Meat Free Monday

We don't often eat pies or pasties as shop bought ones are very high in fat and I like to watch what we eat, but there are a lot of Greggs bakers in Birmingham and every time we passed one we got the urge for a pasty, so as it was Meat Free Monday I decided to make vegetable pasties for dinner.

Veggie Pasties - makes 4
1 packet ready rolled puff pastry
3 tablespoons green lentils
1 medium potato, cut into 1cm cubes (you can use a left over boiled potato)
1 medium sized carrot, grated
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green peas, defrosted if frozen
2 teaspoons ginger/garlic paste (from Asian section of supermarket) or use 1 clove garlic and some grated fresh ginger
salt & pepper

First cook the lentils according to the packet instructions, or alternatively you can use tinned green lentils.

Cook the potato and onion in just enough water to cover them for 5 mins. then drain well.
Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, carrots, peas and ginger/garlic paste, Add salt and pepper to taste.

Unwrap the pastry and roll out to make it just a little thinner, then cut into 4.
Put some of the mixture onto each piece of pastry, brush the edges with water, fold over and crimp with the back of a fork to seal well. You can make a pattern in the pastry by lightly scoring it with a knife, but you also need to make a hole in the centre to let the steam out so the pastry stays crisp.

Place on a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet, putting the edges to the centre then if any of the pasties leak the filling stays in the centre rather than going over the edge of the tray and making a mess of your oven.

Bake for 30mins. Gas 6-7  till the pastry is golden brown, puffed up and crispy.

These are also good cold for lunch next day.

Enjoy!

More from Artsfest 2012

Artsfest continued long after dark and we went back after dinner to watch a couple of bands

and the ballet.  I'm not really into ballet but it had drawn a huge crowd and was very enjoyable.

It was followed by a spectacular fireworks display which was set to rousing classical music.  As usual, the photos just can't do it justice.

Today's weather has been gorgeous once again and we've spent most of the afternoon alternating between the various stages listening to some amazing local bands.  At 5.30 the local BBC radio took over the main stage and presented a girl band.  Up until then the sound system had been just right, loud but not excessive, but as this band started performing the sound level was cranked right up.  Maybe I'm getting old, but it was just TOO loud so we gave up and came home.

Birmingham Artsfest

We still seem to be really lucky with the weather, I keep reading on other blogs about cold temperatures and rain, but apart from a couple of cool mornings we've been enjoying blue skies and full sunshine with hot temperatures to boot. Long may it last!

We also seem to be really lucky as every time we come into Birmingham there's some sort of event on in the city centre.  This weekend it's Artsfest 2012 and there's free live music and art and dance exhibitions on all over town.

Centenary Square is just outside the ICC and Symphony Hall which is beside the canal near Gas Street Basin.  Yesterday they erected 2 large stages here and there have been acts on throughout the day.

Indian drum band "Dhol Crew"

Over in Chamberlain Square is another large stage. There are tiered steps all round the square where you can sit and watch the groups.

In Victoria Square is the Bandstand. This was a Bluegrass Swing band called Knoxville Highway.

Apart from the music stages there were lots of  stalls dotted around the city centre either selling pictures or jewellery or promoting up-coming theatre productions & concerts.  There was a large marquee with exhibitions of Bollywood and Belly dancing. The whole city centre was buzzing.

There were plenty of activities for children too;  from the usual face painting and kids participation art stands to this climbing wall which looked like a lot of fun and had a long queue.

On the way back home to the boat we stopped to watch this guy in Centenary Square.  His name was Sam Eden and he sounded like James Blunt.

Our next stop was the Prince of Wales pub which has also had live acts on throughout the day.  It was doing a roaring trade and was so busy that we only stopped for one pint.

What a load of B******S !

As we arrived back in Birmingham this afternoon, we passed what we first thought was a floating skip full of tree loppings. It looked like the CaRT volunteers had been cutting back the bushes and had filled the skip ready for dumping.

In reality it's an "Art Project" called The Rootless Forest and cost £50,000.

This is how the artist justifies the expense............

"The Rootless Forest inscribes itself into our memory, becoming a lasting monument literally planted into the landscape. It is an emblematic place, framing memories through its figurative ecology. For generations to come, people can visit this living monument, which will grow alongside the families that helped give it significance."

