this weekend...

Was all about taking it easy and catching up...




As I've been so busy recently, a lot of things have had to slide - so finding myself with a little spare time I decided to bake bread... rosemary and seed bread. It's one of those things that can't be rushed and has the benefit that you can do other things, (in my case doing a little magazine reading) whilst waiting...

I'm really going to try and make the effort now that Autumn is upon us to get into baking bread again, mainly because it's so difficult to find decent shop bought bread in the Uk and really who doesn't love the smell of bread baking on a slow Sunday afternoon... Hope you've had a good weekend whatever you've been doing...

fresh and fruity...

The brilliant thing about Summer is the abundance of tasty fresh food available.



Although I can't take credit for the items in the above photos,(bought I'm afraid!) I do have a small garden and try and grow some veggies each year. The problem with the UK climate, (especially here in the North) is that we have a pretty short growing season but it's so nice to be able to take something straight from the ground and cook it for dinner. This year I'm growing, potatoes, spinach, kolhrabi, runner beans, french beans, courgette, and in the greenhouse; tomatoes, aubergine, mini sweetcorn, pak choi, rocket and lettuce. Oh and I have an gooseberry, apple and plum trees. Expect some photos and recipes in the coming weeks!...

making...

I really don't know where the time has gone this past week, I've been meaning to post this for the last few days and just never managed the time...

As part of my 38 things post, one of the items on my list was to try out a new recipe each month, so for April with the thoughts of Easter not long past I thought I would indulge and try out the delicious sounding Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte. The recipe came from an old issue of Easy Living magazine and the best thing about it is there's no cooking involved! As you can see, my photos involve fruit in a bid to make it look less indulgent lol!

Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte
100g (3.5 oz) plain biscuits
150g (5oz) dark chocolate broken into pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp castor sugar
100g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter
100g (3.5 oz) shelled hazelnuts toasted and coarsely chopped
cocoa powder for dusting

* Grease a 18cm (7inch) springform (i just used a normal tin) cake tin with butter and line base with baking paper
* Lightly crush biscuits into uneven pieces (use a bag and a rolling pin!)
* Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, you may need to stir
* Put egg, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer beat for 4-5minutes or until mix is pale and thick
* Melt butter then add it to the egg mixture in a steady stream while beating at high speed
* Beat in the melted chocolate
* Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the chopped nuts and crushed biscuits until combined
* Pour mix into cake tin, spreading it evenly and gently
* Let chocolate cool
* Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight until firm
* Dust with cocoa powder and eat - yum!

little bits of green...

I just noticed when I was uploading some photos that I seem to have a thing about green and white at the moment. There's something quite spring like about this colour combination and it's especially nice when it's paired with a little sunshine.



Oh and the apples were today's 365 photo on flickr, (see the side bar) after dinner tonight I'm going to do baked apples with brown sugar, butter, raisins and walnuts - delicious...

mid week snippets...

:: New buds on trees in glimmering light
:: Home made soup from this amazing blog
:: Afternoon light on a journey home

I love this time of year when everything starts to wake up again...

bits of the weekend...

It's been a quiet one this weekend as I'm still taking it easy but there have been some lovely things...

:: Enjoying a glimmer of sunshine which makes me think that Spring will be here soon.
:: I came across this site 500 pencils which looks amazing. Check out the storage 'swoon'.
:: Looking at this site and deciding what seeds to grow.
:: Deciding what to cook first from A Homemade Life and yes I have read it from cover to cover!

Wednesday...

Today has been one of those blah days that are rainy and grey and seem to drag,(well the part where I was at work anyway). Maybe it's because the days are still short and grey that my thoughts are turning towards home and spending time inside all cozy and warm.

I really want this gorgeous book as I've heard so many good reviews of it, partly for the beautiful writing but also for the yummy recipes.

I also found this amazing shop through Stephanie at Concerning pancakes. How gorgeous is this kettle? I was pleased to see this which I have already, (though not from Canoe) and always thought was an object of beauty. Also how lovely is this tissue box, I confess I'm swooning, shame this shop is based in Portland although maybe that's a good thing! :)

lunch today...

Remember how I said I had made spicy parsnip soup yesterday? Well a delicious portion, made a warming lunch today to chase away the dreary weather.

