Dbee Robinson Artist - The Fat Struggling Menopausal Artist

  I feel truly blessed that this is the view from my art studio today. What a glorious sunrise and start to the day. Nature’s colours are truly magnificent and I know no matter how many times I try to paint a sunrise or sunset I will never be able to do it justice. My Australian sunset  was inspired by the spectacular scenery in Australia. The moment I saw the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland I was stirred to paint a landscape that not only captured the moment but the awesome sunset.  But before I get to work in my studio today I am going to steam bake a cake in my new smartlid ninja. Seriously, who knew you could steam bake a cake? And with so many apples from my tree it’s going to have to be an apple cake. This one I created is a little like a carrot cake but with apple to keep it moist, (is it just me that hates that word, moist?) lol. I chop my apple in my Thermomix and squeeze out some of the juice, but you can grate it too.  Apple cake .  4 apples - cho...

  As we were down the allotment again this morning a fast and easy dinner was the order of the day. I made a  Coconut curry  recently in my New Smartlid Ninja, and so I thought to reheat it using the slow cooker function. I got it reasonably hot using the saute function and then switched to Slowcook, HI, 4 hours, but as the curry was already cooked I knew just a couple of hours would suffice. However, I have no idea what the temperatures are for slow-cook and have contacted Ninja Customer services to clarify. We completed our tasks down the allotment and I brought home some chard to slice and add to our curry. I checked the temperature to make sure it was safe and above 80°c and hubby put on an episode of the original Thunderbirds series 'The end of the road' for us to watch while we ate. Have you seen the original Thunderbirds? They are stories made for children using puppets set in the 2060s. However if you really look closely at the scenery, clothing, props and storyli...

I have an allotment which, now i’m semi retired, I can actually enjoy and get things done. But in order to spend enough time down there to do all the things necessary today, dinner will need to cook itself, so Spaghetti bolognese in my smart lid Ninja with its slow cooker setting it will have to be.  Spaghetti Bolognese I set the Ninja slider to Airfry/Hob and set the dial to Sauté to cook 500g pork mince, 2 onions and 2 garlic cloves. Adding a chopped carrot, celery stick and courgette. (As I still have soooooo many to use up courgettes are in everything I cook at the moment even cakes!)  After about 5 mins I added a tin of tomatoes, 300ml stock , 1/2 green pepper, dash of Worcestershire sauce, glug of port, 1 bay leaf, 1tbl oregano, and as we love spicy food I added come chilli pepper too.  A quick stir and set the dial to Slow cook, Hi, 4 hours. Well that was simple and quick for a slow cook.  We then stripped all the apples off the tree and stacked all the perfec...

What a great film this is. Brought into reality by a great script, superb direction and excellent acting.  If you haven't seen it yet, its well worth a look. Whilst I am eternally grateful to the women, and men, who were Suffragettes and fought for my right to vote. Yet I wonder have we all forgotten that it wasn't that long ago that men also had to fight for their right to vote. In the not so long ago past, voting was property dependant. The Telegraph  has an interesting article and I'm shocked as I never knew that voting was so restricted to so many for so long.  Today I was down the allotment pruning the trees and shrubs as well as tying up the blackberries. The weather looked so warm outside but oh my at 2 degrees it was freezing! However job is done and I look forward to healthy juicy fruit and veg smoothies. Love and light peeps dbee x