30 Days of Thankful #3

Today I am grateful to my Kenwood Chef for taking away the hassle of making pastry. Before I had "robo chef" I rarely made pastry as I always put either too much or not enough water in but as the machine brings the dough together you know when you have added enough. Now all I need is a machine to roll it out for me!!

The result of my efforts was a double crust apple pie. I am ashamed to say I am 46 this week and this is the first time I have made one - but it went down a treat.

Daily Bread

I am enjoying my few days off work - today I managed to fit in, around the chores, some crafting, lunch out with my boys and some baking. Well it's not a proper day off if I don't bake - yesterday it was skinny lemon and blueberry muffins from The Hairy Dieters. Today, inspired by Paul Hollywood's TV programme, I have made bread from scratch. I have made it before from a packet mix but thats no quite the same thing I don't think. It was far easier than I thought it was going to be - although not ure 10 minutes kneading is particularly therapeutic.

My dough went from this

To this

Into the tin

And out of the oven

It is what you might call up here as "well fired" (slightly overdone aka burnt) but that's how I like it and I have to say it it absolutely delicious even if it isn't good for the diet.

My Month In Numbers 2013 : February

Last month I was organised and made notes as I went along for my Month In Numbers - but this month I haven't written down a thing - and the notebook has been on my desk the whole time so I have no excuse.

Just the one train trip through to Aberdeen to the orthodontist with youngest son - and after only wearing the blessed contraption for ten months the orthodontist told him he should only have another six months to go. He still isn't happy about it but knowing that it should be off by his thirteenth birthday is definately a sweetener.

I have read seven books this month - the best one being The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani. Unlike Julie I do seem to incur overdue charges on my library books on a regular basis - but then I do have 2 library tickets on the go!!

I baked cookies for the first ever time - sixteen in total and even though I say so myself they were delicious - just like the ones you buy from the supermarket.

On the cooking theme I made pancakes for the very first time - they were a success - in fact I think the term "better than dads" was mentioned. Result.

Hubby went on a whistlestop tour of the Far East with work and in the space of a week visited four different countries - Singapore, Malaysia Hong Kong (again) and Taiwan. This is a panorama of Singapore waterfront.

I walked seven miles and just over 2500 feet up a big hill last weekend in the snow - a fantastic sense of achievement when I finally reached to top. Ascent and descent took just over 3 1/2 hours.

Weight loss was a bit dismal during February - several weeks staying the same, then losing a bit and putting it back on - total weight loss for the entire month was 2 pounds - must try harder in March.

Please pop over and say hello to Julie and see everyone elses month in numbers.

Come Dine With Me

I have no idea what the show with the above title is all about as I have never watched it.

But last night we invited friends (and their accompanying teenagers) round for tea. Andy had already told them we were having Spanish chicken casserole but nothing prepared us for what we saw when we opened the door to them. Spanish flamenco music was blasting from the car stereo and Nick was in full matador costume - a fantastic start to a fun filled evening.

I decided to make desert and try something new - a trifle that I had seen in last months Good Food magazine. It didn't look too complicated but I didn't realise how time consuming it would be to make - almost 24 hours from start to finish. Each layer had to be made and left to set before the next layer could be assemble - and my biggest fear was that it wouldn't come out of the tin!

But I shouldn't have worried as it all turned out well - just like the picture in the magazine - even if it was the devils own job to cut it in slices and serve while trying to keep all the layers together.

But I think it went down well. If you want to try the recipe you can find it on the Good Food website here. 

134:365+1 : Random Choice

Suzie gave us a choice today: either a portrait of a woman or of we didn't fancy that then we had a random choice. I live in an all male household so didn't fancy the first one so for something completely random - I made bread for the first time today.

It was a bit of a cheat as I used one of the packet bread mixes from James Martin:

It was quite easy to make and it actually tastes OK - and I will have to try one of the other varieties next time. I was chuffed with my first attempt.

78/365+1 : Hobby

Now I could list quite a few here - with the one that takes up more of my time which is reading. But I like to scrapbook, make cards, knit, cross stitch and bake. This is what Callum I I have made today following a recipe in my new Cupcakes From The Primrose Bakery cookbook. These are just plain vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing - and decorated by Callum. They are pudding tonight after tea which is going to be cooked by Callum and ably assisted by his sous chef (his Dad!!)

Birthday Cupcakes

In honour of my forthcoming birthday I finally gave in and baked for the girls at work - usually whatever I bake is devoured by the locusts that live in this house and there is never enough left over to make the 5 minute journey into the office.

