Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Typing Correcting and Typing Machines.

50s  typewriterWatching Matt reach for the whiteout when he wanted to correct something on his crossword, I started thinking about how easy it is these days. When I first went to secretarial college, many years ago, (1954 if I must confess) we had manual typewriters which were very heavy to use, I’m not sure I electric typewritercould type on one today. The only way to make corrections was with an eraser – not a very efficient method and if you had carbon copies, almost impossible. Later, typewriters improved and electric typewriters were introduced. I am talking about England here, they may have been around in the States for longer. After that there were correction pacorrectatape and ballpers, I don’t remember what they were called but you could place a piece over the error on all copies and type the mistake again erasing it with the white paper. By the time I got to Canada there was Correct-a-Tape which was fitted into the typewriter along with the ribbon. The next thing I came across was a typewriter whiline by linech had a small recording disc, in other words a word processor, it showed what you typed line by line only. It took me a long time to get used to that machine, at first I hated it. In fact Matt and my mother picked me up for lunch one day and I was in tears and threatening to quit my job. However, I persevered and learned how to use the thing. I then went to another company which had a complicated typing system; at the time we were all too naive to realise it was actually a very cumbersome computer – I was even sent to a week’s class in Toronto to learn the system, then finally I graduated onto a computer as we know them today.  You know what the look like. Now correcting what you type is so easy, and you never have to completely retype because the boss has changed his mind. To me computers are a definite blessing. I used to know a girl who could hit 140 wpm on the old machines. Never a mistake either, don’t know how she did it. I also learned Pitman’s shorthand when I was at secretarial college which nobody ever uses any more.

For some reason the picture of this recipe alone made me drool and  I am not a big pie eater. I found it on Food Network.

Goodwill Rainbow Pie 

  • serves 8 - 10 

This winter-herb-spiked pastry hugs the carefully favoured and individually celebrated layers of winter veg, while a grating of crumbly Lancashire cheese ties them together. A show-stopping pie that tastes even better than it looks.
Goodwill Rainbow Pie
Recipes from "A Modern Way To Eat" by Anna Jones.

Ingredients

Pastry

600 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
1 tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp baking powder
small bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked and very finely chopped
200 g butter or vegetable shortening
up to 250 mL ice-cold water

Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

3 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
a little butter or olive oil
a few good gratings fresh nutmeg
5 medium beetroots, peeled and cut into rough cubes
olive oil
splash red wine vinegar
2 sprigs fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into little fingers
a couple sprigs fresh sage, leaves picked
zest of 1 unwaxed orange
1 Tbsp honey
25 g butter or olive oil
2 good-sized leeks, washed, trimmed and sliced
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 heads winter greens, stalks removed, roughly shredded
grated zest and juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
1 red chili, finely chopped
200 g Lancashire cheese
1 organic or free-range egg. beaten, or soya milk for brushing

Directions

Pastry


1. First make the pastry. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl and add the chopped thyme. Cut the butter or shortening into small bits and rub these into the dry ingredients until you have a breadcrumb-like mix.
2. Add the water and knead to a smooth dough, but don’t overwork it. You could also use a food processor: pulse to breadcrumbs, then add the water and pulse until it just comes together. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill while you get on with everything else.

Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

1. Now get your veg on the go – all of this can happen at once. Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.
2. Roast the sweet potatoes for 1 hour until soft. Meanwhile, prepare the beets and parsnips.
3. Pop the beets into a roasting tin, with a splash of olive oil and the vinegar, add the marjoram or oregano, and season. Cover with foil and roast alongside the sweet potatoes for 1 hour, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes.
4. Put the parsnips into a roasting dish with the sage, orange zest, honey and a drizzle of olive oil, mix to coat, then cover with foil. Roast with the other veg for 45 minutes, until golden, removing the foil for the last 5–10 minutes. When all the veg are cooked, remove from the oven and turn the temperature down to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.
5. Meanwhile, cook the leeks. Heat the butter or oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the leeks and thyme and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, until sweet and softened, then set aside.
6. Add a little more olive oil to the pan, add the greens and cook over a low heat for a few minutes, until just wilted. Season, then add the lemon zest and chilli. Set aside.
7. Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and mash with a knob of butter or 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a good grating of nutmeg. Adjust the seasoning for all the vegetable mixtures, if needed.
8. Take your pastry from the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes. Then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin and use it to line a 20cm springform cake tin, leaving the excess hanging over the edges.
9. Now it’s time to start layering the pie. Start with all the leeks, then a grating of Lancashire cheese, then the beets, the greens, and another layer of cheese, then the parsnips and finally the sweet potato mash. Finish by bringing the excess pastry over the top of the mash, twisting the ends and laying them on the mash in a haphazard fashion – the little rough bits of pastry will crisp up and look beautiful. The pastry may not cover the whole of the top, but a little vivid orange sweet potato poking through is okay. Brush with the beaten egg or some soya milk.
10. Bake the pie at the bottom of the oven for 35–40 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool for 15–20 minutes, then remove from the cake tin and place in the middle of the table. Serve with lashings of gravy.

