Halloween!

Whoooooooo! Yes, we love halloween, and have been really looking forward to this weekend. Firstly though, we went to see Melancholia on Friday - I found it very sad, and very beautiful, as I think I was supposed to, but think it could be 20 minutes shorter. And my goodness the Soho audience were a bag of grizzly warts!

So, back to the fun! Mr and I spent Saturday making Halloween costumes, me the spider, he the web. His web was made from an old blak t-shirt and some grey-pearly wool. First we made a star with the wool, by cutting slits in the t-shirt and knotting the wool underneath. Then, we tied the wool to the star in a spiral. And then tied on the fly!

I went all in black, leggings, shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. And made legs by stuffing tights with balls of old newspaper, and then, tying them together, splitting the waist part and tying it around my shoulders/arms - make any sense? Maybe not, but it worked. And here are the snaps!

Weekend Antics

As already reported by Mrs Croak, we had a rendez-vous at Manchester Picadilly before drifting (as much as we could in the hoards) round the craft fair. Other favourites were Rachel Eardley's jewellery made of defunct coins, Faye Power's birdie crockery (especially the pheasant tea pot!) and Cathy Miles' wire sculptures - birds in a cage having a tea party!). Lots of lovely stuff and looking forward to finding 2 nice square frames for my Ruth Green cards. Town was typically manic so myself and country mouse did not linger too long anywhere- just a peruse, then lurked at the station for short time till my train and collected my tickets for the Carlisle jaunt!

After a rest, a brew, a beer and Strictly it was back into town to a new restaurant with food from the 11 more Southern states of America (situated right next to where craft fair had been - typical!) suggested by our friends. Lots of BBQ, ribs and deep-fried pickles! I had ribs that can see here and were good but BIG! There was an extra dish of the spicy sweet sauce and a pastry brush to slather it on with. We ordered a bit too much - the cornbread was step too far and was taken home by one of our party to the hilarity of everyone else. No way could any of us manage dessert!

Sunday we did bit of clearing out, tip trip and some relocation of wires at the house (started a little late in the day really as had to have the light circuits off to do it so had to complete final stage by torch!). Day ended with Downton scandals and reduced (and therefore even more delicious) Gu choc souffles mmmmmmmm

Dog training

This would be a simple evening activity if we had chosen a placid, super easy to train dog. Having a liking to take the slightly lumpy path to the side, we went for the dog that can be trained but also is quite keen on doing what she fancies if your option doesn't fit with her plan. I like to think it gives her lots of character. However, trying to control a very small, in comparison to the Labradors, Jack Russel who just wants to play, she just does herself no favours, or me. She did have some good moments. We have definitly mastered sit but not lie down, quite good at find and does come when she is called, apart from if she is doing something she isn't ment to be doing. Which on the whole for a four and a half month old isn't too bad. Don't you think so Daphne? Ok, I'll give you a gravy bone to convince you...

An Afternoon of Baking & Cooking

4 tasks for one afternoon and I'm going to blog as I go;
No1 Bread - a lovely milk loaf
No2 Smokey Sausage Chowder
No3 Lasagne
No4 Eccles Cakes

No 1 did not begin the afternoon well - is a very simple white dough, that is nice and sweet as it is made with milk. Though the dough was rather tough as I was trying to knead it, and I realised I'd forgotten to add the water - pesky recipe only puts it in the instructions, not in the ingredients list - grrr. So, back it went into the bowl with the forgotten water, and made a nasty sloppy mess that has taken aaaages to work in. Sigh. But, eventually got to a lovely smooth and springy dough which is now rising.

No2 - the chowder, which I am going to make to take for lunch this week.
I'm using smokey sausages called Small Silesian Sausages - they smell delicious! Have chopped them into small rounds, and fried them gently, before adding a large white onion, chopped, and a couple of bay leaves. Have diced some spuds ready to go into the pot.

No3 Lasagne - this is for supper, and will probably be enough for tomorrow night too. No instructions here, as am sure all make lasagne in their own way.... or see my other blog.... not a traitor I promise... Interestingly (for me anyway), I am making it with pork mince, to see if it works.

