Snow ice cream

It snowed last night.  Springy got very excited about it as it was the first snow she has seen this year and indeed this winter (which has been relatively mild in comparison to the past 2 years).  This morning she got out into the garden at 8 a.m. in order to gather the snow, that was already melting, and to make snow icecream (which she has had a recipe for since Christmas).  She is getting much more independent in terms of culinary skills.  A few weeks ago her daddy C showed her how to make a very delicious cheese omelette; he supervised her but she did the actual cooking - it was to professional chef standard and I had a tiny bit of it.  Yum!

This afternoon we picked up our 'new' car - it's secondhand and 8 years old but has less mileage than our current 10-year old vehicle.  Also, it has a steering wheel that you can turn (unlike the Merc which is more like going for a gym workout as the steering column is in a bad way to the point that it is painful to turn a corner); it has air conditioning (the Merc has this too although it's called opening a window); and the interior lights don't act as a feature at night (unlike the Merc which has interior lights that come on and off as you are driving at night in a rather scary way); it doesn't have a 'safe mode' (unlike the Merc which has a so-called safe mode that means either your engine cuts out altogether or cuts the speed down to 30 mph, even if you are on the fast lane of the motorway); its water stays put (unlike the Merc which involves a water check every time you set off, even on the same day, as the reservoir leaks badly)...so fingers crossed it will not try and let itself down.

Springy made her own cheese omelette this morning for her breakfast. It tasted and looked amazing - proper omelette (not scrambled at all) and under the supervision of trained chef Daddy. We did a charity market  - can't do it again as a stall holder as it cost us more than we made (didn't make anything in fact) but Springy had a great time and even did an impromptu Irish Dance which made £6.32 in tips which she donated to the charity.

Tomato tulips

Springy and I have been creating some tomato tulips, radish lotuses and we made some milk jelly with pears.

Cheese making

Springy and I made cheese today using a pint of organic whole milk which we curdled with lemon juice. We then squeezed out the whey by having the solids in a teatowel and added some herbs - homemade cheese tomorrow.

 To me it's got the texture of a medium cheese - if I was to improve it I would add a bit of salt next time and not just ... herbs. It would have been nice to have gone and milked a cow or goats too but we don't have access to any lactating mammals at the moment. I've also been lazy and not baked any bread because a rustic foccacia bread with olives would go well with it but I don't have time today.

Three Cakes for Easter

We're enjoying the weather, although some of my potted plants have wilted slightly in the heat. We have potatoes growing (we hope) and also a few bean plants. The strawberry patch needs a bit of a tidy up.

All the birds are singing their dawn chorus each morning which is just wonderful. Our hens have been laying quite a few eggs. This morning Springy and I had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Our weaving project needs to be continued but Springy did a spring-themed crossword and wrote in the most beautiful neat writing. We haven't done much writing recently because Springy didn't want to and I was forcing workbooks on her before Christmas due to a lack of confidence - we both hated doing them. It's much nicer when writing comes from a more natural interest and the crossword was just that.


Banana Gingerbread
Ei


Cherry Crumble Cake

175g (6oz) SR flour
100g (3.5oz) soft butter
75g (3oz) caster sugar
50g (2oz) almond flour (ground)
1 egg
2 tbsps milk
1/2 tsp almond essence
1 can black cherries
25g (1oz) almond flakes

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper
2. Rub butter into flour to make crumble mix.
3. Add sugar and ground almonds and mix in.
4. Remove 75g (3oz) of the crumble mix (to use as a topping later).
5. Add the milk, egg and almond essence to the remaining crumble mix and blend until smooth.
6. Pour into baking tray.
7. Pour off syrup from the cherries and put drained cherries on top of cake mix in baking tray.
8. Sprinkle on crumble mix that was set aside.
9. Sprinkle on almond flakes.
10. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes, at 180 deg C.

Sultana Soda Bread

150g (5oz) wholemeal plain flour
175g (6oz) plain flour
2 tsps cream of Tartar
pinch of salt
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
50g (2oz) brown sugar
125g (4oz) sultanas
25g (1oz) butter
175ml warmed milk

1. Mix flours, salt, cream of tartar, bicarb, sugar and sultanas together.
2. Melt butter in saucepan and heat milk.
3. Pour in gradually to dry mix until dough is formed.
4. Knead dough on surface (use a sprinkle of flour to help prevent sticking).
5. Roll out dough to form a circle and place on baking sheet.
6. Bake in oven at 200 deg C (180 deg C fan oven) for 25 minutes - the soda bread should sound hollow when tapped.
7. For crusty top wrap in tea towel or leave to cool without one for soft top.

Vanilla Chocolate shortbread

We're having this for our dessert tonight, served with organic ice cream (not homemade although we have made it before). I've gone all American because I'm working out things with cups rather than ounces.

Vanilla Chocolate Shortbread

2 and a 1/2 cups of plain flour (actually a bit less but remove some, about 1 heaped tablespoon, of the plain flour and replace with cornflour to give your shortbread a softer texture)
1 cup caster sugar
2 sticks butter (about a cupful)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I use Green and Black's)
1 tsp Vanilla essence

1. Sieve flour into bowl, add sugar and then butter.
2. Rub ingredients together - mixture will go crumbly (a bit like for apple crumble topping) and then rub it until it forms a very soft crumbly doughlike consistency (make sure it doesn't go sticky though - it should be 'short')
3. Divide mixture in half
4. To one half, add the cocoa and mix in well
5. To the other half, add the vanilla essence (I just pour it from the bottle in a quick flick) and mix that in
6. Take your baking tin and grease well with butter (I use 2 tins - round Victoria sponge ones)
7. Pat down half the mix and then add the other half on top (or if using 2 tins then do different tops and bottoms - so one is chocolate on the bottom, vanilla on top or vanilla on the bottom with chocolate pressed on top)
8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes - with the first bake mark out segments with a knife or slice.
9. Put them back in the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

Serve with ice cream...(you may want to serve them warm).

Tip: if you use unsalted butter then you may wish to add a pinch of salt to the mix - it gives them a better flavour.

Update on the shed

I forgot to update this - our chicken/piggie shed is fine now and has been refitted with a slide lock and a load of bricks to stop ratties and foxes. I think I saw a rat up a tree that goes on the shed roof last night so need to be extra vigilant for them. It could have been a squirrel but we tend not to have any so I'm thinking it may have been a rat. If I see another one or two then we need to sort them out because they can create a problem with small bantams - basically small bantam = takeaway meal!

It's gone so cold today and the westerly winds really add an extra chill. We're going to have bangers and mash tonight for dinner. I love cooking with Springy and she is able to make sandwiches (as well as tell bad jokes about sand witches!). I really enjoyed the soul cakes today because she enjoyed them so much. They're also not too messy to make which means washing up afterwards is simple.