Sunshine and Bananas

My favourite month of the year has well and truly arrived and in spectacular fashion too. May is a very special month for me, as it is the month in which we celebrate the birth of Little T, but also because it signals the start of Summer and long sunny days.

To kick off the month of May, we were blessed with a few gloriously hot, blue-skyed days, perfect for jumping into the car bright and early and heading down some green lanes to discover more of this glorious countryside around us.

To stop in pretty little villages along the way for a relaxing walk through streets lined with quirky shops and crossing antique bridges to find that perfect picnic spot.

To come across some rather wonderfully arty installations with a backdrop of a forest coming to life again after the long Winter.

To simply marvel at the beauty that is nature.

Naturally once we got home, feeling marvellously relaxed and sun drenched, I headed straight to the kitchen to potter about for a while and bake something sweet and homely for our afternoon treat. Bright yellow bananas were sitting in my fruit bowl, ripe and ready for making banana bread.

This soft and delicately sweet  "cakey" bread has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. The smell of it transports me right back to my mum's kitchen, eagerly waiting for that first slice to come my way. This really is a sunny day baked in a tin.

Banana Bread

90g Unsalted Butter (softened and cubed)
115g Caster sugar
2 Large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
250g Plain flour
2 tsp Baking powder
2 Large, very ripe bananas (cut into chunks)

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and grease a 8 x 16 cm loaf tin.
Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until you have a smooth batter.
Spoon into your prepared tin and place in the centre of your oven to bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

I love to eat this sliced thickly, still slightly warm and spread generously with butter. Of course it still tastes great the next morning, covered in Nutella too :)

Jobs and other useful things

I know, I know, it has been very quiet for a very long time again here on this little blog and I can only apologise for my extended leave of absence. It has been a bit of a roller-coaster month here in our house and priorities have been reshuffled to make things work. So, to catch you up on the last 6 weeks, here are the highlights.

Firstly, as everyone in the UK will only be too happy to tell you, the weather has finally gotten warmer and Spring is finally here!! Trees have burst into blossom and bright green new leaves are popping out of seemingly dead branches everywhere. Happiness!!

Secondly and most significantly, I have started working again. After a long and painful job hunt, I was offered a very unexpected job that fitted our current situation perfectly and within days I went from being a stay-at-home mum to a full-time employee. It took some getting used to for all of us to adjust to this new arrangement and it was a big shock to my system to have to fit my normal life around a working life, but things are slowly starting to fall into it's own natural rhythm again. Luckily the job still offers me lots of day-time hours at home with Little T and P and we have been able to enjoy lots of sunny days in the garden and going for walks and bike rides in the National Forest and I have even had time for some of my beloved hobbies too.

In the few spare hours I could find over the weeks, I was able to finish off my "Sunset" shawl. Just in time for those chilly evenings when you need to wrap something around your shoulders when you sit in your garden to watch the sun go down.

Grabbing my crochet hooks and a bit of yarn still is one of my favourite ways to relax after a chaotic day of trying to keep customers, managers and toddlers happy. 

Of course, cooking and baking still ranks very high on my list of "great ways to spend an hour" and even though a lot of our meals and sweet treats are quick and easy these days, I made some time this weekend to bake something special. I wanted something chocolatey, P wanted something creamy and Little T wanted cake, and so the "Chocolate Eclaire Cake" was born. A lighter than air, whisked sponge base, filled with a sweet Chantilly cream and topped with sticky, glossy ganache, what more could you want!

