Be simple.....

.....well,well,well....I am in the workroom,not sat by the fire as I usually am these wintry evenings....I am multi-tasking,having tidied my Blog,Iam tidying my Life......!!!!! Anyway I just picked up this book,as oft I do-Aunt Kates Day-by-Day Book;'A thought,a recipe,a household hint-for every day of the year',so I turned to 27th January which in 1937 was also a Wednesday! When I read the thought for the day it seemed so very appropiate as I have just read a dear friends Blog-post about writing letters as opposed to keeping in touch by more modern means,keeping it simple,Its so easy to get pulled along on the current of the modern world,sometimes we need come up for air.....That aside,Aunt Kate also gives us a recipe for Chocolate Cream Sandwich,then very thoughtfully a hint for removing cocoa stains-for when we drop our choc sandwich on our pretty crepe blouse,whilst shovelling it into our mouth!(click on picture for a read)....more from Aunt Kate coming soon girls!

for BupBup....... 

Baby its cold outside......

.....poor brass monkeys! Not a single flake of snow falling from our little piece of Cornish sky-just chilled rain,however after just one day in the classroom,my little dears get to stay at home with Mummy again! A Mummy with dreams,dreams of getting the dec's down & getting down to 'work'....the plans of mice & men eh? Like the Grinch I de-Christmassed the house with glee & robbed the tree of baubles(carpeting the floor in needles in the process),every year I pack the frippery away with the same thought, wondering what life has instore before those same boxes descend from the loft again in December. So having already put the rest of the days plans on hold,I decided such a cold day needed some comfort in it.....baking......warm kitchen,nice smells,yummy cake...... ......but first,hot tea & a flip through my new book for inspiration. This is a charming book which manages to combine two of my great loves,old fashioned childrens books & cake (no surprises there!). 'Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer' by Jane Brocket,celebrates the foodstuffs of classic children's stories-the wholesome picnics & nursery teas,enjoyed by Famous Five & the like,after an adventure or a bracing walk! Many of my own childhood memories are caught up in the pages of a book,or more often something lovely to eat,best of all a story with food in it! In the 'My Naughty Little Sister' books by Dorothy Edwards,is a story about an impish boy-Bad Harry who pilfers his party trifle,a creamy,spongey trifle with silver balls on the top,I didn't need an illustration of that trifle,words were enough! One of my very best books is Nigel Slaters,'Toast'-the story of a small boys hunger-never was food so lovingly & laughingly described,including a trifle that would have Bad Harry reaching for his spoon! As my own naughty little children were at home & I am trying to be good,I decided I would make jam tarts-their favourite,but not much of a challenge-except the tarts here are made with sweet pastry which I had never made! When my aunty came to visit recently she brought a little tin of macaroons she had made to use up some egg whites & two from a batch baked by my cousin Jack (baking genie) when he was home for the holidays-both scrumptious! I remembered this as I read that the sweet pastry uses two egg yolks & looked up macaroons-two whites-perfect!

As I have mentioned I am a baking novice,each new recipe is a new adventure,I tend to avoid the mountains & go for a leisurely stroll instead,so if a recipe has too many ingredients or tricky instructions I pass by & head for more familiar ground! Egg whites,icing sugar,ground almonds,almond essence-nothing scary there-however I have managed to get this far in life having never separated an egg or then beaten the white until it 'forms soft peaks'-two tiny hillocks I have climbed today!

The resulting Macaroons looked nothing like either Kaths-slim & biscuit like,or Jacks-plump & perfectly round.....mine are lumpy & as bobbly as an old cardigan! What I like most about Janes book is that there are no glossy photos,the recipes are accompanied by reproductions of the illustrations that inspired them,less chance of feeling a failure when you remove your baking tray from the oven! Thankfully,looks aren't everything......beneath that old cardi,lay a heavenly body!

