So it's goodbye 2009...
And hello 2010!
So far it's been beautiful - sunny and frosty (just the weather for a hearty pie!)
Here's hoping that the new year will be filled with good food and good friends, and plenty of excitements besides.
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Happy New Year!
Here's hoping that the new year will be filled with good food and good friends, and plenty of excitements besides.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Christmas Wishes
Dear Friends,
May this Christmas be full of...
May this Christmas be full of...
lovely gifts...
cosy sweaters...
snow...
and fun in said snow...
great friends (thanks Sarah - I love it!) and wonderful memories of good times past...
gorgeous edible treats...
and childhood nostalgia (this one is Rob's).
May Santa bring all you ask for...
may all your Christmas wishes be granted...
may we all stay safe...
and whatever faith you have - or none - may this season bring blessings, peace, joy and goodwill.
Love from Kate x
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Christmas Approaches... bring on the snow and cake!
"Let it Snow!" I pronounced in my last blog post, and... sure enough, it has! You might think I'd be immune to the charms of snow having lived through two Canadian winters, but I still find something magical in it. I suppose it's that it's always quite unexpected here in England. I just love how the snow brings so much excitement - on our walk yesterday we saw so many people having fun on sledges.
The snow has also made everyone so cheerful. Practically everyone we have passed whilst walking this weekend has greeted us with a cheery 'hello!' and one even offered us a go on their sledge!
Of course, it's only lovely if you have nowhere you need to go. We haven't really had to drive anywhere this weekend so it's not been a problem. I didn't much enjoy my snowy commute to work on Friday though...
So, what better to do on a snowy weekend after a long walk than to enjoy some festive food? Wherever we are spending Christmas Day itself, Rob and I always like to cook our own early Christmas Dinner, so that's what we did last night. Turkey, stuffing, bacon-wrapped chipolatas, lots of sprouts - even a Christmas Pudding. It was gorgeous!
My Christmas baking has also been done. Having salivated over Nigella's Chocolate Christmas Cake recipe and heard excellent reports of it from my online foodie friends, I decided to go with the version in Feast (very similar to the version in Nigella's Christmas). As ever the contents of my cupboards necessitated a little tweaking of the recipe (no Tia Maria? Mix up some Rum and Camp Coffee instead!), and I left out the candied peel because, well, it's gross.
The recipe made one 20cm cake, as stated, but I had quite a lot of mixture left over so managed to also make 4 cute mini loaf-cakes as well. These were very handy for giving as Christmas presents, especially when adorned with edible glitter and chocolate stars.
And the cake itself? Amazing. Gorgeous. Better than I ever expected! Even Rob, who really didn't like the idea of it, and even grimaced in disgust when he tasted the uncooked mixture, is a convert. You can't really taste the chocolate in it, but the cocoa and the coffee add a deep rich smokiness to the cake. The texture is not as dense as a traditional fruit cake, but it's heavy with moist fruit, spongy and sticky. In short, perfect.
The recipe can be found in many places online, but here's a link on the BBC Food website. I can't recommend it enough. I had a large slab of it with a cup of tea this afternoon... and now I'm a little worried about how I'll fit in my 'Boxing Day' supper of cold turkey and fried stuffing! I'm sure I'll manage.
The snow has also made everyone so cheerful. Practically everyone we have passed whilst walking this weekend has greeted us with a cheery 'hello!' and one even offered us a go on their sledge!
Of course, it's only lovely if you have nowhere you need to go. We haven't really had to drive anywhere this weekend so it's not been a problem. I didn't much enjoy my snowy commute to work on Friday though...
So, what better to do on a snowy weekend after a long walk than to enjoy some festive food? Wherever we are spending Christmas Day itself, Rob and I always like to cook our own early Christmas Dinner, so that's what we did last night. Turkey, stuffing, bacon-wrapped chipolatas, lots of sprouts - even a Christmas Pudding. It was gorgeous!
