#ruby tandoh

[until-i-set-him-free]

the kind of love that's most at home in the kitchen

911 s7e04 "Buck, Bothered and Bewildered"// "Cupboard love: my biggest romances always begin in the kitchen" by Ella Risbridger // 911 s7e10 "All Fall Down" // "Unlikely Lovers" from Falsettos // "Leftovers" by Trista Mateer // "A Matter of Taste" by Steve Walker // "Little Miss Why So" by The Amazing Devil // "Food" by Brenda Hillman // a waffle my best friend made for me // "Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want" by Ruby Tandoh // "The Horror and the Wild" by The Amazing Devil // "Onions" by William Matthews

[judgingbooksbycovers]

All Consuming: Why We Eat The Way We Eat Now

By Ruby Tandoh.

[hgeeky]

Books I read in 2024 - non-fiction

My final post on my reading highlights from last year, following this post on the series I read and this one on stand-alone fiction.

I've split this one up by topic.

LGBTQ books

My favourite non-fiction LGBTQ book this year was "Tomorrow will be different" by Sarah McBride, now a member of the US's House of Representatives, the first openly trans person to be elected to Congress.

But this book isn't about that, at least not directly. This is about Sarah coming out during her university days and the first few years after that. If you're a fan of The West Wing and interested in trans issues, I highly recommend this book. It's a really interesting perspective on the campaigning involved in passing legislation, plus a moving account of Sarah's life through some major ups and downs.

Honourable mention to "Out of the Shadows" by Walt Odets - it was quite challenging, but at times very moving. I read it for my work's LGBTQ book group.

Dog books

We got a puppy this year, and in preparation I read a lot of books about dogs. My top recommendations are:

The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson - a fascinating look at what we know about dog behaviour and some great training advice (also it made me laugh a few times).

Perfectly Imperfect Puppy by Graeme Hall - even if you don't particularly plan to get or train a dog, you may still enjoy this one as it's got some lovely stories about Graeme's own dogs, plus those he's met during his work as a dog behaviourist.

Honourable mention to "Olive, Mabel and Me" by Andrew Cotter. If you've enjoyed any of Cotter's videos from during the pandemic lockdowns, this is a lovely way to get to know him and the dogs better. Bonus if you are interested in mountains, as there's a lot about his love of them too.

Food

I dip into my cookbook collection a lot, and I get a lot from blogs, etc, but there are two main new books I read this year

Cook as you are by Ruby Tandoh - I haven't managed to try any of the recipes yet, but I loved reading this. Ruby has a wonderful approach to food. I love her sensitivity to the role of food in wellbeing and culture, and her understanding of different food for different moods.

German Baking by Jürgen Krauss - my favourite ever Bake Off contestant brought out a book and it's so very him, it's wonderful. I've attempted one recipe (the sunken apple cake) and it was lovely. I think it'll be more of a project cookbook, because the recipes look quite involved, but I think it'll be fun to try more of them.

Mental wellbeing

How to relax by Thich Nhat Hanh - a rather poetic approach to mindful relaxation

The Cure for Burnout by Emily Ballesteros - very US-centric, and not as much on how to immediately ease the impact of burnout, but lots of very sensible advice, and something I'll come back to.

Greek and Roman Myth

"Pandora's Jar" and "Divine Might" by Natalie Haynes - these two work well together. I love how Haynes blends references to artifacts and literature with her own subjective take on the stories and characters.

[worsip]

just want to add Ruby Tandoh who has currently written two excellent cookbooks that focus on accessible, affordable and indulgent home cooking.

Eat Up is an homage to Nigel Slater’s cookbook style of writing sensory and comforting pieces about food and it’s cultural and social role.

Cook As You Are was released a few years ago and is really focused on accessible cooking- she considers cooks who are wheelchair bound, dealing with chronic pain or otherwise restricted in approaching the kitchen and cooking. Once again, this is like a love letter to food and the art of home cooking.

The Dungeon Meshi renaissance is making me want to share the resources that taught me how to cook.

Don’t forget, you can check out cookbooks from the library!

Smitten Kitchen: The rare recipe blog where the blog part is genuinely good & engaging, but more important: this is a home cook who writes for home cooks. If Deb recommends you do something with an extra step, it’s because it’s worth it. Her recipes are reliable & have descriptive instructions that walk you through processes. Her three cookbooks are mostly recipes not already on the site, & there are treasures in each of them.

Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables by Joshua McFadden: This is a great guide to seasonal produce & vegetable-forward cooking, and in addition to introducing me to new-to-me vegetables (and how to select them) it quietly taught me a number of things like ‘how to make a tasty and interesting puréed soup of any root veggie’ and ‘how to make grain salads’ and ‘how to make condiments’.

