Soldier, Painting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow

In which I finally start delivering on the promised painting guides...

I have been sat on a fully constructed Battle of Pelennor Fields box for just about a year after purchasing it as a Christmas present to myself at the tail end of 2021. Having signed up to a few "slay the grey" style challenges in the New Year I thought it was time to start with a nice easy paint job.

How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow
Puddings, Sponge
Thomas Wilkinson
Vegan Christmas Puddings

In which I modify an old family recipe to be vegan friendly...

After successfully turning my hand to vegan Christmas cake I thought it was high time I adapted my old Christmas pudding recipe to be vegan too.

Vegan Christmas Puddings
Tinker, Web, Python
Thomas Wilkinson
Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a ...

In which I discuss getting the dominant colour from an image quickly...

I have recently made a Discord bot that searches for online versions of board games to help people find games to play remotely. This link will add it to your server.

Discord embeds have a colour bar down the side that can be manually set. I thought it would be cool to have this display the 'average' (i.e. dominant) colour of the board game box and decided to investigate the best way to do it.

Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a Discord Bot)
Tinker, Productivity
Thomas Wilkinson
The Holiday Do List

In which I plan my holiday tasks…

So it may just be because it is 2020 or perhaps I'm just a bit lazy but I’ve found that I often start holiday breaks with a list of things I’d like to do and by the end of the trip* I’ve not achieved most of them. Whether it’s odd jobs or relaxing activities I wanted to get through I just accidental sit around and don’t do them. This holiday season I decided I needed a to do list and though I’d try out the new Todoist Boards feature.

*Or, let’s be real this year: sitting on the sofa at home.

The Holiday Do List
Tinker, Podcasting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It ...

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered.

How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It Right The First Time

British

,

Flapjack Treacle Tart

,

In which I bake a traditional recipe with a twist that makes it faster…

Prep time: 35 minutes (only 5 minutes with pre-bought pastry) Cook Time: 30 minutes.

Much as I adore a traditional treacle tart I often find it takes a little longer to make than I’d like. I decided to speed it up a bit with some inspiration from my mother’s quick treacle tart recipe and one of my other favourite desserts: flapjacks.

Ingredients

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

  • 90 g butter (softened)

  • 65 g caster sugar

  • 3 egg yolks

  • 200 g plain flour

Filling

  • 200 g porridge oats

  • 115 g butter

  • 115 g soft brown sugar

  • 2 tbsp & 2 tsp golden syrup

Recipe

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C for a fan oven).

  2. To make the pastry: cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.

  3. Add the egg yolks one at a time while beating into the creamed sugar.

  4. Mix in the flour to make a ball of dough and then knead until it sticks together.

  5. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

  6. Once the pastry is ready, roll it out and make sure it will fit into a tart dish.

  7. Grease the dish then place the pastry into it.

  8. Blind bake the pastry for 10-15 minutes. While you are waiting for that you can move on to the filling.

  9. To make the filling: heat the golden syrup, sugar and butter in a saucepan until they melt together.

  10. Remove from the heat and stir in the oats.

  11. Combining: pour the oat mixture into the pastry case.

  12. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the filling is bubbling.

  13. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before serving.

  14. Enjoy hot and ideally with a scoop of ice cream or clotted cream.

Variations

To make this recipe vegan just switch the pastry for vegan pastry (you’ll find most pastry in your supermarket is vegan these days). Then, for the filling, just make my Vegan Flapjack recipe instead (you’ll need about 2/3rds of the recipe).

Tom Out!

References

[1] BBC Food: Pâte sucrée (sweet shortcrust pastry)

[2] TTSS: Vegan Flapjacks