Bake City

Strawberry & Polenta sponges (bottom),

Daddy, Mummy and Baby Pineapple & Raisin loaves

(recipe courtesy of Cake Makes the World go Round).

Lemon Drizzle and Cherry Bake (which H made).

Brioche in the breadmaker (recipe below)

Banana, Choc Chip and Raisin

I've been away for a while......but as you can see I have been busy.

News since I last blogged: THE BUILDERS HAVE FINISHED!!!!!! We are now in the 'decorating stage' which is so much better than the 'everything is covered in dust' stage. We have our beautiful new kitchen, showers are in, everywhere needs a good clean and our chickens arrive on 11 September!!! (thought I'd slip that in quietly!)

Our new coffee shop opened for two weeks, as part of the church's opening celebrations. We were mobbed! It seems a light and airy coffee shop with good coffee and home made cake is needed in the town. I will post pictures of that another time because I was so busy I didn't take any!! We decided on the name City Light which fits nicely with our ethos "You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden".

For the first two weeks of the school holidays we went to Whitstable for a week (glorious weather, right on the beach) and then to Cornwall (torrential rain all week but stayed in a forest which was very relaxing). R and I came home and the children stayed in Cornwall with Nana and Grandad.

So....I've been doing a lot of baking and a little bit of sewing too (that's another blog for another time!).

The aim of the coffee shop is to have home made cakes and I will be making the majority of them so I've been making tried and tested recipes that are suitable for freezing, trying out new ones (Strawberry & Polenta cake being one of them....delicious with ice cream!) and my breadmaker has probably been used more since the new kitchen has been installed than ever before for things other than a brown loaf.

This is a really easy peasy recipe. I don't really like shop bought because I find it too sweet. - it's a really nice treat and change from croissants for breakfast or today smothered with jam after tea!

4 medium eggs at room temperature

125g/4oz butter, melted and slightly cooled

6 tbsp warm (not hot) water

450g strong white bread flour

1.1/2tsp salt

2 tbsp caster sugar

7g sachet of instant or fast-acting yeast

Melted butter for glazing

Pour eggs, butter and water into the breadmaker bucket, then add half the flour. Sprinkle with salt and sugar, cover with remaining flour and mound the yeast in the centre. Set to dough programme. When ready remove dough from bucket and quickly knead on a floured surface. Drop into a large loaf tin and brush with a little melted butter. Bake for 10 minutes at 220 deg/Gas mark 7 and then reduce temp to 190/5 for 25-30 minutes until well risen and golden.

I have frozen a few test slices to make sure it tastes just as delicious as it did fresh. This will definitely be on the menu!

Thankfully we have 2 more weeks of school holidays which means loads more baking, a bit of sewing, a bit of decorating, spending time with friends and family, enjoying long lunches with a bottle of wine (OK that's just tomorrow because it's my birthday!!)...it also means that we're 2 weeks nearer to getting our chooks which have already been named as Frankie (a more girly version of the boy's name, named after C's favourite boy (after her brother of course!!), Serena and Tilly, although C has just come into the office (new office!) to tell me she wants to call one of them Nugget......

Tag....

I have got so much to write about, but not a lot of time. So I am doing Ms Moss Stitch's Tag first.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was working at Kellyfield Consulting, a lovely small firm of legal recruitment consultants. Worked for 2 really great guys (one of them now an MP!) Had been married for almost 2 years. We were renovating our first home together and were probably up to our eyeballs in dust (10 years on we are at it again!). Weren't really thinking about children. We were planning a long touring trip to Italy (never made it, H arrived instead!)

5 Things on my to do list today -

Put old cooker in the skip
Dry my clothes so I have something to wear tomorrow
Hoover everywhere (futile because of dust, but imperative all the same)
Get refreshments ready for tonight (London Community Gospel Choir coming to sing at our church, 250+ people coming....I am going to be so tired later)
Iron my tea towels and apron for another busy week at City Light Coffee!! (more on that later)

Snacks I enjoy -

Jaffa Cakes
Toast
Starbucks Skinny Frappucinos
Apples
Water biscuits

Things I would do if I were a billionaire -

Give to charity and my friends/family.
Set up a wonderful secondary school in the area and not let anybody in who tutors their children. Give them a fantastic education and a good set of values too. Let them be children and enjoy having lots of fun whilst learning too (subject close to my heart? Noooooo ;-)
Buy a house by the sea and a house in the forest
Get a dog, cat and lots of chickens!