My Christmas baking has also been done. Having salivated over Nigella's Chocolate Christmas Cake recipe and heard excellent reports of it from my online foodie friends, I decided to go with the version in Feast (very similar to the version in Nigella's Christmas). As ever the contents of my cupboards necessitated a little tweaking of the recipe (no Tia Maria? Mix up some Rum and Camp Coffee instead!), and I left out the candied peel because, well, it's gross.
The recipe made one 20cm cake, as stated, but I had quite a lot of mixture left over so managed to also make 4 cute mini loaf-cakes as well. These were very handy for giving as Christmas presents, especially when adorned with edible glitter and chocolate stars.
And the cake itself? Amazing. Gorgeous. Better than I ever expected! Even Rob, who really didn't like the idea of it, and even grimaced in disgust when he tasted the uncooked mixture, is a convert. You can't really taste the chocolate in it, but the cocoa and the coffee add a deep rich smokiness to the cake. The texture is not as dense as a traditional fruit cake, but it's heavy with moist fruit, spongy and sticky. In short, perfect.
The recipe can be found in many places online, but here's a link on the BBC Food website. I can't recommend it enough. I had a large slab of it with a cup of tea this afternoon... and now I'm a little worried about how I'll fit in my 'Boxing Day' supper of cold turkey and fried stuffing! I'm sure I'll manage.
Monday, 7 December 2009
The Weather Outside is Frightful...
But the scene in front of the fire has been delightful. What could be nicer than sitting on the sofa, warming up after a brisk walk with a cup of tea and a toasted crumpet, and surrounded by recipe books? I'm thinking of making the Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake, as pictured in Nigella's Christmas book. It's the phrase 'incredibly easy' that's tempting me... oh yes, and the word 'chocolate'. I'm also keen to find an excuse to use my 'Hologram Gold Disco Glitter' once again - it looks stunning on top of a dark cake such as this one.
The Jane Asher book is from the local library. I'm glad I didn't buy it, her writing style really irritates me, although there are some nice-looking recipes that I might just take note of before returning the book.
A little later on and the tea and crumpets are replaced by wine... and the Christmas socks have emerged! Ho ho ho. It's still a little early for us to be decorating the house, although we nearly went to buy the Christmas tree this last weekend - we've decided to go next Saturday instead. We did however collect some lovely holly. Last year it was almost impossible to find any with berries on it, so this year we were keen to grab some as soon as we saw it. We put some behind every picture in the sitting room, and I'll add some ivy too soon. I like to use as much natural greenery as I can... but leaving plenty of room for some tasteless kitch decorations too!
Talking of kitch, we've also started playing our extensive collection of Christmas music. Before we went to Canada we had a very tasteful selection of classic Christmas carols and festive choral music. Now we have a broad range of other 'classics' such as Elvis' Christmas Album and The Beach Boys sing Christmas (thanks to a crazy moment in the cut-price music section of Walmart!). My favourite album is a double CD I bought - rather oddly - at a Bath and Body Works shop in Las Vegas, entitled Glitter and Glow. It has a fantastic selection of Christmas hits, some classics, some new recordings. One of my very favourite tracks is this one from Bing Crosby:
Now if only the rain would stop... let it snow!
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Wondering Around...
Here's Rob wondering. I was wondering whether he could possibly have found a more embarrassing hat.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Advent Thoughts
But having said that, I couldn't help feeling a little bit excited when Rob got this box down from the loft last weekend... I can't quite believe we have enough 'Xmas Decs' to fill a box that big, but no doubt there'll be lots of things I've forgotten about since last year.
As it's now December 1st I'm off to put on a Christmas CD. We have a self-imposed house-rule that we don't listen to them before now and consequently I'm really looking forward to hearing some festive music. We went to a lovely Advent Carol service last Sunday and enjoyed singing lots of Advent hymns, which reminded me why I really do love this time of year.
