Juneathon | redhenrun

Juneathon Day Four and yes, I did get to run but didn’t get to ~~brag~~ blog about it. The Chook House presented other matters for my attention including three teens at risk of imminent starvation, a Himalyan pile of laundry and a broken iron. And all before I even had a chance to get my running shoes on.

I decided to deal with the teens first.

Within minutes, they had steaming stacks of pancakes under their noses. Each slathers their pile to their own taste: Teen Boy 1 is content with lots of lemon juice, cinnamon and just a little sugar. Teen Boy 2 holds the sugar and lashes on the maple syrup, while Teen Girl’s favourite is strawberries and cream.

But teenagers are hungry hounds, so, while they slurped contentedly, I threw together some oaten biscuits. These are, of course, from my favourite baking book Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and are turning out to be a such a great favourite here in the Chook House with teens and visitors that I usually make double the quantity. Gotta keep those hungry hounds at bay!

Mary Berry’s Oat Rounds

Ingredients (makes approx. 16)

50 g(2 oz)caster sugar
100 g(4oz) butter, softened
100 g(4oz) porridge oats
50 g(2oz) plain flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas mark 2. Lightly grease two baking trays.(I usually just cover the baking sheets with baking paper instead)
Put the sugar and butter into a large bowl and beat until creamy. Add the oats and flour and work them into the mixture.
Lightly knead the mixture until smooth and roll out to a thickness of 5mm on a lightly floured work surface.
Cut into rounds using a 6cm cutter and place on the prepared baking trays. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until beginning to turn golden. Remove from the oven and lift onto a wire rack to cool.

I find it handy to cover the work surface with cling film, before rolling out a dough like this. Makes cleaning up a whole lot easier.

I don’t know what the calorific value is of these biscuits. But I can tell you, gentle reader, just so you won’t have to go through the hardship of discovering it for yourself, that one biscuit will help you make a start on a himalyan heap of ironing, two biscuits might help you finish it. But no amount of biscuits will fix a broken iron.

I tried, the teens tried, but the iron stubbornly refused to heat up. We even thought of force feeding it biscuits but were afraid that, in a fit of pique, the electricity supply might object.

Of course I knew the iron was merely letting me off the hook. In its own sweet way it was urging me on out the door.

Teen Girl came too. We meandered along the riverside, took in a little of Killer Hill and meandered down by the glittering waters again. Much, much nicer than ironing.

So Juneathon Day Four saw ironing and blog neglected but teens well fed, biscuit jar replenished, and four miles run.

Juneathon Day Four: Four miles.

Juneathon Total: 13.5 miles