Latest Moan From You and Me 2023

My latest find at the entrance to the allotments.

 

I'll phone the Council on Monday if it's still there.....for what it's worth.

 

What are they pete, can't quite make them out...bottles or syringes. We get syringes here occasionally up the little pathway opposite us that leads to the lakes.

 

Its laughing gas canisters.
Very tidily stacked.

 

Oh gosh!! There's been a lot on the news about that lately. Haven't ( yet ) noticed and empty canisters around here.....just a case of giving it time I expect.

 

10 years ago, I found a full-sized hoop-wrapped blue nitrous oxide cylinder (9,000L or 18,000L) in a field on a steep hill near Ivinhghoe Beacon, about 1/3 mile from a road. Possibly left over after a rave, according to the ranger I reported it to (it was too heavy to move far). I opened the valve to let any pressurised gas out (high pressure gas would be dangerous to the unaware), but of course it was almost empty. Someone went to some trouble to get it there, and dumped it. Probably stolen, since it's a restricted product, maybe from a hospital. Louts.

 

Going back to chestnuts, I've tried three slightly different ways of cooking these and I still cant get it right.
The brown skin never comes off whatever I do, I wonder if its because the ones I bought have been allowed to dry out to some point and its never going to happen.

 

The secret seems to be in the amount of cutting you do to the outer skin, then a bit of steam generated. I gave up on this year's when I found a tub in the freezer from last year

 

I've tried adding water to the oven in the latter stages but it doesn't seem to work.
I do like them but I'm erring on the side of just boiling them as roasting just dries them out.

 

IMHO you maybe cutting the end crosses too deep, you need the cross to prevent exploding but you need the steam generated within to lift the brown skin

 

Following on from Jack. I have always made the crosses on the flattest parts of the chestnuts, not on the ends.

 

They dont actually appear dry as such before cooking and I'm only just scoring through the skin and soaking in water before cooking.
They taste ok just dont really want to come out of the skins and the brown inner skin is stuck firm.