The Isles of Glory, Syria, Bowling.

Not a whole hell of a lot happening in our lives at the moment. I have just finished proofreading The Aware by Glenda Larke which is the first book of The Isles of Glory. Amazing, I had read it before some years ago and I was surprised how much I had forgotten. It’s a great story and now Glenda is offering it as an ebook. I bought the ebook a short while ago, but found there were a few errors or typos in it and at my request she sent me the book in PDF form to proof. Hopefully Amazon.com will accept the update at which time my ebook will get updated. I am not sure whether the Look Inside will work from my blog. I like this cover although the girl doesn’t look much like the one in the story, do they ever? Glenda has also sent me the next book to proof so I will be starting that right away. It’s called Gilfeather. Even Glenda said when she read through it she didn’t remember writing some of the book. There is one scene which stands out in my mind and which I will never forget. It was when…… no, no spoilers.

I don’t understand this Syrian business. Everyone is upset because they used chemical weapons against their own people. Now the US is planning to bomb Syria and kill a few more of their people for them. At least, that’s how it seems to me.

We will, of course, be bowling this afternoon. Only one more of these ‘friendly’ sessions and then we disappear to the States and the winter league starts on the 9th without us. I got myself a few US dollars today, we don’t take many as we find it more convenient to use Visa all the time, but there are some things for which you can’t use Visa.

I am one of those odd people who don’t like cobblers, especially not if they are made with apple, but even I found this one looked appealing.

Double Corn-Blueberry Cobbler

From EatingWell:  May/June 2011
The hallmark of a cobbler is a biscuit topping baked right on top of the fruit. Here blueberries (or blackberries) and corn make a fun match. The sunny cornmeal batter comes together quickly and looks gorgeous on top of the deep-dark fruit filling. We like the rustic texture of medium- or coarse-ground cornmeal, but any type works.


8 servings

Ingredients

Filling

• 4 cups blueberries or blackberries (about 1 1/4 pounds), fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon white whole-wheat flour (see Note)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping

• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal, preferably medium- or coarse-ground
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh, frozen (thawed) or canned (well-drained)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. To prepare filling: Combine berries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, lemon zest and lemon juice in a large bowl. (If using frozen fruit, let stand for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, to thaw the fruit before transferring to the baking dish.) Transfer to a 9-inch shallow glass or ceramic baking dish.
3. To prepare topping: Whisk 1 cup flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well blended. Whisk egg yolk, buttermilk, oil and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to blend. Fold in corn.
4. Evenly spoon the batter on top of the berry mixture; the fruit will be almost completely covered with batter. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake until the berries are bubbly, the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the topping comes out clean, 35 to 50 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

• 1. Note: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat flour. It is available at large ­supermarkets and natural-foods stores and online at bobsredmill.com or kingarthurflour.com. Store it in the freezer.

Have a great day