Portwrinkle

Gosh the weather has been utterly grim today, it is soo miserable!  It rained almost all day here in Plymouth, which I tried to be positive and I-have-so-many-inside-jobs-to-do about, but basically it felt like November.  Just to remind us that it is still August, here are a few sunny snaps from a gorgeous day at the beach a few weeks ago.

We set off one morning in the vague direction of Whitsand Bay, but got distracted on the way by a tiny road beetling off towards Portwrinkle, which had such a cute name it definitely needed exploring.

It was totally worth it!

A stretch of gorgeous beach and beautiful water greeted us from the car park at the top of the cliff, which was almost beautiful enough to make us stop there and go no further.  However, peeping in the distance was this intriguing little sign:

We trotted down the path and picked a nice spot to set up camp and munch our sandwiches.

As parking is fairly limited, the beach was quite quiet which made it even more perfect!

Mathilda lay under a brolly and did some hard playing,

Ed lay under a brolly and did some hard snoozing...

I lay in the sun and baked and gloried in the rather novel feeling of being too hot!  I conducted a close study of the beach while I baked.  The whole beach was made not of sand as I had originally thought, but of teeny pebbles and tiny pieces of beautifully smooth sea glass.

It was beautiful!

I can never resist making a collection at the beach...

After a bit more playing and snoozing I decided it was perfect time for a paddle.

It wasn't exactly warm...but it was certainly beautiful and very refreshing!

Mathilda had her very first paddle!

It was a bit chilly!

We then ambled back up the hill to the perfectly placed cafe for a sneaky ice cream before heading home all sandy and toasted.

Now I will go to bed and dream of sunshine....

Lemon Curd Ice-Cream

Oh boy, it's lemon curd in ice-cream form, like eating lemon curd neat with a spoon but more legitimate.  And extremely delicious.

Start by making a batch of lemon curd.  You need about 300/350ml of it for the ice cream.

For the custard

225ml milk

3 egg yolks

2oz/50g sugar

150ml double cream

Heat the milk until hot but not boiling.  Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk together until pale and frothy.

Carefully dribble the milk into the egg yolks, whisking all the time.  Don't add the milk too fast or you risk scrambling the eggs!

Return the mixture to a pan and, stirring constantly, heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Leave to cool before stirring in the cream.

Stir in the lemon curd, the quantity is fairly flexible, it depends on lemon curd-y you want it!

Churn in an ice-cream maker until thick.  If you don't have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into a Tupperware box and freeze for a couple of hours, then remove and stir well.  Repeat this process until the ice cream is set.

Gosh just writing about it has set me drooling, I might just have to go and taste it again and make sure it's still ok....

Strawberry Romper

I have had this gloriously cute strawberry fabric in my collection for several years now and despite having got it out every now and then, no project has ever seemed quite good enough for such gorgeous fabric...until now!  A few weeks ago I decided that a romper for Mathilda would be the perfect project and got to work stitching this scrummy little outfit.

The collar is made from my Girl Guide neckerchief which I had kept in my fabric collection until a worthy project came up.  I'm so glad it is being used for something so gorgeous!  It is now a sweet little peter pan collar...hidden somewhere in amongst Mathilda's chins!

It had its first outing when we went to a 1st birthday party with some friends a few weeks ago, teamed with her teeny tiny anchor shoes which matched perfectly!

Wholemeal Walnut and Cranberry Soda Bread

Oops, bit delayed, my computer's been playing up which is very frustrating.  Apparently it's having a good day today and has decided to co-operate...how generous!

Here's another take on the basic soda bread, which goes very well with soup or cheese, or is perfect for breakfast straight from the oven.  It takes mere minutes to make and will be cooked by the time you have made some coffee and got the butter out.

 6oz plain flour - white, or half white half wholemeal
1tbsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
0.75tsp cream of tartar
handful walnuts
handful dried cranberries
7tbsp milk, give or take!



Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir well.



Add the milk to make a very sticky dough.



Place in a greased tin or splodge onto a flat tray and flatten to about 2cm thick.

Bake for 30 minutes at gas mark 5/190C.



Cut the loaf into quarters and then cut each piece in half, as you would a scone.

Best eaten the day you make it, although you can have it toasted the next day.