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......

Cupcakes and Aprons

It's been a funny ole week. C was 4 on Tuesday but that seems like a week ago already. Still, building is progressing. I now have a door on my new utility room and the roof is going on next week. Am praying there won't be a gale over the weekend as, although we're not exposed to the elements, I don't want us to lift off (or our scaffolding to start shaking!).

As time draws nearer to the opening of the coffee shop, we (that's me and friends from work) started talking about names. I was actually supposed to be doing something else but came across a site which had quite a few suggestions for a coffee shop which will be inside a church. A few were good, and most of them made me chuckle....The Bean'ry, Let there be Latte (I nearly spilled my latte reading that one!), Jehovah Java, Son-light Cafe, Cup O'Joy, Beanier than thou, Holy Grounds, Higher Grounds, Blessed Beans and my favourite...Fire Escape!!! Gill came up with Cafe on the Hill, as our strapline is "A City on a Hill cannot be hidden". However, we aren't actually on a hill and I can already imagine the endless stream of people saying "But you aren't on a hill". Everyone liked it though and it might make the short list!. Another idea was "Divine" but Gill pointed out that's a name of a drag act, and also the very nice chocolate! So...we are still nameless.

So as I couldn't think of a name, I started looking at the more fun things, like fabric for aprons, coffee machines and cakes. I can't do any cooking at the moment as all my cake tins are in storage! However, I could look at, and buy some fabric for my Emmeline Apron. I was only supposed to be looking, as I can't even make them as my sewing machine is away at the moment! But...I fell in love with them, and suddenly Paypal were emailing me with a receipt. Funny how that happened.

The dark brown one with the dots reminds me of chocolate cupcakes with lots of sprinkles over them, and the other ones just coordinate so well!

I actually have a fat quarter of the paisley pink, and didn't even realise it was Amy Butler. Best keep that to myself and not tell R :-)

I have also been asked to make two bridesmaids dresses in pale pink silk with hot pink sashes. One is for C, and the other is for another little girl, E. My sister-in-law is getting married in September and I will be making a toile out of calico at some point, which I will show you. It's all very exciting. I am doing the flowers as well so I may as well just stop sleeping now!

Cakes and Tea Towels

My eyes have been opened to a brand new world. The previous occupants of my middle drawer were from Tesco, Primark and a very dodgy looking one from Centerparcs! (no I didn't steal it, I bought it!!). Anna then posted on her blog about having too many tea towels. A new obsession was born. Cath Kidston...Emma Bridgewater...Heinz Ketchup?! Fortunately for me (or my purse), CK had a sale on, as did EB... When I took a good look at my collection I realised I had MORE Christmas tea towels than anything else! I got a nice Santa one from my parents this year too. Maybe they were trying to tell me something when they came to stay. I even checked Ebay for tea towels - well you can get anything on there!!

Then...came the Ginger Cake, with picture. Of course I HAD to make it but I didn't have ginger in syrup. Feeling a little under the weather, I ventured to Waitrose miserably on Monday. I wanted to curl up in front of the TV watching Dirty Dancing for the 100th time but also I wanted to make that cake!

I should have gone straight to the syrup, but no....I ambled from aisle to aisle browsing, thinking "ooooh that looks nice", "so does that" (plant, flowers, magazines x 3, early birthday presents, nice soap, chocolate, Lavazza Carte D'or - I was ill!). "Yes, and I definitely need a pink whisk". I shouldn't have got a trolley!

£125 later (I kid you not) I had everything I didn't need, but what did I forget?!! It's OK, I remembered as I got into my car! (People who know me well, will know that I do this a lot).

Our printer is in for repair so I hand-wrote the recipe down. Meticulously followed the instructions: omitting the dried fruit on the purpose, and the sugar by mistake. It ended up sloppy though (I beat the hell out of it), lined the tin and popped it into the oven with a baking parchment lid on it so it didn't burn (very wise A). The smell from the oven was delectable (I have regained my sense of smell thank goodness!).

So here it is....together with one of my new tea towels :-) I am now going to cut the BIGGEST peice of cake, make a Latte and watch Dirty Dancing.

This was a very expensive cake!!!!! But totally worth it. I think I'll have to add it to my regular cakes when the coffee shop opens!

Post-Christmas and New Year

Happy New Year!

Well it's been busy. Before Christmas I was ill, so I had a little rush on, finishing presents. This one for my friend Amanda, who I work with. (little felt ice skates were so wonderful to make, an idea from Montessouri by Hand). The heart was a little extra for her tree, and the X-stitch was from here and was particularly apt for her (I've since learned that it made her cry, with joy hopefully!!).

Running a Craft afternoon at my Church for the children while the parents helped making 400 Christingles. It was great fun. My two were guinea pigs....

UP at the crack of dawn? Get sewing young man....

C loves stuffing....

After Christmas we went to visit my brother and his family in Cardiff. Staying in a really gorgeous hotel with a roaring fire in each room to sit and sip Baileys next to and get nice rosy cheeks. The following morning while the children played,

We sat reading, and stared at the view.

On returning home, despite not having cooked on Christmas Day, I still seemed to have a plethora of leftovers. Well, we did cook a turkey, ham and acoutrements for the following few days after Christmas, as we did have quite a few visitors.

Poor hubby has been in bed since we returned from Cardiff on Saturday afternoon. He's not usually poorly so I know when he's feeling rough as he never sleeps during the day and doesn't like lying in bed. He's done both every day. (He is also catching up on Season 2 of 24 which means we can continue watching it together once he's caught up with me!!)

Anyway....we have lots of leftovers as he hasn't been hungry enough to eat, so I've been busy making in the kitchen.

Turkey Soup

Yes, yes - I know, a good ole Turkey recipe. However this one is really nice. (Turkey carcus, 1 parsnip, stick of celery, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 2 bay leaves and sprigs of rosemary, 2 litres of water, bung in cooking pot and bring to the boil, simmer slowly for 2 hours). They say that a good chicken soup is good for the soul, and the enzymes released while cooking it is a good cure for colds and flu. R has just eaten a bowl so if he miraculously springs from our bed tomorrow I will let you know.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup, Cheese Sauce

Why Oh Why did we buy a "cheese board". Well I know why, because before Christmas I had a tummy bug and when I finished doing my shopping online, I had no appetite for food so ordered something that would suit all tastes. The Somerset Brie was decimated by the mother-in-law and so there was some Stilton, French Brie and Edam left. I leafed through my Nigella Express Recipe Book and found Broccoli and Stilton Soup....I actually wouldn't touch Stilton with a barge pole if you handed it to me on a cracker, but in a soup, I likes it :-D

It's really, really simple and I'm having it for tea.

First of all fry 3 chopped salad onions in garlic oil.

Add 500g frozen broccoli, together with 1 tsp of dried thyme
Crumble in Stilton....add 800ml hot vegetable stock.


Cook for 5 minutes, liquidize and serve with a little red chilli crumbled on top.


Yum.

I also made batches of cheese sauce for the children, ready to throw on pasta with some of the leftover ham, chicken and some broccoli.

Split Pea and Ham Soup
I have made this before and it's gorgeous. It's also low fat which means it tastes better!!!!

Now that all our guests have gone, the tree is down and things are getting back to normal. I'm already planning what my next sewing project is going to be. I have a few birthdays coming up so better start thinking! (especially as one of them is a big one...you know who you are ;-) )