Sundays remain my favourite day of the week, even though for the last 5 months I have been lucky enough not to work Saturdays (after 11 years of working Saturdays, up to 3 a month). Sunday evenings, right about now, are possibly the best part of the best day of the week. I have had most of the pleasures of Sunday, dinner is simmering on the stove, and I still have a few Sunday pleasures to partake of before bedtime.
We started the day with a short drive over to Hylands House, as we love to walk around the grounds (and I must confess, yes I do often murmur to myself 'of all this I might have been mistress!' in the manner of Lizzie Bennett!) and on the first Sunday of the month they have a farmers market. My Pride and Prejudice fantasies were fuelled further today, because for the first time, we were there at the right time for a carriage ride around the grounds, pulled by a Suffolk Punch named Holly.
On the way home, we took a little diversion to the farm shop to pick out the first of the early season apples. They have a table with apples on and a sharp knife, so you can sample them before you buy them. We like to pick 7 different varieties and take home 2 of each, as that way we can try a different one each day. This time a pair of pears made their way into my basket as well! I love it here, but haven't been for a while. I also picked up some frozen blackcurrants, blackberries, cherries and gooseberries (separately, not in a combination!) so that I can stir them into porridge for breakfasts.
Then we came home, and enjoyed a pot of tea before Carl got to work on a document he is writing for work, and I put all my clothes back into the wardrobe-closet, having got rid of a lot, and sorted them seasonally. It is really lovely to walk in and see everything so organized, and I discovered a few dresses which had worked their way to the back and I haven't worn for a while.
We then took a walk into town together; I bought the new issue of Craftseller to read in the bath later, and a black gel ink pen. We picked up some coffee from Starbucks (have I mentioned that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is coming to the UK?!) and took a walk around the park. I never get tired of walking round the park with the trees and the lake-pond. We spotted a squirrel today, and a lot of ducks.
And now Carl is serving the dinner that has been simmering on the stove top...a little something that I put together without a recipe, just a gentle potter around the kitchen...
Sunday Evening Simmer
In a heavy saucepan, soften an onion, then throw in a carrot or two, cut into coins. Tip in the end of a bottle of white wine, and sprinkle with some dried tarragon. Top up with some good chicken stock, and add a shake of frozen peas. Shred the meat leftover from a roast chicken earlier in the week, and add to the pan. Remember a packet of pearl barley you have, and shake a little of that in too. Then while it comes up to a simmer, whip up some simple dumplings with 4oz self raising flour and 2oz of suet, a good shake of dried mixed herbs, and enough cold water to make a dough. Divide into 8, pop into the pan, place the lid on, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes. Perfect Sunday evening eating...
The rest of Sunday evening is going to involve writing out my pattern for the owl mug hug...I plan to do it in the manner of Susan Branch, and is the reason I bought the new pen earlier. Then a bath with Craftseller, and early to bed...
I hope your Sunday is as blissful as mine....
Love
Mimi
xxx
Showing posts with label Scrumptious Sundays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scrumptious Sundays. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Sunday, 5 February 2012
The First Snow
I wonder how many blog posts, facebook updates, twitters, text messages, letters and thoughts have been about snow this week. I was feeling a bit at odds with it, as despite Radio 4 having numerous stories about the Siberian conditions sweeping the country, and all the photographs in the newspapers and online about the snow falling, our little town had seen not a flake, and as many times as I checked the weather forecast, there was none predicted for us.
Last night, we sat up quite late, and watched a film together. After the film had finished, Carl went into the kitchen to make us a pot of tea, and noticed that the light coming in through the blind seemed odd. When he looked, we had had a heavy snowfall, and everything was covered, and it was still falling. We are very lucky, because although we have had about eight inches we are far better off than many parts of the country, and it is that dry powdery snow which is easy to brush or dig away.
I stayed up until about 2 this morning, watching it fall. It was so bright outside, it could have been a gloomy afternoon rather than the dead of night. It is the first snowfall of the year for us, and the first that we have had in our new little flat. It is nice to be up a bit higher, and to see out a little further. I miss our old back garden though, that we could have run out into and made a snowman in, or made our footsteps make a heart in the snow.
My daffodils are blooming inside. Just as it said that it is said (erroneously!) that the Eskimo people have a great many words for snow, it seems to me that we need more names for our seasons. This is still winter, but the winter where it is crisply sharply cold, with snow, but bunches of daffodils inside, and thoughts of crocuses and snowdrops is a different season entirely to, say, the weeks before Christmas, where it is still Winter, but different. Later in the year, there will be that time when it is not yet Spring, but it feels as though Winter will never end. I am so glad we live in a country which has proper seasons.
Wherever you are, I hope you are wrapped up warm and cosy. We are venturing over into my home town today, for my Dad's 75th birthday. We are having lunch at a tea shop, then going back to their house for cups of tea and birthday cake. I have baked ginger cupcakes this morning, and need to go an ice them in a moment. Half are going to have vanilla buttercream with tiny chunks of crystallised ginger scattered on them, and the other half vanilla buttercream with shards of dark chocolate with ginger sprinkled over.
When we come home, it will be candles alight, Poirot and the papers, and a pot of tea for two. This is becoming our Sunday routine, and is blissful to slip into, gently. I am making slow progress on my knitted polar bears for my Noah's Ark set, because the sparkly wool, although pretty, is not easy to work with...so I shall try and get finished the legs, ears and tail for my 'she' polar bear.
Something else I want to do is plan a few days dinners and lunches where the main components can be frozen, dried, or tinned. That way I can know that if snow does strike badly, I have a few days worth of meals all ready to whisk together, without having to venture out.
Love
Mimi
xxx
Last night, we sat up quite late, and watched a film together. After the film had finished, Carl went into the kitchen to make us a pot of tea, and noticed that the light coming in through the blind seemed odd. When he looked, we had had a heavy snowfall, and everything was covered, and it was still falling. We are very lucky, because although we have had about eight inches we are far better off than many parts of the country, and it is that dry powdery snow which is easy to brush or dig away.
I stayed up until about 2 this morning, watching it fall. It was so bright outside, it could have been a gloomy afternoon rather than the dead of night. It is the first snowfall of the year for us, and the first that we have had in our new little flat. It is nice to be up a bit higher, and to see out a little further. I miss our old back garden though, that we could have run out into and made a snowman in, or made our footsteps make a heart in the snow.
My daffodils are blooming inside. Just as it said that it is said (erroneously!) that the Eskimo people have a great many words for snow, it seems to me that we need more names for our seasons. This is still winter, but the winter where it is crisply sharply cold, with snow, but bunches of daffodils inside, and thoughts of crocuses and snowdrops is a different season entirely to, say, the weeks before Christmas, where it is still Winter, but different. Later in the year, there will be that time when it is not yet Spring, but it feels as though Winter will never end. I am so glad we live in a country which has proper seasons.
Wherever you are, I hope you are wrapped up warm and cosy. We are venturing over into my home town today, for my Dad's 75th birthday. We are having lunch at a tea shop, then going back to their house for cups of tea and birthday cake. I have baked ginger cupcakes this morning, and need to go an ice them in a moment. Half are going to have vanilla buttercream with tiny chunks of crystallised ginger scattered on them, and the other half vanilla buttercream with shards of dark chocolate with ginger sprinkled over.
When we come home, it will be candles alight, Poirot and the papers, and a pot of tea for two. This is becoming our Sunday routine, and is blissful to slip into, gently. I am making slow progress on my knitted polar bears for my Noah's Ark set, because the sparkly wool, although pretty, is not easy to work with...so I shall try and get finished the legs, ears and tail for my 'she' polar bear.
Something else I want to do is plan a few days dinners and lunches where the main components can be frozen, dried, or tinned. That way I can know that if snow does strike badly, I have a few days worth of meals all ready to whisk together, without having to venture out.
Love
Mimi
xxx
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Slow Sundays
I love a little rhythm and routine, watching the changing seasons, feeling the difference between the mornings and evenings. Over the last year or two, our weekends have slipped into a lovely routine, and we have resolved to try and stick to it this year.
Saturday is our day for adventures, if I am not working. Or, if I am working, as I am two Saturdays in four, then it is a smaller afternoon adventure. Last weekend we had a trip to Colchester, had lunch with my lovely sister and her husband, and then looked round the Castle museum and a smaller museum. Yesterday we had tea at the new tea rooms, which I have since discovered are called Small Talk Tea Rooms, and then went for a long walk around Hylands Park. It was frosty, but bracing and really enjoyable.
Sundays are for relaxing, a pause to savour the day and think back on the week that has been and anticipate the week to come. We usually have breakfast out, then bring home the newspapers, sit and read, watch a film on the tv, cook, perhaps a long bath...it is really lovely, and I believe, very good for the soul.
This afternoon we were in the post-breakfast, post-newspaper phase. A pot of tea had been drunk, shortbread biscuits had been consumed. I was catching up on some blogs, when I noticed that a knitting group that meets in the library I used to work in was meeting in five minutes times. I have just started knitting a Noah's Ark set for my godchildren, and seeing as I am going to be working in the same building again, I thought it would be good for me to go back. So with a swift kiss for Carl, I gathered my knitting and hurried down, and I am so glad I went. It is a small group, but a really friendly one, and there was a lot of variety in the knitting. I was the only one knitting an elephant, but there was a nativity set being knitted, two scarves, a tank top for a new baby and one other thing which slips my mind.
I hurried back home in the fading light, and found myself wishing, not for the first time, that there was a way to stretch out Sundays and make them last longer. The evening holds more reading and knitting, possibly catching up with Sherlock on tv, a bath, and maybe the new issue of Country Living magazine. I am somewhat late to the Sherlock party, but everyone was talking about it at the knitting group, so I shall try it. I am recording Call The Midwife, as I am reading the book at the moment. When it is finished, I shall add it to my Great Library Project list.
