A slice of fruit cake and a cup of tea

One of my favourite books of all time is the Number One Ladies Detective Series by Alexander McCall Smith. Reading them is like returning to a favourite place. It is comforting, brings you back to yourself, restorative. There are a few things that readings these books makes me want to do, as I mentioned in a previous post, being in the African sunshine being one of them but also eating a fruit cake and drinking bush tea which is much easier to achieve! 

In the books the Matron of the Orphanage Mma Potokwani always coerces people into helping her and the orphans by giving them fruit cake. The main character and chief detective, Mma Ramotswe, often goes to visit Mma Potokwani and has a slice of fruit cake, a cup of tea and a lengthy chat. In the books, and as I’ve experienced on my own visits to Africa, there is a lot of sitting on verandas, drinking tea and thinking about the world.

The TV series of Number One Ladies Detective Agency

 As a tea drinking and cake baking nation, and the founders of afternoon tea, I like to think that we in England used to do this very well - but not so any more. There is so much rushing around and even social arrangement are scheduled into our diaries like appointments. I know a lot of people aren’t a fan of the spontaneous visit but I’m always happy when someone pops round to my house and even more so when they settle in for a cup of tea, slice of cake and natter. I’d go so far as to say that work places would be much improved with the introduction of regular, sanctioned tea breaks. How much productivity is lost over little grievances bemoaned through lengthy email chains that could be sorted out through people getting to know each other over a cup of tea?

When I read the Number One books it reminds me of my desire to be someone who dwells over tea. Someone who has real conversations with people and nowhere to rush off to. The act of baking a fruit cake in itself causes you to slow down. The one I made on Monday was three hours in the baking and the cake itself is so rich and big that it will take many, many days of cups of tea and lengthy chats to get through. So my fruit cake, and the tales of Mma Ramotswe, are reminding me what I value most. The miraculous things that a good cake can do!

I made my cake using Kirstie Allsopp's recipe which you can find here.

Bewitched by Wychwood

On Sunday we finally made it out to the Wychood Brewey in Witney (home of Hobgoblin and Brakspear ales) for a tour and tasting as a belated Christmas present for my husband (and a slight treat for me too perhaps!) I love going on these kinds of tours, after all the wandering around looking at barrels and pulping systems you are rewarded with several tiny glasses of beer for tasting. These are doubly brilliant as being small you can hold them in your hand and pretend you are giant drinking a regular sized pint and also, goodness me, they do add up. Before you know it you're staggering into the gift shop ordering several crates to take home. Hmm, I’m sure there is a marketing ploy in there somewhere!!

Some take home goodness!

Our guide was fantastic and held true to the slogan ‘What’s the matter Lagerboy? Afraid you’ll taste something?’ with his great enthusiasm for everything ale. I’m a relatively recent convert to the ale cause but Wychwood is the best kind of company to encourage you to switch from the big business breweries. The beers are so tasty and the ingredients local. By products from the brewing process are used as animal feed by local farmers which then go into sausages containing Wychwood Cider made by a local butcher. Brakspear, which used to be produced in Henley, was founded by a Witney resident and was a major factor in Wychwood bidding to acquire the beers, including the legendary (in my books at least!) Oxford Gold. Brakspear has come home!

Trying the malts was also a great way to understand more about the flavours in the ales (you really can taste it once you’ve chewed on the raw ingredients!) and for helping me to become an insufferable bore in company by talking about the ratio of chocolate to black malt. In the end we settled on a case of King Goblin which is only brewed on a full moon and is a great amber coloured, flavourful ale. We cracked a couple open last night in front of a chick flick (don’t want to become too masculine now) and it tasted even better the second tasting around. The one slightly disturbing thing was realising on our way home that it was full moon that night! The mysterious powers of Wychood, I entreat you to go there…. or else (cue witchy cackling)

2012 – Feed Me!

Instead of resolutions I’m more for aspirations. Resolutions don’t sound a lot of fun and nearly always seem to involve a basket full of low fat, cardboard tasting food and an overpriced and underused gym membership. Then comes the inevitable - it’s only the 5^th of January and I’ve already failed – berating. Aspirations on the other hand are joyful, full flavour life adventures, no berating necessary.

There is so little in life that can really be controlled (never more so than in 2012 for me!) so I decided that the best thing for it was to think achievable (and so small!) and frequent (keep the good times coming!) when it came to my new year’s aspirations. This also comes from the realisation that it’s the small things that really make a difference. Like watching the pennies to save the pounds, making lots of good little moments makes up to one happy whole. Or at least that is the theory!

When I sat down to think about the things I would like to do this year I realised that many of them were food related. This isn’t just because I’m a huge glutton (!) but also because food is the thing that soothes me, has been the catalyst for many fun evenings with family and friends and allows me to get creative. Whether it is growing the food that ends up in my kitchen or hand crafting some gorgeous cakes I find the whole process brings me a great deal of happiness.

On Christmas day I made my first essential purchase for my 2012 aspirations, this brilliant Fondue set from Cath Kidston. So my first culinary adventure of 2012 is going to be a fondue evening (chocolate of course) with one of my best mates and a magical mystery tour of David Tennant’s Dr Who Best Bits. Bliss.

My other food aspirations so far are:

To make the perfect white chocolate martini

This is a doubly exciting resolution as it involved not just making and drinking said martinis but also the purchasing of new super swish martini glasses. When I was compiling my wedding gift list martini glasses were vetoed by my husband who claimed we would never use them as I already had two sets of wine glasses and champagne flutes on the list. I said ‘A girl needs options’. He said ‘Not that many’.  Four years in and I feel happily vindicated that not only do I still see a martini shaped hole in our lives but that four years has also softened him up enough that he didn’t even blink when I announced that ‘2012 is the year of the white chocolate martini’ and started googling for glasses. Got to love marriage.