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

21 comments:

  1. All of us above a certain will have used a rubber (eraser) and Tippex but now I'm reduced to 'correcting' the Americanisation of English!

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    1. Forgot the name Tippex. I've live here so long I don't know what's American and what's English any more.

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  2. Hi Jo - went to see the Bletchley Park film last night ... now typing has a whole new outlook for me .. and yes I went through similar processes with the machine - thank goodness for bright sparks with delete buttons in their mind .. I still do silly things - like type up a notice for a talk .. and forget to put the date on - Hey Ho!!

    Love veggie pie ... and this sounds delicious .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Did you enjoy it? I would like to see that movie too. Do you go on your own? Oh yes, the joys of word processing.

      Doesn't it?

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  3. When I was in college, my Mom would bring home her office "Selectric" to do extra work for her boss. It had different interchangeable font balls. It also sounded like a machine gun.

    Ironically I'm attempting an apple pie today - barring I feel better. I keep thinking a nice slice of pie with cheddar on top might just help.

    Have a lovely day - stay warm!

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    1. I had forgotten you could change the font balls. Yes, it was like a machine gun.

      Are you sure you are up to it yet? My husband always says "apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze" saying from Northern England.

      Difficult to stay warm, although it's better today.

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    2. I like your husband's saying!

      It's either apple pie or German Chocolate Cake. For some reason I have a taste for something sweet - but will I really be able to taste it with a cold? I am willing to try!!!

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    3. Hahaha, great saying your hubby has.

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  4. My mom typed for years on a manual typewriter not far removed from the first image. I can remember her having to type entire pages over when she'd leave the wrong amount of space for footnotes. I can't imagine doing that, but it was commonplace then.

    Pardon me while I go hug my word processor. :P

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    1. It sure was Melissa. Yup, do hug it, you youngsters just don't know how good you have it LOL

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  5. I used white-out yesterday. I'm glad it's still around, actually.
    Sweet potatoes are a seasonal favorite of mine. Thanks for the yummy recipe.
    Be well, Jo.

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    1. Thanks Robyn. Hubby doesn't like sweet potatoes, but maybe wouldn't notice in a pie like this.

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  6. When I first took typing in 7th grade, we had manual typewriters (1976) and my pinky fingers were never strong enough to hit those keys. Fortunately by the end of the year they'd been replaced by electric. I continued to use an electric typewriter through the 80s for term papers in college, and then after I went to work in law firms in the 90s. It was just easier to do envelopes and there were still some forms, even when I left my job in 2011, that could only be done on a typewriter.

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    1. I had a part time job for a while not long ago and we also used electric typewriters for certain jobs. If I can't do envelopes successfully now I just make labels.

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  7. I've typed on those. I remember typing a research paper for high school English and having to crumble up whole sheets and toss them half way through because our teacher had a limit in the number of mistakes per page.

    I remember those typewriters with the preview window. They really were slow to use. You had to type it, check it out, and then hit print every couple of lines. I can see why you hated that.

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    1. Lovely weren't they?

      As well as the preview window, this one had a small storage disc and I do mean small. At first I could produce a good document, but what I had saved was a mess. Eventually I got it though.

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  8. I still use 'Tippex' on some things. Unfortunately I never learned to type and can only use two fingers when I'm typing on the computer. Typing should be a mandatory subject in schools now with the age of computers upon us. It's not though.

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    1. Didn't know it still existed Pinky. I agree, should be taught in all schools.

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  9. Correction ribbons. I remember those all too well. Even though I never took a typing class. Probably why I needed one.

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    1. When I learnt, all the keys were covered over so I couldn't see the letters. You seem to manage OK.

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