Friday 30 August 2013

Naan Bread Recipe and Campers I remember - for various reasons!

Well, I still haven't finished the post about how we budget so instead I shall share with you my Naan Bread recipe which I made today.

Naan Bread
1lb strong white bread flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 heaped tsp instant yeast ( I use Doves)
half tsp. salt
1 tsp sugar
Just over third of a pint tepid milk
1 egg beaten
2 tablespoons cooking oil
(We like plain ones but you could add coriander and garlic if you prefer)

Mix all the dry ingredients together, make a well in the centre and stir in all the wet ingredients.
Mix well and then knead well for 10 minutes.
 Put in an oiled bowl and cover and leave to rise, until doubled in size.
Knead again and divide into 8 pieces if you want big Naans. I make 12 smaller ones.
 Put onto 3 oiled baking sheets and leave for another hour or so to rise a bit.

Pre-heat grill to very hot
Prick each naan with a fork a few times, then sprinkle a little water on each naan on the first tray.
Place under the hot grill for about 2 minutes until golden, turn over prick and sprinkle again.
Shove under grill again usually less than 2 minutes until golden brown again. WATCH THEM!
They burn quickly if you take your eyes off them.
Repeat with second and third trays.
Leave to cool

 Freeze. Reheat in microwave when you want or under the grill for a few seconds.


The reason for mentioning campers I remember, is because the other day Gill at Frugal in Derbyshire had a picture of her Damson Tree on her blog and I commented that I had had a Know-it-all type camper here over bank holiday who had pointed to our Damson and said" Your Victoria Plum Tree looks as if they are ready ". I said " It's more of a damson type plum and they are still quite hard and solid as yet". He said " I'm sure it's a Victoria Plum as we have one near us at home". I wasn't going to argue so I just said Oh Right. There is no telling some people!

This is our very old Damson type tree
 They are sharp and not very nice even cooked, nothing like the lovely plum beside it which I had on yesterdays blog, which probably is a Victoria.



This damson/victoria discussion happened on the campers first day here, and I wasn't at all surprised when he came back to the door several times over the 5 days they were here. The first time he said" what's the best time to come to the door with enquiries?" I wasn't really sure what enquiries he meant as he had already asked me dozens of questions when he arrived. I don't mind answering questions about everything around but he didn't seem to listen to anything I said anyway!

This reminded me of some of the other odd things that have happened in our 20 years of owning a campsite.

There was the man who came running across the camp site to me in a panic when we were having the hay field cut many years ago. He was horrified we were having the field cut in case something flew up and hit his caravan. As he was several yards away from the hay field I didn't think there would be a problem. But he argued for several minutes that it was stupid of us to have the field cut when we had caravans on the adjoining bit.We planted a hedge between the two fields after that, just in case he ever came back!

Then the people whose car alarm went off early one morning and nothing they could do to stop it. It was so loud and the man didn't even know how to open the bonnet of the car. Very odd.

Years and years ago we had some people who would come every year to camp while they went sailing at Aldeburgh. But everyday there would be a line of huge knickers hanging up to dry. Did she really fall in that often and why did she have such huge knickers?

Several years ago, before we had hook ups, a small campervan pulled in to ask about the site. I spent several minutes answering questions about everything and then said it was £3 a night per person. Which was all we charged back then. The man said that was fine and started up to drive in but his wife suddenly shouted at him that £6 was |FAR TOO MUCH and they would find somewhere cheaper. He gave me a look of despair and put the van into reverse to back out again, without saying another word, they had gone.

An elderly couple used to come regularly, but every time they came they would want to borrow a ladder or some tools for mending the caravan. Him Outside was a bit worried about this old boy going up a ladder so it always ended up with HO doing the job for them instead.

About 5 years ago I was in the shed milking the goats at about quarter to seven in the morning when I was amazed to hear two caravans pull in. They had booked but I wasn't expecting them THAT early. We had other caravans on site so I quietly explained where they could pitch and said I was surprised to see them that early. One of the men said they had come down from a site in Norfolk and wanted to avoid the traffic around Norwich. Whatever had the campers thought on the site in Norfolk when they packed up and went at about 4 o'clock? The trouble was they didn't just pitch and settle down quietly. They started putting up awnings, rattling all the poles and shouting across to each other. You should have seen their faces when I went out and told them to be quiet and have some consideration for other people. I'm sure they had never been told off before!

A while back someone came to the door and said they were a bit worried because a man on the campsite was trying to fly a kite. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem on a campsite but we have the Very High Voltage wires not far away so kite flying is a definite No, obvious to most people with a bit of common sense.  So I went out and explained that kite flying was really not sensible.He was another who seemed surprised to have someone tell him he couldn't do something. Eventually he agreed that it would be more sensible to take the kite down to the beach ( only a few miles away). But as I walked away he and his wife started having a huge shouting match, with her saying "I told you not to " and him shouting back that he wouldn't be told what to do and then the son started yelling at them to stop fighting. I crept away quickly!

Thank goodness the majority of people who come are just nice normal holiday makers and we haven't had anything very odd for quite a while.












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