Well, not quite, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration! In fact, I’ve been doing live on-line bake-ins for blind students in both Hertfordshire and San Francisco this week.
The Brits wanted some tips about baking so I explained my only two items of “blind” equipment: talking scales and thermometer. For any of these talking items, I strongly recommend auditioning them before buying because some of the voices are distinctly slurred, rather transatlantic and somewhat abrupt. My oldest scales are my favourite: he says “Hello” when turned on and “Goodbye” when his button’s pressed.
The san Francisco group liked the recipe too but I had to explain our golden syrup – it is not so easily available over there and our British self-raising flour becomes their all-purpose version with some baking soda. They wanted to know more about my time in the Navy and why I joined. And they seemed to like the tales of derring-do from the global cooking tour too. It was another chance to promote all my hundreds of Baking Blind videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWTJYx7jGA3xaR4830wJSRg?view_as=subscriber
In turn, they gave me a sense of what life is like in California in the midst of the Covid pandemic. It sounds very similar to here: lots of confusing messages from governments, lives limited by lockdowns and the particular problems of blind people who might often rely on someone else to guide them. It is impossible to maintain social distancing when you need to hold someone’s arm or can’t see the one-way signs or floor markings when out either.
These Covid challenges were also part of the discussion during an interview I did with RNIB Connect radio (broadcast on 8 July at 1100 – but there’s catch-up too: http://www.rnibconnectradio.org.uk/> Twitter @RNIB Radio). The pandemic is creating some extra challenges for disabled people as we try to navigate our way through Government guidelines so please give us a bit of leeway.
Here’s the ginger biscuit recipe in case you missed it last time:
50g butter.
50g sugar (white, golden or brown).
50g golden syrup or honey.
100g self-raising flour (or 100g all-purpose flour plus half a teaspoon baking soda).
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger (about 5g).
Heat the oven to Gas 4, 350F, 175C
Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan, stirring to check the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.
Put the flour and ginger in a bowl and pour in the butter and sugar mix, scraping the pan clean and using the scraper to start mixing the dough.
Finish the dough with your hands, forming it into 10 small balls, rolling them between your palms.
Line a baking tin with baking parchment and place the balls on it about 2 inches apart, gently pressing down each ball a little.
Cook for 12-15 minutes. The biscuits should feel firm to touch and will crisp further as they cool.