No2 onions are nice and soft, so in go the spuds, just till their warmed through, then in with chicken stock, meanwhile onions  garlic sweating, pepper and courgette chopped ready, meat about to go in...

No1 Bread dough is rising nicely..

No 2 - Soup has been left to bubble away happily, with the addition of some sweetcorn when the potato is nearly cooked

No4 Now that lasagne and soup are at leave alone stages, I'm getting fruit ready for eccles cakes - sadly only raisins, peel and ginger available - with a bit of honey and butter. Am making it way ahead of time so that it can cook and go sticky before being put into the pastry.

No1 Back to bread - dough has rised, and I'm going to knock it down and put it in a loaf tin to prove

No4 Now time for the pastry for the eccles cakes - quickly made and popped into the fridge.

Washed up....

No2 Milk added to chowder, and once it's hot, soup off and left till cool to tupperware for the week

No1 Bread into oven - sherry into glass, husband home

No 3 -  White sauce for lasagne being made, then am going to build up the layers and grate cheese on the top ready for the oven - bread staring to smell yummy, husband not happy with furnace temperature of flat

 No3 Bread out, Lasagne into oven - pastry out of fridge and rolled

No4 Building eccles while lasagne in oven - small circles, filled with fruit, and placed on their seal, a couple of holes in the top and brushed with milk (as have no eggs) - only one word, appalling. If this was the bake off I'd be going home!


 Completion - Eccles into oven.....





 Eccles out! Disaster!!!

 Lasagne out!

Lasagne Served!

Wonderful Radio 4 kept my ears happy throughout this fun, though slightly exhausting, afternoon...

Sigh

Curse the job hunt! Once again I am stuck inside on a beautiful Sunday, sending off hopeful applications in response to job adverts! Not very fun but most sensible as next week is looking rather busy with a birthday party and parental visit, followed by Halloween!

Not much to report otherwise, Mr and I saw Bunny at the Soho Theatre - which was very very good, if not quite our cup of tea. Also, had a fantastic night of cocktails and dancing with friends at Guanabara, which made me fairly sleepy yesterday!

In other news, am experimenting with no-sugar diet (due to tummy trouble not wait loss...) and is an interesting episode - no biccies or choc, and savoury snacks only. Am allowing myself natural sugar from fruit hence my plan to bake mixed fruit eccles cakes later this afternoon - will report in due course. Also planning another loaf of bread...

Back to applications, fingers crossed all round please...

Great Northern Contempoary Craft Fair

Yesterday, Nubby Tope and I went to spend much of the morning / luncheon time at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair!

I successfully negotiated the first hurdle of the morning - which was resisting the temptation to get on the 'Borth Express' which happened to be leaving the station just before the train I needed to Manchester!

After a fun bus journey (there were a couple of pug's on the bus that seemed to enjoy the journey) we had a quick scamper in the wrong direction, before getting back on track and spying the signs to guide us the right way!

A wristband each later and we were in! It was jam packed with loveliness, although also jam packed with people perusing the loveliness, and rather warm in some of the rooms!

There were rather a lot of things that caught our fancy! Particular favourites were....

Ruth Green 'limited edition hand-made screen prints, inspired by mid-century design and the British countryside' she has a lovely website and we were very taken with her work. Here is 'red squirrels', an image from her website.
Nubby invested in a couple of lovely cards and we both loved her prints and also her book! (Noisy Neighbours). She also has a wonderful blog (redrutho.blogspot.com)!

Jennifer Collier 'recycled and transformed papers that would go unloved; exploring the "remaking" of household objects. She also has a fab website and some amazing work! I particularly like her cameras...

We also really liked Katie Almond's work... 'hand painted porcelain jugs, cups and cake stands inspired by nostalgia and vintage ephemera'. I've just been reading her blog which if lovely and has some great images of her work!

And finally (as I have to get up at some point!) we were also very taken with Julie Haslam who makes 'innovative home textiles inspired by an old family recipe book' ! They were great - we were particularly taken with the 'Rock buns' a family favourite as Tippity Nippett showed in a previous post!

