LEARNING ABOUT "WhatsApp"....Delumptious Bread-&-Butter pudding

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ # 17      Learning about ‘Whatsapp’…..

                               “ An education… ”

Soh!.... “Computerpherous Angie” and  MaryQuantKarin. were deep in discussion in the passage outside my office: They decide one day, that I too, should have “ Whatsapp’’ uploaded to my mobile phone….and showing MAJOR  ‘false bravado’, I wholly agreed…with a vigorous shake of the head.        

After-all, what’s good for them, must be good for me?...surely?  

Whatever what “ Whatsapp’’  was..I’ll whant that ‘app’  too!

…for those of you who haven’t a bloody clue as to what an “app” is…it is an ”applicatioN”…an extra service/program to utilize……to wrap your head arouNd, oN your mobile phoNe!

To wrap my Mind  (…that very same Mind  that told me never to attempt making Ouma Flo’s pickled herring rollmops), yes!, to wrap my mind around the notion of instant text messaging flying through the airwaves and landing instantaneously -  in little pastel-coloured strips onto my mobile phone’s screen was far-r-r-rrrr more than my capable comprehension!

But I let them!  I let “Computerpherous Angie”  and  MaryQuantKarin. misappropriate my brand spanking new phone, to load that ‘application’… and to cajole me into Their  communicative language!

Of course, I never told them for at least 6 months, that I couldn’t begin to use this ”Whatsapp”   thingy …wellll I didn’t know where to locate it on my phones’ screen…let alone comprehend what to do with it ?!!!

And THEN,   one evening, needing to know where to locate the bloody Internet via that phone, I purely, by chance, happed upon the “ Whatsapp ” …telling me I had expired !

Expired ? …. Que diable  !   I had to upload again …..sttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrressed and perspiring, I pressed all the right buttons…YES !  …I uploaded without any help…I was once again connected to “ Whatsapp ”!... And so, at 11pm  at night, I excitedly experimented…..

I typed a message…my very first message…to “Computerpherous Angie” !

The reply came back instantly:  …” who ARE  you? ”…

Gosh !  She got my message…

….and so I replied:    “……… it’s ‘MAVIS ! “      

….and again came:  “…..yes – but who  ARE   you ? ?  !  ”

Quelle Horreur!   …..  A  CYBER STRANGER!!!!

How the hell was I to know, you-have-to-look-in-the-top-left-corner  of you bloomin’  phone’s screen to see that it WASN’T  Angie’s  number that I’d ‘ Whatsapped ’  to !   

And even more  embarrassing, was that those same two young ladies, knowing full well, that I was dead-and-dormant in “ Whatsapp land ” , had left messages to ’Moi’  months earlier, languishing in My  phone’s cyber mind…and ’COOKINGWITHMAVIS ’ had no notion……

                                >>>>>>>>>VVVVVWWWVVVV<<<<<<<<<<<

And so to recipes:

                   ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’s…

       Bread and Butter pudding

If you think that you will  avoid   my writings about fattening mouthwatering desserts… welllll…you won’t!

What better, than to ‘throw’ together, a last-minute, heartwarming, nurturing old-fashioned Bread-and-Butter pudding…well , should I say:  “…’MAVIS’s  “  delumptious Bread-and-Butter pud!

Bread-and-butter pudding with vanilla custard...Yum!

INGREDIENTS: 

The"mise en place" for Bread-and-Butter pudding

10 to 12 slices white (sandwich) bread - crusts too.

Butter / margarine to dot onto each slice

1 tin (about 300g) of apricot jam

Freshly chopped ginger (about 2 tablespoons full)

3 extra large /or Jumbo size eggs

¼ cup sugar

1 litre (4 standard measure cups) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

 ½ cup sliced, peeled and cooked Granny Smith apples

   Or:   1 fresh banana – sliced

            Or:   1 ripe nectarine, sliced (no need to peel)

Ingredients for Bread-and-Butter pudding

METHOD:

Remember to get your mise en place ready ahead of getting those hands elbow-deep in all of the above ingredients!     

I make sure first that my “mise en place” (pronounced “ miz ɑ̃ plas”  ), is done!  - it’s a French phrase - literally means:  "putting in place " -  ….I suppose it’s the ‘pre-preparation ’  - and the real “prep” is truly so easy and almost effortless – no need for tidy perfection…just quick easy “throwing-together” assembling of ingredients and sandwiches !

(In a “nutshell”: peel and chop ginger, make jam sandwiches, whisk eggs & sugar, add milk, throw all together and…voila!)

...But  I  shall endeavour to explain  step-by-step ….

Into a large bowl :

1) By hand, whisk eggs and sugar, add vanilla essence, and then all the milk – ½ a minute in all!

2) Peel and chop the fresh ginger and put aside

3) If using apples :  core and peel 2 Granny Smith apples , thickly slice and put into a Pyrex glass / microwave dish with 2 tablespoons of water and a teaspoon lemon juice, cover and cook in microwave for 2 minutes, and leave to cool while you do the rest of the ‘Prep’.

 – If just using a banana…..well… leave till the end of your ‘Prep” before peeling and slicing, as this will go brown quickly

 - If using a nectarine…….ditto!

Make apricot jam sandwiches :

1)  I place all the sliced of white bread onto a cuttingboard.

2) Then use a flat, old-fashioned cheese slicer to ‘shave’ thin slivers of chilled marge or butter and dot these ‘willy-nilly’ onto each slice of bread. You can just dot some rather if easier onto each slice – no need to spread it.

3) Plop a generous blob of apricot jam onto each slice - no need to spread it., and cover with another slice of bread.

4)  With a large sharp non-serrated kitchen knife, cut sandwiches into small cubes - (about 9 squares per sandwich)

5) Preheat oven to 150 *C

 - Then grease a large ovenproof glass baking dish….(or 8 to 10 ramekins)

6) Scatter the chopped fresh ginger at the bottom of the dish. 

7) Scoop up all the cubes of buttered and jammed bread from that cuttingboard, and scatter into the greased dish / ramekins.

8) Dot with whichever of the choice of fruit above, placing all around and between the cubes of bread. Also dot a few generous blobs of extra apricot jam amongst the cubes.

9)  Gently pour all the liquid mixture over the cubes of sandwich bread.

10) You will need to bake this in a Bain Marie  (a shallow water basin) – use an oven baking tray with enough water to reach 1/3 up the sides of the dish.

        Bake @ 150 *C for 1 ½ hrs

OR  to bake  8  to 10 small individual-portion ramekins :

...Place  into individual greased, small ramekin dishes

       Bake in the Bain Marie  at 180 *C  for 20 to 25 minutes!

Serve with warm vanilla custard…or whipped cream!

'Delumptious' Bread-and-butter pudding with vanilla custard

Individual portion ramekin of Bread-and-Butter pudding

* And should you choose to discover what other light-hearted writings by ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’….then you’ll  just have to scroll up to the top right of this page, and click onto any of the previous months… enjoy “Crisp Creamcheese”

…or “ How to eat – and Artichokes!”

...or “Running Away from ‘Mavis “

….mmmm…and what about ”Computerpherous Angie”…and more!

Soon  you’ll  “meat”  Chunkie Abdomen , in “ Sitting Ducks ..and Overstuffed Chickens ”

-     You MIGHT too, consider becoming a member…

-     Until next time,     

            ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’