So I made them pink and girly (with a bit of bling) to put the boys off! They seemed to go down well - no one keeled over after eating them which is a positive thing!!

I have to say they are the best ones I have made flavour wise but have to admit to preferring the banana and walnut loaf I made at the same time - and that one is mine all mine as no one else in this house likes nuts - what a billy bonus!!

Halloween cupcakes

We are having friends round tonight for a curry night and as there will be more kids in the house I thought I would have another go at making cupcakes.

I found the brown polka dot cases in Hobbycraft the other day and the orange food colouring and sprinkles came from Asda. Adding all the food colouring made the butter icing a bit softer than I would have liked but didn't want to add anymore icing sugar in case it ended up full of lumps.

I also bought a better icing kit from Lakeland while I was in Aberdeen the other day - and I have to admit it made decorating the cake so much easier - and you can put the icing bag in the dishwasher to clean it - a double bonus!

Now all I have to do is carve a pumpkin seeing as how the boys don't seem at all bothered to have a go themselves - luckily where we live is very quite and we don't get any guisers - so there will be nothing to interrupt Strictly later on!!

A first attempt

I have never made cupcakes before - to be honest couldn't see what all the fuss is about - all they are is glorified fairy cakes aren't they????

Armed with a recipe from this years Great British Bake Off winner Jo I decided as it was such a dreich day I would give them a whirl. The cake itself is really easy to make and I was chuffed with them when they came out of the oven - all golden brown and risen.

But the decorating is something else! I have got an icing set that I bought from Lakeland many moons ago but have never used. Made up a bowl of butter icing and the first problem is getting the damn stuff into the plastic tube - I am sure an icing bag must be far easier as it has a wider opening.

More practice it required I feel - don't think the local bakers shops have anything to worry about! This little pink one was the best of the bunch (I made the boys and their mates eat the misfits!!) There must be a knack to icing them neatly - and not pebble dashing half the kitchen with hundreds and thousands. Not quite in the same league as the ones Shimelle has featured in her new class which you can see in my previous post.

But for a first attempt I am quite pleased.

A sweet treat

Sharon made the most delicious rocky road for our crop last Sunday and she shared the recipe with me.

It was delicious and just ever so slightly sickly!! I will be making it again though as it went down a storm with the boys - but next time I will leave out the chocolate chips and maybe try it with milk chocolate.



You can find the recipe here.

Lemon Curd

I recently made some more lemon curd the easy way - in the microwave and am sharing it here on Anthea's request.

Makes about 3lb.

200g (7oz) unsalted butter
700g (1lb 9oz) granulated or caster sugar
grated zest of 4-5 lemons
300ml (1/2 pint) lemon juice - about 4-5 lemons
300ml (1/2 pint) beaten eggs - about 4-5 eggs.

Place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl and microwave on full power for about 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Add the beaten eggs and continue cooking in 1 minute bursts and stirring each time, reducing to 30 seconds for each burst as the mixture thickens, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Strain through a sieve into a wide necked jug to remove the lemon zest and any cooked egg bits.

Simples! And once you have tasted home made lemon curd you will never again want to eat the fluorescent yellow stuff you can buy in the shops.

This recipe came from a fab set of Women's Institute cookbooks my Mum bought me ages ago - which I use loads.

Orange and carrot spice muffins

I have been asked to share the recipe for these muffins which Callum helped me bake yesterday.

The recipe comes from a very useful little book called (surprisingly enough!) Muffins - Fast and Fantastic by Susan Reinmer.

10oz plain flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/4 tspn each ground cloves and nutmeg - I didn't have the cloves so just put extra nutmeg
1 egg
3-4 oz caster sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange
Juice of the orange plus water to make up to 6 fl oz
4 oz grated carrot
3 fl oz vegetable oil or 3 oz melted butter
2-3 oz raisins, sultanas, currants.

Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarb,salt and spices.
In separate bowl beat the egg and then stir in sugar, orange rind, juice plus water, carrot and oil/melted butter.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ones and stir until evenly mixed - adding dried fruit at then end. Mixture should look thick and lumpy.

Spoon into tins - sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake at 190-200C for 20-25 minutes.

I took a couple to rugby this morning to enjoy with my cup of tea while watching Callum run up and down the pitch. I also made a dozen banana muffins at the same time - but they have all been devoured by the locuts that reside in this house!!