Slow Sundays in January....they are wonderful for their slowness, and feel like a cosy blanket to be wrapped around.
Wherever you are, I hope your teapot is full, and that you are having a lovely Sunday.
Love,
Mimi
xxx
Saturday is our day for adventures, if I am not working. Or, if I am working, as I am two Saturdays in four, then it is a smaller afternoon adventure. Last weekend we had a trip to Colchester, had lunch with my lovely sister and her husband, and then looked round the Castle museum and a smaller museum. Yesterday we had tea at the new tea rooms, which I have since discovered are called Small Talk Tea Rooms, and then went for a long walk around Hylands Park. It was frosty, but bracing and really enjoyable.
Sundays are for relaxing, a pause to savour the day and think back on the week that has been and anticipate the week to come. We usually have breakfast out, then bring home the newspapers, sit and read, watch a film on the tv, cook, perhaps a long bath...it is really lovely, and I believe, very good for the soul.
This afternoon we were in the post-breakfast, post-newspaper phase. A pot of tea had been drunk, shortbread biscuits had been consumed. I was catching up on some blogs, when I noticed that a knitting group that meets in the library I used to work in was meeting in five minutes times. I have just started knitting a Noah's Ark set for my godchildren, and seeing as I am going to be working in the same building again, I thought it would be good for me to go back. So with a swift kiss for Carl, I gathered my knitting and hurried down, and I am so glad I went. It is a small group, but a really friendly one, and there was a lot of variety in the knitting. I was the only one knitting an elephant, but there was a nativity set being knitted, two scarves, a tank top for a new baby and one other thing which slips my mind.
I hurried back home in the fading light, and found myself wishing, not for the first time, that there was a way to stretch out Sundays and make them last longer. The evening holds more reading and knitting, possibly catching up with Sherlock on tv, a bath, and maybe the new issue of Country Living magazine. I am somewhat late to the Sherlock party, but everyone was talking about it at the knitting group, so I shall try it. I am recording Call The Midwife, as I am reading the book at the moment. When it is finished, I shall add it to my Great Library Project list.
Slow Sundays in January....they are wonderful for their slowness, and feel like a cosy blanket to be wrapped around.
Wherever you are, I hope your teapot is full, and that you are having a lovely Sunday.
Love,
Mimi
xxx
Monday, 11 April 2011
Crafting Sunday
Yesterday was the latest of our 'Crafting Sunday' afternoons. This time we were at the lovely Apryl's house. I dont know what the word is...contentment comes close...but there is a particular feeling of sitting and crafting with a group of other people...it is really blissful. Apryl's house is just lovely. You would never see it in a magazine, but it is really homely. There are photographs on almost every surface, and drawings by her children. There are throws and cushions everywhere, most of which she has made. There are cross stitches on the wall, and everything is a happy memory from somewhere, captured with needle and thread and put on show. While I cross stitched on my 'Keep Calm and Carry On' sampler, Nastassia was crocheting a fancy square, Wendy was knitting a carnation, Carla was embroidering a sausage dog, and the children were decopatching various items. We talked of projects to come, projects we have made. I went home with the pattern for a crocheted Union Jack cushion. We are like that, very sharing with patterns and ideas. There is nothing jealously guarded or skill unshared. It is a bit of a crafting week; tomorrow evening I am off to the little village of Writtle, and there in the Village Hall opposite the duck pond, I will be making Egg Cosies For Easter. I can't wait!
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Coming to my Scentses
Sitting here in the half-light of a Sunday evening, I feel at home. Even if I had my eyes closed, I would know I am here. I would be able to feel the sofa that seems to recognise me as I lean back into it, and the softness of the purple velvet throw we have over it. I would be able to hear the little noises of our flat, the odd train running past, the churning of the washing machine, and know.
Most of all though, it is the scents of the evening that tell me I am home. In the bedroom, I have a small bud vase filled with sol narcissi, and the merry little bunch perfumes the whole room. Here in the living room are a jug of lemon-curd-creamy daffodils, whose scent just whipsers 'February' to me, gently. I can smell the Battenburg cake that I baked earlier, cooling in the kitchen, awaiting its robe of apricot jam and marzipan. I can smell my perfume, warm from my skin, and smell the candle that has just burnt itself out, the wick smoldering. It smells of heat and always reminds me of church. If I breathe hard and concentrate, then I can just about smell the lingering steam of a bath from earlier, fragrant with hyacinth scented soap roses.
Home...the best place to be.
I feel contented this evening. I want to read some more of my book, and some more of Myrtle Reed's writings online. I want to knit some more on my lacy bedjacket, and if there is time, paint my nails bright red to make me smile in the morning. I have a lot to smile about today. Yes I still have my work worries and the rest of it, but I am so lucky to open my blog and find such kind words from lovely people. Even when I sit, just me and my laptop, I am not alone, because of all of you. What a gift! Thank you, every one!
Most of all though, it is the scents of the evening that tell me I am home. In the bedroom, I have a small bud vase filled with sol narcissi, and the merry little bunch perfumes the whole room. Here in the living room are a jug of lemon-curd-creamy daffodils, whose scent just whipsers 'February' to me, gently. I can smell the Battenburg cake that I baked earlier, cooling in the kitchen, awaiting its robe of apricot jam and marzipan. I can smell my perfume, warm from my skin, and smell the candle that has just burnt itself out, the wick smoldering. It smells of heat and always reminds me of church. If I breathe hard and concentrate, then I can just about smell the lingering steam of a bath from earlier, fragrant with hyacinth scented soap roses.
Home...the best place to be.
I feel contented this evening. I want to read some more of my book, and some more of Myrtle Reed's writings online. I want to knit some more on my lacy bedjacket, and if there is time, paint my nails bright red to make me smile in the morning. I have a lot to smile about today. Yes I still have my work worries and the rest of it, but I am so lucky to open my blog and find such kind words from lovely people. Even when I sit, just me and my laptop, I am not alone, because of all of you. What a gift! Thank you, every one!
Monday, 10 January 2011
Sunday Bliss
I love Sundays, I always have. When I was a little girl, I used to go to Sunday School with my big sister. We wore our best clothes, and a lovely old (to me then, probably not more than in her 50s really!) lady used to collect us and take us. We used to do lots of lovely colouring, then have a sweet from a jar for being good, before going into church just in time for the blessings. The air was scented with incense, which I love, and sometimes there was a Teddy Bears Picnic, or we would make an Easter Garden or Palm Crosses. When we got home, we would watch The Waltons while Mum cooked one of her amazing roast dinners...usually chicken, with a roasting pan of gravy bubbling on the hob.
Sundays now are different, we don't really go to church anymore unless it is Harvest Festival or a special service. It is the only day of the week I never have to work, and lately we have started going for a swim together, and then having breakfast in town, perhaps buying a newspaper, or taking a gentle wander through town. This Sunday, for a change, we went to Hylands House which is a short drive away. It has huge gardens and woods and although it was cold it was dazzlingly bright, and it was a joy to wander about. I am rather scared of dogs so ended up having to jump behind poor Carl once or twice, but other than that it was lovely. I took some photographs which I will download soon to share with you.
When we got home I was really chilled through, so I had a wonderfully long soak in the bath. Alas, Boots have discontinued it now, but they did a Clary Sage and Bergamot bubble bath for a while, and I had some of that, and a hot cup of tea. I love afternoon baths!
I put in the slow cooker a dish which turned out to be delicious, but when I make it again, I will put it in a slow oven instead. I cut up 300g of lamb into bite sized pieces, and threw it in with a chopped red onion, a tin of tomatoes, a diced red pepper, half a cubed aubergine, some cinnamon and oregano. We let it cook for ages, and threw in some fresh mint and diced feta at the end, and ate it on a bed of rice. I put it in the oven to bake for a bit, and it reduced down and went all thick and sludgy, just what I was hoping for...as now I can use the leftovers to fill pitta breads with! Carl says that if I make it again I should use a bit more lamb, and to be honest I probably agree....but it is nice to see how far you can stretch these things!
I was hoping to settle down to a nice long post, but a lovely friend has invited us to dinner tonight, and in an email she mentioned cinnamon and chocolate meringues, so I must away! Wherever you are tonight, I hope you have something delicious awaiting you...and a big thank you to everyone for your lovely kind comments!
Sundays now are different, we don't really go to church anymore unless it is Harvest Festival or a special service. It is the only day of the week I never have to work, and lately we have started going for a swim together, and then having breakfast in town, perhaps buying a newspaper, or taking a gentle wander through town. This Sunday, for a change, we went to Hylands House which is a short drive away. It has huge gardens and woods and although it was cold it was dazzlingly bright, and it was a joy to wander about. I am rather scared of dogs so ended up having to jump behind poor Carl once or twice, but other than that it was lovely. I took some photographs which I will download soon to share with you.
When we got home I was really chilled through, so I had a wonderfully long soak in the bath. Alas, Boots have discontinued it now, but they did a Clary Sage and Bergamot bubble bath for a while, and I had some of that, and a hot cup of tea. I love afternoon baths!
I put in the slow cooker a dish which turned out to be delicious, but when I make it again, I will put it in a slow oven instead. I cut up 300g of lamb into bite sized pieces, and threw it in with a chopped red onion, a tin of tomatoes, a diced red pepper, half a cubed aubergine, some cinnamon and oregano. We let it cook for ages, and threw in some fresh mint and diced feta at the end, and ate it on a bed of rice. I put it in the oven to bake for a bit, and it reduced down and went all thick and sludgy, just what I was hoping for...as now I can use the leftovers to fill pitta breads with! Carl says that if I make it again I should use a bit more lamb, and to be honest I probably agree....but it is nice to see how far you can stretch these things!
I was hoping to settle down to a nice long post, but a lovely friend has invited us to dinner tonight, and in an email she mentioned cinnamon and chocolate meringues, so I must away! Wherever you are tonight, I hope you have something delicious awaiting you...and a big thank you to everyone for your lovely kind comments!
