Just thought I'd give a heads up that a massive update is being released later today which will bring some massive UI changes to all of the default apps (including icons) and will herald in a swathe of updates for other apps as they update to take a similar clean look.

http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/ has a list of some of the visible changes

http://www.businessinsider.com/ios-6-versus-ios-7-apps-2013-9?op=1 has a side by side difference of various apps on the iPhone

I've been running it for 3 months now on my phone and iPad and overall its a nice upgrade, though slightly sluggish on an iPhone 4. There are still a few rough edges on it and I don't like all of the changes (I prefer some of the older icons and app looks) but I think a number of devs will draw a line in the sand soon and say they are only supporting iOS 7 and upwards rather than iOS 6 and upwards. Particularly with Apple quietly turning on a new feature which means that if you go to download an app that isn't compatible with your current OS or hardware, it will offer you the last compatible version.

I should add that my wife doesn't like the new look though she has kind of got used to it.

My wife borrowed my phone to go shopping. Unfortunately she dropped it outside trying to out it in her handbag.



I'm not upset, surprisingly, though sad. She was kinda sweet, she came in looking sad, gave me a hug and then showed me the phone. Followed by "when is the next one coming out?", so now we need to decide do we get the screen replaced (it's usable, but hard to read in places) or do we hold off the three / four months till the 5S comes out, or do both.

Don't know how I missed it before but there is a companion app for the In The Mix Thermomix cook book which has some corrections for the recipes, a few videos, a recipe from each chapter, some getting started tips to make the dishes look not so scary and some menu planning idea.

Its not bad, and certainly can't beat the price (its Free). I think the only change I'd like would be an in app purchase option to buy the recipes.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/in-mix-great-thermomix-recipes/id514838901?mt=8

Hi guys a quick question if I may, if you happen to record / note what you have in your cupboards, pantry, fridge, freezer and so on, do you just list the items in total or do you tend to break it down by shelf?

For example you know you have some Cream of Tartar in your baking cupboard, on the second shelf. Do you simply write

Baking Cupboard:

Cream of Tartar
Sugar

Or

Baking Cupboard:

Shelf 1:

Cream of Tartar
Baking Soda

Shelf 2:

Flour

The reason I ask is I'm thinking about writing a pantry management app for the iPad/iPhone and I know people have different ways of doing things. Having shelves is useful though it requires you to put things back where you take them from (or rather others).

Name: Fragrant Pilau Rice
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fragrantpilaurice_67870

Ingredients:

450g/1lb basmati rice (for a more authentic flavour and texture it is best not to use easy-cook rice; however, it will still work and be very tasty if you do)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
large knob butter, plus extra to serve
4 cardamom pods
8 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
pinch saffron threads
2 bay leaves
600ml/1 pint hot chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
salt
1/2 tsp Turmeric (added by me, Rob)

Steps:

To make sure you get lovely fluffy rice, wash it in several changes of cold water, then leave to soak for about 30 minutes in fresh cold water. If you don't have time for this, place in a sieve and wash under the cold tap for a minute or so.

Cook the onion in the butter for around 5 minutes until softened.

Add the spices, saffron and bay leaves and cook for a couple more minutes. The spices will give a wonderful fragrant flavour to the rice.

Add the rice and stir until the grains are coated in the butter before stirring in the stock or water and salt. Bring to the boil and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. If the lid isn't very tight, cover the pan with aluminium foil before putting the lid on.

Turn the heat down low and leave to cook for 10 minutes before turning off the heat. Don't remove the lid; just leave the rice to continue cooking in the pan for about 5 minutes until you're ready to serve.

The rice should have absorbed all the water and will just need fluffing up with a fork. Add a knob of butter before serving.

