More baking...

I thought I would have a go at making brioche. I mean, how hard can it be? Well, actually, quite hard. Despite my best attempts at following the Guardians recipe, my first loaf didn't turn out at all buttery and light. Hmmm. Second attempt I thought I would go for safety in numbers and make lots of mini brioche. This was a much better idea as the empty plates I came down to this morning testified. My three little angels gobbled them all up with no complaints at all. I can only think that the cooking temperature in my ancient Aga is not conducive to making a decent brioche loaf. Too much heat, too quickly. Will have to tweak the recipe and try again.

The post this morning brought a present from my wonderful friend, Tracy. It is a new home present and very apt as I have been making all our bread recently.

Pampered Chef Stoneware loaf pan

I'm really pleased with this as the metal one I have been using has been leaving traces of itself on all my bread. No such problems with this little beauty. I have lots of different stoneware and I definitely prefer it to  metal bakeware. It came with a recipe for Apple & Cinnamon Cake and so I duly christened it. Yum Yum. The cake was delicious and didn't stick to the loaf pan at all. I will try it in the morning to bake some bread and see how it turns out.

Baking day...

Three cheers for a good old fashioned baking day. Lots of freshly baked goodies and a home that smells delicious. I can feel the calories piling on just looking at the pictures!

Daisy kneading bread dough

The finished result! Yummy...

Buttermilk scones....

Cherry shortbread hearts...delicious

Sew and sew...

Spent a lovely couple of hours in Just Sew in Penrith today. The wonderful Pat gave a small group of us (3!) some great personal tuition in getting to know our sewing machines better. I can't believe how much I managed to learn in such a short time and will definitely be heading back to do some more one day courses. On leaving the shop I was tempted to buy all sorts of beautiful fabric (they have an amazing collection of stock) but I held of. I need to do some more practicing first before I let myself loose on new fabric! I did buy some more needles though so that I am actually able to practice!

Forgot to report back on the lemon & lime marmalade...it was very nice but needs a little less lime and a little more sugar....was inspired to make some grapefruit marmalade (think I've been bitten by the marmalade bug!) and it was.......also very nice. Am thinking about making some jam now as I saw an interesting recipe for rhubarb and ginger jam...mmm..sounds delicious but I think I will wait until the price of rhubarb goes down....currently £5.35 kg...

Tullie House Museum

The children and I spent a wonderful day in Carlisle last Saturday. We decided to give the castle a miss as it was not the weather for an open air adventure! Instead, we visited the wonderful Tullie House Museum. The children had so much fun! There was so much interactive involvement that they would have happily stayed another hour on top of the two we had already spent.

The small garden is beautiful and if the weather had been milder, would have been an ideal place to sit with a cup of tea and a cake.....maybe we will go back in the summer just to try.... The actual house part of the museum had the most incredible tiled staircase. It really is very beautiful and is a testimony to the wonderfully creative Victorians at Ironbridge, Shropshire.

The museum also houses a small collection of William Morris samples. The colours and designs are so beautiful, I found myself wondering about the new curtains I need for the downstairs room.....

A new month....

February has arrived with its promise of spring. The temperature is a little milder of late and there are lots of patches of blue in the sky.....the wind, however, is threatening to tell another story. Still, I've managed to spend time in the garden today, having a general tidy up and planting some bulbs that I had forgotten that I'd bought. They had started sprouting in the net they were in so I think they will be ok. I always feel so much happier when I've managed to spend time in the garden....is this the onset of middle age in the year I turn 40?

Actually, today has been quite a productive day so far. I've managed to bake some bread, and spurned on by the success of making some delicious seville orange marmalade, I made a fresh batch of lemon & lime marmalade. First tasting session tomorrow morning.....

I went to Birmingham a couple of weekend ago which felt like rather a strange experience. Despite originally being a city girl born and bred, I felt quite out of my depth......Soooo many people!  I stayed at the Jury's Inn which looked a bit like a concrete monster on the outside but actually was really rather nice inside.

To be fair, I did take this photo around 7am in the morning so it was only just starting to get light. It does make the hotel look rather foreboding though....

Happy Birthday Blog!

It dawned on me today that my blogging efforts are now one year old. I started after last new year when we had made the decision to move. A lot has happened in the last 12 months!

Mark and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last week and marked the day by taking the children to visit the beautiful little village of Wetheral, about 4 miles east of Carlisle.

There is a beautiful church with a very poignant memorial to the first woman soldier to be killed in Aghanistan

A charming village green surrounded by Victorian villas

and a lovely railway viaduct with incredible views of the surrounding area

Just to make the day extra special, my lovely Marky had secretly arranged a babysitter and took me out for dinner at the excellent Cumberland Arms Hotel in Alston.

Christmas Preparations

Well, the children have their final day at school today and went off feeling very excited about the day of fun and festivities planned at school for them. They have all settled in so well and made friends. One of the things they like to do at school is cookery. They all recently made chocolate Yule logs - quite delicious they were too!

Daisy with her delicious chocolate cake.

I have a few things planned for them next week. There are still paper chains to make, table decorations to be made and some edible presents to be cooked. I thought I would have a go at making some of the River Cottage candied orange peel. Looks yummy! I made some stollen yesterday and wondered why I only ever make it at Christmas as it is so delicious. I think the reason may be that I would eat it all and get tremendously fat!!! Will get the little ones to make some more with me as it is delicious toasted for breakfast. Hopefully we will also have a bit more snow!

The house renovations are picking up speed. Daisy's room is almost done. We just need to decorate and add new curtains. She has a new floor, one that she won't fall through, as well as new sockets and lights. One of the things with old houses is the lack of sockets. There was just one before we rewired her room and we still have one room that doesn't have any! The downstairs room is having a new floor put in as I type. This will make a huge difference as it was the worst one in the house, tilting both away and to the side. Very interesting to walk on! Fingers crossed, the room may even be finished before Christmas..... I have been assured that my wonderful stone fire will be returned, fully repaired, some time today....am waiting patiently.