Advent Calendar 18

I chose one of the recipes from my Christmas Planner. Scones don't have many ingredients and are quite simple to make - I still manage to make a mess in the kitchen as well.

Look good and taste good. The festivities have begun.

xx

Poo buns

I wouldn't win a baking competition ...

but these buns, done in the microwave, taste just like chocolate buns and only took three and a half minutes to cook.

xx

PS for Marlene. I usually stop wearing flip flops in October and start wearing them again in the spring but I've been wearing them over winter when the weather is warm (ish). I very rarely wear socks even with boots. I much prefer my feet to be free. The flip flops in yesterday's picture are my favourite ones for walking in at the moment but I also wear Birkenstocks Gizehs.

Last of the rhubarb

I've picked the last of the rhubarb today. The remaining stalks are starting to die off. Looks like the end of the crumbles. I've made this one with the addition of brown sugar.

It makes the crumble very tasty. I also use brown sugar in the crumble topping.

The crumble is made in the ratio of 4:2:2, 4 being the flour or a mix of flour and oats, 2 being the sugar (brown in this case) and 2 being butter which was rubbed into the flour.

Forgot to take a pic of the finished crumble because we ate most of it.

xx

PS Good job I've frozen a pile of crumbles already.

Useful gift

A gift of pears was used as an ingredient in the cake I made yesterday. The recipe was also a gift from the same friend which was given to her by her friend. I have adapted it slightly.

Pear, nut and chocolate cake

4 oz whizzed up nuts, fruits and seeds

5 oz SR flour

6 oz butter cubed

5 oz light brown sugar

2 large eggs beaten

5 small rip pears peeled, cored and chopped (or drained tinned pears)

2 pieces of Christmas Toblerone (pinched before Christmas)

*****

Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Rub the butter into the flour until it forms fine crumbs.

Mix in eggs and sugar.

Add most of the pears and whizzed up chocolate and mix gently.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth.

Press in the leftover pear pieces.

Bake in a 160 degree oven for 50 - 60 minutes or until cooked through. Leave to set for 10 minutes before turning out.

Mine's not the neatest of looking cakes and the pears I used were very, very small and hard.

It tasted fine though.

My notes on my recipe paper were:-

No way can breadcrumbs be formed by rubbing in, the mixture just sticks together. It is very heavy and sloppy. The cake smells delightful. Made it with Toblerone instead of dark chocolate and substituted nuts, fruits and seeds instead of just hazelnuts.

I had mine piece with custard and DH had his with spray cream. I did catch him pinching another piece in the afternoon!

xx

Throwaway Thursday

Not quite zero waste yet in our house. I thought I'd monitor what I threw away today so here's the list of items that went in the grey bin.

First * the pouch for the cat's pet food 

and as it was a baking day (for the freezer as we have guests coming next week) 

* 5 egg shells

* cellophane bag that contained the sugar

* part of a butter wrapper

* tin foil (it was used twice - once to line the baking tray and one more time to cover up a cake in the oven

* mixed spice container (It came out as I had an idea to make a crochet cover and use it to put stuff in but then I changed my mind so it went back in again!)

* cotton yarn ends from my crocheting



* teabags
* snipped corner of a custard carton (the weight loss is nearly there so I've treated myself to custard over my strawberries!)
* plastic freezer bag that had the bread in

The recycling list is as follows:-

* flour bag

* sugar bag

* junk mail
* inner cardboard tube from a finished ball of yarn
* paper band from a new ball of yarn



* tin top from some tinned tomatoes

And the compost list:-

* lemon peel

*strawberry husks

* apple cores

* broad bean pods

* mange tout pods - I have saved the seed for next year.

Well at least I've recycled or composted more than I've thrown away but I don't think I'll ever achieve zero-waste.

xx

Busy again -

- weighing and giving drinks to the mixed dried fruit for the Christmas cake. I hope to bake it sometime this week and the fruit is waiting whilst savouring gin, brandy and whiskey!

While I had the dried fruit out I mixed up a batch of Auntie Katie's Mincemeat - a recipe from my home recipe book.

Auntie Katie's Mincemeat

 (I halved these quantities as it makes an enormous about.)

1 lb sultanas

1 lb currants

1 lb raisons

12 oz sugar

1 oz each of - mixed spice

- mace

- cinnamon

4 oz ground almonds

1 lb marmalade

1 lb grated apples

the rind and juice of 2 lemons

a tot of - whiskey

- ginger wine

- brandy

Mix together in the order given and keep cool.

I intend to start making mince pies for the freezer when the fancy takes me.

xx

PS Ain't the freezer lucky!

PPS I think the dried fruit that's sitting in a bowl on the worktop is lucky too with all that booze!

:)

Sorry

I'm sorry but in the Dorset Apple Cake recipe I printed 280g Golden Syrup instead of 280 g Golden Caster Sugar. Thanks, Julie, for pointing that out. I have corrected the mistake. I hope no-one's had a spoilt cake because of it.

xx

:(

Mum's Apple Cake

For Julie who commented on the previous post.

Mum's Apple Cake

12 oz Self Raising flour

6 oz butter (soften in the microwave)

6 oz sugar (I used brown)

3 eggs

a little glug of milk

2 baking apples cut into chunks

Whizz up the above and spoon out into 2 lined small loaf tins. Bake in a moderate oven until done - approx. 30 - 35 mins

Here are 2 other variations from my here, there and everywhere recipe book. Enlarge the picture for this one which was cut out from somewhere.