Grains for Every Season: Rethinking Our Way With Grains by Joshua McFadden: in addition to infodumping in grains, this codifies some of the formulas I picked up unconsciously just by cooking a lot from the previous book. I get a lot of mileage out of the grain bowl mix-and-match formulas (he’s not lying, you can do a citrus vinaigrette and a ranch dressing dupe made with yogurt, onion powder, and garlic powder IN THE SAME DISH and it’s great.)

SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT by Samin Nosrat: An education in cooking theory & specific techniques. I came to it late but I think it would be a good intro book for people who like to front-load on theory. It taught me how to roast a whole chicken and now I can just, like, do that.

I Dream Of Dinner (so you don’t have to) by Ali Slagle: Ok, look, an important part of learning to cook & cooking regularly is getting kinda burned out and just wanting someone else to tell you what to make. These dinners work well as written and are also great tweakable bases you can use as a starting place.

If you have books or other resources that taught you to cook or that you find indispensable, add ‘em on a reblog.

[adelle-ein]

anyway i googled the number of episodes in a gbbo season to see how long i spent crocheting something and. yall are still picking on ruby and rahul in 2023 huh

[missyourflight]

49. Do you bring a bag with you everywhere you go? & 57. Do you tend to bring an appetizer, entree, dessert, or drinks to a potluck?

49. pretty much! i need my Items. day to day i have a backpack with a backup baggu (leo print 🦁) for groceries

57. normally some sort of cheese/crackers or samosa situation. or ruby tandoh's pretzel peanut butter pie

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

She's in Season 4

Please help I’m in love with Ruby from S2 of the Great British Bake-Off she’s such a beautiful sweet lil’ angel AND SHE’S QUEER SJGHSUTNVIWUANHUBYR

[mouseradish]

HARM ME

been thinking a lot about meat and flesh over the past few years. getting more into horror. stopping by the butcher section of the grocery store just to look at the whorls of texture in the beef .... I've been vegetarian most of my life now but I like to think about it. body horror is having a body. devastated because I've been thinking and dreaming about violence upon my own flesh and it turns out my gender affirming surgery consultation is in february 2026 and not this week. -- devastated. been thinking so much about being cut open and now I will not. not for so long and this week so many of my friends unable to travel, paperwork taken away .... no way of knowing what will happen between now and then.

flesh again. the more I tell the physical therapist about my everyday the more exercises he says I need to do to not be in pain. that nerve is compressed oh this one too. here's splints have you tried this expensive device? (im still unemployed. he asks and I tell him about my former career and the way he treats me changes. just a small shift. i feel crazy too.) you should see a new primary care doctor who understands your condition. (the wait list is six years.) well you definitely won't be fine if you do nothing. maybe an hour, maybe three hours of exercises every day for the rest of your life forever. look at your parents. sleep different don't do this don't do that why are you doing that. can you do this? oh .... well. maybe we'll try something else. every day for the rest of my life forever

-- meat again. reading ruby tandoh's eat up! and watching video essays and being a person in the world. fucked that the catholics invented good and evil. leave me alone! leave everyone alone. food enters your body and those molecules of beans and rice and oat milk and valentines candy and beans again and not eggs any more I guess! become meat. meat (value neutral). molecules (value neutral).

i traded some miniatures with a stranger for a jar of home grown peppermint. perhaps the best thing that's ever happened. the peppermint smells more strongly than any i have ever bought from a store and i will make tea with honey to soothe a sore throat. harm me charm me. forever ever

[9pmteatime]

Eggs Are in Everything and Everywhere, All at Once - Ruby Tandoh

[so-much-for-subtlety]

Do you have any good banana bread recipes?

This recipe is from Ruby Tandoh (she was one of the gays on Great British Bake Off) and I love it!

I use 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom rather than grinding cardamom pods myself, and I think the glaze is nice, but most of the time i skip it because it tastes great without.

BANANA BREAD

If you'd rather make this with "normal" sugar, just swap the agave for 140 grams of superfine sugar (1c + 2 tbsp) or light brown sugar (½ c + 3 tbsp) and then add 3½ tablespoons of milk with the rum or brandy.

Similarly, you can omit the cardamom if it's not to your taste, although I really like the citrusy spice alongside the banana's creamy sweetness.

Makes 1 medium loaf, serving 6 to 8.

