Advent Calendar December 17th

A Calorie Free* Squidgy Chocolate Log

This is a cake that has no flour in it – so it's extremely light and moist and perfect for anyone with gluten allergies. It's also a bit wicked, with its chocolate mousse and whipped cream filling! During the rolling up, the cake will crack, but this is quite normal and looks most attractive.

Many thanks to Delia Smith for this one, I've cooked it year after year and it never fails.


Serves 8 (but you won't want to share)

Ingredients
6 large eggs, separated
5 oz (150 g) caster sugar
2 oz (50 g) cocoa powder

For the filling:
8 oz (225 g) dark chocolate (70-75% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
2 large eggs, separated
8 fl oz (225 ml) double cream

To finish:
icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).
Equipment

You will also need a tin 30 x 20 x 2.5cm / 12 x 8 x 1 inch, oiled and the base lined with baking parchment

MethodBegin by making the chocolate filling. Break the chocolate in pieces into a basin and add 100ml/4fl oz warm water. Now place the basin over a saucepan of barely simmering water and wait for the chocolate to melt. After that, remove from the heat and beat it with a wooden spoon until smooth. Next beat the egg yolks, first on their own, then into the warm chocolate mixture. Let it cool a bit then whisk the egg whites till stiff and fold them into the chocolate mixture. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.


Meanwhile you can get on with the cake. First place the egg yolks in a basin and whisk until they start to thicken, then add the caster sugar and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens slightly – but be careful not to get it too thick. Now sift the cocoa powder into the egg yolk mixture and whisk them together, then, using a clean whisk and bowl, whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage. Next carefully cut and fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture – gently and thoroughly – then pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake the cake on the centre shelf for 20-25 minutes until springy and puffy. When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven but leave it in the cake tin to cool (it will shrink quite a bit as it cools but don't worry, that's normal).

Then when the cake is quite cold, turn it out on to an oblong of baking parchment which has been liberally dusted with icing sugar. Peel away the cake tin lining paper from the bottom of the cake (which is now facing upwards), then spread the chocolate mousse filling over the cake. Next whip the cream softly and spread it over the chocolate filling. Now with the shortest end nearest you, roll the cake away from you, using the parchment to help you to make a log shape. This will serve eight people and, although it's unlikely that there will be any left, you can cover any remaining cake with an upturned basin and keep it in the refrigerator. As an alternative, an 11 oz tin of sweetened chestnut purée (crème de marrons) can replace the chocolate mousse.

*Calorie free?  Well if you can't believe in miracles at Christmas there's no hope for you!

A busy week from pianists to Diversity at Plymouth Pavilions with EVT in between!

And then there are weeks when I’ve done so much I don’t know where to start. Saturday was particularly crowed, the day started with my youngest son taking part in the St Austell Music and Speech festival, he was competing in the Grades 1  piano section and once again overcame his nerves to do us proud. This annual event always seems to have low attendance figures and yet the standard of performances throughout the week is always excellent. It’s a great opportunity to hear stunning music at close quarters for a £1 entry fee. So my thanks as ever go to the organisers of this event and to his piano teacher Rachael Mitchell.

Having dashed out we then sprinted over to rugby practice at Lankelly Fowey, again another bunch of incredible volunteers who run the most friendly, welcoming supportive club around. Unfortunately due to bad weather the following day’s match against St Austell had to be called off, funny matches are often cancelled but never training! As soon as that was finished my youngest son was whisked away to a birthday party at Retallack Lodges to go on the Flow rider. It’s hard to explain the flow rider unless you see it but try to imagine an upside down wave on a trampoline. So whilst he went off to defy the laws of physics, Steve and I scooped up our disgruntled eldest son and dashed over to Meva to set things up for EV Thompson who was coming to the shop to sign copies of his latest book “Beyond the Storm.”

As usual, he arrived on time and was promptly inundated by friendly fans and we had a great afternoon. He’s a lovely man and I enjoy meeting him every time. I’d also like to say thank you to all the people that chose to buy his book from us, we appreciate the support that you give us and it’s always nice to meet new customers.