There were many more exhibitors work that we really liked - I might add some more later!

Hurrah! It's the weekend!

I'm very pleased it's the weekend! Even better than that- it is half term! It's been a very hectic week and I haven't managed to blog once!

Sadly I haven't been up to much that is exciting this week (hence the lack of posting!) but I thought I'd share my Friday treat(s!)...

I'm off to see Nubby Tope today which is very exciting! We're going to see http://www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk/index.html which I'm very much looking forward to!

An evening of two halves

Evening got off to a good start with a supper of beef fried with black pepper, mixed in with lovely creamy leeks, and mashed potato on the side - Yum! And, as a treat for the week, and to use up some apple that was hanging about I made these rather tasty little swirls.....

Buttery pastry, rolled into a rectangle, and spread with pureed apple, crystalised ginger, chopped toasted nuts and honey - rolled up, sliced and baked! Yet to taste...


And the other half of the evening was spent registering with yet more job agencies - sigh.

The weather is turning...

 
Yesterday was so gloriously sunny we decided to get up and go for a walk. Was a bit fresh in the shade though. Just down from our house is the trout loch, sometimes you see someone fishing from a boat on it but today it was as smooth as a pane of glass with a lonely abandoned boat.

This is the glen where we live. Our house is somewhere amongst the trees in the middle. We had decided to do a loop, so much better than retracing your steps, it was such a wonderfully clear day. You can see all the planted trees around the house at the centre of the estate, some are pretty big and most planted over 100 years ago. Parts of the forest on the hills contain very old multi stemed Scotch Pines.

 There are quite a lot of birch forests around. All are turning golden yellow now. They have a lovely feel to them, as they don't have a dense canopy its always very airy and full of dappled light. Some particulary old ones are covered in lichens and look like a wizened old woman.

Today the weather has completely changed. It has rained most of the day and been quite windy, snow was forcast for the mountains. The temperature dropped quite a bit as the day went on and in the garden after starting the day enthusiastically outside, we migrated into the warmth of the bothy for a bit pot washing, plastic plant pots that is, and chatting about the excellence of Buddy Holly and how much holiday to take at Christmas...

A day of hibernation (almost!)

What a lovely way to spend a Sunday! A very lazy start, with a lovely lie in and a listen to Desert Island Discs with a huge quantity of tea and a glossie magazine to peruse!

After a brief excursion to top up on provisions for the week we returned back to the house and I curled up again, this time with a film and some knitting!

I'm a fairly novice knitter! But am keen to learn how different patterns are made and also how garments are constructed. While out I invested in some knitting bobbins (99p - I thought the gamble was worth it) and spent the evening experimenting with using them and some very basic Fair Isle! (I love Fair Isle patterns and have always wondered how to do it). The image is the first attempt at using a knitting bobbin!

It has been very wild and windy here today - we even had a little fire, the first of the year! I can hear the wind outside and the rain is hitting the window - it's lovely to be tucked up in the warm!

Now, back to the knitting!

Emergency Pudding!

Rustled this up on Friday for pudding from only 4 ingredients (plus shortcake to serve with it!)

Had about a third of a small tub of double cream left from a previous dessert last weekend, whipped this up then added several big spoonfuls of plain yoghurt and give another quick whip. Added zest of a lemon and small squeeze of juice then gently put in some icing sugar to thicken and sweeten. Then into a wine glass and into the fridge for about 10 mins! was going to add lemon curd but it looked suspect so gave it a swerve, but maybe will put some in bottom of glass of on top next time. Deeeeelisshhhhhh! Eaten while watching The Hunt for Tony Blair which was very good.

Saturday night we tried to recreate a crispy duck salad that Mr Tope had in a restaurant in Miami and has recounted the story of its deliciousness many times. It didn't come out quite the same but was really good.

