Distraction Tactic #6: If in Doubt, Bake

I have done spectacular amount of cheer-me-up baking since I got back from South Africa.  Even better, I have somehow managed to feed most of it to other people, limiting the amount I scoff and therefore hopefully preventing a whale-sized wife on Edward's return!

This is a Dutch Baby apparently.  I saw a picture of one somewhere and thought I'd give it a go, but it didn't really wow me; a bit dense and sort of flabby tasting.  Looks fab though!

Home made crumpets, about fifty million squillion times nicer than shop bought ones, recipe to follow at some point, oooohh yummmm.

Madeleines, which sadly had to be round because I don't have a madeleine tin.  Bit of a faff but annoyingly totally worth the effort and I will certainly be making them again.

English muffins cooked on a griddle, absolutely delicious.

We had a surprise birthday tea for one of the girls down the road, everyone baked amazing things and then we laid it all out on pretty china and wore party dresses and drank tea and champagne and stuffed our faces.  Perfect antidote for most of us having husbands away!  I made a battenburg, which though slightly fiddly and generally quite sticky, is again totally worth the effort for satisfaction and fabulously moist almondy deliciousness.

Jaffa cakes - seriously yum.  I thought it would be easier to make one big one and cut it up, but I had a bit of a difference of opinion firstly with the sponge, then a bit with the jelly and finally with the chocolate and everything got a bit cross and sticky...

...next time I will make individual ones.

Portuguese custard tarts: pastry and custard...what is there not to like?!  Completely delicious, although irritatingly the shop bought puff pastry I used just wasn't quite as good as ones I have eaten made with hand made pastry, which means I will have to try again and fight with home made puff pastry...gah.

PS  Sorry for the alarmingly large photos, I'm not trying to brainwash you with cake, I was just reading through the blog the other day and decided that the pictures were a bit on the small side and this seemed like the perfect post to go large with!

A Weekend in the Sunshine!

Last week was the first proper sunshine hopefully and optimistically heralding the beginning of the summer.  Sadly what followed was only this week's patchy sunshine, scudding clouds and more rain, so a little look back on the weekend is in order to keep our spirits up.

I went for a run in Plymbridge woods with some friends on Saturday morning which was utterly heavenly.

We ran along the path for what seemed like a reasonable distance then clambered down to walk along the river.



There is something magical about a river happily whispering rushing and gurgling, made only more perfect by gallons of bright warm sunshine dappling through the spring leaves of the woods.



Kenneth Graham describes the magic of a river deliciously in The Wind in the Willows:

'The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated.  By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.'

I braved the cold and went for a very refreshing paddle.

It was amazing to see the babbling shallow water trickling happily past the destruction of the winter storms.

 

We thought we'd make the most of the sunshine and after lunch we went on an impromptu trip down to Whitsand Bay.

It's amazing having all these beautiful places so near by!

We ambled, we clambered, we splished and sploshed and then sat and baked in the sun for a bit and went home with that lovely hot tired feeling you get after a whole day outside.

That evening we went out for a few drinks in Plymouth which on Sunday morning gave us the perfect excuse for an enormous breakfast in the garden and several hours of chatting in the sunshine.

 

Not a particularly productive weekend, but very enjoyable!

The Taming of the Meadow

The garden is finally doing very growing-y sorts of things and looking rather more like a garden and less like an abandoned meadow.

The beautiful weather we've had over the past week or so has done a lot to help, not only with getting everything growing, but also making it all look a little more inspiring.  Not much looks inspiring under growlingly grey skies and pouring rain.

I did some general neatening and tidying, particularly in this little spot which spent all winter collecting leaving and mud and wouldn't stay tidy for love nor money and has therefore been horribly grubby for months.  It looks soo lovely now the edges are all neat and the concrete swept, and it is shaping up to be a perfect breakfast spot as it catches the morning sun until at least eleven o'clock and isn't too far from the toaster.

I have managed to mow the lawn several times now without too much disaster, apart from one major crisis when the mower started smelling like hot plastic and then quite suddenly gave up the ghost, (in the middle of some particularly haphazard mowing patterns) leaving me with half a lawn and half a meadow.  Not very helpful at the beginning of the summer.  Luckily I borrowed one from one of my lovely neighbours and managed to finish the job, but I can't wait until Edward comes back and takes over, mowing is definitely not my forte!

Once it was done however I was able to do a bit of this:

The chickens joined me:

(Not, as it first appears, a dead Honoria, but in fact a sunbathing Honoria!  Margot annoyingly got up from her sunbathing to come and see why on earth I was creeping about the garden all stealthily.)

I have a fruit section at the end of my bed, with raspberries, strawberries, a gooseberry bush, blackcurrant and redcurrant.  All seem to be doing fairly well considering they had a but of a rude unearthing and shifting across the country last October.

My radishes are coming up; they are so easy to grow and very rewarding because they're ready within three weeks.  Planting a new row every week gives you a rolling supply all through the summer.

My herb bed is looking less than perky, but I'm hoping it will fill out a bit once the plants get settled.  The bald patch is full of thyme seeds.

I'll keep you updated on progress!

Breakfast Bars

Perfect for a snatch and run breakfast, these are also a delicious and very healthy alternative to cake or biscuits as they contain no refined sugar and can also be made fat free should you wish.

Bring on the bikini.

1.5 tbsp melted butter/sunflower oil/coconut oil

2 bananas

1 tbsp honey (local or British if possible!)

2 tbsp fruit spread: (this stuff is amazing, no added anything, just fruit, delicious on toast or yoghurt and great in flapjacks)

3oz/75g dates, finely chopped and soaked in 2 tbsp boiling water

3oz/75g dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, dried cranberries, apricots, apple etc)

1oz/25g chopped walnuts

1oz/25g seeds
1oz/25g desiccated coconut (optional)

6oz oats

Place the bananas in a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until smooth, then whisk in the oil, honey and fruit spread.

Stir in the other ingredients.

Press into a lightly greased tray (you can make them thick or thin depending on your preference and the size of your tin!) and bake 25 minutes at 180C/gas mark 4 until golden .

Cut while warm then leave to cool in the tray.

An Impromptu Trip to France

I received a rather interesting phone call from my parents on Thursday, asking if I wanted to go down to France with them and visit my brother.  I of course said yes absolutely, upon which they replied, excellent, we leave tomorrow.

A bit of frantic packing, washing up and passport gathering later, I set off for Portsmouth.

Slight drama, Mummy's passport was stuck somewhere between the solicitor's and home, so we had to depart minus one very sad Mummy.



Le Havre greeted us the next morning with glorious sunshine and we had a lovely sunny drive down to Niort to collect Etienne and all his things, and then trundled up to Angers to move him into his new residence.





Boring jobs done, we ambled into Angers and went to celebrate our reunion with pancakes and cider.












 (Cider in mugs!)

Next morning we went for coffee and croissants and discovered a huge rambley antiques market unfolding in the sunshine.





We had a fabulous time rummaging about in all the treasure, fuelled by tiny cups of coffee and a large bag of chouquettes.

Slightly creepy statue...

The time passed all too quickly and before we knew it it was time to go.  We left Etienne to continue exploring his new town and began our long journey home.

France bid us a lovely sunshiney farewell.

We arrived in Portsmouth at some ghastly hour in the middle of the night and then had a looong drive back to Plymouth.



Just as well for Monday being bank holiday, I definitely needed a lie in!