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Adventures With A Clipboard And Ruler
Sitting in a church from 7:00am until 10:00pm, armed with my trusty clipboard, ruler and pen, I had a sudden thought that things really haven't changed very much in Britain over the last 70 years! I was on poll-clerk duty, and as I was marking voters off of the electoral roll, I thought that time could melt away, and I could equally be marking off evacuees during World War 2, or organizing ration books or similar.
Years may have passed, and technology developed, but when it comes down to it, the best thing we have really are clipboards and rulers! Later that night...well, early the next morning, I was on vote counting duty. Again, it was the simple methods that worked best...rubber counting thimbles and rubber bands! I was counting votes and counting votes and counting votes for hours, double checking and signing my initials and again thinking that really this could have been years ago.
It pleases me that in a world where technology rules, we still use the old ways sometimes.
I was much excited to catch a glimpse of myself on the bbc news coverage of the election, although I have to say having worked such a long day I was really not looking my best. I was very lucky though...my lovely husband delivered dinner to the polling station, and my lovely friend Dan from work produced a much-needed Mocha!
Some of my other observations from the big day included that the ribbon used in rosettes does not appear to be of very good quality! I have spent a happy half hour imagining redesigned rosettes using vintage ribbons and scraps of polka dotted fabric, perhaps with a diamante detail or something like that!
The days seem to have hop skipped and jumped away since Thursday...and I am pleased to say that I finally feel that I have caught up with the sleep that I missed! I would love to sit and compose a longer post just now...it is that delicious time in the evening when the air is cool, and the sky is that peculiarly bright-but-dull-blue, and all the trees are silhouettes. Everything is peaceful, a candle burns low, and it is the long sigh of a Sunday evening slipping towards bedtime. However, I can hear the chinking of things being moved around in the kitchen, and have a hungry husband to feed. So I am going to slip away from you and tie on my new favourite apron, and whip up a quick batch of spicy lentil soup...
Wherever you are, I hope that you are having a peaceful evening, and are looking forward to lovely things in the week ahead!
Years may have passed, and technology developed, but when it comes down to it, the best thing we have really are clipboards and rulers! Later that night...well, early the next morning, I was on vote counting duty. Again, it was the simple methods that worked best...rubber counting thimbles and rubber bands! I was counting votes and counting votes and counting votes for hours, double checking and signing my initials and again thinking that really this could have been years ago.
It pleases me that in a world where technology rules, we still use the old ways sometimes.
I was much excited to catch a glimpse of myself on the bbc news coverage of the election, although I have to say having worked such a long day I was really not looking my best. I was very lucky though...my lovely husband delivered dinner to the polling station, and my lovely friend Dan from work produced a much-needed Mocha!
Some of my other observations from the big day included that the ribbon used in rosettes does not appear to be of very good quality! I have spent a happy half hour imagining redesigned rosettes using vintage ribbons and scraps of polka dotted fabric, perhaps with a diamante detail or something like that!
The days seem to have hop skipped and jumped away since Thursday...and I am pleased to say that I finally feel that I have caught up with the sleep that I missed! I would love to sit and compose a longer post just now...it is that delicious time in the evening when the air is cool, and the sky is that peculiarly bright-but-dull-blue, and all the trees are silhouettes. Everything is peaceful, a candle burns low, and it is the long sigh of a Sunday evening slipping towards bedtime. However, I can hear the chinking of things being moved around in the kitchen, and have a hungry husband to feed. So I am going to slip away from you and tie on my new favourite apron, and whip up a quick batch of spicy lentil soup...
Wherever you are, I hope that you are having a peaceful evening, and are looking forward to lovely things in the week ahead!
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Cupcakes and Cocktails
This afternoon, as I type this, I have a cloud of pillows at my back, a cup of tea in my favourite flowery mug to my side, and a husband in the bath. Now that sounds all very ordinary, but I find it rather wonderful, as dear Carl has been off on a stag weekend, and has just come back.
Well, I say weekend, but he left Thursday, so more of a jaunt than a weekend. I know there are people out there who are married to partners who work nights or shifts, or travel away from home, but since we moved in together 5 years ago, and got married nearly 2 years ago, we haven't spent more than 2 nights apart, and I must confess that I was rather dreading it.
Now I don't want you to think that I am one of those ladies who cannot function without her husband, and I was rather looking forward to watching films that I knew he would not enjoy, eating dinners that he doesn't like to eat and wearing face masks, but I did decide that 4 days of being alone would make me lonely.
So, what to do, what to do? Only one thing for it! Invite the library crowd round for a Saturday night Cupcake and Cocktail soiree!
I spent Saturday baking, and made 100 cupcakes! There were tiny chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache icing, cherry and coconut cupcakes, mocha cupcakes, lemon butterfly cakes and spelt, pear and raspberry cupcakes.
After that, I got down to mixing cocktails. Now my pet hate is when you go to visit someone, and all they have for the non-drinkers is water or orange juice. Pah! We can do better than that! So for those who were driving or abstaining for a variety of reasons, I made:
Apple and Elderflower Sparkles~ apple and elderflower cordial topped up with appletiser, over ice cubes and slices of lemon
Apple and Raspberry Sunrises~ frozen raspberries blitzed with apple juice and topped up with sparkling water
Iced Coffee~ cold black coffee blended with coffee ice cream
Then for those who were drinking, I made:
Kir Royales~ cassis topped up with sparkling wine
Mojitos~ white rum, lime juice, mint, sugar syrup and soda water over LOTS of ice
Green Tea Martinis~ lemon green tea, vodka and cointreau with ice
I have served the latter a few times now, and I am beginning to think that it may be my signature cocktail....and perhaps I should start calling them Greenteanis instead of Green Tea Martinis!
I had a small disaster with the Kir Royales....I had just set everything out in the garden, carried the coffee table out all on my own, put all the cupcakes on vintage plates, when....a huge rumble of thunder, lighting tore the sky open, and rain came tumbling down! Luckily a few guests had arrived by this time, and they helped bundle everything through the windows and back into our flat. As I was carrying a tray of Kir Royales through, everyone else arrived at once, and the entire tray went over! I was really stressed and wanted to go and hide my head in my apron, but I realised that being the hostess, the show must go on!
I think (and hope!) my guests had a good time. Apart from the Kir Disaster, the evening went well, all the drink got drunk, most of the cupcakes got eaten, and when I went to bed, I still missed Carl, but was tired enough not to mind too much.
Oh, and as I was washing up, I found a paper package that one of my dear friends had given me as she arrived, but I had forgotten about. Inside, a pair of minature champagne flutes filled with those jelly candles. I am just the luckiest girl to have such lovely friends.
The sky is starting to look dark again, and there are some ominous rumbles sounding from the window. I do hope this does not mean another storm. I always feel a little dizzy and breathless when it storms, a bit like a fainting heroine from a historical romance novel! Talking of novels, and books, I have just started reading the most wonderful cookbook. I spied The Vicar's Wife's Cookbook in Borders when I went to London for my birthday, and it looked nice...but it was a bit too expensive to buy just because it looked nice, so I ordered it from work. It arrived on Friday, and it is utterly gorgeous. She writes with a whisper of Nigella about her in that she introduces each chapter and recipe with an anecdote about it, and it is like her side of a conversation, but her voice is very different. The best thing is that I now have lots of ideas of things to cook for when we have friends for dinner!
Alas, the thunder is rumbling in earnest now, so I am going to take refuge in the bathroom (it has no windows so I can't possibly get struck, can't see the lightning, and the thunder is muffled. Oh, and I can have a long gloriously scented bubblebath too!)
Wherever you are, have a scrumptious sunday!
Well, I say weekend, but he left Thursday, so more of a jaunt than a weekend. I know there are people out there who are married to partners who work nights or shifts, or travel away from home, but since we moved in together 5 years ago, and got married nearly 2 years ago, we haven't spent more than 2 nights apart, and I must confess that I was rather dreading it.
Now I don't want you to think that I am one of those ladies who cannot function without her husband, and I was rather looking forward to watching films that I knew he would not enjoy, eating dinners that he doesn't like to eat and wearing face masks, but I did decide that 4 days of being alone would make me lonely.
So, what to do, what to do? Only one thing for it! Invite the library crowd round for a Saturday night Cupcake and Cocktail soiree!
I spent Saturday baking, and made 100 cupcakes! There were tiny chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache icing, cherry and coconut cupcakes, mocha cupcakes, lemon butterfly cakes and spelt, pear and raspberry cupcakes.
After that, I got down to mixing cocktails. Now my pet hate is when you go to visit someone, and all they have for the non-drinkers is water or orange juice. Pah! We can do better than that! So for those who were driving or abstaining for a variety of reasons, I made:
Apple and Elderflower Sparkles~ apple and elderflower cordial topped up with appletiser, over ice cubes and slices of lemon
Apple and Raspberry Sunrises~ frozen raspberries blitzed with apple juice and topped up with sparkling water
Iced Coffee~ cold black coffee blended with coffee ice cream
Then for those who were drinking, I made:
Kir Royales~ cassis topped up with sparkling wine
Mojitos~ white rum, lime juice, mint, sugar syrup and soda water over LOTS of ice
Green Tea Martinis~ lemon green tea, vodka and cointreau with ice
I have served the latter a few times now, and I am beginning to think that it may be my signature cocktail....and perhaps I should start calling them Greenteanis instead of Green Tea Martinis!
I had a small disaster with the Kir Royales....I had just set everything out in the garden, carried the coffee table out all on my own, put all the cupcakes on vintage plates, when....a huge rumble of thunder, lighting tore the sky open, and rain came tumbling down! Luckily a few guests had arrived by this time, and they helped bundle everything through the windows and back into our flat. As I was carrying a tray of Kir Royales through, everyone else arrived at once, and the entire tray went over! I was really stressed and wanted to go and hide my head in my apron, but I realised that being the hostess, the show must go on!
