Flapjacks

I love flapjacks, the warm buttery flavour and tender crumbly texture of the oats... Just perfect. They're so simple to make too, with basic store cupboard ingredients you probably have on hand right now. This recipe calls for making them stovetop before whacking them in the oven to cook completely which is a totally different method than I used for my Peanut butter and Honey Flapjacks but hey, I'm up for trying anything once.

Flapjacks
Makes 9-12

• 225g butter,
• 225g light brown sugar
• 2tbsp golden syrup
• 350g rolled oats (jumbo oats)

Preheat the oven to 150 C and grease a 9" square tin

Melt the butter with the sugar and syrup in a saucepan over a medium-low heat,

stirring to avoid sticking and burning until the butter has melted completely

Remove from the heat and stir in the oats,ensuring they are well coated in the mixture

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with the back of a spoon

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden on the top

Cool completely then cut into squares with a knife and remove from the tin (being careful not to break them up)

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Also, if there are crumbs left over they make fantastic granola for your morning yoghurt!

Photo credits go to Arctic Garden Studio

Bonk on the Noggin: Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Asterix Comics

My final year thesis supervisor and prospective PhD supervisor always sends me interesting articles and links, I have yet to be disappointed by something he has given me, and today was no different. I was having a chat with about the next project proposal we are submitting and he handed me this article about neurological dysfunction in the Asterix Comics.


In this study (See link below for the full article) Marcel Kamp and his colleagues analysed all 34 of the Asterix comic books and looked for causes, signs and symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in the characters. They identified 704 instances of TBI measured using the Glasgow Coma Scale and based on physical signs such as raccoon eyes bruising and pinhead pupils. 


Unsuprisingly, the most common victims of these TBIs were the Romans and the most common attackers were the Gauls but no death or permanent disabilities were noted as a result of these injuries.


You have to wonder who funded this, I wonder if they'll send some funding my way :P


Here's the full article (it's written in very accessible language so anyone can read it without a Neuroscience degree, which is a nice change):
Kamp, et al, (2011) Traumatic Brain Injuries in Illustrated Literature