Baked well tart

Much classic cooking is simply about creating different textures and combinations from basic ingredients such as flour, eggs, milk and water.

So we set about making a salicylate-free equivalent of the Bakewell Tart. And it worked.

Actually my other half did the work. I'm told this is what you do.

Partly cook a thin layer of pastry on the bottom of a baking pan.

Lay sliced Golden Delicious apple on top - and then plain cake mixture on top of that.

Bake.

Delicious!

It's not quite as jammy as proper Bakewell tart. We need some ideas. Perhaps prepare the apple beforehand and add some sugar?

* Talking of apple, we bought some cut-price green apples from Asda's. I was wondering why I had symptoms today - itching in various places and a strange bleed on the lip tonight. Then I realised that although they looked like Golden Delicious there was no guarantee they were. They tasted a little stronger than GD. They were probably something else such as Granny Smith.

I tend to live with mild symptoms without complaining - but maybe I should make more effort to identify what is causing them.

RAS

Flu!

 I'm not sure if my weekend excesses were responsible but today I woke up and discovered the dreaded flu bug had struck - seemingly out of the blue. My voice was all but gone and my shoulders and upper chested ached. I thought something was wrong after the weekend when I did indulge in quite a bit of wine. At the time I seemed not to suffer any ill-effects but I began to get uncomfortable by Monday. Now it seems it was a virus gestating.

I took two montelukasts over the weekend, the first in some time. I wonder whether they weaken the immune system. Whatever has happened, on this occasion my once hyperactive immune system has not saved me.

I've just eaten a Bakewell tart to get my blood sugar levels up and wake me up to do this entry. It contains jam and coconut. Based on my experience with my first cold before Christmas, I might have hoped not to suffer reactions because of the virus infection. Not this time. I think it's just aggravated the discomfort in my throat.

RAS