Her Indoors....

 Well title say's it all really. Due to the snow and ice and the roads being so treacherous I was ''her indoors'' today. Schools cancelled again so another whole day to myself ...bliss. Now I should really have been finishing off decorating the hall or cleaning the bathroom but didn't really feel like it, nothing unusual there then :o). Besides I had the urge to create something, so out came the sewing machine and my fabric stash and I was off. Its not quite finished yet but hopefully I'll finish it and post some pics on my blog tomorrow, what could it be????

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 We haven't got much in the cupboards, which is a disaster as it's difficult to get to a shop at present. And being stuck indoors does really give you the munchies. Luckily I had enough ingredients in to make a Victoria sponge, yummy. I had a slice earlier with a cup of tea glass of wine, lol.

Very nice it was too!

I hope you are all manging to stay safe and warm, and hopefully you are getting creative in the kitchen or craft room too.

TTFN

Apple Cake

I've been meaning to make this cake for a while, and as I've been given some lovely windfall apples I gave it a go yesterday. It's fairly easy to make and has a lovely autumn flavour, perfect with a nice hot mug of tea.

3 Cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced      

5oz butter softened

5oz soft brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

8oz self raising flour

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

2oz sultanas

2oz glace cherries, halved

grated rind of a lemon

1 dessertspoon demerara sugar for sprinkling

Cook the apples with a little water until soft, then sieve to produce a smooth puree; there should be 4 to 5oz. Allow to cool. Set oven to 350 f or mark 4. Grease and line a 7 inch round cake tin. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, a little at a time. Sift together the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir into the mixture. Add the dried fruit. Mix the lemon rind with the apple puree and fold into the mixture. Put into the tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle a dessertspoon of demerara sugar over the cake to give a crunchy topping. Bake for 45 Min's or until golden brown and springy to touch. Cool in the tin for 15 Min's, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Enjoy!!!

Another Year Older.....

I can't believe I haven't done a blog post since June! I really don't know where this year has gone, it just seems to be flying by. I have had a busy summer and have lots of pics to share with you all, from our holiday, camping trips, jam and chutney making, swaps received etc, but can't possibly put it all in one post, so I'll just show you some pics of flowers and cakes instead.

I turned 30 last week :o(, which I had been dreading for ages but my lovely hubby and my brothers girlfriend arranged a surprise party for me, which was lovely. I received lots of flowers, champagne, a pamper voucher, and lots of other lovelies. My brother took me out for the day, so I wouldn't suspect what was going on. We visited the pack-house in Farnham, and the cath kidston outlet in Bicester and were out for 7 hours! I'll show you my purchases another day. Thought I'd put my feet up when I got home, but nope the house had been taken over by family and friends shouting surprise at me!

My Sister in law made these gorgeous cakes, they were so pretty it was a shame to eat them, but we didn't take too much persuading, all gone now.

A great time was had by all, and I had a sore head the next day.

Well just a short and sweet post I'm afraid, to get me back into the swing of things. Hope everyone is well and had a great summer.

TTFN from an old git!

A BIT OF BAKING

As I'm typing this I've just discovered a load of dried cake mix in my hair that I'm pulling out, honestly you'd think I was 3, how the hell did that end up there! Anyhow, I decided to do a bit of baking today, well actually hubby keeps nagging me to make him a cake and some hobnobs so wella Mr Pixie here you go. But I'm having a sneaky slice  of cake and a brew before you get your mitts on it. Also snuck a couple of hobnobs while they were cooling but that's our little secret :o)

Now I've been racking my brains here for the past couple of days, as to where my CK ''Make'' book is. I've turned the whole house upside down looking for it but no luck. Its very annoying how can I lose a large book like that? I'm sure I'll turn the house upside down again before the weekends out.

I'm hoping to visit a car booty over the weekend so, hopefully I'll find lots of lovely bargains I can show you all, fingers crossed. Well off to walk the very windy dogs now, great a car full of noxious  gas :o( lol

TTFN

Afternoon Tea Anyone?

This afternoon I had some friends over for afternoon tea. I'm shattered now, I've been cleaning and baking all day. The Tea Party went well though and everyone was stuffed.

I made a chocolate cake, recipe was from Nigella Lawson's Feast cookbook, and its the old fashioned chocolate cake recipe.

I also made a Victoria sponge with homemade Lemon Curd filling. The girls love my lemon curd.

We also had cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, pate sandwiches and egg sandwiches.

We drank out of some china that I picked up at a car boot sale last year, and boy did we drink some tea today. I lost count of how many cups we each consumed.

I also made some coconut macaroons, I LOVE coconut.

My friend made a scrummy banana loaf.

Still had a fair bit of choccy cake left. It was rather yummy but very rich. Hubby will be having some in his lunch box.

Woody said he like some cake........

Needless to say after all that cake, I didn't want any dinner, and I'm still full.

Curds and Cake......

Yesterday I had a go at making Bramley apple and lemon curd and here is the finished product. Must say I was quite pleased with it. Does taste very apple saucy my hubby said, and not as nice as your lemon curd. Still it was tasty and will be great in cake fillings. The recipe came from the new River Cottage Preserves book, which i still have on order, but this particular recipe was in the guardian taken from the book.
And today I made a courgette cake, as had loads in the fridge. Its filled with Lime Curd, which I also made today and a cream cheese topping.
This recipe is from Nigella Lawsons Domestic Goddess book. Had a taste not bad, but would be bland without the kick that the curd and cheese give.
Took this of my Puddy-tat last night. She wanted to be with her mum and was following me around everywhere. She took a seat on the dining room table, while I did battle with the freezer. I made a Lasagne and a chicken curry yesterday for meals when we don't have too much time and tying to fit them in the freezer was a military operation.
And finally a picture of my boy, looking very handsome after his fur cut on Monday.