I think (and hope!) my guests had a good time. Apart from the Kir Disaster, the evening went well, all the drink got drunk, most of the cupcakes got eaten, and when I went to bed, I still missed Carl, but was tired enough not to mind too much.
Oh, and as I was washing up, I found a paper package that one of my dear friends had given me as she arrived, but I had forgotten about. Inside, a pair of minature champagne flutes filled with those jelly candles. I am just the luckiest girl to have such lovely friends.
The sky is starting to look dark again, and there are some ominous rumbles sounding from the window. I do hope this does not mean another storm. I always feel a little dizzy and breathless when it storms, a bit like a fainting heroine from a historical romance novel! Talking of novels, and books, I have just started reading the most wonderful cookbook. I spied The Vicar's Wife's Cookbook in Borders when I went to London for my birthday, and it looked nice...but it was a bit too expensive to buy just because it looked nice, so I ordered it from work. It arrived on Friday, and it is utterly gorgeous. She writes with a whisper of Nigella about her in that she introduces each chapter and recipe with an anecdote about it, and it is like her side of a conversation, but her voice is very different. The best thing is that I now have lots of ideas of things to cook for when we have friends for dinner!
Alas, the thunder is rumbling in earnest now, so I am going to take refuge in the bathroom (it has no windows so I can't possibly get struck, can't see the lightning, and the thunder is muffled. Oh, and I can have a long gloriously scented bubblebath too!)
Wherever you are, have a scrumptious sunday!
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Strawberry Picking
One of the greatest pleasures in life is surely the planning and anticipation of pleasures to come. So it was that this morning found me sitting in bed, propped up on a cloud of feathery pillows, sipping a very good cup of tea, and discussing with my dear husband what we might do with or day. I had two ideas in mind- either driving out to Mersea Island, where we first met, to take lunch at the Company Shed which is famous for their seafood; or to go to our local farm shop, and pick our own strawberries.
It did not take much time to decide upon picking our own. Carl and I think so alike. We decided that we would count to three, and on three each say either 'Mersea' or 'Strawberries' so we could both honestly say which we would prefer and not say what we thought the other would like to do best. After several rounds of promising not to hesitate and try and wait a moment to hear the other one, we said '1, 2, 3...' and I said 'sandcastles' as Carl said 'tea'! We had both thought of the same way to cheat!
Strawberry picking is very civilized at our local farm shop. There are plants outside and also plants in polytunnels, but what they both have in common is that they are all grown on trestle tables, so there is no bending over or rummaging about. The scent in the polytunnels and the warmth was heavenly. There is nothing to compare to the first freshly picked strawberry of the summer, the warm flesh pressing against your lips, then exploding into sweetness. Scrumptious!
Alas though, the strawberries were not as bountiful as we hoped. We were not as early as we might have been, and the best had been picked. There are lots and lots that will be ripe in a week or so...and tehre were some very vexing strawberries indeed- they were just the shade of scarlet that shows them to be perfectly ripe, until you went to pick them, and realised that the other side was entirely green!
Still, between us we managed to gather a basket full, and our menu for the next few days will be featuring strawberries and cream, strawberry smoothies, and I have plans for a strawberry facemask too!
I hope that your own weekend is strawberry scented and filled with pleasure too.
It did not take much time to decide upon picking our own. Carl and I think so alike. We decided that we would count to three, and on three each say either 'Mersea' or 'Strawberries' so we could both honestly say which we would prefer and not say what we thought the other would like to do best. After several rounds of promising not to hesitate and try and wait a moment to hear the other one, we said '1, 2, 3...' and I said 'sandcastles' as Carl said 'tea'! We had both thought of the same way to cheat!
Strawberry picking is very civilized at our local farm shop. There are plants outside and also plants in polytunnels, but what they both have in common is that they are all grown on trestle tables, so there is no bending over or rummaging about. The scent in the polytunnels and the warmth was heavenly. There is nothing to compare to the first freshly picked strawberry of the summer, the warm flesh pressing against your lips, then exploding into sweetness. Scrumptious!
Alas though, the strawberries were not as bountiful as we hoped. We were not as early as we might have been, and the best had been picked. There are lots and lots that will be ripe in a week or so...and tehre were some very vexing strawberries indeed- they were just the shade of scarlet that shows them to be perfectly ripe, until you went to pick them, and realised that the other side was entirely green!
Still, between us we managed to gather a basket full, and our menu for the next few days will be featuring strawberries and cream, strawberry smoothies, and I have plans for a strawberry facemask too!
I hope that your own weekend is strawberry scented and filled with pleasure too.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Wonderful Week
…hello, hello and hello! Do pour yourself to a cup of tea in your prettiest cup, and sit with me while I tell you all about my wonderful week off!
As you know, Monday saw me having lunch and a thoroughly delightful day with my dear friend Anna, and you know, such a delicious day really set the standard for the whole week.
Tuesday was a hot, hot day, and I went into town early so I could get all my little errands done before it got too hot. I started the day at Café Rouge, where I breakfasted on a Croque Madame and a latte (how I wished for an iced coffee, but alas, they do not do them) to the gentle sounds of French Café Music. As I read the paper, I noticed a coupon for £1 off Grazia magazine. A nice trashy magazine for cheap? Of course I had to buy it! Imagine how pleased I was when I found in Grazia a coupon for a jar of Salt Body Scrub by The Sanctuary from Boots, free! And happily, I had found out early enough to be able to go and get one. Other purchases for the day included a new purse (apple green! I spotted it right away amongst a sea of serviceable black purses. I felt very much like Mrs Miniver when she bought her diary) and also a new dress (a simple blue patterned summer dress from Peacocks) and some soft-dried pears that are oh-so-squishy like a fudgy toffee. After all that shopping, I was very hot, so I had an iced vanilla latte before catching the bus home again.
Wednesday was a day that dear Carl had been looking forward to very much indeed- a day at Thorpe Park, courtesy of the Tesco vouchers that I have been hoarding. I was pleased because it was a free day out (which should have cost us £70 in entrance tickets!) and he was pleased because he got to go on all manner of fast and scary rides. It will probably come as no surprise to you to know that I am not such a fan of big fast rides, so there were quite a few that he went on while I had a cup of tea! One ride that I did like very much was one aimed at older children- a log flume that was set in Pioneering American times, and it really made me feel like I was in the middle of little House in the Prairie!
Thursday was one of those delightful days of drifting happily together. We wandered into town and enjoyed a coffee together. On the way home, I tried to buy some fabric for an apron, some wool for a hot water bottle cover,and some sugar paste to make icing flowers. Alas, despite being in the county town, I was thwarted at every turn, and went home empty handed. However, there was time to drop into a charity shop, where I found a wonderful 'make and do' book from the 60s. There is a fabulous idea for a 'get well train' that I want to try my hand at!
Friday was utterly fabulous. Despite the rain, Mum and I had a great day together. There is a marvellous craft shop a few villages away which is a veritable Aladdin's Cave, and there I found very easily the perfect fabric and trimmings for my apron, the exact wool that I wanted, and a whole host of other little bits besides! We had lunch together at a plant nursery, which is one of my favourite places to eat. There is a conservatory you can sit in, and look out over the fields. It is picturesque even when, perhaps even especially when, it is raining, and there is a tiny house nestled behind some trees which you see as a flash of white that I like to imagine living in one day.
Once home, we made the first of many cups of tea, and I set out to make my first apron. When I post pictures, I will also look out the title of the book, because the pattern came from a wonderful book full of apron patterns, that I found in the library. The apron I chose to make has polka dot fabric, a little heart pocket and a frill all around the bottom, which according to the book will call to mind the passion of Andalucian Gypsies dancing the polka!! I found some parts tricky, such as gathering the long ruffle by hand, and making the heart shaped pocket. Once or twice I felt like giving up in vexation, but with Mum on hand to help me, I kept going, and I am so proud of my apron I have even taken it to work to show the girls! While I was making a celebratory cup of tea downstairs, Mum whipped up a little lavender bag out of some left over fabric, which just fits in the pocket! I really felt so snuggly and at peace, sitting in my old bedroom which is now the craft room, making something with my Mum while rain spattered at the window pane.
On Saturday, I could hardly believe that I had only 2 days left of my wonderful week. I had invited a friend for dinner with the intention that he should stay the night, so I spent the afternoon getting ready for dinner. I took the opportunity to do some real cooking, and when evening came we had quite a feast laid out! We started with strawberry bellinis and some little bruschetta, topped with brie and caremelized onions, tomato mozzarella and pesto, or home made guacamole. For our starter I made lemon and rosemary risotto, then we had spaghetti bolognese. We finished with a cake that is so simple but looks stunning. I have to find a good name for it! You make a victoria sponge mixture, but bake it in a pudding basin, and when it is cold, pour over a cup of hot sweetened coffee laced with brandy. Then when that is cool, you turn it out, and cover it with slightly sweetened whipped cream! Definitely calorific, but so lovely, especially when served on a glass cake stand and eaten with vintage cake forks, you really dont mind! Before you think we were terrible gluttons, I did serve teeny tiny portions of each course!
After a much later night than I have had for a long time, I made smoked salmon scrambled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. We waved goodbye to Adrian at lunch time, and then set about our few little chores. Washing was done, the place was straightened up and aired out, and then we spent our last hours of the weekend knitting and reading (me) and reading and computering (my lovely husband). Oh yes, although I had not mentioned it in my daily summaries, somehow I read 8 Hamish Macbeth novels this week!
Well that is my wonderful week, over and done. I am definitely not going to leave it so long again!
As you know, Monday saw me having lunch and a thoroughly delightful day with my dear friend Anna, and you know, such a delicious day really set the standard for the whole week.