I opened the first door of the Advent Calender with my class this morning and was delighted that - for the first time in the 11 years I have been doing this job - no child moaned about the fact that there was no chocolate inside it! I also lit an Advent Candle with them; something I had never tried due to an irrational fear of the combination of flames and overly-interested small children. They were fascinated by it, and we even managed to get in a bit of Science by observing the change from solid to liquid wax, and then liquid to solid as it cooled. (Fortunately there was no chance to observe the combustibility of exercise books, furniture, thatched roof, etc...)
May your Advent be full of little excitements too!
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Apple Spice Cake
Apple foraging season is over, but if you've still got some cooking apples in store then this is an ideal recipe to use a few.
I made this cake in October, and it was fabulous. I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. The recipe came from 'The Week' magazine, and is taken from Mary Berry's Baking Bible which I think is a new publication, bringing together recipes from several of Mary Berry's previous cookbooks. The official title for the recipe is Apple and Cinnamon Cake, but I renamed it Apple Spice Cake as I used a selection of spices instead of simply cinnamon.
We took the cake on holiday with us to Yorkshire (and I hasten to add that we were holidaying in a self-catering cottage... we don't make a habit of packing cakes into our suitcases!) and it kept fantastically well. We ate a generous slice each day along with a cup of tea on return from our hearty walks, and even when we finished it on day 5 or 6 it tasted as good as it had done at the start of the week.
Mary Berry's Apple and Cinnamon Cake
225g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar (plus a little to finish)
3 large eggs
100g chopped walnuts (I omitted these as I had none in the cupboard!)
100g sultanas
225g self-raising flour (I substituted 100g of this with Hemp Flour which gave it a lovely nutty flavour and texture)
2 level tsp baking powder (I added an extra tsp because of the Hemp Flour)
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 level tsp ground cinnamon (I used 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' which I had brought back from Canada. It contains a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc)
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. Grease a 23cm deep round cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended.
Spoon half the mixture into the tin, smooth it down, then tip the grated apple (which you have mixed with the spices) in an even layer on the top. Spoon over the remaining cake mixture, level the surface, then sprinkle over a generous amount of muscovado sugar.
Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well-risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cold. It's great either way.
I loved the way that the apple layer provided a slightly tart middle layer, which offset the sweetness of the cake. It also kept the cake deliciously moist.
I made this cake in October, and it was fabulous. I have been meaning to blog about it ever since. The recipe came from 'The Week' magazine, and is taken from Mary Berry's Baking Bible which I think is a new publication, bringing together recipes from several of Mary Berry's previous cookbooks. The official title for the recipe is Apple and Cinnamon Cake, but I renamed it Apple Spice Cake as I used a selection of spices instead of simply cinnamon.
We took the cake on holiday with us to Yorkshire (and I hasten to add that we were holidaying in a self-catering cottage... we don't make a habit of packing cakes into our suitcases!) and it kept fantastically well. We ate a generous slice each day along with a cup of tea on return from our hearty walks, and even when we finished it on day 5 or 6 it tasted as good as it had done at the start of the week.
Mary Berry's Apple and Cinnamon Cake
225g softened butter
225g light muscovado sugar (plus a little to finish)
3 large eggs
100g chopped walnuts (I omitted these as I had none in the cupboard!)
100g sultanas
225g self-raising flour (I substituted 100g of this with Hemp Flour which gave it a lovely nutty flavour and texture)
2 level tsp baking powder (I added an extra tsp because of the Hemp Flour)
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 level tsp ground cinnamon (I used 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' which I had brought back from Canada. It contains a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc)
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. Grease a 23cm deep round cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs, walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended.
Spoon half the mixture into the tin, smooth it down, then tip the grated apple (which you have mixed with the spices) in an even layer on the top. Spoon over the remaining cake mixture, level the surface, then sprinkle over a generous amount of muscovado sugar.
Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well-risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Serve warm or cold. It's great either way.
I loved the way that the apple layer provided a slightly tart middle layer, which offset the sweetness of the cake. It also kept the cake deliciously moist.
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