My Notes:

We've made this a number of times now, always with great success. I've always done the washing and leaving to stand for 30 minutes, I do feel it makes a difference to straight cooking the rice (I use the same rice for various dishes)

I think adding the 1/2 tsp of turmeric adds to the rice a little, particularly to give it the nice yellow colour one associates with pilau rice (at least in the UK)

I've made it a few times with a half portion of rice. The first time halving the number of cardamon pods, cloves and using only half an onion, the second time with all ingredients as full apart from rice halved and stock halved. Both worked fine and having full spices didn't overwhelm the rice as I thought it might.

I don't use the extra knob of butter before serving.

My kids don't like it, but the first time I made it my wife couldn't have enough of it. She ate way more rice than she would normally

My bay leaves are dried, and while I use saffron threads (once without, can't say I noticed them being missing) they are v expensive (basically €2 for a medium sized pinch) and makes the dish cost more than I feel it should.

While I don't like sultanas, I do wonder if they might make a nice addition to the rice.

The rice has worked well as the side to Butter Chicken and Tikka Masala. Would quite happily eat it on its own someday or use it as the basis for a biryani (like, oh I don't know, a chicken tikka biryani)

Name of Recipe: Cream Of Chicken Soup
Number of People:4-6
Attribution: Ylani Roy Chef Consultant
Link
Ingredients:

1 tsp of fresh Parsley
25 g of Onion
25 g of Leek
70 g of not salted butter
60 g of Flour
1 kg of Water
20 g of Chicken stock paste
75 g of Cream 35%
1 Pepper pinch
1 Cayenne pinch
50 g frozen Green Peas
50 g frozen Corn
50 g Carrots
200 g of chicken breast in cubes  (I tend to use 300-400g of chicken)

Preparation:

Chop parsley 5 Seconds / Speed 6. Set aside.

Chop onion and leek 5 Seconds / Speed 5.

Add butter and sauté 5 Min / 100°C / Speed 1.

Add flour and cook 1 Min / 100°C / Gentle stir setting.

Add water and the chicken stock paste and cook 30 Min / 100°C / Speed 2.

Filter with the basket and rinse the bowl.

Put the stock into the bowl then add the cream , pepper, Cayenne, vegetables, and chicken.
Mix 5 Seconds / Reverse function of knife setting / Speed 3, then cook 7 Min / 100°C / Reverse function of knife setting / Gentle stir setting.

Check chicken cooking and add chopped parsley.

Mix 5 Seconds / Reverse function of knife setting / Speed 3.

Total time: 49 min
Make-ready time: 44 min

Photos:

Failed to take any

Tips/Hints:

Add more chicken.
Might used a slightly larger pinch of Cayenne next time.

----
We have visitors over and as one of them wanted Chicken soup, I googled and came a Ross this recipe on the CA Thermomix website. As it used Chicken Breast (which we tend to have around) I figured we'd give it a shot. We all thought it was good, not too creamy, the right sort of kick and nice enough for seconds the only real complaint was that there wasn't enough chicken and that it wasn't shredded to tiny pieces.

I made a couple of substitutions namely dried in place of fresh parsley (used 1/2 tsp), 25g of spring onion rather than leek and I left the corn out.

Members' comments

Auspicia - I made with gluten free flour also and it's still divine :-)

CP - it has a beautiful flavour. Will add more chicken too next time as well, but it was still delicious regardless.

Utterly amazing time lapse video taken from space

Seeing the thunderstorms like that is stunning, though I hate how much light pollution there is

Hi was wondering if anyone had a TMX recipe for Mint Yoghurt Dressing?

When we lived in England there was a sandwich shop that used to make Chicken Tikka Sandwiches with a Mint Yoghurt Dressing and I fancied making some up as I was going to make the Tikka Paste, for making Butter Chicken, and figured I use some of the paste to make Chicken Tikka sandwiches

My memory of the dressing is that it wasn't overly thick nor was it runny (as the supermarket dressings seem to be, mind those are salad dressings and sandwiches aren't overly big here) and figured hey I'll try you guys

Can you help?