2 duck breasts with skin on scored then put skin side down in hot pan. Keep draining off the fat to keep crispy. After 6-8 mins put into hot oven for about 20 mins. Meanwhile toast some cashews in a pan and make a bowl of crispy leaves, thinly sliced cucumber and spring onions . Make a simple vinagrette then add a slug of sweet chilli sauce and couple of spoons of plum sauce. Slice the duck (return to oven for an extra crisp if desired) then through into salad bowl along with nuts and put on dressing. We suspect that to recreate it properly would require a proper crispy duck shredded so will attempt again at a later date!

Another yummy dinner on Sunday - chicken thigh fillets slicked with garlicky butter, rolled in bacon then skewered to hold together served with cheesy leeks, broccoli and crispy potatoes.

Good thing we did some work in the garden to work this off but think will need to also dance up a storm at Zumba with Movema tomorrow night too! see the playlists at http://www.movema.co.uk/ if you want something to dance about to!

Bread baking

All soda bread nearly gone so made a nice white loaf for this week....

Here is the result, and I an v pleased with self!

While with the camera I came across this snap of my Italian Shepherd's Pie - for Italian Shepherds only you understand...


And for supper I am planning a Caribbean feast - Belly pork roasted with Jerk seasoning, peas and peans with tasty veg, and herb and corriander potatoes - oh yum!

Experiments with Buck Up Juice!

Busy busy once again. Feeling rather all-in so experimenting with Buck-Up Juice (GM advised for a quick perk up - cider vinegar, honey and hot water - just enough for a quick sip), will reflect on effects in due time. In other news, made soup yesterday and is rather delish, and whipped up some soda bread too, first time for me and have discovered it is marvelously easy!

Soup: 1 chopped onion softened gently in oil, with a good shake of ground corriander and a couple of bay leaves, salt & pepper. Chopped veg added (few parsnips, few carrots, and two small spuds). Chicken stock in, and bubbling away for a while, till all soft. A peeled bramely grated in, another 10 minutes bubble, and a whizz with the hand blender and some more stock/water/milk to thin down.

Soda bread: Flour, salt, bicarb - all combined, and buttermilk quickly mixed in (though, I don't have buttermilk so used milk mixed with a squeeze of lemon). Mix all up and knead quickly, into a hot over for half an hour - recipe here.

Not much effect from the buck-up juice yet....

Out of doors whilst (still) in bed

I was out of doors whilst in bed last night as I spent the night sleeping in a woodland! (Work related but good fun). My humble abode looked a little like this...

It was a little cooler than forecast (only 1 degree above freezing!) but did manage to get a good few hours sleep!

It's been quite a long week and, this weekend I mostly plan to relax! This I started when I got back this morning. After a lovely hot shower and putting a load of washing on, I got out the hammock and have been lounging in the sun!

I've been catching up on a couple of phone calls while lounging and working my way through the silky pages of a glossie magazine for much of the day!

Off out for supps but just time for a hot chock and a digestive first! 

What a week!

Apologies for the lack of blogging but I have been out and about! Three nights in a row! So, Wednesday was 'Something about Food' in the basement of a bar near Bethnall Green. Organised by a frind from my MA course, this was a sereis of talks about food (&drink), and it was very interesting. Up first was a representative from Brewdogs talking about their craft beer revolution - incredibly passionate about what he does but apt to be rather dismissive of every other beer out there. Second, a phd student from Oxford talking about invittro meat production, and yes, she got some tough questions afterwards and her presentation wasn't helped by the fact that her laptop/projection wouldn't work - but it was incredible to think that, potentially, in five years time meat could be produced from inside a lab, and this could be the answer to the amount of people the world will need to feed in the future... And third, and probably the best spokesperson was a representative from SquareMile Coffee who was very knowledgable about the coffee industry and coffee culture- rather than bashing about his own product. Amazing info, including the fact that Fairtrade products only apply to copoperatives... And so, excellent night number one.

Thursday evening was Flea Circus - an assortment of talenten people put together by Mr Nippet's friend George Lewkowicz - and was a good mix of poetry, fiction, comedy, sketch, music and so on. They also showed the film that they entered for the 48 hour film competition (and won Best Director, Best Acting and Audience Choice) - view here.

