A question for you. If you were to be stranded on a desert island which one item of cooking equipment would you take with you?
My ample and curvaceous form would suggest I would probably opt for the bread maker or the chip fryer but nay.
The Wok.
A most wonderful tool which can cope with most foods at short notice. A boon to the washer-up and a very handy thing to hang on a boat wall;  instantly to hand should burglar, inflamed spouse or grizzly bear  give cause for concern.
As I have nothing to burgle, have no errant (extant or potential) spouse nor am I likely to come face to face (or to be more correct-face to disappearing arse) with a Grizzly my choice is mainly culinary. My recent success in the kitchen for the Chinese New Year has confirmed it is the must have tool for the unskilled amateur.

My Chilli Prawn stir fry-bliss.

But what would you save?

Truth be it is less likely you will be stranded on a desert island but rather on piece of soggy southern Surrey surrounded by water. This really is getting past a joke with Berkhamsted featuring on the news last Friday as the wettest place in Britain. How dare God, the elements, the odious Eric Pickles allow such to happen to a town so chock full of perfect people ? One gob is well and truly smacked. The cheek of it. Here in lowly Cowroast the foul weather continues unabated with great hardship being borne by the peasantry living hereabouts. I for one have twice had my satellite dish blown off signal in the middle of The Voice and once off the roof altogether during Songs of Praise. Blasphemy.
Yet no assistance forthcoming from the likes of Pickles, no visit from the Environment Agency to offer comfort , tea, money. We soldier on ever aware of the plight of others even more sub aqua than Cowroast Sur Mer  struggling with what I hear on my crackly wireless to be a "shortage of fresh handbags"

 A stroll around the Reservoirs at Marsworth last weekend showed how matters have changed over the last two years. When I say a stroll I am not being truthful. We were blown round the reservoir at a rate of knots previously unmeasured in Buckinghamshire.Two years ago we had no water. Even in the Winter we  here in Cowroast were sans d'leau. Navigation was closed and as the picture below shows the reservoir was empty (apart from two girls and a dog). Methinks we did complain too much. Last weekend the reservoir was lapping over the bank between it and the canal with waves driven by the wind which would not have looked out of place on the beach at Tenby.

Believe it or not the picture above is insufficiently focused to show that there is, in fact, under those trees a fisherman.  I thought we were barmy just going for a walk, albeit short. But to sit there for hours in the rain and wind to catch something which you will not eat........eh?

So no water shortage. Instead navigation is closed because of too much water.
The canalside cottages at Cowroast Lock have been flooded in their cellars by water from the marina overtopping and coming through their gardens.The towpath is impassable (which is how Berkhamstedians pronounce "impossible") and there's more to come. Plus the cheerful buggers are talking snow. What to do.  I know have a cuppa and I'll cook some sausages for a roll. I'll use the wok of course.


 The following is the advice posted on 7th Jan 2012

From next Tuesday the Tring summit will be closed between
locks 39 and 49.

The Tring reservoirs are extremely low and the Cowroast
borehole is reaching the limit that can legally be extracted.

The net weekly loss of water from the summit is 61
megalitres - the equivalent of 220 lockfuls

This water loss is huge and it is not the result of either
lock usage (last week there were only 17 lockages) or leaking
lock gates but of what the BW hydrologist calls "soil
moisture deficit".

The prolonged drought conditions have lowered the water table
so far that the dry ground is absorbing water from the canal.

By lowering the summit by 300mm this loss of water will be
minimized.

The plan is to put stop planks in at New Ground Bridge just
north of Cowroast. This will mean that the level in Cowroast Marina
will be maintained but the rest of the summit will be
lowered. 
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Canal and River Trust have been working on Cowroast Lock today. Seems to be a sort of patch and repair job rather than replace anything knackered. A couple of boats-including some poor sods on a hire boat-have gone through but the day is such that nobody fancies moving. It's the wind that puts most boaters off.

The forecast is dire and now the Thames Valley is increasingly becoming the Thames River the political bullshit has been ratcheted up noticeably Too late I fear but they seem prepared to throw money at the problem now but as soon as the rain eases and the levels drop we'll be back to low maintenance and "we're all in it together" nonsense.
Here's an idea 

Cancel HS2 and spend the money on flood defences-a petition you might wish to sign.

   http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60378

 Wednesday 12th Feb. Just arrived at boat-wind and rain really giving it everything-sat inside listening to the trees creak. We've had one down-who's next I wonder sincerely hoping it aint yours truly. The poor old hire boat that went through yesterday is back moored above the lock. I would think in the history of narrowboat hiring nobody has ever had a worse week of weather than this poor sod. We saw him at Marsworth on Saturday by the ex White Lion pub while the wind blew Marsworth half a mile closer to Dunstable. Then yesterday above the lock at Cowroast heading south and now on his way nack Wyvern Shipping, the hire company, should give him a medal.

Meanwhile I am cooking Fish Pie for Pam and I this evening. It takes your mind off the weather although it's a long while since I had to take the heeling of the boat into consideration when moving pots of boiling water.. Not too sure how to transport the fish pie from boat to Berkhamsted in its uncooked form-could be fun in this wind walking bent double up the mooring sliding in the mud and keeping a brimming pot safe. But it's an oblong dish which should sit nicely in my carrier bag. I'm fine with oblong dishes but for preference would rather the dishes for my pie are squared. Ho ho ho. You didn't see that one coming.

Time to mash the potatoes and start thinking about the forthcoming CHILLI CHALLENGE.

 Chilli Challenge! ? What's that I hear you cry. Well I'll save it till next time. Suffice to say that Janice and John, friends from the Lamb, won the Berko Sunflower Challenge in '13 and thus are entitled to choose and organise the challenge for '14. They've chosen the chilli and on Sunday evening last whilst rejoicing over Fulham's magnificent 2-2 draw at Old Trafford I heard the envelopes drop through the door containing the seeds, instructions and rules. When I have assimilated them I will tell you more. I am already making plans as the contents of my Homebase trolley shows. Let Battle Commence.

There's Only One "F" in Fulham!


Talking of people less fortunate avid reader will recall that I was selling bags and aprons on behalf of SEAMS. They are situate in Gulu, Uganda which Pam visited last year.More about them on the right of this post.
Well I'm pleased to report that all the bags are sold but there are a few aprons left so don't forget it's only 314 days till Christmas (if you're reading this on Thursday 13th) and  would be the perfect gift for the cook in your life. Of course you do need the figure to carry it off and here's our model  Michelle wearing one whilst assisting in the making of the latest batch of marmalade. Irresistible. (The marmalade-not Michelle)

ONLY 13 POUNDS
 EACH
Bargain!

Whilst we are on the subject of aprons-here's the equally gorgeous Olivia modelling one in the Alps. I know there's a joke there somewhere about yodeling and modelling but maybe another time. Ollie is cooking in his chalet and very smart too.And as tidy as one would expect.

Until next time with news of a windswept canal, a sodden towpath and a Chilli Challenge.