BETH DERBYSHIRE

It took 4 years to create and is being paraded round the canals of the Midlands until October.

Whilst it's in Birmingham, the "Forest" will spend an hour or so at different locations around the central canal area.  There are mooring restrictions in place at different times of the day here outside the NIA and at 4pm it arrived and moored behind us.  Although a recorded commentary is played continuously I didn't see anyone stop to listen to it, or indeed stop and look at the "Art".  There were a few comments of "what on earth's that?" etc. from passers by but hardly anyone gave it a second glance.

I have never seen such a blatant waste of money. £50,000?  Roger & I would have stuck a few tree cuttings in the skip for £50 each and it would have looked just the same. The so called "artist" must be having a good laugh at our expense. It must be a scam!

Up Tardebigge

No photos today, we've been too busy getting through the 29 locks of the Tardebigge Flight.  We had a good rhythm going, where Roger would start the lock filling before going on to empty the next lock and open the gates. I'd take the boat out of the lock, drop the paddles and close the gate behind me.  It worked really well and we did the whole flight in just 4 hours. We're now moored just below the top lock, ready to move on into Birmingham tomorrow.

Meat Free Monday

This morning we continued from Stoke Works up the locks, stopping on the way to visit friends Stuart & Michelle who moor at Stoke Prior. Michelle had made the lightest, most wonderful scones with home-made jam and cream which we enjoyed sat out in the sunshine in their new garden.

As it was such a hot and sunny day we decided to stop below the Tardebigge Flight of 30 locks and just chill out reading and fishing.

It's Meat Free Monday again so today I made Couscous Salad which is a favourite of ours and uses whatever veg. you have in the fridge, along with the main ingredients of basil, tomatoes and mozzarella.

Couscous Salad - serves 2
100g couscous
1/2 courgette, chopped
1/2 pepper, cchopped
3 spring onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
tomatoes, chopped
mozzarella, torn or cubed (Aldi low fat Mozzarella is very good)
fresh basil, chopped

salad dressing
1 teaspoon runny honey
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 dessert spoons olive oil
1 dessert spoon cider or white wine vinegar

Chop the courgette and pepper into bit sized pieces and fry in a little olive oil until golden.  Add the crushed garlic and cook for a minute but don't let the garlic brown or it will be bitter.

Leave to cool a bit.

Next prepare the couscous. Weigh it into a bowl and just cover with boiling water.  Stir well and leave for 5 mins.

After 5 mins. fluff it up with a fork.

Make a basic salad dressing by whisking the ingredients together in a jug and add to the couscous along with all the other ingredients plus salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Tibberton

We had a quick trip to the new Asda in Worcester before setting off this morning.  The wine rack was looking a bit bare and that'll never do.

It's Grand Prix weekend so we stopped off en-route for lunch and to watch qualifying.  No digital TV and no satellite signal proved a bit of a problem so we had to resort to watching it on the internet.  Just as we were about to set off again a boat went past at a fair old pace, far too fast for such a shallow canal but never mind......  The first lock we came to had the top gate left open. Sometimes the gates swing open because they're not properly balanced. Was it a swinger?  No.  Then the next lock and every one after that also had the top gate left open!  I wouldn't mind, but the gates are NOT heavy, they DON'T swing, so the crew of the boat in front are just LAZY B******S !!  When we finally arrived in Tibberton this particular boat had moored up so inconsiderately that they were taking enough room for 3 boats.  Luckily there was a gap between 2 other moored boats that we thought we might just fit in to, so while we were trying to get in without touching the boats moored either side this Lazy B boat upped pins and pulled out....... and just kept coming past us, making things more awkward than they needed to be.  It takes a lot to make my blood boil these days but I tell you, this was one day I wished our bow thruster tube was really a torpedo tube! 

We're now moored outside the Bridge Inn.  It's a nice spot but there's still no satellite TV as the trees are too tall on both sides of the canal and there's no Digital TV either, (has Worcestershire gone digi yet?) which is a bit of a bummer as the new series of Dr Who starts tonight and I'm a bit of a fan.  There's live music in the pub so guess where we're going? See you tomorrow.