Tuesday was a hot, hot day, and I went into town early so I could get all my little errands done before it got too hot. I started the day at Café Rouge, where I breakfasted on a Croque Madame and a latte (how I wished for an iced coffee, but alas, they do not do them) to the gentle sounds of French Café Music. As I read the paper, I noticed a coupon for £1 off Grazia magazine. A nice trashy magazine for cheap? Of course I had to buy it! Imagine how pleased I was when I found in Grazia a coupon for a jar of Salt Body Scrub by The Sanctuary from Boots, free! And happily, I had found out early enough to be able to go and get one. Other purchases for the day included a new purse (apple green! I spotted it right away amongst a sea of serviceable black purses. I felt very much like Mrs Miniver when she bought her diary) and also a new dress (a simple blue patterned summer dress from Peacocks) and some soft-dried pears that are oh-so-squishy like a fudgy toffee. After all that shopping, I was very hot, so I had an iced vanilla latte before catching the bus home again.
Wednesday was a day that dear Carl had been looking forward to very much indeed- a day at Thorpe Park, courtesy of the Tesco vouchers that I have been hoarding. I was pleased because it was a free day out (which should have cost us £70 in entrance tickets!) and he was pleased because he got to go on all manner of fast and scary rides. It will probably come as no surprise to you to know that I am not such a fan of big fast rides, so there were quite a few that he went on while I had a cup of tea! One ride that I did like very much was one aimed at older children- a log flume that was set in Pioneering American times, and it really made me feel like I was in the middle of little House in the Prairie!
Thursday was one of those delightful days of drifting happily together. We wandered into town and enjoyed a coffee together. On the way home, I tried to buy some fabric for an apron, some wool for a hot water bottle cover,and some sugar paste to make icing flowers. Alas, despite being in the county town, I was thwarted at every turn, and went home empty handed. However, there was time to drop into a charity shop, where I found a wonderful 'make and do' book from the 60s. There is a fabulous idea for a 'get well train' that I want to try my hand at!
Friday was utterly fabulous. Despite the rain, Mum and I had a great day together. There is a marvellous craft shop a few villages away which is a veritable Aladdin's Cave, and there I found very easily the perfect fabric and trimmings for my apron, the exact wool that I wanted, and a whole host of other little bits besides! We had lunch together at a plant nursery, which is one of my favourite places to eat. There is a conservatory you can sit in, and look out over the fields. It is picturesque even when, perhaps even especially when, it is raining, and there is a tiny house nestled behind some trees which you see as a flash of white that I like to imagine living in one day.
Once home, we made the first of many cups of tea, and I set out to make my first apron. When I post pictures, I will also look out the title of the book, because the pattern came from a wonderful book full of apron patterns, that I found in the library. The apron I chose to make has polka dot fabric, a little heart pocket and a frill all around the bottom, which according to the book will call to mind the passion of Andalucian Gypsies dancing the polka!! I found some parts tricky, such as gathering the long ruffle by hand, and making the heart shaped pocket. Once or twice I felt like giving up in vexation, but with Mum on hand to help me, I kept going, and I am so proud of my apron I have even taken it to work to show the girls! While I was making a celebratory cup of tea downstairs, Mum whipped up a little lavender bag out of some left over fabric, which just fits in the pocket! I really felt so snuggly and at peace, sitting in my old bedroom which is now the craft room, making something with my Mum while rain spattered at the window pane.
On Saturday, I could hardly believe that I had only 2 days left of my wonderful week. I had invited a friend for dinner with the intention that he should stay the night, so I spent the afternoon getting ready for dinner. I took the opportunity to do some real cooking, and when evening came we had quite a feast laid out! We started with strawberry bellinis and some little bruschetta, topped with brie and caremelized onions, tomato mozzarella and pesto, or home made guacamole. For our starter I made lemon and rosemary risotto, then we had spaghetti bolognese. We finished with a cake that is so simple but looks stunning. I have to find a good name for it! You make a victoria sponge mixture, but bake it in a pudding basin, and when it is cold, pour over a cup of hot sweetened coffee laced with brandy. Then when that is cool, you turn it out, and cover it with slightly sweetened whipped cream! Definitely calorific, but so lovely, especially when served on a glass cake stand and eaten with vintage cake forks, you really dont mind! Before you think we were terrible gluttons, I did serve teeny tiny portions of each course!
After a much later night than I have had for a long time, I made smoked salmon scrambled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. We waved goodbye to Adrian at lunch time, and then set about our few little chores. Washing was done, the place was straightened up and aired out, and then we spent our last hours of the weekend knitting and reading (me) and reading and computering (my lovely husband). Oh yes, although I had not mentioned it in my daily summaries, somehow I read 8 Hamish Macbeth novels this week!
Well that is my wonderful week, over and done. I am definitely not going to leave it so long again!
Monday, 1 June 2009
My Wonderful Week Off, Part The First
Before I start, I love my job, I really do. I love the bustle of working in the county library, and I love the responsibility of running my own little branch library. I love the staff, the customers, the books....but it has been a long time since I had a proper break. I don't think I have had a whole week off since Christmas...and as it is now June (how I love starting a new month on a Monday!) I am really ready for a break.
And how scrumptiously it has started! Now summer is not my favourite season- I burn easily, wilt in the heat, and find myself longing for the crisper days of autumn. But the sudden glorious sunshine and excellent clothes-drying weather we have been enjoying has been a balm to my spirits. I find I have a spring in my step, and an overwhelming urge to wash everything I can get my hands on, and put it out on the line to blow dry.
This Saturday (to labour a point, my first Saturday off in three weeks!) I was not initially thrilled to hear that we were going to spend it with dear Carl servicing our car with his Dad...but it turned out to be a wonderful day. My lovely in-laws live in the middle of the countryside in a tiny village, surrounded by green fields and other little villages...you could be in the middle of Midsommer Murder country! We took our washing with us, and I pegged everything out to dry in the warm breeze as Carl and his Dad saw to our car. I sat and sipped tea and chatted with my Mother in Law, and then we shared a lovely lunch in the conservatory (she does a lovely thing where she puts out salads and dressings and french bread, crackers and cheese, pate and ham, and other such goodies from the fridge, then lets everyone help themselves). The afternoon disappeared as we caught up on family news, planned gifts to take to an up-coming family wedding, talked about outfits and so on.
When the men came in, rather tired and hungry, a plan was formed- to the pub for a quick drink, then off to get a Chinese takeaway, then home for a film. The local pub is in the next village, and is called The Swan. It is a lovely little pub, all oak beams and cask ale, and the very essence of what a country pub should be. I sipped half a perry, as I am not much one for drink, and we spent a happy hour listening to some music they had playing, and trying to remember who it was. (No, not Michael Buble...the one that is like him but not....has brown hair...YOU know, the one that isnt Buble....oh you do know, you DO....) As we drove to the next little village (dear Carl never drinks and drives...his tipple was a grapefruit juice!) it suddenly came to me, and I shouted 'Jamie Cullum' which somewhat startled everyone else in the car!
After our Chinese dinner, we watched Red Eye together (I should have spent more time enjoying the tense atmosphere of the film, but I was actually wondering where the lead actress got her gorgeous cardigan from, and which brand of eyeshadow she was wearing, and which shade of lipstick!) and then Carl and I left for home....tired but happy.
Yesterday seemed to just fly past. We went into town together, and had a picnic lunch in the park. I am amazed still at how summer seems to be winning me over. I love how the dappled shade of the trees shifts and shimmies in the breeze. We purchased a wedding gift and the newspapers, then returned home where time just seemed to slip away, and suddenly, it was time for bed....
Today has been blissful. My lovely friend Anna came for the morning, and we chatted nineteen to the dozen, exclaiming over the loveliness of Miss Pettigrew Lives For The Day which we had on in the background, ate lunch, and I unwrapped some utterly delightful birthday gifts. Amongst them was a red and white polka dot oven glove- I hadnt mentioned it (but Anna and I share such close taste, we always seem to be in synch!) but I have a real thing for polka dots recently, particularly red and white ones! I have been coveting a toadstool money box that I spied in town a while ago, and have an urge to make fairy toadstool salds, like my Mum made for me when I was a little girl.
Fairy Toadstool Salad
Tie on a polka dot pinny, and flick on some toe-tapping music
Pick out a pretty vintage plate for each person
Boil one egg for each person
Hopefully you will be having 2,4,6 or any other multiple of 2 guests for lunch, as you will need to cut a tomato in half, and use one half for each guest.
Shred some lettuce finely, and strew over the plate to be the grass (you can dress it before you strew it should you care to)
Peel the hardboiled egg, and slice a tiny bit off of the fatter end, so that it will stand up on the plate.
Make a little clearing in the salad 'grass' and place the egg there.
Squeeze some tiny dots of salad cream, mayonnaise, or primula cheese over the tomato half
Sit the spotty tomato half on top of the egg to make the toadstool
If you like, you can make a little clearing from the toadstool to the edge of the plate, and fill it with grated cheese to make a path
Depending on how much time and inclination you have to play further, you could make cucumber flowers or radish roses or carrot curls to sit in the grass.
Enjoy!
I have to confess that I did not serve up Fairy Toadstool Salads for lunch today, instead I whipped up a little lunch dish of my own invention, and was rather pleased with how it turned out:
Summer Salmon Lunch Dish To Share With A Good Friend
Tie on a pretty apron, and play some Harry Connick Jr
Put a handful of Jersey Royals on to boil, until they are just tender. I like to rummage through the bag and pick out the tiniest ones.
Meanwhile, lightly poach a little salmon fillet in a pan of simmering water
Finely chop one spring onion, and mix with the cooled potatoes and flaked salmon
In a blender, mixer, or food processor (or you could use a bowl and fork) mix together a big dollop of cottage cheese, and a smaller dollop of mayonnaise, and several sprigs of parsely. You want enough to coat the potatoes and salmon, but not so much that it is swimming in it, so use your own judgement here.
When it is mixed together, fold into the potato-salmon-spring onion mixture, and put in the fridge to chill
I served this with a serve-yourself salad of watercress, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and celery.