Spend a day creating très bon French patisserie!

Saturday afternoon, puff pastry, a piping bag of cream, a pot of tea and a feasting on my creations. Enough said.

Create the perfect fruit cake

I’m currently reading the latest Number One Ladies Detective Agency novel by Alexander McCall Smith which always makes me want to go to Africa, sit on a veranda and watch the world go by and bake a good fruit cake (in that order!). The Africa part is coming in July and January isn’t exactly veranda weather so a fruit cake and watching the world go by it is!

I’m sure there will be more where that came from but it should be enough to keep me busy for now. So what about you, any creative aspirations (or any aspirations for that matter?) in the pipeline for 2012?

‘Tis the season to make everything out of felt

After that mammoth teaser last week I have decided to prolong the wait for the craft/baking extravaganza I mentioned and instead talk a little about Christmas crafting, as time is really now of the essence since we have arrived in December so suddenly! This year I’ve done a lot of crafting for Christmas partly due to encountering people with some excellent ideas and partly due to the arrival of my new best friend – my sewing machine. The first thing I made in anticipation of this very day was my Christmas stocking advent calendar.

This was very simple indeed. I cut out 24 little stockings from green and red eco-friendly felt and then cut out 24 snowy tops from white felt. I pinned these together and sewed around the edge them with a simple blanket stitch in a cream embroidery thread. I then sewed on a little handle through which the stocking hang on a length of white ribbon. I tailor made mine to fit to my fireplace. For the numbers I made a template in Word of the numbers, cut them out and pinned them to the felt. I then stuck the felt numbers onto the stockings with fabric glue.

To keep the stockings in place I sewed them onto the ribbon with white thread and so that they all face forwards I reversed them half way. You could easily do this project in a weekend in front of the telly so you’d be able to fill your little stocking asap and only a few days into advent. I’m filling mine with gold coins and chocolate Santas. Hurrah!

My next crafting adventure (and to use up some of the left over felt from my advent calendar!) was some handmade Christmas cards. These are so easy and so cute (if I may say so myself!)

I made a template reindeer on some paper and then cut it out in red felt. I then glued the felt reindeer onto a shimmery card and added some gems for a collar around its neck. The Merry Christmas banner is some ribbon which I cut to size and glued on. I’m planning on doing these with all different felt shapes and ribbon colours.

Christmas is also a time where I indulge my love of gold disco hologram glitter in my baking. I’m hosting my annual Christmas partaaay next weekend so will be baking away next week. Recipes and pics to follow….

Happy Advent!

Monday roasts – the way forwards?

Mondays. They are challenging aren’t they? It takes a very special set of plans to take away the post weekend blues. By chance last weekend (as all truly great discoveries are made) I was forced into making a Monday roast by a fast-perishing chicken in my fridge. At first I thought it would be too much of a faff, who wants to wait around on a Monday night for their dinner?  More to the point, who wants to have to wash up more than one pan on a Monday night?

This is where the one tray roast comes in. Granted it won’t work so well if you are a large household but if there are two of you, it is roasting genius. Gentle crush three or four garlic cloves and rub the insides over the chicken. Cut a lemon into 8 segments and squeeze some juice over the chicken. Pop some of the lemon and garlic in and around the chicken along with some wedges of red onion. Pour over some olive oil and into the oven it goes for about an hour and a half for a small chicken, but check the packaging for guidance and pock it in the leg with your carving fork to make sure the juices run clear when you think it’s done.

Peel  some potatoes and boil for ten to fifteen minutes. Drain and bash them around in the pot a little to rough up the edges for extra crispy bits. Chuck these in the pan with the chicken when it has about forty five minutes to go and coat in olive oil. Serve with some gravy thickened out using your roasting juices and with the red onion mixed in for a scrumptious feast that will make any Monday worth getting going for. 

I am convinced that the smell of a chicken roasting on a cold day with a big glass of red in hand is one of the greatest things about our seasonal weather and THE best thing to do with a dreary winter’s Monday night. I hope you agree!

Warm Winter Salads

If you’ve started growing your own winter veg you will be rewarded by now with a bountiful crop of salad greens that you can dress up to the nines to make some fantastic winter salads.

I made this creation last weekend by tweaking a recipe from the new book from Lorraine Pascal, Home Cooking Made Easy. I used mostly frill mustard leaves and land cress which grows so fast in my shady garden that I struggle to keep up!

The recipe is very simple. The slight peppery taste of the mustard and cress goes really well with some fried super thin strips of pancetta which are cooked first of all and set aside. I then put some peeled and quartered pears into the hot pan with a drizzle of honey. Cook these for about five mins and then splash over some balsamic vinegar. Serve these on top of the salad leaves, top with the bacon. Meanwhile add some more honey to the hot pan and a spoonful of Dijon mustard. Cook through and pour over your salad. I then added some mozzarella balls though Lorraine used blue cheese (I’m not a fan of stinky cheese!)

This was so delish that even my salad hating husband rated it. I served it with some garlic bread and the opportunity to put my feet up. What more could you want on an autumnal day?!

Baking with Guinness

Have you ever baked with Guinness? If not then I wholeheartedly advocate that you get on board. There is something about the rich bitterness of it that when baked with chocolate or spices (and even better topped with cream cheese icing) that is truly fabulous. Another hidden bonus is the sneaky half pint you get after you’ve measured out what you need and must dispose of the rest!

So here are two of my highly recommended Guinness baking recipes that do particularly well for any birthdays of the men in your life. You won’t have leftovers!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Guinness Cake (nom, nom)

Guinness Gingerbread (For Kings)