125 grams (½ c + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened

⅓ cup agave nectar

2 medium bananas, well mashed

2 tablespoons rum or brandy

2 large eggs

190 grams (1½ c) all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

4 cardamom pods, seeds only, crushed

Glaze (optional)

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons water

100 grams (¾ c + 1 tbsp) confectioners' sugar

5 by 9-inch loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, then stir in the agave nectar. Beat in the bananas and rum, then the eggs and a couple of tablespoons of the flour. Beat until smooth, but don't worry if the mixture looks a little curdled at this stage.

Combine the remaining flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom in a separate bowl then add to the banana mixture. Fold the ingredients together, then stir lightly until fully combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. While the cake is baking make the glaze: stir the water into the sugar, a teaspoonful at a time, until combined. Set aside.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack set over a tray (to catch any drips). Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake while it's still hot. It will cover the top and run down the sides in thick rivulets, but it will set to a cracked sugar crust as the cake cools.

[sniffanimal]

read any good nonfiction lately? I'm currently going through Eat Up! by Ruby Tandoh, which is on having a positive relationship with food and what mindful editing *actually* is.

I haven't been able to focus on reading fiction lately but I have been gripped by nonfiction so if you have any recs lmk! I'll read just about anything though I really like books on disability, social issues, food/cooking that aren't just cookbooks, self help, and art. but I do read biographies/memoirs/history/science from time to time as well, so nothing's really off limits

[chariflare]

(recipe) pantry-ingredients-only coconut-and-chili baked beans 

this is a (VERY) minor adaption of a recipe from ruby tandoh’s (flavoursome easy-cooking) book Cook As You Are. the original recipe is available online here as part of a free easy-to-read selection of recipes. (please don't arrest me for internet crimes)

serves: 2 stats: low to no chopping time, low prep time, long cooking time, cheap non-perishable ingredients, one dish (+ one for rice) equipment: oven, average or extra-large size baking dish (if you have a large flat dish, like for roasting meat, you may be able to double the proportions, which avoids leftover coconut milk)

ingredients:  Oil (vegetable, olive, or coconut), 1 tbsp Tin of cherry tomatoes, 1 Garlic cloves 2-4 Salt Chili flakes, 1/4-1/2 tsp Nigella seeds, 1/2 tsp (replace with cumin or black mustard seeds if needed) Tin of butter beans (drained), 1 Tin of coconut milk, 1/2 (save the next half for making a second batch of this the next day, or use however you want) Rice (recommended) or bread

instructions:  preheat oven to 200c (180c fan)

put oil into the baking dish.

spoon out cherry tomatoes into the dish. these should form a single layer with only a bit of juice around them so they get nice and baked. reserve remaining juice in tin. (this is why you have to make a half proportion if you have a dish with low surface area - if you can do a single layer here, everything cooks through better  - but do double it if you’re despo)

peel the garlic and tuck into the gaps between the tomatoes. (halve any super large ones so they get nice and soft - make sure tiny ones are covered in sauce so they don’t burn)

sprinkle over salt, chili flakes and spices.

roast for 30m in oven (on a high shelf if you have a non-fan oven). (should be mostly burst, and a teensy bit charred on top)

(while waiting, drain the butter beans if you haven’t)

poke any unburst tomatoes with a fork so you don’t die from cherry tomato burns later. mash the garlic cloves against the side of the dish with a fork.

pour in the coconut milk and stir a bit, then pour in the butter beans and remaining tomato juice.

put the stuff back in the oven (if you’re making rice, this is a good time to start). roast for ~30m until it looks a bit toasty on top. adjust the seasoning if needed

[coffeefrenchandhistory]

Ah, Bingate. The most contentious Bake Off has ever gotten. Well. Barring the "this person should have been kicked off instead of this person!" Look up the Rahul/Manon controversy. Or the allegations that Paul Hollywood kept Ruby Tandoh on the show because she was hot. Hooo boy.

So apparently the weather was (partially) to blame — the other part being the editors who, as many people do, love drama. The weather was particularly warm (25 Celsius / 77 Fahrenheit), and it was reported that some of the freezers had even had power failures.

There are two rows in the tent — left and right. Each side had their own assigned freezer and Diana had hers on the left. Iain was on the right. He wasn't using his freezer, and apparently two of the freezers had even broken the day before. However, Luis (another contestant, with unseen footage broadcast in the accompanying program An Extra Slice) was seen keeping one of the floor freezers open — the same freezer that held Iain's ice cream — while he piped the sides of his own bake. When Iain removes his ice cream to do the next step, it's quite soft — which means that it never set right. So when Diana strolls by, and sees ice cream that isn't hers in her freezer...

And since people love drama, and editors wanted something to boost ratings, here we are. Splicing footage to make it seem like Diana was evil and cruel and "sabotaged" Iain when it was, at best, an unfortunate accident.

No it doesn't, shut up and stop trying to start problems.