a way of making people sentimental.

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  8. I have a bread maker which means we have to slice our own bread. I seem to cut it like doorsteps!! Makes great toast though.

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  9. Your fireside does look very cosy and inviting. Does Chris really knit? (I can remember as a student nurse working nights and having to walk along an empty basement corridor past the morgue to collect the blood from the big fridge. It was so scary! Your post just reminded me of it.)

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    1. Sue
      Look to the left of the fireplace
      There lies Chris' knitting bag

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    2. I saw that and immediately knew what it was cause I have several! :)

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  10. Not a plastic knitting needle, please! The fire looks wonderful!

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  11. Chris knits - who knew? Did he handcraft that rather lovely hat you are wearing in the photo at the top (the one where you are making a guest appearance in 'Hinterland')?

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    Replies
    1. He has knitted e several pressie scarves
      And a jumper with a tiny head hole

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  12. It was pouring down so hard here this morning our four didn't want to go out! bonus lol x

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  13. Leaking fannies can be such a nuisance.

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    Replies
    1. How do you cope Rachel?

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    2. I always enjoyed a wet fanny John. I don't have too much to cope with these days.

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  14. Comforting thoughts of times past....more frequent as we get older. Chris knits? Wonderful!

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    1. Yes look at the picture again...you can see his knitting bag

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  15. Drop that knitting needle and raid your closet. Or do you not have tacky (and bendable) wire coat hangers in the UK?

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  16. You living room and the fireplace just scream "come here and take a nap". In fact, if I lived there that's probably all I'd do.

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    Replies
    1. A real fire can make you lazy......it forces you to relax

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  17. Anonymous1:25 pm

    Oh John...that reminds me of the old popcorn popper the folks used over the wood stove. They grew their own popping corn and it was such a treat to have a bowl on a dark winter nigh but the most fun was watching the kernels explode in the cage.

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  18. I have an antique extending toasting fork.... nothing better for Crumpets.

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  19. It never crossed my mind to toast crumpets in the toaster until I left home doh! We only ever had them done with the toasting fork on the fire. How I miss a proper fire...

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  20. I would venture to say that good memories come more easily as we age since we have trouble remembering what we did yesterday.
    Refresh my memory, what exactly IS a crumpet?

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    1. Sharon
      Crumpets may have been an Anglo-Saxon invention.[1] An early reference to them comes from English Bible translator John Wycliffe in 1382 when he mentions the 'crompid cake'. The early crumpets were hard pancakes cooked on a griddle, rather than the soft and spongy crumpets of the Victorian era, which were made with yeast.[2] The crumpet-makers of the English Midlands and London developed the characteristic holes by adding extra baking powder to the yeast dough[citation needed]. The term itself may refer to a crumpled or curled-up cake, or have Celtic origins relating to the Breton krampouezh meaning a "thin, flat cake" and the Welsh crempog or crempot, a type of pan

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    2. Thank you. now I also know. I wanted to ask too.

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  21. When I was an impoverished university student, I used to toast bread on a metal clothes hanger held over the stove element set to high. Hmmm, doesn't sound quite so charming as your method!

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    1. Ahhhhh
      You sound like ebonite in les miserables

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  22. Your reference to the toasting fork brought back some happy memories of the old range we had in our kitchen. It seems so long ago.

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  23. Tell us more about Chris knitting!!

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  24. If you can find an all metal circular needles you would be golden, alas, I doubt they exist. It does sound like a lovely idea and gift and I hope you get one.

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  25. Sounds very lovely.

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  26. If I had an open fire here I would use one or two of my long bbq skewers I think, one down each side and it would spread the heat through the bread, just like it does with my jacket potatoes. Saves on cooking time too.
    Hoping Chris either doesn't find out or doesn't mind about his knitting needle.........:-) xx

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  27. Looks so cozy, especially on a rainy day.

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  28. Don't you dare use Chris' knitting needle. You will scorch the paint and the stitches won't slide along. I recommend a kitchen fork, some duct tape and another stick for length. Or, wait till Christmas (which you won't do, we know).