Enjoy with a friend, serve with several cups of tea, and lots of gossip!
I hope that the first of June brings you sunshine and happiness and the start of many happy summer adventures!
And how scrumptiously it has started! Now summer is not my favourite season- I burn easily, wilt in the heat, and find myself longing for the crisper days of autumn. But the sudden glorious sunshine and excellent clothes-drying weather we have been enjoying has been a balm to my spirits. I find I have a spring in my step, and an overwhelming urge to wash everything I can get my hands on, and put it out on the line to blow dry.
This Saturday (to labour a point, my first Saturday off in three weeks!) I was not initially thrilled to hear that we were going to spend it with dear Carl servicing our car with his Dad...but it turned out to be a wonderful day. My lovely in-laws live in the middle of the countryside in a tiny village, surrounded by green fields and other little villages...you could be in the middle of Midsommer Murder country! We took our washing with us, and I pegged everything out to dry in the warm breeze as Carl and his Dad saw to our car. I sat and sipped tea and chatted with my Mother in Law, and then we shared a lovely lunch in the conservatory (she does a lovely thing where she puts out salads and dressings and french bread, crackers and cheese, pate and ham, and other such goodies from the fridge, then lets everyone help themselves). The afternoon disappeared as we caught up on family news, planned gifts to take to an up-coming family wedding, talked about outfits and so on.
When the men came in, rather tired and hungry, a plan was formed- to the pub for a quick drink, then off to get a Chinese takeaway, then home for a film. The local pub is in the next village, and is called The Swan. It is a lovely little pub, all oak beams and cask ale, and the very essence of what a country pub should be. I sipped half a perry, as I am not much one for drink, and we spent a happy hour listening to some music they had playing, and trying to remember who it was. (No, not Michael Buble...the one that is like him but not....has brown hair...YOU know, the one that isnt Buble....oh you do know, you DO....) As we drove to the next little village (dear Carl never drinks and drives...his tipple was a grapefruit juice!) it suddenly came to me, and I shouted 'Jamie Cullum' which somewhat startled everyone else in the car!
After our Chinese dinner, we watched Red Eye together (I should have spent more time enjoying the tense atmosphere of the film, but I was actually wondering where the lead actress got her gorgeous cardigan from, and which brand of eyeshadow she was wearing, and which shade of lipstick!) and then Carl and I left for home....tired but happy.
Yesterday seemed to just fly past. We went into town together, and had a picnic lunch in the park. I am amazed still at how summer seems to be winning me over. I love how the dappled shade of the trees shifts and shimmies in the breeze. We purchased a wedding gift and the newspapers, then returned home where time just seemed to slip away, and suddenly, it was time for bed....
Today has been blissful. My lovely friend Anna came for the morning, and we chatted nineteen to the dozen, exclaiming over the loveliness of Miss Pettigrew Lives For The Day which we had on in the background, ate lunch, and I unwrapped some utterly delightful birthday gifts. Amongst them was a red and white polka dot oven glove- I hadnt mentioned it (but Anna and I share such close taste, we always seem to be in synch!) but I have a real thing for polka dots recently, particularly red and white ones! I have been coveting a toadstool money box that I spied in town a while ago, and have an urge to make fairy toadstool salds, like my Mum made for me when I was a little girl.
Fairy Toadstool Salad
Tie on a polka dot pinny, and flick on some toe-tapping music
Pick out a pretty vintage plate for each person
Boil one egg for each person
Hopefully you will be having 2,4,6 or any other multiple of 2 guests for lunch, as you will need to cut a tomato in half, and use one half for each guest.
Shred some lettuce finely, and strew over the plate to be the grass (you can dress it before you strew it should you care to)
Peel the hardboiled egg, and slice a tiny bit off of the fatter end, so that it will stand up on the plate.
Make a little clearing in the salad 'grass' and place the egg there.
Squeeze some tiny dots of salad cream, mayonnaise, or primula cheese over the tomato half
Sit the spotty tomato half on top of the egg to make the toadstool
If you like, you can make a little clearing from the toadstool to the edge of the plate, and fill it with grated cheese to make a path
Depending on how much time and inclination you have to play further, you could make cucumber flowers or radish roses or carrot curls to sit in the grass.
Enjoy!
I have to confess that I did not serve up Fairy Toadstool Salads for lunch today, instead I whipped up a little lunch dish of my own invention, and was rather pleased with how it turned out:
Summer Salmon Lunch Dish To Share With A Good Friend
Tie on a pretty apron, and play some Harry Connick Jr
Put a handful of Jersey Royals on to boil, until they are just tender. I like to rummage through the bag and pick out the tiniest ones.
Meanwhile, lightly poach a little salmon fillet in a pan of simmering water
Finely chop one spring onion, and mix with the cooled potatoes and flaked salmon
In a blender, mixer, or food processor (or you could use a bowl and fork) mix together a big dollop of cottage cheese, and a smaller dollop of mayonnaise, and several sprigs of parsely. You want enough to coat the potatoes and salmon, but not so much that it is swimming in it, so use your own judgement here.
When it is mixed together, fold into the potato-salmon-spring onion mixture, and put in the fridge to chill
I served this with a serve-yourself salad of watercress, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and celery.
Enjoy with a friend, serve with several cups of tea, and lots of gossip!
I hope that the first of June brings you sunshine and happiness and the start of many happy summer adventures!
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Springstep Goat Farm
Once upon a time, I used to read a great many magazines indeed. Now I am not sure if I outgrew them, or if they became stale, but I don't read nearly so many now. One that I still adore and cannot wait to read each month is Country Living. When I have finished each copy, I like to go through and cut out pictures and articles to make a scrapbook.
Imagine how pleased I was to find an article about my own little corner of the world! Each month they have feature a place and the food that is produced there- and this month it is the turn of the Dengie Peninsular, and the main part of the article was about Springstep Farm. If you drive out of the bottom of the town that my Mum lives in, and head into the countryside for 5 minutes, you end up at the end of a twisty turny lane, and just as you think that you must surely be lost, you find yourself on Springstep Goat Farm.
We spent a very happy Sunday afternoon there, and if you get a chance to go, do. Half of the goats are outside where they enjoy the sunshine. The other half are in a barn, which you can wander around and look at. Then there is a large pond, and some lovely garden to walk around. We found a little path that led into the dappled shade of the woods, and followed it. To our surprise, we came out in front of a tiny, tumbledown church. Although it is not used any more, it is still consecrated. I love the idea of farm workers walking through twisty paths from nearby farms to go to church, over a hundred years ago. For a picture or two, visit here:
http://www.stmarysmaldon.org.uk/mundon.html
After we had explored there, and I had planned weddings for all my single friends to Mr Darcy, taking place at the church, bedecked with candles, we wandered back to the farm. The farmhouse has two lovely cool rooms in which you can take tea, but we opted to sit outside under a leafy tree instead. You can have cows milk instead, but unless you ask for it, all the dairy products served are goats milk based. You really cannot tell! We had pots of tea, and delicious soft goats cheese and tomato sandwiches, followed by another pot of tea, and simply enormous scones which were still warm from the oven, served with pots of jam (which tasted suspiciously like Wilkin and Sons jam to me!) and cream. All that for under £6!
After our delicious leisurely lunch, we had another walk to see the goats. Imagine how delighted we were to realise that one of the goats had given birth only moments before, and then went on to have another baby while we were there! We made a quick trip to the farm shop before going home. They do the most wonderful ice cream- I chose a tub of coffee because it is slightly bitter rather than sweet, and makes the most wonderful drink if you blend it with a cup of cold coffee and a splash of Tia Maria, Rum or Brandy!
Imagine how pleased I was to find an article about my own little corner of the world! Each month they have feature a place and the food that is produced there- and this month it is the turn of the Dengie Peninsular, and the main part of the article was about Springstep Farm. If you drive out of the bottom of the town that my Mum lives in, and head into the countryside for 5 minutes, you end up at the end of a twisty turny lane, and just as you think that you must surely be lost, you find yourself on Springstep Goat Farm.
We spent a very happy Sunday afternoon there, and if you get a chance to go, do. Half of the goats are outside where they enjoy the sunshine. The other half are in a barn, which you can wander around and look at. Then there is a large pond, and some lovely garden to walk around. We found a little path that led into the dappled shade of the woods, and followed it. To our surprise, we came out in front of a tiny, tumbledown church. Although it is not used any more, it is still consecrated. I love the idea of farm workers walking through twisty paths from nearby farms to go to church, over a hundred years ago. For a picture or two, visit here:
http://www.stmarysmaldon.org.uk/mundon.html
After we had explored there, and I had planned weddings for all my single friends to Mr Darcy, taking place at the church, bedecked with candles, we wandered back to the farm. The farmhouse has two lovely cool rooms in which you can take tea, but we opted to sit outside under a leafy tree instead. You can have cows milk instead, but unless you ask for it, all the dairy products served are goats milk based. You really cannot tell! We had pots of tea, and delicious soft goats cheese and tomato sandwiches, followed by another pot of tea, and simply enormous scones which were still warm from the oven, served with pots of jam (which tasted suspiciously like Wilkin and Sons jam to me!) and cream. All that for under £6!
After our delicious leisurely lunch, we had another walk to see the goats. Imagine how delighted we were to realise that one of the goats had given birth only moments before, and then went on to have another baby while we were there! We made a quick trip to the farm shop before going home. They do the most wonderful ice cream- I chose a tub of coffee because it is slightly bitter rather than sweet, and makes the most wonderful drink if you blend it with a cup of cold coffee and a splash of Tia Maria, Rum or Brandy!
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Scrumptious Sunday
Although there is a (rather large) part of me that longs to have proper two day weekends every week, instead of once a month, I have to say that in a way, having so weekends off has made me determined to spend the weekends I do have, and my singular Sundays on their own to be the most scrumptious possible. I hope that if and when I do have more two day weekends I will continue to keep them special...but in the meantime, here is my scrumptious Sunday.
