Jason Parlour's Personal Blog

This is a recipe recently tried out from the ‘Green and Blacks’ Chocolate Recipes cook book, but with a few minor modifications for me (of course using egg replacement powder isn’t normally the way I try to do these things.. but this works well under the circumstances. I will work out a vegan version soon though):

Ingredients

Main cake:

• 200g plain flour
• 4 tbs cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 200ml milk
• 100g margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• 40g vegan egg replacement powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Syrup:

• 4 tablespoons of marmalade
• 3 tbs lemon juice

Butter cream filling:

• 100g milk chocolate
• 50g margarine
• 100g icing sugar

Icing:

• 50g milk chocolate
• 25g margarine

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C

‘butter and flour’ the cake tins, and/or use non-stick tins, but add baking paper to the base section

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and bicarb (from the main mix), and egg powder, three times, to thoroughly mix but also make it particularly light and fluffy.

In a separate small jug, mix in the lemon juice to the milk to curdle it.

Into another large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract, until fluffy. Then alternate the liquids and flour mix, mixing thoroughly all the time between each addition (not necessarily putting in all the liquids in, as it may start to  get too runny.  You can also add a little extra water though if necessary).

Divide the batter into the two tins, and bake for 20-25 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean, the cakes should also be slightly springy to the touch).

Once removed from the oven, leave in the tins for a short while, and then turn out onto a cooling rack (one face down, one face up).

 

To make the syrup, gentle heat the marmalade and lemon juice in a small pan, mixing well.  Then place the base part of the cake (flat side up) on your serving plate, and pour the syrup over the ‘top’ so it soaks in.

 

For the butter cream filling, first melt the chocolate over a double pan (or if you’re very careful, in a microwave, mixing well), and then allow to cool slightly (so warm, but not hot).  In a separate clean mixing bowl, blend the icing sugar and butter until fluffy, and then mix in carefully the melted chocolate.

Spread the butter cream mix over the flat base of the cake, and then sandwich it with the other cake as a topping.

 

To make the chocolate icing, melt more chocolate as before, and add a little melted butter.. mix well, leave to cool slightly, and then ice the very top of the cake.

 

Leave the whole thing to settle a little more (if you can wait), and then enjoy responsibly!

This is another of my favourite soup recipes, very warming, very filling, and very moorish.  Best served with some good hunks of fresh wholemeal bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 onions (corsely chopped)
• 2 carrots (corsely grated)
• a sprinkling of chilli flakes
• 500 grams red lentils
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1.5 litres vegetable stock (2.5 pints)

Method:

• Fry the chopped onion in a little oil/butter to soften until just turning golden.
• Add the spices, the carrot, hot stock, and lentils, and stir well
• Bring to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer
• Simmer for around 10 minutes.
• Enjoy!

One of the businesses I’m involved with is Hotel de Vie: a small boutique style hotel, of just 8 en-suite rooms.

Obviously I’ve taken countless steps to try and ensure we provide the best accommodation we can provide (and just last week, it finally took it’s rightful place as the number 1 guest accommodation in the Farnham area, according to the independent review website TripAdvisor.)

The hotel already provides various things for free, that many other hotels charge a premium for, ie a range of snacks, chocolates, fruits, fruit juices, yogurts, cheeses, biscuits, mineral waters, broadband WiFi, toiletries, freshly cooked breakfasts, etc.

I’m also very fortunate (after much selection and training) to have some really great staff who treat each guest as an individual (ie not just another room booking), they’re also always professional, and friendly at the same time, and of course great at their job.

We already have a good working relationship with a local taxi firm (they are our default choice of recommendations for all our guests).

We also have one of our regular guests (who’d stayed at virtually every other hotel in the area, before finding us, and now stays with us whenever she’s in the area), who also had a good relationship with this taxi firm prior to staying with us too.

This particular guest made a mention to me, during her last stay some months earlier, how she particularly enjoyed one of our organic teas.  So when re-ordering, I added an extra box of tea for her (costing me £2.59).

She came and stayed with us again in early September for a couple of days, and I’m sure that the ‘thoughtful gesture of her favourite tea’ (that she’s also not been able to find herself) encouraged her to share her happiness about the hotel, with the taxi driver again.

This same day, the same driver was picking up one of his other longer term international clients (who’s been visiting the area on and off for years).  That particular guest was complaining that morning about his current accommodation to the taxi firm, who I’m sure prompted by this conversation with our other regular guest, recommended my hotel…

A couple of phone calls later, and that guest was booked in to stay for nearly one and a half months, for over £3,500 of new business to the hotel!

There are countless fables and stories about ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’,  ’the mouse and the giant turnip’, etc.  In the hotel’s case.. it was a box of tea!

The hotel has also just experienced it’s busiest month since taking over 13 months ago, and it’s busiest week yet (and there’s not even a major event going on in the area!)

I was fortunate to find a book that was pretty life changing for me many years ago. This is not the picture book version, but the ‘Penguin Popular Classic’ which is entirely a text based version!

