Upstairs, Downstairs (the 2020 version)

Last night, we were told by the Dutch government that the #stayathome policy has been extended to the end of April, which for me is not so daunting. Hubby has said he is quite happy working upstairs, less stressful and I’m happy downstairs……oooh, that’s a good name for a TV show. Upstairs, Downstairs…..the story of a menopausal woman who spends her days downstairs, forgetting why she walked into a room, why she got the eggs out of the fridge or why she sat down on the toilet! She bakes, paints and shovels goat shit whilst permanently wearing her headphones (currently listening to Mott the Hoople’s greatest hits) so fails to hear the doorbell and/or any conversation that her husband may enter into should he venture downstairs. She recently has a new hobby which entails looking into the garden thinking “I really should go out there and do something”. I grant you, it’s not the most creative of hobbies and certainly doesn’t merit it’s own Facebook page but at some point, before the end of summer, she will ditch the pondering and actually go into the garden shed and dust off the lawnmower and secateurs. Meanwhile, upstairs is her husband who sits in front of three screens every day. Not exactly comedy gold but throw in a pandemic, latex gloves and creative ways on how to make the final toilet roll last until Xmas and we may go down in sit-com history.

Anyway, today I’ve been painting another masterpiece. Assuming that you are all going to recognise my genius once I’m dead, I’d better put in my will where all the millions will go once they’ve been sold at auction. If any of you have any suggestions, let me know. I’ve called my latest offering, Contagious because, well, why not? Being an abstract painter, I usually just go with a particular colour or style and then see where it goes, after which I then look at it and wait for a name to come to me. Obviously, with current events, it’s not a stretch to see how I came up with this one.

I’ve also made a cheesecake in my Instant Pot. For those of you who don’t know what one is I suggest you Google it but it’s basically a glorified pressure cooker that you can make a cheesecake in……I know! Bizarre, eh? But it really works well. I’ve tested it on many friends, and they’ve all been impressed, if a little confused. (BTW, I’m now listening to Del Amitri) The only thing that is not the same as an oven-baked cheesecake, is the top of it isn’t as pretty so you need to decorate it if you want to serve it to others but as none of us are entertaining these days, who cares? I’ll post the recipe and I also make a carb and sugar-free version, which I’ll share too.

Hold on, I have a visitor!!!!.......My neighbour just wandered into the garden and stood on my patio demanding my attention (it happens a lot here). She was asking for her greenhouse door back that had recently blown into my garden during a really bad storm. She was very good, and socially distanced herself but I could still see in her eyes that she was thinking “she really should come in the garden and do something”.

Final note, the previous bake did turn out a bit too bready so I suggest adding some dried fruit to the mix.

Here’s the link to the recipe I use for the cheesecake: https://www.shugarysweets.com/instant-pot-cheesecake/ It’s American so the weights are all in cups but most of us have a conversion app on our phones these days and I’ve actually got a set of cups (brilliant pressie) so it’s quicker.

For the healthier version I make a base with:

175g peanut butter

100g Almond flour

30g cocoa powder

100g sugar-free maple syrup

Put it all in a bowl, mix together with a spoon and finish with your hands and it comes together like a dough. Mould it to your tin and then continue with the recipe. I usually replace the sugar with a sweetener. If you like to have the base to go up the side of your cheesecake, then double the ingredients.

Today I added some frozen fruit to the mix and I'll be honest, I took it out of the fridge a bit too early but that's isolation greed for you.

If you want to check out my paintings go to https://thepaintinggoat.wixsite.com/paintinggoat