There was only time for a very short lay in, but as we woke up later than usual anyway, I didn't mind too much. Of course we started the day with a cup of tea, because really, there is no other way to start, and then while Carl took himself off for a shower, I sat and sipped my tea while listening to Radio 4 and reading Marie Claire (which has a free tube of Neals Yard Frankincense Face Cream with it this month!) and then took myself off for a shower. I have some Amazing Grace conditioner by Philosophy which leaves my hair baby soft and smelling so lovely, so I decided to treat myself to a squirt.
Then dear Carl and I set out to town, and arrived at Loch Fyne just as they opened their doors, for breakfast. Ever since hearing that they do breakfast, I have wanted to go, as it is one of my favourite restaurants. We both ordered poached smoked haddock with a poached egg, and had toast and jam to start. The jam was those tiny little glass jars of Wilkin and Sons jam, which always makes me smile as we gave these as favours at our wedding!
It was blissful just sitting and sipping coffee, nibbling on toast and talking away. After that, it was on to the cinema, where we saw The International- Carl's choice of film I hasten to add! He really enjoyed it, I less so....although the story was well thought out, it was violent in places (I had to hide my face in my pashmina at one point!) and I did not think the ending was a very positive one....
We stopped to collect the Sunday papers before returning home to share them. Somehow the afternoon drifted away, but so pleasurably. I had a dip in the bath (yes I know I had a shower earlier...I just find a warm bath so relaxing!) and then made dinner. I can't remember if I have shared this recipe before...so just in case not:
Mimi's Potato and Onion Comfort Bake
1) Put on your floweriest pinny and preheat the oven to 150 oC
2) Peel 3-4 medium potatoes, and slice as thinly as you can
3) Peel 2 medium onions and cut them into thin half moons
4) Layer in an ovenproof dish potatoes then onions, potatoes then onions, then potatoes again
5) Pour over 1 cup of stock
6) Cover with foil and bake in the oven for an hour
7) Take yourself off to read The Bolter by Frances Osborne
8) Take the foil off, and pour over a tin of macaroni cheese
9) Turn the heat up to 175 oC and bake for 20 minutes more
10) At the same time, slip some organic sausages into the oven to bake
This makes enough for two generous servings, and then leftovers for another night for too as well!
Other things that are making me smile this Sunday are your lovely comments. It is so lovely to hear from people, to realise that there are actually people who take a few minutes out of their day to visit me here. I once read a blog that started off as a beautiful read, but sadly the authoress became completely obsessed with how many comments she did or did not get. The blog really suffered for it, and I really don't want that to happen here, so I do try ever so hard not to think about comments too much...but I can't tell you how lovely it is to know that my words don't just go out into cyberspace, but to lovely ladies who read them!
Also, a dear friend has just booked the two of us onto the most wonderful day course imaginable! At the end of May, she and I will be taking a trip to Norwich to learn vintage hair and makeup techniques of the 40s and 50s! Think red lipstick and finger waved hair! I can hardly wait!
I hope this post does not sound too smug...there has been plenty of daily rounds and work this week, but when I have days as lovely as this, I just really want to share them with you! I hope that wherever you are you are having a wonderful weekend...
There was only time for a very short lay in, but as we woke up later than usual anyway, I didn't mind too much. Of course we started the day with a cup of tea, because really, there is no other way to start, and then while Carl took himself off for a shower, I sat and sipped my tea while listening to Radio 4 and reading Marie Claire (which has a free tube of Neals Yard Frankincense Face Cream with it this month!) and then took myself off for a shower. I have some Amazing Grace conditioner by Philosophy which leaves my hair baby soft and smelling so lovely, so I decided to treat myself to a squirt.
Then dear Carl and I set out to town, and arrived at Loch Fyne just as they opened their doors, for breakfast. Ever since hearing that they do breakfast, I have wanted to go, as it is one of my favourite restaurants. We both ordered poached smoked haddock with a poached egg, and had toast and jam to start. The jam was those tiny little glass jars of Wilkin and Sons jam, which always makes me smile as we gave these as favours at our wedding!
It was blissful just sitting and sipping coffee, nibbling on toast and talking away. After that, it was on to the cinema, where we saw The International- Carl's choice of film I hasten to add! He really enjoyed it, I less so....although the story was well thought out, it was violent in places (I had to hide my face in my pashmina at one point!) and I did not think the ending was a very positive one....
We stopped to collect the Sunday papers before returning home to share them. Somehow the afternoon drifted away, but so pleasurably. I had a dip in the bath (yes I know I had a shower earlier...I just find a warm bath so relaxing!) and then made dinner. I can't remember if I have shared this recipe before...so just in case not:
Mimi's Potato and Onion Comfort Bake
1) Put on your floweriest pinny and preheat the oven to 150 oC
2) Peel 3-4 medium potatoes, and slice as thinly as you can
3) Peel 2 medium onions and cut them into thin half moons
4) Layer in an ovenproof dish potatoes then onions, potatoes then onions, then potatoes again
5) Pour over 1 cup of stock
6) Cover with foil and bake in the oven for an hour
7) Take yourself off to read The Bolter by Frances Osborne
8) Take the foil off, and pour over a tin of macaroni cheese
9) Turn the heat up to 175 oC and bake for 20 minutes more
10) At the same time, slip some organic sausages into the oven to bake
This makes enough for two generous servings, and then leftovers for another night for too as well!
Other things that are making me smile this Sunday are your lovely comments. It is so lovely to hear from people, to realise that there are actually people who take a few minutes out of their day to visit me here. I once read a blog that started off as a beautiful read, but sadly the authoress became completely obsessed with how many comments she did or did not get. The blog really suffered for it, and I really don't want that to happen here, so I do try ever so hard not to think about comments too much...but I can't tell you how lovely it is to know that my words don't just go out into cyberspace, but to lovely ladies who read them!
Also, a dear friend has just booked the two of us onto the most wonderful day course imaginable! At the end of May, she and I will be taking a trip to Norwich to learn vintage hair and makeup techniques of the 40s and 50s! Think red lipstick and finger waved hair! I can hardly wait!
I hope this post does not sound too smug...there has been plenty of daily rounds and work this week, but when I have days as lovely as this, I just really want to share them with you! I hope that wherever you are you are having a wonderful weekend...
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Snowdrop Sunday
It was a bittersweet walk through the snowdrops this afternoon....sweet because of their utter beauty and grace, and bitter because of the cold biting wind, and that The Gardens of Easton Lodge will be closing this year after the snowdrop season (next weekend is their last) because of a lack of funds.
The Gardens are one of my favourite places to visit. You can roam freely around the acres of gardens, wander and feel the restorative powers take hold of your soul. There are plans to apply for a lottery grant, and hopes to open again in a year or two- I really hope they make it.
But back to the sweet stuff. Although it was dry today, for which I am thankful, there was not the sunshine of yesterday. In a way it seemed more fitting to see snowdrops when the air is tinged with cold though! They are so breathtaking, seeing so many of them scattered about. The pin pricks of white seem to almost dance before your eyes. Mostly, the snowdrops were gathered around the roots of trees, or scattered across the Bosquet, and here and there the clouds of white were interrupted by flashes of golden aconites.
When we found a little rocky corner, hidden out of the way, we also discerned the smudgy purple of some crocuses that were keeping the snowdrops company. The Gardens are full of nooks and corners and hidden treasures. You are rewarded at every turn for peeping around a corner, or rounding a hedge...we ran into two regal peacocks, who stood still for a photo until the very moment we pressed the button! There is a low swing hanging from a giant tree, which swoops you across the grass in long lazy arcs; a ruined pavillion that would be such a romantic place to get married, adorned with candles. Ivy seems to creep over everything, especially the sunken Italian pool, which was sadly roped off as it is now too dangerous to walk in. It features a lily pond, and you can just imagine society ladies in the roaring twenties running to splash about in it. Somehow I Capture The Castle, and the Mitford Sisters came to mind!
We took a picnic of sausage rolls, apples, and homemade raspberry oat crumbly bars, along with a flask of coffee. The air is so clean (poor Carl remarked how very different the air is in London, and I felt sorry for him going to work there every day amongst all the smog) that it gives you a real appetite!
When we got back home, I made up a recipe for slow cooked venison, which even now is simmering away in the slow cooker. We have a friend coming for tea tomorrow night, who has never had venison before, so I decided a rich, winey stew with dumplings would be perfect February evening fare!
1) Tie on an apron, and put on The Puppini Sisters Panic, and Heart of Glass
2) Soften two chopped onions in a little oil, then put in the slow cooker.
3) Dust 500g diced venison in a little plain flour, then brown in a little oil, and add to the slow cooker.
4) Cut 3 or 4 medium carrots into thick coins, then add to the slow cooker, along with some green beans, snipped into short pieces.
5) Mix 500ml red wine with 500ml beef stock and stir into the slow cooker.
6) Sprinkle with dried herbs, put on the lid, and leave to cook.
Now I would have thought that 6 hours on high would have done it, but the carrots were still quite al dente when I checked just now (try to refrain from checking too often, as it lowers the temperature and means you have to extend the cooking time!). So I shall leave it a bit longer...it is also quite watery still, and winey, but that is ok, because I plan to reheat it tomorrow night, and let it bubble away for a bit, thus thickening it and evaporating some of the alcohol, before adding the dumplings.
I shall leave you with this snippet from Personifications, by Christina Rossetti who I believe is my favourite femail poet, and wishes to you all for the perfect Sunday evening.
Brother, joy to you!
I've brought some snowdrops; only just a few,
But quite enough to prove the world awake,
Cheerful and hopeful in the frosty dew
And for the pale sun's sake
The Gardens are one of my favourite places to visit. You can roam freely around the acres of gardens, wander and feel the restorative powers take hold of your soul. There are plans to apply for a lottery grant, and hopes to open again in a year or two- I really hope they make it.