This cake does take a bit of time to make and prepare, but it is more than worth the extra effort and just in case you find yourself with an afternoon to fill and want to try a taste of this amazing cake, here is the recipe :)

Chocolate Eclaire Cake 

For the cake:
3 large eggs (room temperature)
85g caster sugar
22ml luke-warm water
85g plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and butter and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Place the eggs, sugar and water into a large bowl that fits snugly over and not in a saucepan of gently steaming water, (just like melting chocolate in a double boiler). Using an electric hand mixer, whisk the mixture until it has doubled in volume and is pale in colour and very fluffy. Carefully remove the bowl from the saucepan and keep on whisking until the mixture has cooled down slightly and thickened. 
Sift the flour and salt onto the egg mixture and gently but thoroughly fold it in using a large metal spoon, being careful to not knock out too much air but also not to leave any pockets of dry flour.
Gently pour the mixture into your cake tin, letting it find it's own level and place it in the middle of the preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake starts to pull away from the edges of the tin and sounds creaky when lightly pressed with a finger.
Leave the cake to stand for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 
 For the cream filling:
150ml double cream 
2 tablesp icing sugar 
1 teasp vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. 
Using a serrated knife, split your cake into two through the middle to form a bottom and a top. Place the bottom half onto your cake plate and spread all of the cream filling evenly over the surface and place the top half back on.

For the ganache:
100g dark chocolate (70% minimum)     
100ml double cream
25g butter (room temperature)
50g icing sugar

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place it with the double cream into a heavy based saucepan. Over a gentle heat, stir the melting chocolate into the cream until its smooth and evenly mixed. Remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring to melt and mix the butter into the ganache. Pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the icing sugar and whisk until the it thickens (about 5 minutes). 
Slowly pour the ganache over your cake and decorate as you please.

This cake doesn't keep for much more than a couple of days, but that's not really a problem as we ate half of it after lunch and the other half after dinner. 

I do hope to be able to make more time to share my makings and baking on here with you again as I have missed my blog, as I always do when I have to neglect it for a little while. I shall be back as soon as I can, but for now I have to go feed a couple of hungry tummies and tend to my newest hobby... growing herbs :)

 

Budget Cuts

Like millions of other people all over the world, we too find ourselves counting the pennies at the moment. Living costs are going through the roof, food is getting more and more expensive by the day and finding work is no easy feat. As a result the grocery list no longer regularly allows for extra sugar, butter, cream and chocolate to be transformed into delicious treats every day and dinners have to fit the budget rather than the cravings these days. This could be a sad and depressing state of affairs if you allow it to be, or you could look at the bright side and get creative!

I love a bargain and am always keeping my eyes open for a good deal. The supermarket discount shelf is a bargain hunter's dream and if you add a bit of imagination you can still eat cake! A pot of marked down whipping cream, a broken bar of chocolate and a couple of large tubs of "buy of get one free" cream cheese were all sitting on the shelf when I went shopping last week. All of these items went into my shopping trolley and were on their way to becoming a gorgeous dessert. I simply added a dash of vanilla and a sprinkle of icing sugar to the soft cheese, folded it into the lightly whipped cream and poured in the melted bar of chocolate. This was spread over a digestive biscuit crumb base and popped into the fridge until after dinner. As you can see, not much was left over for me to photograph!

 When the bargains are hard to find, a cupful of rolled oats and a bagful of choc-chips can instantly transform a bit of butter, sugar and egg into a batch of huge cookies to satisfy those cakey desires.

Of course, there is one thing that I can't go without and that is fresh fruit. This will always be on the shopping list, no matter what and I am more than happy to eat a bowl of fruit for dessert. Luckily for me Little T agrees with me here.

My frugality has not just been in the kitchen though and have spread to other parts of the house too. I am still in the process of transforming this house into a home and have been wanting to make one of Lucy's wreaths for some time now. For the past couple of weeks, I have been slowly using up all the little scraps of yarn that I have left over from various previous projects to make lots of pretty little flowers.

I stumbled upon a bag of cotton yarn in a charity shop at a fraction of the retail price and it was the perfect colour to become the cover for the Styrofoam wreath that was bought on sale at a hobby store.

And just like that, for hardly any money at all I had made something pretty and special for our home and had a lot of pleasure in doing so along the way.

It just goes to show, those old adages are still true, money doesn't make you happy and the best things in life are free :)

Wishful Thinking

I feel like I have been anticipating the beginning of Spring for weeks now, but it would appear that I am suffering from wishful thinking. There have been signs that Winter is coming to an end, but it was nothing more than empty promises.The last few days have been grey and wet and freezing and very wintery indeed, proving that I have been very hasty in thinking that Spring is here.