I didn’t get all that far through the book the first time around, as I was distracted by the pages referring to a the ’64 Arts’ which apparently should be studied in conjunction with the rest of the book (the traditional Hindu Arts).

Although these original arts are a bit different to the culture I was growing up in, I figured that the an equivalent I could work out, would probably be good to try and develop for myself over the subsequent years.

So the original arts (with what I see as many of their modern equivalents where appropriate) are as follows (I can’t do all of these yet, but they were a base for me to look out from and head towards):

1. Singing
2. Playing musical instruments
3. Dancing – Salsa, ballroom, pole
4. Performance combining the above
5. Writing and drawing
6. Tattooing
7. Adorning an idol with rice and flowers – Floristry and flower arranging ?
8. Spreading and arranging of bed of flowers, or flowers upon the ground
9. Colouring the teeth, clothing, hair, nails and bodies – body painting and hair styling
10. Fixed stained glass into the floor – mosaics
11. The art of making beds – hotel housekeeping
12. Playing musical glasses partially filled with water
13. Storing and accumulating water, aqueducts, etc. – household plumbing
14. Picture making – modern day photography
15. Stringing of necklaces and garlands -
16. Binding of turbans and chaplets -
17. Scenic representation /stage play – Amateur Dramatics?
18. Art of making ear ornaments -
19. Preparing perfumes -
20. Proper disposition of jewels and decorations in dress – fashion accessories
21. Magic or sorcery – stage magic and slight of hand
22. Quickness and dexterity in manual skill – computer typing speed.
23. Culinary art – cooking and baking
24. Making lemonades, acidulated drinks – smoothies, cocktails and fruit drinks
25. Tailors work and sewing – same today (including curtain making)
26. Making parrots and other decorative items out of yarn or thread – cross stitching
27. Solutions of riddles and verbal puzzles – same today (+ debating contests)
28. Connected stories game – Modern day politics or sales
29. Mimicry or imitation – acting and imitation
30. Reading, including chanting and intoning – public speaking / corporate training
31. Tongue twisters
32. Sword, quarterstaff, bow and arrow – martial arts
33. Drawing inferences, reasoning and inferring – psychotherapy and counselling
34. Carpentry – carpentry and furniture building (both flat pack and from scratch)
35. Architecture or the art of building – build your own home and/or house extension
36. Knowledge about gold silver and gems – same
37. Chemistry and mineralogy – same
38. Colouring jewels, gems and beads
39. Knowledge of mines and quarries
40. Gardening – gardening and tree surgery
41. Cockfighting, quail fighting and ram fighting – boxing or martial art tournaments
42. Teaching parrots or starlings to speak – dog and horse whispering
43. Applying perfumes to the body
44. Writing of cipher – code writing and code breaking / computer programming
45. Modifying speech in abstract ways
46. Knowledge of languages – speaking foreign languages
47. Making flower carriages
48. Spells and charms – Spells and witchcraft
49. Memory and mental exercises – brain challenges and IQ tests
50. Composing poems
51. Knowledge of dictionaries and vocabularies – well read and well spoken
52. Knowledge of disguising people
53. The ability to change cheaper items to appear as of a higher value (ie cotton to silk, etc.)
54. Gambling – gambling and stock market share dealing
55. Art of mantras or incarnations to gaining possession of others’ property – positive thinking and witchcraft
56. Skill in youthful sports – sports and athletics
57. Knowledge of the rules of society, and paying respects and compliments to others – well mannered, respectful to all, and ability to give genuine compliments
58. Knowledge of the art of war, armies, etc – military service (paid, part time, or voluntary)
59. Knowledge of gymnastics – modern day gymnastics
60. Knowing someone’s character by their features – personology, face reading and body language
61. Knowledge of scanning and constructing verses – speed reading and writing
62. Arithmetical recreations – maths challenges / chess
63. Making artificial flowers
64. Making figures and images in clay – pottery and sculpture

Particularly where I couldn’t work out a modern UK equivalent, I also felt there was a few modern day skills not included in the above list, but useful in the UK Society I lived and grew up:

1. Sailing and navigating on water
2. Ship building
3. Plastering a wall
4. Painting and Decorating
5. Household rewiring
6. Massage therapies
7. Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis
8. Meditation
9. Anatomy and physiology
10. Website design and development
11. IT software skills (ie Windows, Linux, Mac)
12. IT hardware skills (repairing / rebuilding your computer hardware)
13. Sales skills
14. Presentation skills / after dinner speeches
15. Voluntary work with children
16. Movie making / directing
17. Advanced driver training
18. Skills in piloting a plane  (ie private pilots licence, or gliding certificate)
19. Sustainable living / renewable energies
20. Growing your own fruit and veg
21. Survival skills (remote living)
22. Surfing
23. Rock Climbing / Urban Free Running
24. Car mechanics and repair
25. Swimming
26. Scuba diving
27. High Board Diving

Your thoughts?