And last night, Mr Nutkin and I, after a lovely walk along the Thames, went north to Little Venice based above-pub theatre the Canal Cafe Theatre, for News Revue. Apparently the longest running show in the UK - because it Never Stops! It's a brilliant comedy sketch show that is constantly updated - weekly, daily, and performed by an amazing energetic cast!

And with that, I am planning a very lazy weekend, enjoying the sunshine, and baking bread.

Out of doors whilst still in bed...

All tucked up in bed while its still dark out, listening to the radio about allsorts going on out of doors. This has to be one of the best ways to start the weekend. The presenters go all over Scotland, up mountains, down glens, along rivers and into the sea. This morning they were watching a rutting stag, listening to a blugrass band who are travelling down the River Spey in canoes whilst playing, try to catch a fish and light a fire, try to see some leaping salmon on the North Esk, go poking about in the Rosemarkie caves and go for a cycle in Dundee. Its on BBC Scotland from 6.30 - 8 am on a saturday but also on the iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015zr88/Out_of_Doors_15_10_2011/

H. Hog

Look who was lurking in the shed! I took the tarpaulin out to fold it up more neatly and when I opened it out someone was lurking in the middle!

We found a hedgehog in the shed last year - and I danced about making it a beautiful hibernaculum for the winter, with lovely leaves and dry grass in a warm cardboard box... and it promptly relocated back to the bubble wrap we'd found it in and there it chose to stay.

We relocated this one into said hibernaculum today (surely it'd be preferable to a tarpaulin) and we'll see if it is still there tomorrow.

Ribeena with a kick....

Best thing to make if you have lots of blackcurrents is cassis. Steep them in lots of red wine overnight then boil up with lots of sugar. When suitably sticky, mash up and strain. Mix the resulting syrup in ratio of 1:3 with either gin or vodka. Et voila! Simply delish on its own or mixed with tonic. It must be good for me too, all those blackcurrents full of vitamin c... better have a sip more....

Sunrise 7.30 am...

It's so very dark and gloomy in the mornings already... I'm finding it very hard to get up this week! Wouldn't it be lovely to hibernate!

Have watched a bit of 'Walk the Line' this evening - have seen it before and just stumbled across it, lurking on the magic recording box. 

Sunset 6.23 pm... makes me feel like I should have been in bed for hours!

The Pretty Perfect Bag

The hunt for the ideal handbag has taken up a good many hours of scouring shops and ebay. An innumerable quantity have been considered. Some returned promptly after further inspection, others given a trial period and failed on one or more points.

The key requirements:

• The bag itself must not be overly heavy - otherwise I will develop a lopsided look which is by no means elegant after filling it with essentials (and more than likely some tat)



• There must be a zippable inside pocket for stuff you don't want falling out and losing - grips, keys, emergency bic etc



• It must be able to carry a paperback of up to an inch or so in thickness, a brolly, moleskine and folded up shopping bag



• 
  
  Phone and keys should be easy to find to save a lucky-dip approach

I have been seduced by large bags before due to their ability to cope with stuff for after work swimming or dance class but due to the fact that I don't swim now we have moved office and are not near the leisure centre, and that I go to 2 dance classes at the most in a week, a canvas bag really does suffice on these days.

I get very vexed by zips and the direction they are inserted. I like the zip tag to be in front of me when closed (partly security but more usually so can get to a tissue/lipbalm without removing bag from shoulder) but bags often seem to be designed with outside pockets on one side and zip going wrong way and I don't like wearing the bag the 'wrong way round'. Many. many bags have been rejected because of this!

However - this green dream seems to be working out very well at the moment. From ebay, a new bag in a vintage style. Very soft green leather. Useful pockets on the outside can take phone and a book on the other side. The phone pocket inside fits my keys (not car keys but I don't carry them every day). Zipped pocket inside and lack of outside zip means can be worn any way round! fits a brolly etc and smallish box for lunch. Have always gone for black/neutral bags but as I wear a lot of green/blue/black/grey it is fine and have been carefree and worn big lilac cardi with it too anyway!