Warming Spicy Parsnip Soup (to chase all dreariness away!)
5 medium sized parsnips
2 carrots
1 large onion
2 and a half pints of good vegetable stock
teeny pinch of chilli flakes
Garam Masala to taste ( i think I used about 4 teaspoons ish)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to season
Double cream if feeling decadent!

* heat a glug of olive oil
* add onions and let sweat in the oil but don't brown
* chop parsnip and carrot into chunks
* once onion is soft add the parsnip and carrot to the pan
* let vegetables get to know each other for about 5 minutes with the lid on
* add good quality vegetable stock
* add a teeny pinch of chilli flakes - just to add a little something, not to overpower
* after about ten minutes add the garam masala - it's best to do this towards the end of cooking
* wait for the vegetables to soften
* when vegetables are cooked enough, buzz in a processor to make a silky consistency
* add more stock if you want a thinner consistency
* add seasoning and cream if you dare!

Soup making is so easy, cheap and satifying, especially in this cold damp weather. Feel free to tweak the recipe as the inpiration strikes you. Yum!

tomatoes...

So the summer is finally ended; I think we are officially in Autumn now but still things in my garden are trying their hardest to continue growing. We still have a mini glut of tomatoes.



Now that the weather is turning colder one of the nicest things to do is make tomato soup - {yum and super easy}. To be honest when I do this I don't usually use a recipe for quantities etc as so much of it just depends on how thick, thin etc you want the soup, or how much garlic you like to add etc. Just do whatever suits but here goes a rough recipe that can be adjusted as needed...



To serve 2 (double up quantities as needed)

8 medium size tomatoes
1 or 2 Garlic cloves
Onion
A glug of olive oil
Half pint of good vegetable stock
I ring the changes with the flavourings sometimes using italian herbs, marjoram, oregano etc from my garden or rosemary which goes nicely with the tomato.

Chop tomatoes into halves, quarters etc depending on size
Put in an oven proof dish
Add desired herbs and a clove or two of garlic
Glug olive oil over them
Roast in oven at for about 20, 30 mins - this helps to bring out flavour.

Meanwhile fry an onion in a little olive oil
When tomatoes are ready, add them into the pan with the onion
Add enough stock for desired thickness of soup
Heat for about 10 mins

Use a food processor to blend
add back to pan, reheat and voila!

book love...

I am very rarely without a book on the go, in fact I usually have about three or four that I'm reading at any one time...



One of the most brilliant public services, (as far as I'm concerned) are libraries - free books, (unless of course you happen to be like my good self and end up taking the books back late and incurring a fine - though I justify this by thinking at least the money maybe goes towards more books lol!) really it's such a brilliant idea!
This weeks books...





here, here and here...

biscuits...

What to do when you fancy a biscuit but the tin is empty? Mmmmm, how about knocking up a batch of choc chip cookies? It's so long since I've made biscuits that I'd forgotten how crazily easy they are to make.

I used this recipe and the best bit, is that they only take 8 minutes to bake - yum!












In fact making them is quicker than going to the shop and wrapped in baking parchment they travel well, (and look cute!). Just the thing when the weather is rainy and cold outside and you want something sweet!

in a nutshell...

Some things from the weekend...

a run

some crafting



a little sunshine



and some lazing



a bbq



and a homemade plum frangipane tart



recipe to follow



I would have posted this yesterday but we had a power cut yesterday evening for about 3 hours just as I was thinking of going online - grrrr! :)

hello again...

So here I am, back from the land of chocolates. We had a great time, though it passed too quickly. In truth I didn't indulge too much, though it would have been so easy as there are so many yummy looking things to eat!


I did actually eat this cake!


After being in Belgium I feel inspired to start baking delicious looking cakes...



The weather was gorgeous, the hotel fantastic and we managed to do some touristy things like eating Belgium waffles and visiting the Grand Place. So all in all a lovely trip!

So here I am back home again and before I forget, I said I would pick a comment from this post to do a little giveaway of the Zine from Sprouthead and some other bits and pieces. So without further ado the name I picked, (using a very scientific method of giving you all a number!) was number 8 which is the lovely Catherine. {Catherine if you email me your address I'll make sure a little package wings its way to you...}

pata, homemade sunshine and a run...