Today has once again been a wishful thinking kind of a day. It started off with brilliant sunshine streaming through my bedroom window, shimmering on the bright blue river, making everything feel happy and bright again.

The tiny Tete-a-Tete daffodils that I got for Mothers day looked so much better lifting their little heads to welcome the sunshine into our home.

 

Little T too seemed to be a happier boy this morning, playing in the bright room and trying to catch the sun rays bouncing off the petals of the flowers.

I should have know that it's too good to be true though, and sure enough before the morning was even halfway over the sky began to darken once more. That gloriously brilliant view from this morning now looked like this!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, that really is snow falling from the sky and settling all around us. Winter is truly hanging in there this year...

I am however set on not letting this ruin a day that started off so wonderfully and have a plan of action to keep my spirits up. 

Step one, a comforting pot of Red Bush tea to warm me from the inside out and remind me of home.

Step two, settling into my favourite spot with my crochet hooks and a big box of colourful scraps of yarn.

 Step three, creating my own little flower garden to make up for the lack of real ones outside.

I am happy to report that the plan has worked and that I am still having a "sunny" day and that I intend to do so until the real sunshine makes it's appearance once again :)

A Happy Day for a Liebster Award

This week had started off so full of promise. We had a couple of wonderfully sunny and warm days and I was very ready to get rid of my winter things and welcome Spring. Unfortunately this was very short lived and by mid week we were once again caught in the icy grip of Winter. Grey skies, freezing fogs and bitterly cold winds are keeping me and Little T indoors today, but we've been trying to lure Spring into the house with us.

 

A big bunch of bright sunshine yellow flowers to cheer up the living room was my first step in the right direction.

 

Next, a punnet of intensely red, plump and juicy strawberries inspired me to make a smile inducing sweet treat.

My happy orange casserole dish, filled with a heart warming stew was bubbling away on the stove top, while I got to rolling out cookie dough with my funky new rolling pin.

Little T happily rearranged my (crazy) collection of cookie cutters, chattering away while I danced around the kitchen, putting tray after tray of delicate Almond Shortbreads into the hot oven.

The final steps to inviting Spring into our home today was to take out a bottle of lovingly made lemon curd, dollop a big spoonful on one of the cooled cookies, top with a sliced strawberry and enjoy!

Once I was satisfied with the morning's work and feeling very sunny indeed, I could focus my attention on more important things. Last week the lovely Jennifer of the blog Thistlebear nominated me for a Liebster Award. Now, this probably isn't the same as getting a nomination for the Oscars or anything. There is no judging panel choosing a winner and no little golden statues being handed out. However, it is still a lovely feeling knowing that someone out there is reading my ramblings and enjoying it enough to want to share it with other people :)

No one seems to really know where the Liebster Awards originated and there is no website claiming ownership of it either, but really it's just a great way for bloggers from all over the world to connect to each other and to discover new blogs. There is a list of rules for accepting your nomination, but these seem to change all the time so I am not going to worry about the rules too much. I will however answer the 11 questions that Jennifer had set for me, so here goes:

1. What was the first music concert you ever attended?
This might surprise you, but it was a Metallica concert at Wembly. It was crazy and amazing and maybe even a little bit scary, but I loved it!

2. Would you rather be hot or cold?
Definitely hot, no contest!

3. What is your favourite soft drink?
I don't really drink sodas and soft drinks, I prefer fruit juice, but if I can get my hands on it, I absolutely love Sparletta Cream Soda

4. Can you whistle/ roll your tongue/ wiggle your ears?
 I love to whistle and do so often, but have none of the other wonderful talents

5. What is your favourite book?
You may as well ask how long is a piece of string. I love to read and have read way too many books that I have loved to ever choose just one. Currently I am reading and really enjoying the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larson.

6. Coffee or Tea?
I can't start the day without a huge mug of coffee, but then I will only drink Red Bush tea for the rest of the day.

