This Week - Gaddafi's death, Dale Farm eviction and a Mummified Taxi driver?

One of the biggest news stories of the past few months hit on Thursday, with unconfirmed rumours of Colonel Gaddafi's death in his home city, Sirte.  People were cautious in reporting the news, as rebel information about capturing the sons of Gaddafi has turned out to be wrong in the past.  However, amateur video footage emerged of the dictator's corpse lying in the street.  Libyan rebel supporters took to the street and celebrated by shooting their guns into the air triumphantly.  Hundreds of people have been queuing to get a glimpse of Gaddafi's body, which is being kept in a freezer.

The National Transitional Council has announced that there will be an election within 9 months, and that the body of Gaddafi will be handed back over to his family.  No decisions regarding his funeral have been made, although it is unlikely his grave will be made public in a fear that it may become a shrine for his supporters. 
Eyes will be on the new emerging state in Libya, to see how rebuilding the country will happen.  But with all the new business opportunities - such as in the oil industry, they won't be short of friends.

Finally, after weeks and months of appeals in the High Court, Basildon council managed to begin their removal of the travellers at Dale Farm in Essex today.  It's a very debated subject, many people for and against the traveller community, and others just wondering what will happen to the children living on the site. 
Police moved in at about 7am on Wednesday morning, met with missiles thrown from protesters.  One protester was tasered, drawing criticism for the police, with travellers saying police were using too much force. 

The site has has the scaffolding tower removed and properties were served with removal notices.  Travellers and protesters staged a mass walkout, as bailiffs moved in.


The Queen started her latest tour of Australia this week, her last visit was in 2006 - which was tipped to be her last trip to the country.  In recent years republicans have been urging for the Queen to be removed as head of state.  However they were unsuccessful in their campaigning, although this hasn't detered them.  Even so, one republican this week said that they respected the Queen, that she represented something that Prince Charles doesn't hold with the public.  He claimed that not even Prince William appeals to the Australian people like his grandmother.  So far the tour has proven successful, with the Queen and the Duke receiving a warm welcome.  


And finally, this week saw the news about the mummification of a taxi driver from Torquay, Devon.   In the past scientists and historians have had to guess much of how the Ancient Egyptians achieved their results.  Recent research has lead to new ideas of the embalming process and the only way they could prove their finding was to have a real human body to work on.  Alan donated his body to research into the embalming process and mummification of the Ancient Egyptians. Alan responded to an advert for a volunteer, as he was suffering a terminal illness.  Channel 4 have made a documentary following the mummification of Alan, testing out the new theories and will be broadcast this Monday coming.

Bagels Galore

I have never been a goddess in the kitchen, I've always had rather dull tastebuds, but at times I can show I am slightly skilled when it comes to baking.

After visiting a good friend in York who I had not seen for a very long time, it opened my eyes to a completely different world.  Not only does she hardly eat meat (her boyfriend is vegetarian) but she cooks and bakes so much, finding the time in her busy life which is mainly taken up with teaching Secondary school Maths.

I was extremely impressed, they seemed to be living an ideal lifestyle, where the local farm delivers local vegetables to their door.  My friend's enthusiasm for cooking made me begin to believe that I too, could produce something edible. 

And my bagel adaptations have proved me right.  Whilst in York, Rachel had fed me some wonderful home made bagels and she offered the recipe - taken from the Womens Institute cook book.  I snapped up the chance and when I got back home, I went straight to the shops and bought the ingredients.

There weren't too many, and the method for making the bagels was quite simple - I think this is what convinced me to try the recipe in the first place.  I successfully made a batch of plain white bagels, and noted things I would like to try for the next time.

Cinnamon bagels are one of my favourite types,  so I hoped I could replicate this into mine.  It wasn't too difficult to alter the bagels, (I'm sure many a seasoned kitchen star would assume this anyway) I followed the normal instructions and just added two teaspoons of ground allspice and as many currants as seemed right. 

On my plain bagels (I made two batches, one with the allspice and currants, the other without)  I added sunflower seeds onto the top, after boiling the dough in the hotwater and glazing with egg.

My small alterations to the original recipe really made a big difference, and even my brother came back for more groundspice bagels - complimenting me as well!  This proves to people like me, that the kitchen doesn't have to be a tricky place.  I think it's more important for people to encourage you, and to show you it isn't too difficult, and that soon you'll be able to work out how to improve a recipe, or tailor it to your own taste.

Bon appetite!