My sweet pastry lay chilling in the fridge,a little unecessary given the temperature in my kitchen today,my icy hands perfectly suited to the task of handling it. I was struck by how yellow the pastry was,helped by free range yolks & marbled with butter,& when the tarts were baking they smelt like shortbread & appeared to be almost 'frying' in their patty tins! There was enough to make a tray of mini tarts also,half of which I filled with Seville marmalade-Nigel Slater again-I thought the bitter orange would be a nice contrast to the sweet pastry. The eternal wait for the molten jam to cool....then.....oh heaven,it was like eating hot,buttered toast & marmalade....a little too hot,as my tongue will testify! Now I have made this pastry I doubt I will stray onto the shortcrust path again! Not that my naughty little children seemed to notice that I had upgraded the humble jam tart,as for Mummy she was a very naughty girl & had another.....tomorrow is another day!

Part 2 of the year that was.......

.....by mid 2009,settled once more into our old home,complete with fully functioning workroom,I could begin the slow process of getting back to 'work' once more. Being without a workspace had not prevented the creative imaginings & there was (still is) a backlog of new projects waiting to be given form. Much like being on a diet & torturing oneself with fantasy food,my mind,had for many months been fixated on cloth & haberdashery,& the procuring of it-the growing hoard of fabric,buttons & trimmings,waiting & winking,like a guilty stash of chocolate! Where to start.....stitchers block loomed,my once nimble fingers awkward & unwieldy,afraid to make a snip or stitch-beautiful cloth had become the pristine first page of a new sketchbook, my fine spiky needle,a jumbo black marker pen! Help was at hand in the unlikely form of a JML mini sewing machine,those child-size portable '.....ideal for home or caravan (?)...'machines,as seen on TV & in those gadget catalogues for the over 60s,who on earth would buy one of those things?Someone with a fear of full sized sewing machines & a co-ordination defect,that's who! Yes my mama is a skilled seamstress,but I emerged from the gene pool at the-unable to follow instructions/patterns,hold things properly,operate machinery,catch a ball-end,so the mysteries of dressmaking have always eluded me! But in need of chintzy cushions for my chintzy sofa & with a stack of Cath Kidstons charming florals,I got my JML fired up-ok,revving,its a Metro not a Ferrari-no bells or whistles,just straight(ish) lines stitched at a snails pace (though it will do tortoise speed for the more advanced user!) & produced a pile of cushions of which I was inordinately proud. In the meantime my nimble fingers had,once more, become needy of needle & thread & I had conquered a small machine.....just don't ask me to play catch!

..... meanwhile, Mr M was making busy out of doors-2009 saw the return of the island allotments & ours (I use the term loosely) is conveniently placed right outside the workroom window,perfect for spectator gardening! This is the second coming of Mr's foray into gardeners world,the first time being 7 years ago,when he grew vegetables & became infamous for his abundant sweet peas & my mama has never forgotten his giant onions,that would have walked first prize in any horticultural show! Instead,this time,much to my delight he planted his plot with cut flowers-row upon row of rainbow flowers,Dahlias,Snap-Dragons,Lupins,Ranunculas,Painted Daisys,Gladiolis & Sweet Peas of course,all ripe for the picking! The miracle of a tiny seed becoming a glorious bloom is akin to magic-of course Mr M is no Mr Magica,but he is a natural born gardener,happy to tend,hoe,weed & water until the light has left the sky or rampant midges drive him in & woe betide the foolish slug hoping for a tasty midnight feast-Mr M is armed with a torch & he will seek you out! So all Summer long,the flowers kept coming-much like the magic porridge pot in the fairy tale,I shouted 'stop'when all possible receptacles were full! The allotment now lies dormant,all bare earth & stubble,sleeping just beneath its surface Tulip,Daffodil & Snowdrop bulbs,Mr M head in a book-plots & plans his Spring sowing scheme & I sit back & wait for the magic to begin.........

I can't be sure why,but the overriding theme for our year 2009 seems to be domesticity,I think it came with the move back home & the need to nest or maybe its an age thing! What is domestic bliss,different things to different people I know,does anyone ever attain it & if they do,do they even realise it? Not long after we had moved in,a neighbour happened to glance in our sitting room window one Sunday afternoon & catch the 4 of us in a snapshot moment,looking they said like a 1940s family-Daddy reading in the easy chair next to the fire,Mummy sitting sewing by the light of the standard lamp,children-one of each-sat on the floor playing quietly! As I said,this was a glimpse,from the outside looking in-it didn't sound like our life,more like an illustration from a vintage children's book,none the less I loved that,in that moment this was how we had appeared.....

