Rash Bash 2009

[Uncle Matt]

Not to mention proper fish and chips!

[Bamawing]

And yes, Bama IS as hyper as she appears on the forum

Who, meeeee?

Oatcakes are abfab, no joke. And Andy is awesome and Matty is awesome and Guzzi is Guzzibear and awesome by definition. Chole is even cuter in real life, y'all, than she is in the pictures. Yes, I know - it's hard to imagine but it's true. All blonde curles and big blue eyes.

I'm at Andy's house at the mo, typing away on a British keyboard and backspacing every time I try to hit the shift for a capital letter. Wifely One is an incredible hostess, and DD made us the MOST delicious dessert.

[andyb]

..

 Wifely One is an incredible hostess, and DD made us the MOST delicious dessert.

Today was spent at The Cock Inn - the pub with no bar (!) - playing armchair skittles followed by a trip to view some picturesque villages and ending up at the Shuttleworth collection (vintage aircraft and ve-hicles), and then a visit to The Golden Pheasant in Biggleswade (Pub of the year (Eastern Region) 2009) to sample some guest ales and ciders.

Wifely One then introduced our guests to Toad-in-the-hole and DD wheeled out her B&B pudding for dessert - with homemade Brownies on standby in case our guests felt like they needed a taste of home.

So... It's official - Bama likes DD's speciality Bread and Butter Pudding with custard and clotted cream

yum - clot-ted-cream - sluuuurrrppp 

Hopefully we'll be able to continue these new-taste experiences for our guests and procure some Bedfordshire Clangers to sample tomorrow...

[Bamawing]

Dude I have so gotta try to get the recipe for clangers. They're a bit like burritos, but not really.

(Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I'm on Andy's computer as I type this, and burrito is flipping out the spell check!)

OK. So take a chicken burrito, minus the Mexican seasonings. Add onions. Then take two more bites and transition the onions into apples. Nibble for a bit longer, and then the chicken gently gives way to raisins. Add cinnamon.

I introduced them to Rice Krispie Treats. it's the least I could do.

[andyb]

...and the rice krispies are going down a treat! 

I don't know the full receipe but it involves a lot of marshmallows, some melted butter and a whole box of cereal. Hey bama, perhaps you could set out what you did?

In the meantime I've found a recipe for a version of the Bedfordshire Clanger here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/bedfordshire-clanger-422669.html

[Bamawing]

Squee! Recipe!!

OK, Rice Krispie Stickies (that's what daddy calls them) the original recipe (American):
http://www.ricekrispies.com/Display.aspx?kic=true&recipe_id=1605

The Bama semi-original (not really) recipe:

1 Bag marshmallows
About half a stick of butter or so
Way lots of Rice Krispies. Like WAY LOTS. I feel megabad - this batch could have used twice the amount of cereal.

Melt the butter and marshmallows in the nuker. It takes about 2 minutes on high, tops. Marshmallows get all puffy when you nuke them, so take that into account when choosing the bowl. You're going to want a microwavable bowl the size of Colorado. If all you can find is a microwavable bowl the size of New York State, dump the melted marshmallows into a nice Colorado sized one after extracting them from the nuker.

Stir like mad to mix the butter and marshmallow melt. Keep stirring and start folding in cereal.

*IGNORE THE OFFICIAL RECIPE.* It's gonna take way more than 6 lousy cups of Krispies. Keep mixing until it looks right, or until your arm falls off from the effort. I used an entire (European) box, and it really wasn't enough.

Butter or grease the stew out of a glass cake pan. Trust the crazy Bama lady on this one.

Now mash the sticky marshmallow-cereal mess into the lovely greased/buttered pan. Make sure it goes in the corners, like Mama always said. If you use too much butter, like I did this last go-round, you can do this easily with a spatula. Otherwise, you'll have to make do with waxed paper... and by "make do" I mean you get an extra thing to lick at the end.

Now leave it the heck alone and let it cool. You don't have to put it in the 'fridge; room temp is fine. If you used waxed paper to mash, leave the paper on it until it cools. Otherwise don't worry with it.

It'll cool down in 20 minutes or so. Then you get to cut it into hunks and make with the munching. Ooooh, it's good!

[Wooley]

Soooooooooo excited about tomorrow!!

It is so very nearly my turn for some Bama time!!!

    

Wooley

[Uncle Matt]

Say hello to Sarah and James and Luke form Uncle Matt

[Wooley]

Say hello to Sarah and James and Luke form Uncle Matt

I'm pleased to say the children are otherwise engaged, so we'll be able to actually talk and have lunch in a civilised fashion. Well, maybe! 

 

[andyb]

Soooooooooo excited about tomorrow!!

It is so very nearly my turn for some Bama time!!!

    

Wooley

I've just got back from waving Dan and Bama off at the station *squeezes hanky dry* - they're already in London by now, the weather is so foul I took ages to get back up the A1 from Stevenage.

