A4e - Blogpost 1

Last week I attended a course with Action for employment (A4e), one of the agencies the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) uses to try to help jobseekers into employment.

A4e had a torrid time in 2012; you can read all about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A4e . Despite this, it continues to run courses, particularly for those on Work Programme which shirkers like me, who have been signing on for Jobseekers Allowance for more than a year, have to attend.

This is my fourth brush with the organisation. I voluntarily attended two courses in London last year at different centres. Both were very good, the trainers were motivating and practical, the centres comfortable and accessible. For me, it was mostly just nice to chew the fat with other jobseekers; looking for work is a lonely business, whether you do it from home, an internet cafe or a local library, so it's a morale boost to communicate with folks in the same situation.

Still unable to find employment, my contact with A4e became formal (polite-speak for enforced) in November.  That said, I waited five weeks for my first appointment, so busy are they in my local office. For those of you who haven't encountered me before, I recently 'bounced-back' from London to the village in Lincolnshire in which I grew up. The nearest point of civilisation is Grantham, a town in which jobs are pretty scarce in the current economic climate.

So, my first appointment was an interview in which the difficulty in getting me back to work, and the support I will need, was assessed. Despite suffering from depression and anxiety, which manifest themselves as and when they please, although much less since I haven't been living alone, I have been deemed pretty much ready to exit the employment starting blocks without too much help.

On attending a four-day course entitled 'Silver Event including the local labour market', it became evident why pretty quickly...

See A4e - Blogpost 2

Delia Smith's Moussaka

450-500g minced lamb
1 large aubergine sliced into half-moon shapes
225g onions, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
2 tbsps tomato puree
a splash of red or white wine
ground cinnamon
fresh parsley, or Herbes de Provence
salt & pepper

75g butter
75g plain flour
3/4 - 1 pt milk
50g Cheddar cheese
freshly ground nutmeg
2 eggs

Salt the aubergine, put in a colander, put a plate on top and weigh down with a tin of veg.
Rinse, then fry. Put onto kitchen paper to absorb excess o/o.
Fry the onion, add the garlic, then the lamb mince.
Add the tomato paste, wine, cinnamon and herbs.
Simmer for 20mins.

Melt the butter, stir in the flour gradually. Remove from the heat. Add the milk gradually (you may not need it all).
Add the cheese and grated nutmeg.
Whisk the eggs and then add them to the sauce. Whisk until thick and smooth.

Arrange the aubergines on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Pour in the lamb mince mixture. (You may need to layer the aubergines and lamb alternately).
Pour the sauce over the aubergines and lamb mince.
Put in the oven for 40-60 mins on 160-180 degrees C.

Serve with salad, pilau rice, steamed vegetables or crusty bread (probably not all four or you'll probably explode!)

Just A Quickie

Mea Culpa. It's been almost six months to the day since my last post. Gawd bless Richard Herring who has been blogging daily since 2002. I had planned to come here to record what's been happening over the past months, but I'm not in the mood so instead I'm going to post my new favourite soup recipe. I'm come back another time, maybe to spill my guts, maybe just to recount how my knitting and embroidery are going.

Parsnip & Ginger Soup

Ingredients: Parsnips, around 5, peeled and chopped
                    Carrot, peeled and chopped - mainly to improve the soup's colour
                    Onion, peeled and chopped
                    Cloves of garlic - 1 or 2 - peeled and finely chopped
                    Knob of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
                    Knob of butter, for frying vegetables
                    Pears; two small, peeled and chopped
                    Vegetable stock - about a pint
                    Powdered ginger and hot chilli sauce, optional
                    Coriander leaves, to garnish
                    Yoghurt, to stir in - optional

Cook the onions, parsnips and onion for a few minutes until soft.
Add the garlic and ginger, cook for another minute or two, then add the pear.
Add the hot vegetable stock slowly and simmer for 10-20 minutes.
Taste and add powdered ginger and/or chilli sauce.
Puree in a food processor when cool, then reheat to serve.

It's the easiest thing ever!

Recipe for Tiffin

Soak 50g of seedless raisins in 2 tbsps of brandy or OJ for 30-60mins.

Line the base and sides of 15-20cm square shallow baking tine with edible rice paper (or grease tin well).

Break into pieces 175g plain chocolate and melt over pan filled with boiling water (bain marie) w. 125g unsalted butter and a pinch of salt. Turn off heat as soon as chocolate has melted.

Stir in raisins, 125g chopped candied peel, 150g digestive or shortbread biscuits, crushed and 75g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped.

Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and press down evenly. Chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight until firm.

Break or cut into squares and store in an airtight container.

Fruit, nuts and biscuits can all be substituted with any other cakey ingredients you have to hand.

I don't know why this is called tiffin. Tiffin, a word originating in the days of the British Raj, is a light meal or snack, often eaten at lunchtime (a packed lunch, if you will). Mum always used to make this at Christmas; it's great because you can use whatever you have in your cupboard, it doesn't take any cooking and keeps for as long as you refrain from eating it!

The reason I'm including this today, is simply that I found it in an e-mail when I was clearing out my Hotmail account.

Icepoles

When Twitter goes all 2002

Sunset, Belfast Airport, August 2010