Well, for a first attempt at homemade pasta over the weekend, (see here)it wasn't the worst in the world but I think it may need a little refining! The pasta was just a bit too thick but still, it tasted ok with my homemade pesto! (Now I understand why people have pasta machines lol, instead of just rolling it out!)



On the plus side, although it's been raining and grey today,(almost like a winters day) I cheered myself up with some homemade sunshine in the form of granola and juicy English strawberries - yum!



Now I'm about to go for a run in the mist and drizzle, as over the weekend I entered a 10k run which is on the 6th September - yikes! Enjoy your evening!

a little bit of madness and baking...

For the past week here in the UK we've been lucky enough to have some really nice weather, the flipside of this has meant I haven't spent much time in front of the computer and so haven't been blogging - ooops! It couldn't last though and now we have humid and showery weather - so I'm back again!

One thing which has been driving me mad this week, is trying to get to grips with colour profiles - (* insert loud scream here*) as I've been doing some tester photo prints, (from a lab) to put in my Etsy shop and they're not turning out the same as what I can see on my screen, so I'm having to keep tweaking. I know the answer is to have my monitor profiled but the idea of spending money on software to do this when I keep reading conflicting reports about how good this is, is driving me nuts! Truthfully my brain is fried with all this knowledge - who knew that I would become so geeky as to want to try and understand this stuff!



Never mind, I'm sure it will all become clear, (at some point!) and I guess I'll just have to keep tweaking! After filling my brain with monitor profiles etc etc... I managed to soothe my frazzled brain with some baking - cupcakes to be precise. It's just as well I'm doing more running these days, as I have a thing for cupcakes at the moment!



Oh and bread also. Delicious bread that smells so comforting...



For those who asked about a recipe - here it is in a nutshell - it really is so easy.
Firstly, let me say I have no problem with doing things the easy way if it tastes good, which is why I use dried yeast as it's so quick, (as only one kneading and proving is required). Makes one large loaf.

500g / 1lb 2oz strong bread flour (I use half white, half wholemeal)
25g/1 oz butter (I never weigh this, I just guess and scoop some with a teaspoon)
1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 and a half teaspoons fast action yeast or 7 g sachet (check on the yeast you are using, you may have to adjust the flour amount a little)
300ml/ 10 fl oz warm water

I use a food processor with a dough hook and put the flour, sugar, salt and butter in and whiz for a few seconds, (if you are doing this by hand you rub in butter to the flour then add salt and sugar) then add the yeast (and whiz) then add *** the water until it comes together into a dough, ( about 4 mins in the machine) and voila!

***Usually at this point I add extras such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds - whatever I have really, in whatever quantity - usually a handful of each but this means you need to increase the water so you can mix it into a dough.

I then take it out and knead it by hand for a couple of minutes and then pop it into a greased tin, shake a little flour over the top, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to double in size.

Once this is ready I pop it into a pre heated oven, (removing the tea towel!) at 230c (450 F, gas mark 8) for roughly 30-35 mins. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped underneath. Remove from tin, (resisting urge to gobble up) and leave to cool.

As I said, so super easy - it usually takes me about 15 mins from the start point, (ie weighing out) to the point when it is in the tin ready to be doubled in size. Sometimes I ring the changes with herbs, sundried tomatoes, seeds etc - just remember that if you add anything to the basic recipe you may need more water.
Result yum! - fresh baked bread and it smells so delicious when it's baking. Eat and enjoy :)

sending you a cupcake!

Happy friday! As you can see cupcakes were finally made! I used this recipe from Dan Lepard which worked out pretty easy. (I think I may have a cupcake obsession - so it's just as well I'm doing more exercise these days! ;)



I am sending a virtual cupcake to you all, but especially to those who asked about the bread recipe I use - as it sounded so delicious. Well, a confession - I think I may have accidently 'bigged up' the sound of my bread by not explaining it was just a straightforward pumpkin SEED and sunflower SEED bread. I think not putting the word seed in, meant people thought there was actual pumpkin in there, (sadly not the case!). If anyone does want my, (not very interesting but easy ;) ) recipe, let me know and I'll post it! Enjoy the weekend!