Everlasting Flowers

On the whole I'd say they don't really get me that excited and they have too many dusty connations for my liking really. Don't think it is helped by most of them just looking like dead flowers and I can hear the spiders already eyeing up the collection I reassembled at work. There are only so many times you can walk into hanging bunches of them, knocking most of them out of the bunches and trying to leave the potting shead without half of them in your hair, its a look worth trying! There were some flowers out of all those bunches that, well, weren't quite so dusty. They seem to have kept their colour and as a small bunch looks quite cheery, so I brought some home and they go quite well in the swan vase.

Their colours match in too with the bright colours of the glass cockerel. They are called straw flowers, Helichrysum, and are relatively easy to grow. Would possibly be good as a table decoration - no fear of them wilting! Shall grow them again and maybe embrace the dustyness or the fire might...

Mrs Beeton and more moss stitch...

I have finally just watched 'The Marvellous Mrs Beeton, with Sophie Dahl' which the magic box recorded for me a while ago. I found it quite interesting - Sophie Dahl was making many of Mrs B's famous recipes and even got the WI in to do a bit of compare and contrast -the original recipes with some of the more modern versions of them.
She also looked at her life (she had 20 siblings!!!) which was fairly fascinating and the grand finale involved a dinner party which featured a pie with pigeon feet sticking through the pastry...

In other news, I have been progressing slowly with my moss stitch practice piece (in suitable green yarn)...

And when I returned today I was greeted with a batch of recently baked 'Diggers' which are a 'deliciously chewy teatime treat'- a Hairy Bikers recipe (although ours don't contain the coconut as we seem to be all out!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/diggers_46052 

Truffles, Rock Buns and Pie

Well, haven't we been busy! Here is my weekend lowdown - sadly lacking in photies.

The weekend began with a theatre trip with friends to The Woman in Black at the fortune theatre - which was very creepy but completely brilliant. The seating was almost vertical and my chair tried to swallow me! But we all recovered with an ale at a Sam Smiths pub on the strand.

Saturday got off to a poor start with England's disapointing rugby performance. But, I made some truffles and peanut brittle in the afternoon to take to some friends for dinner. The peanut brittle was disappointing as the caramel had gone a little too far and was a little bitter. But the truffles were very easy - just chocolate melted in cream and stirred up until glossy, with some glace ginger mixed in, left to cool and then rolled into balls and covered with a) toasted coconut, b) toasted chopped nuts c) hundreds and thousands. A hit!

The dinner was fab - curry followed by choc and baileys mousse and said truffles. And followed by a game of ultimate taboo - which was brilliant!

A snoozy bus ride and bed meant a late start and we watched Sunday's rugby an hour behind on the +1 channel.

Made rock buns from GM's recipe adding lemon and ginger. Delish. Recipe shown here. Mr Nutkin went off  to band practice and a friend came over to keep me company! We discussed all sorts over tea and then went and bought ingredients for a steak and ale pie, and apple crumble!

Made said pie, including pastry, and ate about an hour after planned and when the all were totally ravenous!

Desert Island...

I have recently discovered 'Desert Island Discs - castaway archives and podcasts' which are great fun to look through! Radio 4 extra have been revisiting some old programmes on Sunday mornings and have recently been focussing on chefs. This intrigued me about who else might be in the archives! Just been listening to Quentin Blake who's illustrations's I love! http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/1bddc10c#p0093v2t
 

Pines

We are surrounded by pine trees. The sun is now spending most of the time just glinting through them. The sound of the wind in the pines is like the sea as it washes up and down on a pebbly beach, muffled and rhythmic. They stand there, gently swaying in the breeze and you know they will still be
green in the depths of winter....

A bit of a lazy Sunday! We did manage to get out for a late afternoon stroll up onto a nearby hill with some lovely scots pines - the sun was making their bark look firery orange (not that this is shown in this picture!).

Just had some lovely homemade smoked haddock fishcakes accompanied by some yummy broccoli cheese!