But back to the sweet stuff. Although it was dry today, for which I am thankful, there was not the sunshine of yesterday. In a way it seemed more fitting to see snowdrops when the air is tinged with cold though! They are so breathtaking, seeing so many of them scattered about. The pin pricks of white seem to almost dance before your eyes. Mostly, the snowdrops were gathered around the roots of trees, or scattered across the Bosquet, and here and there the clouds of white were interrupted by flashes of golden aconites.
When we found a little rocky corner, hidden out of the way, we also discerned the smudgy purple of some crocuses that were keeping the snowdrops company. The Gardens are full of nooks and corners and hidden treasures. You are rewarded at every turn for peeping around a corner, or rounding a hedge...we ran into two regal peacocks, who stood still for a photo until the very moment we pressed the button! There is a low swing hanging from a giant tree, which swoops you across the grass in long lazy arcs; a ruined pavillion that would be such a romantic place to get married, adorned with candles. Ivy seems to creep over everything, especially the sunken Italian pool, which was sadly roped off as it is now too dangerous to walk in. It features a lily pond, and you can just imagine society ladies in the roaring twenties running to splash about in it. Somehow I Capture The Castle, and the Mitford Sisters came to mind!
We took a picnic of sausage rolls, apples, and homemade raspberry oat crumbly bars, along with a flask of coffee. The air is so clean (poor Carl remarked how very different the air is in London, and I felt sorry for him going to work there every day amongst all the smog) that it gives you a real appetite!
When we got back home, I made up a recipe for slow cooked venison, which even now is simmering away in the slow cooker. We have a friend coming for tea tomorrow night, who has never had venison before, so I decided a rich, winey stew with dumplings would be perfect February evening fare!
1) Tie on an apron, and put on The Puppini Sisters Panic, and Heart of Glass
2) Soften two chopped onions in a little oil, then put in the slow cooker.
3) Dust 500g diced venison in a little plain flour, then brown in a little oil, and add to the slow cooker.
4) Cut 3 or 4 medium carrots into thick coins, then add to the slow cooker, along with some green beans, snipped into short pieces.
5) Mix 500ml red wine with 500ml beef stock and stir into the slow cooker.
6) Sprinkle with dried herbs, put on the lid, and leave to cook.
Now I would have thought that 6 hours on high would have done it, but the carrots were still quite al dente when I checked just now (try to refrain from checking too often, as it lowers the temperature and means you have to extend the cooking time!). So I shall leave it a bit longer...it is also quite watery still, and winey, but that is ok, because I plan to reheat it tomorrow night, and let it bubble away for a bit, thus thickening it and evaporating some of the alcohol, before adding the dumplings.
I shall leave you with this snippet from Personifications, by Christina Rossetti who I believe is my favourite femail poet, and wishes to you all for the perfect Sunday evening.
Brother, joy to you!
I've brought some snowdrops; only just a few,
But quite enough to prove the world awake,
Cheerful and hopeful in the frosty dew
And for the pale sun's sake
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Mimi Makes Lemon Curd
At a family gathering last week, I revealed that my main plan for the weekend was to make some lemon curd; one of my relatives remarked that I am 'a real little homemaker'. I hadn't really thought of it like that, but I do love the comforts of home, and making it just as nice as can be, and an important part of that for me, is having scrumptious things to serve at my table.
Today was a gloomy, rainy Sunday afternoon, the perfect kind of January weather for pottering about in the kitchen. With a full cup of tea, and the Puppini sisters playing, I sallied forth...
Mimi's Lemon Curd
4 lemons
4 eggs
4oz butter
1lb sugar
First, put a saucepan of water on to boil, with a pyrex bowl on top, not touching the water.
Cut the butter into tiny cubes, and put into the bowl along with the sugar, and the juice and zest of the lemons.
(I used my zester rather than grating the zest in. Less delicate perhaps, but I love strands of lemon zest).
Pour in the beaten eggs, and stir over a gentle heat.
You have to be careful- too hot and not enough stirring, and you will get lemony scrambled eggs- ugh - not enough heat and it wont thicken.
When it thickens (it will thicken more as it sets) pour into sterilized jam jars and seal.
I have to say that this was a real joy to make. It made two largeish jars....recipe books always advise using small jars, as it does not keep well (8 weeks in the fridge) but I shall keep a jar and give a jar, and I am sure it won't last long! It is simplicity itself, and the kitchen was filled with the most marvellous refreshing scent of lemons. Yellow has never been my favourite colour, I usually find it too harsh, but there are some shades of yellow that are the colour of spring to me....daffodils, crocuses, and lemon curd!
I have plans to eat it with soft white bread, to stir it into thick plain yoghurt, and to perhaps use it as a filling in cake, too.
I hope your afternoon has been full of zest too!
Today was a gloomy, rainy Sunday afternoon, the perfect kind of January weather for pottering about in the kitchen. With a full cup of tea, and the Puppini sisters playing, I sallied forth...
Mimi's Lemon Curd
4 lemons
4 eggs
4oz butter
1lb sugar
First, put a saucepan of water on to boil, with a pyrex bowl on top, not touching the water.
Cut the butter into tiny cubes, and put into the bowl along with the sugar, and the juice and zest of the lemons.
(I used my zester rather than grating the zest in. Less delicate perhaps, but I love strands of lemon zest).
Pour in the beaten eggs, and stir over a gentle heat.
You have to be careful- too hot and not enough stirring, and you will get lemony scrambled eggs- ugh - not enough heat and it wont thicken.
When it thickens (it will thicken more as it sets) pour into sterilized jam jars and seal.
I have to say that this was a real joy to make. It made two largeish jars....recipe books always advise using small jars, as it does not keep well (8 weeks in the fridge) but I shall keep a jar and give a jar, and I am sure it won't last long! It is simplicity itself, and the kitchen was filled with the most marvellous refreshing scent of lemons. Yellow has never been my favourite colour, I usually find it too harsh, but there are some shades of yellow that are the colour of spring to me....daffodils, crocuses, and lemon curd!
I have plans to eat it with soft white bread, to stir it into thick plain yoghurt, and to perhaps use it as a filling in cake, too.
I hope your afternoon has been full of zest too!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Mimi Makes Marmalade
Today is one of those clear, bright, cold January days, when it feels like the day has been scoured clean by the cold. It has been a perfectly wonderful day...a day off work, before the madness of my new hours starts, lunch with a friend, a new haircut, and a new bunch of daffodils!
Carl will be home in an hour or so, and I will be serving steamed smoked haddock, crushed steamed new potatoes, green beans and creamed spinach. I love it when I am at home first, and know that he will be coming home to a house full of warmth, light, and tasty dinner.
We had a scrumptious Sunday, too...a dear friend invited us to Sunday lunch in her sweet little cottage. She made a lemon and thyme roast chicken, and we took Creme Brulee for dessert. When I go to visit people, especially if we are eating with them, I really like to take what I hear in the States is called a 'hostess gift'. Usually flowers or some little token like that, but this time I took a jar of homemade marmalade.
Indeed, I was up bright and early that very morning to make it. Having read through several marmalade recipes (The River Cottage Preserves book is very useful!) I concocted a recipe of my own...it made three small jars, and our little flat was wonderful scented with orange all day long.
Mimi's Marvellous Blood Orange and Cointreau Marmalade
10+ Blood Oranges (enough to give 1 litre of juice)
3 lemons
500g caster sugar
50ml cointreau
First, zest 6 oranges and the 2 lemons. (This part smells wonderful!)
Next, juice all the oranges- you need a litre of juice. To get the most juice, I used my juicer (the kind that also juices veggies like carrots).
Juice the lemons, too.
Put the juice, zest and sugar into a large saucepan, and stir gently over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
Scoop out all the pulp from the juicer, and put into a square of muslin. Squeeze it over the pan, and stir all the squeezings in.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for about an hour, or until setting point has been reached, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick and burn.
When setting point has been reached, take off the heat, stir in the cointreau, then leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Pour into sterilised jam pots, cover and label.
Now buy some lovely soft bread (tiger bread is my favourite at the moment) that is all squishy, and enjoy your marmalade...
Carl will be home in an hour or so, and I will be serving steamed smoked haddock, crushed steamed new potatoes, green beans and creamed spinach. I love it when I am at home first, and know that he will be coming home to a house full of warmth, light, and tasty dinner.
We had a scrumptious Sunday, too...a dear friend invited us to Sunday lunch in her sweet little cottage. She made a lemon and thyme roast chicken, and we took Creme Brulee for dessert. When I go to visit people, especially if we are eating with them, I really like to take what I hear in the States is called a 'hostess gift'. Usually flowers or some little token like that, but this time I took a jar of homemade marmalade.
Indeed, I was up bright and early that very morning to make it. Having read through several marmalade recipes (The River Cottage Preserves book is very useful!) I concocted a recipe of my own...it made three small jars, and our little flat was wonderful scented with orange all day long.
Mimi's Marvellous Blood Orange and Cointreau Marmalade
10+ Blood Oranges (enough to give 1 litre of juice)
3 lemons
500g caster sugar
50ml cointreau
First, zest 6 oranges and the 2 lemons. (This part smells wonderful!)
Next, juice all the oranges- you need a litre of juice. To get the most juice, I used my juicer (the kind that also juices veggies like carrots).
Juice the lemons, too.
Put the juice, zest and sugar into a large saucepan, and stir gently over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
Scoop out all the pulp from the juicer, and put into a square of muslin. Squeeze it over the pan, and stir all the squeezings in.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for about an hour, or until setting point has been reached, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick and burn.
When setting point has been reached, take off the heat, stir in the cointreau, then leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Pour into sterilised jam pots, cover and label.
Now buy some lovely soft bread (tiger bread is my favourite at the moment) that is all squishy, and enjoy your marmalade...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)