Cornflower

Breaking Bad: questions, observations, and a spoiler alert

    If you are a fan of Breaking Bad but haven't watched right to the very end yet, click away now!

    For the last few weeks we've been glued to it (we have the DVDs) and saw the final episode last night, but it leaves me pondering:

    - Is Walt really dead? If not, I hope Hank comes back to haunt him.

    - What will happen to Jesse? A new, safe career in woodworking, I trust.

    - Will 'super-lawyer' Saul ever practise again? If not, it's the profession's loss ...

    - When will Skinny Pete make his Carnegie Hall debut?

    - What made Gus go to the bad? And that from a Volvo driver, too.

    - Milk in camomile tea? Surely not, Lydia. (Although I'll give you credit for your cornflower blue blouse.)

    - As job descriptions go, "all-purpose cleaner and hitman" (i.e. Mike) takes some beating.

    A series about drug manufacture and violence is not typical Cornflower viewing at all, but this is superb, and all credit to the writers and actors.

Friday flowers

    Jonquils and silver, J.D. Fergusson, 1905.

    The Fergusson exhibition in the Scottish National Galleries' Scottish Colourist Series opens in Edinburgh tomorrow at Modern Two (formerly known as The Dean Gallery).

Fragrant things

    Quince at last!

    I found these in Earthy, and shall do as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtsall suggests in his fruit book, that is either roast them with herbs (to go with lamb or pork, or put in a salad with walnuts and goats' cheese), or poach* them "until they are completely tender and yielding [when they will] be luscious, full-flavoured and have their own delectable syrup".

     Meanwhile, I'm enjoying their lovely honeyed fragrance

*He also recommends topping pizza with slivers of poached quince and crumbled blue cheese ...

Tasty things

 

    Nigel Slater's Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food is 'book of the moment' in our kitchen, and so for anyone who has a copy, the following recipes are Cornflower-tried and tested:

Poor man's potatoes, p.113

Potatoes with hazelnuts and egg, p.119

Lentil bolognaise, p.183

Aubergine curry, p.245

Lamb shanks with crushed roots, p.251

Cider thighs, p.253

Onion and mushroom toad in the hole. p.307

Root vegetable tangle, p.311

Pork belly, pistachios and figs. p.317

Pretty things

    Embroidered shoe bag from Helen Bateman. For the next few days this comes free with orders over £50.

Edited to add: I ran into town this morning and made a quick purchase at the shop itself, so here's a close-up, in the flesh -