......so still in pursuit of domesticity,May 2009 saw the baking of my first cake!Pre-36,the baking had been confined to Home Economics lessons & some half-hearted attempts with mama. Always the perfectionist,I found the inconsistency of the resulting fare frustrating & disappointing & then there was the washing up! So I shelved any plans I had to become Delia, and was happy just to eat the cake of others,without envy. Then-It-happened,cake envy....at the birthday party of a child,how shameful....my friend had baked a delicious Devils Food cake,all dark & brooding-moist,shiny sponge topped with glossy chocolate buttercream,far too 'adult' for a kids party-an object of desire for young & old alike! Ruby carried home her slice of heaven with as much care,as if it had been a baby bird,then enjoyed every chocolatey mouthful-saying it was the best she had ever tasted....it was then I wanted a slice,not of the cake,but of the glory! So that weekend I took my first tentative steps,armed only with a baking tray & without a recipe book until I remembered that in my Ladybird book collection,I had a copy of Learning to Cook from the 70s, bought for 10p-purely for its retro photos of kids in flares & acrylic polo necks cooking with mum! Alas,no recipes for Devils Envy cake-a little ambitious for a first timer (or a freckled face boy in acrylic)-so I settled for flapjack & shortbread,revelling in the homely smell of my kitchen & the approval of my taste-testers! Humble beginnings,but I was hooked & set about acquiring the tins,spoons,sieves-I would need to bake a cake that would set hearts afire,Ruby's birthday was round the corner,imagine how delighted she would be to have 'that' cake & for it to have been made by her mother! I asked my friend for the recipe that would conjure up such a cake......'Oh,actually Its a Betty Crocker...packet mix!'.....bubble burst!.........

however.....I kept going & have progressed a little from Ladybird,though I still use the shortbread recipe,& I have a limited repertoire,choosing perfection over diversity (less chance of failure!),baking highlights,making my own Battenburg-well worth the effort & in July having a cake stall all of my own! As for the Devils own cake.....Betty Crocker got the better of me on that one.......

Amidst all these pastures new,rolling out over the past 12 months,there are times when,life at best can seem un-remarkable,at worst a little dull,as they say...thats life! But,looking back on our year through my photos,it was a memorable year,a year like no other.....& heres to the next one..........

Baking Day

Yesterday was mainly spent in my dinky kitchen,looking like a farmers wife,with my rosy cheeks and a floury pinny...........baking cakes, for a coffee morning at my mamas today, what a wonderful way to spend a cold,wet December afternoon.My love affair with cake making began back in the Spring,the coveting & eating of cake has been a lifelong,passionate romance!Even the word, cake,conjures up the most wonderful images & memories of childhood....butterfly buns,the pale yellow buttercream under their cake wings-hiding a dot of strawberry jam.....the understated perfection of a glossy red cherry,atop snowy white icing......a plump, eggy, sponge cake with a dusting of icing sugar......church hall favourite,coffee & walnut.....all made by a loving hand & gone in an instant! My adoration is not confined to the homemade cake,I have a very special friend in Mr Kipling ,the Willy Wonka of the 'bought' variety......French Fancies are,in my opinion, his most perfect creation,the matt pink and lemon glace icing,the brown stripes,the sponge inside-dry and slightly salty,topped with a spot of synthetic cream,I am ashamed to say I shun their brown brothers,though my friend Emily likes these best......Angel Slices,a slice of heaven & my lads favourite......Mini Battenburgs,genius,though Lyons make the best big ones....these cakes were made to be shown on pretty cake stands and rosie teaplates,& always make a show at my childrens partys & even at afternoon tea on my wedding day!But of course you cannot match the smell of a homemade treat in a warm kitchen,I remember coming home from school to the cheery sight of a wire rack proudly displaying my mamas own buns,sure signs of a mothers love,or the seemingly endless wait for a bubbling jam tart to cool!Now it is my turn to be the hot,flustered mummy,creaming,whisking,folding,little people at my elbow,eagerly awaiting the bowl & spoon! Rolling out cool pastry and saving the trimmings for little hands to make into grey shapes! So the love of cake is passed down to my children and adoring children make for very proud mummys!