Easy Apple Cake

This one must have been cadged from a friend. I'll type it out 'neatly' under the picture.

Dorset Apple Cake

450g apples

the juice of 1/2 a lemon for the apples

225g butter

280g Golden Caster Sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

350g SR flour

2 tsp baking powder

Demerara sugar to sprinkle

Turn on the oven to 180 degrees.

Line a 27cm x 20cm baking tin.

Put butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix. 

Put half in the tin.

Put in apples and then the rest.

Sprinkle sugar over the top.

I presume it's baked until it's done!

xx

I can't do it

I can't bake without a mess. Even with a mixer there's always a pile of batter that sticks to the whizzy thing. I do try to spatula it off and spoon it off and knife it off but it just won't come clean without the use of fingers!

There's always a drip or two or three that runs down the sides when spooning it into the tin. How should I get that off so it won't burn in the oven?

The floor gets covered with flour when I open the flour bags. I've never opened a flour bag yet that doesn't spill its contents all over.

It even sticks to the bowl and ends up around the sink. The bowl, the bowl - just won't come clean no matter how much I spoon out. I end up chasing little bits around the sides and the bottom. Oh woe is me. I hate baking - such a mess.

Mind you the the finished item is not so bad.

I didn't use my fingers to rescue the drip!

xx

PS A very warm welcome to my new follower.

I am not going to do this ...

… ever again.

What a mess!

Who said tuna potato cakes were a good idea?

I shall now go and clean the kitchen.

xx

Stretching exercise

This week's chicken casserole yielded enough for 6 meals plus quite a lot of 'gravy' which I turned into soup with leftover cooked veg and a spoonful of Bovril. We'll probably have enough for 4 bowls of soup there. While I was in the kitchen I made some scones and a couple of Granny loaves (the recipes are in the Be-ro cookbook). One of the loaves I'll put in the freezer for another day. The Granny loaf used up the extra milk I had in the fridge. When I look in my old Be-ro recipe book it's surprising how many different recipes there are using flour, fat, eggs, milk and sugar. I also made another 2 loaves today to keep us going for a few days. I leave out the butter now and the bread is just as good.

xx

Answers

1. My home is in which famous seaside town?

2. How many cats do I have?

3. What do I call my days out?

4. What adjective do I use to describe my back garden?

5. Name one of my hobbies.

Here are a few that I have mentioned in the blog.

baking

crochet and knitting

A blackberry beanie

A wavy ripple based around this pattern minus puffballs plus extra black!

Valentine slippers

And another scarf in garter stitch. Methinks I have too many projects on the go.

dancing

playing

reading

recycling and re-using

sewing

6. How do I describe the majority of my Christmas cards?

7. Name my favourite home grown vegetable.

8. Name one of my crocheted blankets.

Autumn blanket

Bloggy Blanket



Christmas granny blanket



Granny zigzag



Spring ripple blanket

Summer blanket





2012 blankets





9. What is my volunteer job?

10. What was the original aim of this blog and am I still achieving it?

Thank you to the people who commented yesterday and well done to Jill who was able to answer most of the questions. (Sorry, Jill, I've missed putting you back on to my side bar. I will rectify this forthwith!)


'I think I shall simply record all the things I do as I live my simple life. I cannot promise to put in everything. It depends if I have time. Let's see how it goes.'

xx

Little bits, tiny steps, slow but sure

Everything cannot be done at once so today in the de-cluttering department - 

shoes, clothes and books went into the CS bag,

cleaning department - 

hoovered downstairs and upstairs, cleaned the loo (the loo seat came down on my thumb - ow, ow, ow!),

kitchen department - 

made a stew from last of the onions, veg and an end from DH's steak
and made bread in a terracotta bread dish which was a gift for my birthday,

give-away department - 

visited some friends and gave some daffodil bulbs to them (we'd ordered too many),

make department - 

added some more rows to a scarf,

tidy cupboard department - 

sorted another wardrobe,

relax department - 

read the newspaper and some chapters of 2 books I have on the go,

maintenance - 

re-charged the Kindle

care department - 

stroked the pusscat and made sure she took her medication (she had 3 teeth out yesterday - worrying times!)

drinks department -

Enough done - where's the sherry?

xx

Diary Entry - 4

Good day

Yep, it was - with cards, flowers, homes mags and other little pressies.

DD made a mud cake a la Nigella which we waded through.

I made a sherry trifle and we waded our way through that as well.

I like wading!

Way hey, what a day!

xx

Fairy cakes ...

… are not my forte! It's a good job the photo is blurred.

The lurid coloured butter icing was left over from another (failed) project. Oh woe is me.

Never mind - they're at least they're edible.

xx

Opposite the Kitchen Window - September 2014

Quite busy here today.

Soup has been rescued from the freezer for our lunch, the tomatoes were a gift from a friend and I'm baking a cake.

I had some pears which were going a bit soft and I wasn't likely to eat them so I thought I'd make a pear cake using a sponge mixture with the pears in the middle.

I still have a pile of satsumas to eat up. The whiskey's doing OK!

I 2 loaves this morning and the flour is still out. An acquaintance gave us a quick demonstration on how to play the spoons so I've chosen 2 suitable ones to practise with! I've just about got the 'hold'. Now for the rhythms.

The cake turned out pretty well and some of the slices are going to the freezer for another day.

Hello and welcome to 2 new followers. I hope you enjoy your visits.

xx