Places I have lived -
Essex, Essex, Essex and erm, Essex. I haven't moved more than 10 miles away from where I grew up.

People I want to know more about-Whoever hasn't done it! I'm a bit slow doing mine so am probably the last!If you haven't done it yet then I tag you - let me know though so I can have a nose!!

Happiness and Hearts

This weekend has been one of those times when you are thoroughly exhausted but for all the right reasons.

We escaped from the builders who were putting in new windows at the back of the house, and told the children we were off on an adventure. After singing our way through both soundtracks from High School Musical and High School Musical 2, plus various other songs - we arrived from our arduous 2.1/2 hour journey that should've taken 45 minutes at Legoland! I thought H was going to faint in the car as he only twigged where we were when he saw the large piece of Lego outside the entrance. I wish I'd had my camera for the open mouths and squeals of delight.

Saturday was a glorious day.

Sunday was not-so-glorious weather wise, but we still managed to have fun. I'm so glad I packed my Cath Kidston Poncho! H still managed to go on the Bungee Trampoline....

C went on as well, but I couldn't catch her on film. She was up....she was down and all the photographs I took either have the top of her head or her toes!!

Of course we had to have a trip to the shop, and now we have a whole box of PINK lego.

After a relaxing swim at the hotel this morning, we headed home in the horrendous rain. I found two new hearts waiting for me to add to my collection.

This wooden heart is sumptuously smooth. It is bigger than the palm of my hand but I just love turning it over and over in my hands. It will go in our bedroom when it's finished.

The end of the weekend is near, but at least I have new windows to keep out the rain...and a lovely set of new french doors ('scuse the mess!!!)

Tea and Cake

This morning, before taking C to school, and before going to work...I made a cake.

I woke at 5:30am because a small person had crept into our bed (H is away on a school trip and C is missing him!) I couldn't sleep after that so decided to bake! I found my 20cm tin in the cupboard (I thought I'd put them all into storage).

It went down very nicely with a cup of tea at work today!

Coffee shop STILL has no name!

No Title, No Inspiration!

It's been a long time since I last "blogged". I have been sorely lacking in the inspiration department, I think the house extension/renovation has sapped it out of me. I'm bone dry I tell you!

I can't seem to concentrate when the builders are here, so I flit. I don't sit still long enough to do anything constructive. Well actually that's slightly untrue as I have been reading....a lot. I usually leave half an hour to an hour before I have to pick the children up and sit outside the school reading. It has also been particularly favourable that the ticket machine is out of order so I can be one of those annoying parents who park RIGHT NEXT to the school. It's been a joy!

H is going away for a week with the school next week. He's not even 8 yet....I think we will all be bereft without him (he's happy to go as he has £40 pocket money!!). C will be lonely at night (they have been sharing a room for 5/6 weeks) and love going to sleep listening to Matilda or Giraffe, The Pelly and Me. Mind you, she'll be happy not to have to sleep on the Sleepover Bed and she'll get to play with all his toys. She will get to watch the "Making of...." parts of High School Musical 1 & 2 (the script of which she knows verbatim, together with the soundtrack). I can't believe we are so late to the party - everyone I know now rolls their eyes at the mention of HSM. We are still in the honeymoon stage!

So back to H. The List Writer would be proud as we have several lists from the school. Lists of clothes, telephone numbers, itineraries and the list of Dos and Donts.

"No bad behaviour will be tolerated"
"No Chocolate or sweets"
"Don't forget suncream and a sticky address label" (just remembered I have to sort that one out!
"All clothing must be labelled" (more like, get a black marker pen and put "H" in everything. I just know he will come home minus pants and socks as they are usually slung off at the end of the day! At least if I find an imposter pair of pants in Henry's luggage, they will either be F's or T's!

Better disappear as H is due home from his Violin lesson (something else that has happened while I've been away from Blogsville). I will update you on that another time.

TTFN.