Of course that wasn’t then end of the day as Mevagissey switched on their Christmas lights and it was a wonderful event with a lantern parade and stunning light puppets all marching to the beat of a Celtic samba band. So yet more thanks to the committee who despite really challenging conditions this year but on a memorable event. And whilst we’re thanking people, thank you for everyone who is still shopping in Mevagissey, almost all of us are open for business and it can be lonely if people think the village is still closed for business.

Sunday was a true day of rest. Tuesday however saw us carefully bombing up to Bristol to wave goodbye to my sister as she prepared to sail across the Atlantic. Thank you to both of the boys’ schools for knowing that there are more important things in life than attendance figures and thank you to the meteorological gods for giving us such an amazing display of hoar frost as we travelled up country. The highlight must have been hitting -10 at Okehampton.

Wednesday found us jumping up and down to three rappers at Plymouth Pavilions who were warming the crowd up for Diversity, the dance act that won Britain’s Got Talent last year. It was amazing, I went with friends and 7 boys ranging from 8 – 11 who loved it even more than we did. So there we are, a properly busy week and thanks to everyone who made it a great one.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Author-signs-shoppers-bookshop/article-3002403-detail/article.html

Advent Calendar December 16th

A Snowflake

Now I know some of you make have seen enough of these but it's quite green down here in Cornwall so we have to make our own.  Follow the instructions on this website to make the most beautiful 3D paper snowflakes.  You can make them big or small but they are incredibly easy to do. An 8 year boy can master these with a stapler and a bit of sellotape.

http://christmas.newarchaeology.com/make_paper_decorations.php

Advent Calendar December 15th

A Freebie!

Do you know Project Gutenburg http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page It's an incredible project that was stared in 1992 that basical aims to make all copyright free texts available to all.  They've now taken the logical step forward and are making all their free online books available for free downloads.

Want the complete works of Jane Austen for your laptop or kindle? Go ahead! Dickens, the Koran, Noddy, knock youself out.

Merry Christmas

Advent Calendar December 14th

A Funny!

The new Built-in Orderly Organised Knowledge device ('BOOK' )
The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its protective cover! Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disk.


Here's how it works... Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.

Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. this make them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.

The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, though like other display devices it can become unusable if dropped overboard. The 'browse' feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an ' index' feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval. An optional 'BOOKmark' accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous bookmarkers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of sheets in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS). Portable, durable, and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the educational and entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.

Advent Calendar December 13th

A recommendation!

Go and have a look at www.fantasticfiction.co.uk  It has horrible graphics and layout but it is the most comprehensive booksite around.  Wonder which book comes next in a series? Or if your favourite author also published under a pen name? Or if a new book is ever going to be written?  All at www.fantasticfiction.co.uk.  Trust me, it's brilliant - just wear your sunglasses.

Advent Calendar December 12th

A Tip.

Amazon is a great site for reviews of a title.  If you are not certain if you will enjoy a book or if it covers the things you are interested in then check the public reviews.  Often reviewers are free with their opinions and suggestions for alternative or better choices.  Like all things it's subjective but it's a great start.

Then go and buy the book from an independant ;-)

Advent Calendar December 11th

And behind today's door?

Free UK postage! So don't worry if you hit the streets today and come home empty handed.  We've got lots of interesting items in the shop; revolutionary Russian pamphlets, learn to knit, latest whodunnits and so on, a happy cornucopia of goodies. Save your petrol, save the car park fee, put the kettle on and have a good old browse.  We'll even light the fire for you.

http://www.hurleybooks.co.uk/

Advent Calendar December 10th

 Now we know that things can fall behind at Christmas so for all of you who haven't got around to doing your Christmas cards yet here's a stunning collection of cards and we've taken one shinny pound off.  In our shop they are £6.99 but you can have them for £5.99.  These packs of 10 really are glorious cards and even if you've been super efficient I'd buy these now for next year...and be even more super efficient.

http://www.hurleybooks.co.uk/

Launching our Advent Calendar

We saw 15 cornwall running this idea and thought it was fun. Each day we will post an interesting book fact, a new site suggestion or a special offer and in true Christmas tradition we are opening our advent calendar late!  Keep checking in.