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  29. Ah John, I bought my first crumpets of the season today. I should have had one but forgot all about them until reading your blog. Duh!
    Jean
    x

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  30. I'm with Joanne - step away from the knitting needles!!! Chris knits? Who knew! Have a good weekend, sir. x

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    1. Not a patch on your stuff old friend

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  31. I'd forgotten about toasting crumpets in front of the fire (usually Saturdays during The Generation Game). The other thing I remember liking was a jacket potato, wrapped in foil and baked on the bonfire. No potato ever tasted as good.

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    1. Yes for some reason Saturday afternoons with toast.......wrestling on the tv and sitting by the fire are memories for me

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  32. A warm muffin is a fine thing....

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  33. John I wish you lived nearer. I have an old fashioned toasting fork I would love to give you. As for crumpets - I adore them, thick with butter dripping off them and honey on top of that. Drool, drool

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  34. Being an avid knitter, I am with Joanne and Nana...DO NOT US CHRIS" NEEDLES!! There, now I feel better.
    Can tell you don't knit, Johnny Boy!!
    Thanks for Crumpet definition....I can Sharon now scratching her head!!

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    1. Jimbo.....I have just toasted a muffin on the end of a metal salad fork
      And jolly nice it was too

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  35. How about using a wire coat hanger to make a fork, might be a bit sturdier.
    Briony
    x

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  36. What a pleasant scene. "Everything in front of the fire is steaming" - does that include Meg/William (they do look alike, don't they?)

    My father used to knit when he was growing up as his mother always had something on the needles. My mother's father could crochet and tat. I have carpal tunnel so have turned to machine sewing, drat it. But our daughter is an avid knitter. I'm glad to see the younger generation picking it up.

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    1. I think very bright men like to knit.....it relaxes themind

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  37. What a fabulous picture! I'll bet everyone who sees it would love to be in that room, warming their feet beside that fire. Very cozy and inviting.

    I'm glad the other commenters convinced you not to use Chris' knitting needles. I don't think he would have been impressed.

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  38. Do you know about s'mores? There's a lovely fireside treat, even messier than buttery crumpets. I can just see Winnie practically swallowing your hand after you offer her some fingers to lick off.

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    1. I've just googled them.... Bloody hell...I think I have just seen one thing that may eclipse a scotch egg !

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    2. You've never had a s'more? Oh my...you are definitely missing out. Of course, I've never had a scotch egg and apparently I'm missing out too!

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    3. I've had both s'mores and Scotch eggs. I think one followed by the other would be a very filling meal.

      Some years ago now, at the suggestion of the first mate on a sailing trip, I tried adding a little peanut butter to the graham cracker then the chocolate, then the marshmallow. Heaven. The pb gives it a delicious dimension. You don't slather the pb on, but lightly spread it. MMMmmmmm

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  39. A nice thick sliced home made bread would be wonderful toasted that way. I have a nice simple bread recipe

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  40. My Nana's toasting fork hangs next to our wood burner, ready to be called to action whenever the need arises. Some traditions HAVE to be continued :-)

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  41. gosh I could go some toast right now. and a lovely cup of tea. Blowing a hooley outside here

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  42. You have a knack for inviting people "in," drawing a chair up to the fire for them and making them feel very much at home.

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  43. What a wonderful idea. I hope you receive just what you want for Christmas.

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  44. I can remember as kids having toast toasted over the open fire with slathers of butter and strawberry jam for Saturday tea. That was when we had a hot meal in the middle of the day. Now days with most people working all day we tend to have our main meal of the day later after work which seems to be less calming somehow. Sunday tea for us when I was a kid often boiled egg and soldiers. I also remember having sardines cooked in a skillet served with brown bread and butter. Yum. Sorry I know this was about toast but when I get started on food it's difficult to stop.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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  45. It's nearly 4 AM here in Virginia, and I'm up in the middle of the night with one of our dogs, and thought I'd stop back by to read the "sad story" you mentioned in another post that you've apparently taken down... If there's no sad story, I'm going back to bed... :-)

    And by the way, I just read you've never had a s'more? You have toasted marshmallow's, haven't you? ...And like your reader "1st Man" I've never had a Scotch egg either, it's on my bucket list!

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