The boy did good.

This is what Sam brought home from school this afternoon - the fruits of his labours from his Home Economics class.

There were a dozen Chelsea buns all wrapped up in greaseproof paper - and seeing how he had Home Ec the last 2 periods of the day they were still deliciously warm.

But the only reason I got to sample his cooking is because I had to pick him up from school as he had an opticians appointment. Usually he walks to and from school in a large gaggle of lads 0 and these gannets usually polish off anything worth eating on their way home.

But they were perfect with a cuppa and 10 minutes out in the garden enjoying the afternoon sun.






Wonder if his cookery teacher is anything like mine was - Mrs Lloyd aka The Soup Dragon!!

Baking Made Easy

I have really enjoyed this series on BBC2 over the past few weeks - Lorraine Pascale explains everything really well - and nothing too complicated.

After watching one of the shows the boys had been nagging me to make her cookies and cream fudge chocolate brownies. They were surprisingly easy to make and you can find the recipe and watch her make them here.

I dread to think how many calories must be in each one as there is a heck of a lot of chocolate in them (and a whole pack of Oreos!!) Next time though I wouldn't cook them for quite so long as I like my brownies more squidgy in the middle.

Secret Santa

Today at work we exchanged our secret Santa presents as we do every Christmas. We have a limit of £10 each and we swap tickets with our names on and some possible suggestions in case the person doing the buying is stuck for ideas. We had to exchange our gifts early as one of our workmates is off to Dubai in the morning - all right for some!

I struck gold as Karla bought me The Great British Book of Baking which is the cookbook which accompanied the TV series a Great British Bake Off. The show was presented by the cake making god that is Mary Berry and the silver fox himself Paul Hollywood. If you didn't need to see the show you won't have seen Ruth who has an amazing blog entitled The Pink Whisk - and it is well worth a look as she is currently blogging the 12 days of Christmas baking.

First from the book to try has to be the Fat Rascals - they look easy and delicious. And there is even a recipe for butteries which I might have to try. A buttery is a savoury Scottish bread roll. A buttery is similar to a flattened, round croissant but with a salty taste. Not particularly good for the waistline as they are traditionally made with lard!! They are also known as Aberdeen rolls and are a speciality of Aberdeen but they are common throughout the North East of Scotland.They were created in the 1880s, to provide the growing Aberdeen fishing industry a type of high-fat roll which would keep for longer periods at sea than conventional rolls.

Lets Eat Blog Hop

Welcome to the Lets Eat Blog Hop and you should have arrived here from Beverley over in North Carolina.

My chosen recipe is from my childhood growing up in very rural Radnorshire (in Mid Wales - now known as Powys but I prefer the original name.)

Welsh Cakes (picau ar y maen) are a traditional Welsh tea time treat made from flour, butter or lard, eggs, sugar and currants - not particularly healthy but where would the fun be if they were good for you?

I can remember my Mum making these and finally this year she taught me how to make them when we went down to Wales for a visit. But I'm afraid that whenever I make them in this house they don't stick around for long - but then again I am married to a Welshman so I shouldn't be surprised!

Here is the list of ingredients:

225g/8oz self-raising flour, sieved
110g/4oz salted butter
1 egg
handful of sultanas
milk, if needed
85g/3oz caster sugar
extra butter, for greasing

And the method:

Rub the fat into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs as if you were making pastry. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Mix to combine, then form a ball of dough, using a splash of milk if needed.




Roll out the pastry until it is a 5mm/¼in thick on a floured surface and cut into rounds with a 7.5-10cm/3-4in fluted cutter. I love mt set of pastry cutters from Lakeland - so much easier to keep clean that the old metal ones and they come in their own little case.





























Ideally you now need a heavy iron griddle but I use a flat bottomed frying pan. Rub it with butter and wipe the excess away. Put it on to a direct heat and wait until it heats up, place the Welsh cakes on the griddle, turning once. They need about 2-3 minutes each side. Each side needs to be caramel brown before turning. I always find I manage to burn the first few - but luckily has a husband who seems to like burnt offerings so they never go to waste!



Remove from the pan and if you want to you can dust with caster sugar while they are still warm.

They are delicious served warm - but have to be spread with butter and you have to eat them with a cup of tea.



(PS - thought I would show you the "burnt offerings" - in my defence I always find it hard to get the pan at the right heat to begin with.)
























Now you should pop over and visit Furrypig (it sounds rude using that name but I'm afraid I don't know your real one!!)