Attitude Problem

This country has a serious attitude problem.

No, I'm not talking about anything to do with the forthcoming General Election. There will be no politics on this blog.

What I AM talking about, however, is the attitude to unemployment which seems to be prevalent in this country. Look through any tabloid newspaper and it's a fair bet you'll find the word 'slackers', 'moochers' or similar somewhere in there. Actually, that might make a pretty good drinking game. Hmmmmmm. One shot every time The Sun, The Mirror or the Daily Mail says anything about people on benefits.

I never knew much about unemployment before. Sure, I knew it was a bad thing for the people experiencing it, and I knew people kept moaning about how benefits were too high and how the system benefited scroungers. (Ah yes. That's the other word I was looking for earlier). Well, that's a load of rubbish.

I had it easy, I was living with my parents. I could have fed myself on the statutory fifty pounds a week, no bother. But I know I couldn't have afforded to pay bills on top of that. Another thing I couldn't have afforded- and this is the bit that really gets my back up- is the £5.60 I had to pay for a return bus ticket to the job centre once a fortnight. When you're living on fifty pounds a week, that's more than five per cent of your income. On principle, I asked, and there's no help available. The sheer injustice of losing that proportion of one's benefits just for living in a town without a job centre is staggering.

I'll talk about the job centre itself some other time when it's less fresh in my mind. But for now, I will not be going back. I have escaped the system, attained the nirvana to which every unemployed person aspires.

Yes, people. I have a job.

One-a-Penny, Two-a-Penny

Hot Cross Buns!

As ever, apologies for my pathetic attempts at photography. They actually looked quite pretty in real life.

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I am a great believer in Hot Cross Buns. Firstly, they have a fixed season, and a short one too- it makes you appreciate them all the more knowing they're only around for a few weeks. Secondly, bread products. Nom nom nom. With raisins in them. OM nom nom nom nom.

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(Incidentally, the Woodsettes scored a major victory the other day- we managed to get both our parents to use the word "nom" in the course of one meal. Virtual high five? Yes, I think so).

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Thirdly, there's all the symbolism. The cross bit is pretty obvious. But there's also the fact that you wait three hours for them to rise (spot the Easter parallel...) and that they're traditionally made in batches of 12, like the 12 disciples.

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Home-made hot cross buns, however, have always been a bit of a problem. Firstly (yes, I'm in a numerical listing mood, can you tell?) they tend to be a bit dense, veering towards the cannonballesque. Secondly, they're practically inedible within six or seven hours as they get even harder. Thirdly, even fresh out of the oven, eating the traditional flour-and-water cross bit is in itself something of a penitential experience.

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This year, I decided it might be time for a new recipe. Normal bread without chemical treatment goes stale very quickly, a fact anyone who's tried to eat a baguette more than a day old can attest to. Brioche, on the other hand, is much softer to start with and keeps a bit better because of the fat content. It also gets eaten faster because, well, it's tastier. The obvious solution to the hot cross bun problem? Adapt a brioche recipe! It proved fairly straightforward, actually, and the test batch I made last week (just to check, you understand) all got eaten before they went stale. The only problem was the crosses on top, which were still quite painful to eat. Now, I could have gone down the icing route, but that just wouldn't feel right- a hot cross bun should be cooked with its cross on, adding the cross later is somehow cheating.

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The answer?

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MARZIPAN!

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Had I been organised, I would have bought marazipan. I wasn't, so I made some instead. It's very straightforward, actually, and for once I wasn't left with half a packet of marzipan drying out at the back of the fridge. For reference, the recipe is as follows:

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4 oz ground almonds

4 oz icing sugar

1 egg white

pinch of salt

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Mix everything together. If it's too sticky, add cornflour little by little until it behaves itself. Knead and leave in fridge overnight to harden up a bit. Keep the egg yolk for glazing your hot cross buns.

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That's it! Being disorganised can be awfully tasty, you know.

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Back to the cupboard with a dozen or so hot cross buns, methinks. Om nom nom.

(Incidentally, I'm having a couple of formatting problems, so please excuse the slightly peculiar layout).

Before and After

Guess what I've been up to this week?

The photos below should give you a clue...

Before... (before what? Possibly Before Christ, if the state of the cushion is anything to go by)

...and after, back at home under the piano

Yes, I'm about this far away from becoming a Lady Who Lunches. Please send help. Or invitations to lunch, either will do.