I just hope it's a lot kinder for you in Oxford tomorrow Woo

btw I thought they shouldn't visit Oxford without first seeing a bit of Cambridge so we visited yesterday while were out and about - BIG MISTAKE!!  - what started off with Bama squeeeeeing from the back seat looking at all the touristy sights with the colleges and all turned into a frustrating time - traffic in Cambridge is so congested we took ages to move a few hundred yards. I'd forgotten that that was one of the reasons we moved all those years ago - its even worse now 

By the time we reached the outskirts we were so thirsty that we just had to stop at a hostelry to refresh ourselves 

Good Luck! *hands the Rash Bash Baton to Woo

[Wooley]

I feel like meeting up with me is going to be a major disappointment after everything you have done, Andyb!! You sound like an amazing tour guide!!

Yet another rainy summers day - poor Bama really isn't seeing England at it's best is she!

Woo

[GuzziHeroV50]

She is seeing England at its 'normal' :p  But heck this is why we have such amazing greenery

And dont forget to say "E ba gum" at some stage  You oughtto see the confused looks on Bama and Dan's faces

---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/364517.stm

[andyb]

I feel like meeting up with me is going to be a major disappointment after everything you have done, Andyb!!

I'm sure y'all will do fine even if it is raining.  

Dan and Bama are a great couple and easy to get on with - for example Dan was helping me repair the rocker arm assembly on DS's girlfriend's Ford Fiesta yesterday afternoon and I was glad of the advice.

You've got to have a new 'taste of Britain' experience prepared though - I don't know if Oxfordshire has anything unique you could introduce to them? Over here it was the Bedfordshire Clanger but we also managed to work in Jordan's Cereals, Bread & Butter Pudding, Clotted Cream, Marmite (<Squeeeeeee> from Bama), Kendal Mint Cake (Peppermint Pattie in the States apparently), Adnams Lighthouse Ale, and Treacle Tart (another <Squeeeeeee> from Bama - apparently Harry Potter's favourite) amongst others while they were here! I forgot about the Stilton Cheese in the fridge though   - maybe next time...

You sound like an amazing tour guide!!
Yet another rainy summers day - poor Bama really isn't seeing England at it's best is she!
Woo

Actually, we were quite lucky in between showers - but Oh! the humidity!

I've just been thinking about some of the sights we managed to squeeze in and I think we did quite well in the circumstances... Nene Valley Steam Railway, the Turf Maze at Hilton, The Japanese Koi company at Henlow (some seriously large carp here   ), the Shuttleworth Collection (vintage aircraft and ve-hicles), ALDI in Biggleswade, The American Cemetery at Madingley, The Backs at Cambridge, The Swiss Garden at Old Warden - the list goes on....

I must get some pictures up...

[Bamawing]

...and in the Potteries we got oatcakes and in Skeggy we got "proper fish and chips" along with Skeggy rock... Not to mention a slew of fine ales and beers and malts and bitters.

And I totally love English architecture.

And an enterprising bloke on the train to London offered to buy my hat for 20 quid. NO WAY! I love me hat, I do.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I'm picking up English!

[CalamityJane]

Making me envious this thread is.........

Bedfordshire Clanger

Please tell, what is that?

NO WAY! I love me hat, I do.

If you are heading up North Bama.....amend the above to "I love me 'at, I do"! You'll fit in perfectly!

A good time was had by all. And I imagine Woo's went just as well, despite any weather burps.  So looking forward to some pics y'all!

Jane

[andyb]

Making me envious this thread is.........

Bedfordshire Clanger

Please tell, what is that?
..
Jane

A Clanger? Sure! In this case, not one of those little swanee-whistling sock puppets that lives under a dustbin lid on the same planet as the Soup Dragon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clangers
but rather a local version of the Cornish pastie, but with suet pastry and with a savoury filling at one end and a sweet filling at the other - so a complete main meal and dessert in one!

Traditionally these were made by wifely ones for the workers out in the fields. there's a recipe link further back in this thread

Hope this explains?

andyb

[GuzziHeroV50]

...and in the Potteries we got oatcakes and in Skeggy we got "proper fish and chips" along with Skeggy rock...

Dont forget the mushy peas!   Om nom nom.

[CalamityJane]

A Clanger? Sure! In this case, not one of those little swanee-whistling sock puppets that lives under a dustbin lid on the same planet as the Soup Dragon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clangers
but rather a local version of the Cornish pastie, but with suet pastry and with a savoury filling at one end and a sweet filling at the other - so a complete main meal and dessert in one!

How very creative, who'd have ever thought it! Brilliant. I used to love Cornish Pasty. Canajuns just can't quite get it right........

Jane

[andyb]

Here's the first image of the Bedfordshire element of Bama's Rash Bash 2009

We're at The Cock Inn at Broom, and Bama is tucking into sliced beef like she hasn't had it for ever!

Left to right is Andyb, Bama, Dan (Bama's hubby) and Charlotte (AndyB's DD)

[andyb]

Here are Dan, Bama, DD and Wifely One ordering drinks from the cellar (The Cock has no bar!)


...and here we are at The Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant in Biggleswade