Hairy Bikers - Summer Pudding update.

Found at a Lane's auction many years ago.......

 a feast of never-ending nuggets of culibary information straight from the heart of Victorian England.......

on BBC 2 this morning, the Hairy Bikers own variation on the classic British Summer Pudding - where the guys quote the earliest reference they could find from 1902 - and here is a recipe with the same name taken from a book published in 1892!.........

 along with all the tips and tricks so fondly used by the daring duo.......

 and the basics are covered too.......

with some solid guidance for turning out that perfect steak - and if you want to browse the entire book, see below.........you won't be able to put it down!

Penzance harbour - the future!

PENZANCE HARBOUR

THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

Here's a chance to have your say and get involved with the most important maritime development in Penwith since some bright spark at PDC (now well defunct) in a stroke of pure genius saw fit to fill in the existing harbour to make a car park - probably the only harbour in the world to have taken that course of action.


Head over to this new web site and check out the ways in which you could make a difference - http://www.pzharbourfutures.org/

Click on the map to see more information.

For an example of what can be achieved with a little foresight and taking advantage of EU funding, look no further than the tiny Breton port of Saint Quai Portrieux - a town much smaller than Penzance but with a much bigger vision of how things should be when you have been gifted a natural harbour to start with - rather than fill in the existing harbour to make a car and lorry park, the French built two new breakwaters and created a huge port for the local fishing fleet - all of 5 boats over 10m! and a 550 berth yacht marina when before there were any yachts using the port at all!

Blogging from the Cefas Endeavour.

Good to see regular posts from the decks of the Cefas research ship Endeavour over the last week as she completes the first half of her Irish Sea Groundfish survey. Some of the on board research scientists have been explaining in more detail the projects they are working on using the fish caught. Of possible significance to the local fleet is the news that the Endeavour has seen anchovy in some of the hauls. For one day the boat was joined by the huge Irish research vessel Celtic Explorer and the two boats took the opportunity to record data while making comparative tows.

As per the last blog entry, the Cefas Endeavour is seen here on the AIS from VesselTracker making her way towards Rocky Island as she leaves Cork and heads for open water to begin the second half of her survey - expect an update from the blog later this evening. Meanwhile, the Irish research ship Celtic Explorer continues her survey work which runs from November 12th to December 16th.

The latest track from the Celtic Explorer can be seen here along with the Endevaour just leaving the entrance to Cork harbour.

Wave action.

 Waves shape the coastline.......

 and are bread and butter for VersaDock, the new drying berth created for the RNLI's inshore boat in Newlyn........

 close-up of the flexible docking system which will help keep the IRB weed-free......

looks like a good drying day aboard the Rachel & Louise.........

while Chris I&II make light work over-ending a net.......

level-pegging with a few weeks of the year to go.

Fast food - squid.

Criss-cross cuts and cut into convenient squares.......

marinade for 10 minutes at least in fresh sliced chili and a lemon flavouring - could be lemon grass or in this instance pickled lemon (easy to make yourself and perfect in lamb or chicken tagine dishes)......

a few minutes to stir fry.......

while prepping half a mango, garlic more lemon and more chili.......

off with the squids......

few minutes of heat for the lemon, garlic and chili......

before adding half a can of coconut milk........

then the squid and finally topped off with the mango mix till heated through.

Awash, one old master.

With the weather breaking at the end of the week Friday's market was busy enough with all the big beamers landing.......

bringing the number of cuttle tubs well into double figures from a couple of the boats that ventured over the cuttle grounds.......

down the quay two 23 metre boats nestle bow to stern.......

have retired from the building game.......

two types of gurnards on offer from the Twilight III.......

as the ghost of MAFF inspectors from the past pass through........

cracking lemons from the beamer ChloeT..........

this sort of sky portents every chance of a spectacular sunrise.........

anyone lost their Van Gogh?

French fishing styles.

Four boats, four skippers all different approaches to towing the trawl. A small fleet of French stern trawlers working off the North Cornish coast in the Bristol Channel are tracked on the VesselTracker AIS. The crabber, Etoile de Berger's tracks show quite clearly her shooting and hauling five strings of pots.