Another Proustean moment - butter wrapper...

Was roasting a chicken today and didn't have much oil so basted with combination of oil and butter.

Unusually I had solid butter as I'd bought for cooking - usually use the spreadble type in a tub.

Went to check chicken and it seemed a little dry so added last of butter  and as it was last of pack smeared it on with wrapper and suddenly remembered my Mum sometimes cooking poultry with the butter wrapping over breast of bird to keep moist so did the same.

Sadly I can't do my roasties like hers, but frozen roasties smeared with fresh cooking juices are pretty good!

When she first came to Wales (from Egypt) my Mum nearly caused an International Incident. Dad had a Yorshire friend who went on about the delights of Yorshire pudding. The first time my Auntie Gladys made them for my Mum she was really disappointed by their ordinariness after the build-up - Not the way to get on with your new sister-in-law!

Godless in Caerffili...

Lots of twittering going on - in the old-fashioned sense - about the latest census findings. There was the usual panic and immigration debate but a big issue was the increase in the number of those who say they have no religious belief.

The census found that there were four million fewer Christians in England and Wales in 2011 than 10 years earlier and the area with the biggest decrease (does that make sense?!) in faith  in general is Caerffili! Non-belief has leapt from 16 to 17% to 40%! Despite this being discussed on at least two news items on Radio 4 I can't find a piece specifically on the place but found this Guardian article about the changes in religious belief in Blaenau Gwent:
Census and religion: churches lose their appeal in struggling Welsh valleys

This is the general picture on Christianty n the UK as described by Robert Pigott, the  Religious Affairs correspondent on the BBC News site:

Churches had pointed to the 72% of people who described themselves as Christian in the 2001 Census to help justify their claim that Britain is a "Christian country".
The sharp decline in the number of people in England and Wales identifying themselves as Christian to 59% is a sign of the religion's weakening influence in society.
The secular trend is confirmed by the significant increase in the percentage of people describing themselves as having no religion from 15% to 25%.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20683744