Beautiful advent image borrowed from http://jujyfruitjungle.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/seventh-day-advent-calendar/

Thanks.

Stupid beauty adverts and why I love them.

With Christmas fast approaching I’m having fun watching the beauty adverts. Yes, I know I need to get out more. Like any advert that is about to employ “science” to sell you something advertisers seem to lose the plot. Out come the white coats, the ridiculous claims, the invention of new breakthrough product,  bullshitium. They’re all breakthrough by the way. I mean Pantene now comes in a water based formula – well thank god for that, I can finally throw away my acid based shampoo and that Gastrol conditioner was doing nothing for my locks, so thank you Pantene for inventing this revolutionary product. Oh no, wait a minute, that’s right, that’s rubbish. All bloody shampoo is water based, it’s the first principle ingredient, only they don’t call it water, it’s aqua. Aqua sounds more scientific, more chemically, more expensive. I’m not going to pay £4 for a tub of water but a tub of aqua, why £4 is a positive steal!


I know I mock and as Steve will tell you I’m right at the front of the queue for fancy pots of lotion, I enjoy it, nice smelly creams and potions are fun but it doesn’t make me stupid so I don’t appreciate being treated as such. Do you remember that awful ad with Jennifer Anniston doing a hair or skin advert when she uttered the atrocious line “Concentrate, here comes the science bit” Huh? Because I wash my hair does that make me the intellectual equivalent of a dung beetle, if I clap hands do I miss? What is the correlation between beauty products and stupidity? And before you men try to jump up and answer that question can I draw your attention to the recent “male grooming” adverts? It appears that you poor chaps have been neglectful of your skin, all that snowboarding, bmx-ing, rally car racing, boxing and late night poker games are hell on your dermis, but don’t worry L’Oreal knows that when you play tough you need Hydra Energetic. No, it’s not moisturiser, that’s for girls; this is Hydra Energetic, totally different. Really. Honestly.


It’s like the coke adverts. Diet Coke is advertised by dolls in a fashion agency, Zero Coke however is in a black can. It’s cool. Again it seems to be drunk in between boxing, snowboarding and driving cool cars. If you check their website they agree that there is a slight taste change between the two products but both have the level of calories and sweetners. Clearly the advertisers realised that men didn’t care about their weight but liked the idea of all that cool snowboarding!

I don’t know if this blatant targeting of men is a step forward or a step back. I suppose it’s nice to see that men are now also being treated as idiots by the advertising agencies and it’s a far cry from the Brut adverts, although that Old Spice advert did go in for a lot of surfing. Women seem to sit around looking pretty whilst men go out and do stuff. Exciting stuff. Stuff that involves boards or mud or white water. When they start advertising rugby players using Hydra Energetic then I’ll be impressed but I can’t see it happening. Mind you Gavin Henson would be the ideal candidate.

So I don’t see what’s wrong with a bit of prettiness and pampering. Why should frills and ribbons have something to do with IQ, why should the love of pink denote lesser brain power? Because I’m not prepared to be patronised by a gender that believes the loo roll fairy changes the roll over, that isn’t aware that the lid on top of the laundry bin is actually removable and that cups hidden behind curtains won’t go green with mold.

So Steve, if you read this a gift pack from Clarins will do just nicely and I’ll continue to tackle the laundry bin on my own.

Heading back to the eighties in electric blue pants.

Is it just me or have we all gone back in time? OMD and the Pet Shop Boys are in the charts, Michael Jackson is heading to Number One; students are rioting, the country is struggling its way out of a recession and a royal wedding has just been announced! All of a sudden I’m back in the early eighties.

Now don’t get me wrong, despite the recession, the strikes, the war and the riots I enjoyed the eighties. Put it down to the blissful ignorance of being a teenager but life certainly seemed easier. Well it was, I didn’t have to work and I wasn’t responsible for anything more complicated than getting my homework in on time, learning the lyrics to the new Eurythmics single and choosing what make up to wear.