7. Have you ever had a brand new car?
Nope :)

8. Do you know how to dance?
I can certainly shake my booty on the dance floor, but I would love to learn how to dance proper Ball Room.

9. Do you collect anything?
I love pottery and have an ever growing collection of colourful bowls, jugs, plates and cake-stands.

10. How many pillows do you sleep with?
I have to have two pillows and they have to be very plump.

11. What is your favourite pair of shoes?
At the moment, I practically live in my Croc boots, but for special occasions I have a spectacular pair of bright red, patent leather stiletto heals.

Now, according to the rules, I have to nominate 11 new blogs who have less than 300 followers each and make up 11 new questions for them to answer. To be honest though, I don't read that many blogs and the ones that I do read either have too many followers or have already been nominated for the award. This leaves me with only one option, to point you to the list of blogs that I like to read at the top left of this page and to ask that you have a look at some of the ones that you haven't read before.

I think that is enough from me for today, I will leave you in peace now to go and read other people's blogs and stories :)

Be My Valentine

As a teenager I really hated Valentine's Day. It was always a painful event, watching the popular kids receiving bundles of cards, armfuls of teddy bears and bouquets of red roses and gradually feeling worse and worse as the day drew on and not getting anything myself. Luckily those memories are all in the past and as I got older and wiser I have realised that Valentine's Day is what you make of it and I have since grown to really love the 14th of February.

Having a doting husband and a sweet little son does of course make the day that much better and they did really spoil me this year :) To show them some love too, I baked a luscious pear, almond and dark chocolate tart to share as an after dinner treat last night.

Every bite of soft baked pear, fluffy almond filling and dark chocolate pastry was like falling in love again and I am very happy that there is still a slice left over for me to enjoy as a naughty little pleasure this afternoon.

As always the shops have been filled to the brim with all things Valentine's the past couple of weeks, and this was also the case in my local hobby store. I didn't even try to resist temptation and I left the store with several sweet purchases.

Once home and sitting comfortably in my favourite spot, a plump little heart just flew off my crochet hook, as did several others and they were followed by a few of Lucy's Teeny Tiny Hearts.

 Seeing as I was already going way overboard with the cute and sickly sweet, I hung all of my little hearts on some pretty ribbon with tiny little wooden pegs.

 The end result is really rather pleasing and makes my simple (and messy) wooden shelves look so much more loved!

As you may very well have guessed, I am not quite finished with my Valentine's inspired baking and will soon be making use of this adorable mould to make mouth wateringly yummy champagne truffles for us grown-ups to enjoy tonight.

But first I have to go and do a bit of domestic and motherly duties, but it will still be lovely using my new tea towels :)

Flowers for Me

February arrived in all of it's sunny glory this weekend and with all of the snow finally gone, I can really start to feel that Spring is not that far away now. I always look forward to this time of the year, when the air starts to feel warmer, the days slowly get longer and nature seems to wake from its long slumber and colour returns to the world around me. It really is such a happy, rejuvenating time of the year.

To celebrate this joyous occasion I decided to make myself a little something flowery to wear when out and about on a sunny day. I had a rummage through my box of yarn and found some gorgeous King Cole Merino wool that I bought a little while ago. Feeling inspired, I immediately grabbed my trusty 4mm crochet needle and before I knew it, I had made this sweet little flower.

Elated by my own creativity, I kept on going and within no time at all I had one in each colour.

For several days I spent every possible moment making flowers and soon enough I had used up all of my wool and was very pleased to see that I had a whole bundle of colourful flowers to sew together.

I am neither neat nor tidy with a needle and thread and sewing has never been one of my strong points, but I didn't let that stop me. Slowly and lovingly my flowers started to sit in neat little rows, all joined together to form a beautiful, colourful, happy scarf.

I just know that as the year goes on and the days get warmer, this scarf is going to be slung around my shoulders or wrapped around my neck on a daily basis and will be well and truly loved. It is already hanging by the front door, waiting to go on it's first outing. :)