Of course things were tough; girls had to choose between ra-ra skirts and pompom skirts and boys had to look at them without laughing. Mind you, the boys had their jumpers tucked into their trousers and wore jackets with rolled up sleeves. The Don Johnson look didn’t even work for Don Johnson. For those of you unaware of these “to die for” fashion items, a ra-ra skirt stopped several inches above your knees and had about as many ruffles on it as a Spanish castanet player’s sleeves. It was a rare girl that could avoid looking like someone’s loo roll cosy and I was not that girl. Still I did manage to avoid the pompom skirt. If the model on Just 17 failed to look cool then I knew that it was going to be a non- starter for me.


Unfortunately I wasn’t able to exercise the same level of judgement when it came to make-up. I seriously thought gold, blue and pink eye shadow worn together with electric blue mascara and black eyeliner was really trendy. Well it may have looked trendy but it didn’t look good. I don’t know if it’s better or worse but I also had outfits to match the chromatic nightmare. A huge, fake, fur coat in electric blue, concealing a pencil skirt in fluorescent yellow cord and a satin effect blouse in shocking pink. Nicely finished off in patent black high heels. It’s almost impossible for me to imagine how bad I looked were it not for the fact that my parents took photos.


There we all are, beaming out at the camera, eyes and teeth as bright as our outfits, full of life and ready to take on the world. The fact that we looked awful and our parents must have been crying with laughter to themselves didn’t matter a jot. We thought we looked great and we were having fun.

So when my son tries to wander out of the house with his trousers slung so low it’s damn near indecent I can only be thankful that he doesn’t have any electric blue pants!

Laurel and Hardy go to the auctions

If you ever go to the auctions and see a man and woman silently bickering and giggling their way through the event chances are you’ll be looking at two of Hurley Books finest. Steve and I both love going to the auctions but it would probably be better if we didn’t go together. Last week I was after a lot of bird books, there were some really nice Cornish ones with line drawings that I particularly wanted but Steve couldn’t see the attraction. Bidding had got to £30 and Steve said enough, I of course was happy to go on but the auctioneer had seen his emphatic shake, moved past us and finished the bid with someone else at £32. Steve then had to endure a silently fuming harridan stood next to him for the next few lots.

That’s the joy and the problem of an auction. I was convinced that I could have had that lot for £32 but of course if I had continued to bid against the other person we may have gone way past £50, you just don’t know how much the other person wants what you want.

We started to whisper again as we secured a few lots and the ones that Steve was keen on started to hove into view. We should have paid more attention because as the auctioneer called out lot 125, Steve groaned realising he had just lost his place and lot 124 had sailed past. Surely the hammer didn’t fall on such a ridiculously low figure of £15? Please let it have been £150. Please let me not have missed the bargain of the century?

Then a collection of children’s books was ready. Now this was a beautiful lot of Edwardian picture books including a Rackham. Guide price £80 -£120, well that was reasonable but I was prepared to go to £200 because there were some really nice titles and one or two I had never even seen before. So as the lot approached I braced myself ready for action; the auctioneer had some bids on the book and opened at £250. Talk about having the wind knocked out of your sails, it would seem that someone else also rather liked the look of those books.

The day wore on and we got most of what we had come for as well as a few speculative items. These will be ones that we hadn’t looked at but were going for such a low price that it would be rude not to buy them. Collection at the end was funny, there were a few pleasant surprises and one or two groans but by and large a success.

Steve went to the next auction on his own and I nearly fainted when he came home and told me what he’d spent. Granted, he got some really fascinating things but oh mercy, our poor bank balance. So now it’s noses to the grindstone, get the books listed and up onto the internet and into our shops, otherwise Christmas is going to consist of a lump of coal and half a carrot.

I haven’t read a thing in ages simply because I’m going flat out with the new business at the moment and throwing money around at auctions so if anyone can recommend anything I’d be really grateful.