Sweet mini doughnut/donut acorns

At the weekend we made these acorn treats as it was feeling very Autumnal. They were so easy to make I offered to go into Max's nursery and make them with all the nursery children as they are learning all about Autumn at the moment. I did that today and it went very well. They loved making them and they liked eating them at snack time even more!

You need some mini doughnuts (Asda do a tub of about 14 for £1), a tablespoon of  Nutella (or similar!) - warmed for 10 secs in the microwave to make it gooey, a bowl of chocolate sprinkle/strands/vermicelli, some chopped nuts and some Mikado chocolate sticks, (or Matchmakers or  Pretzel sticks) broken into 1-2cm pieces.

The method is simple. Take the donut (the nut), dip it about a 1/3 into the Chocolate spread, then dip the chocolaty bit into the sprinkles or the chopped nuts (or both!) to make the acorn hat/cap, then stick in a Mikado stick for the stalk. Bob's your Uncle... a plateful of delicious acorns

Cardboard Modern Art Sculpture

Yesterday we utilised the TV cardboard box to cut out slotted shapes with a craft knife (Mummy did this not children!) The box was the wrong shape to be a car or anything exciting like that but this way we got to build loads of exciting things and then take them apart and make them again. We spent time painting them on both sides. This morning they were dry enough to use. Ollie managed to get his abstract sculpture nearly as tall as himself. They also made spaceships, cats, birds, airplanes and all sorts!

The tooth fairy visits our house for the very first time!

Yesterday Ollie's first tooth fell out at school. He managed to catch it and bring it home. We were all very excited at the prospect of a visit from the tooth fairy! So excited, I made a little bag to put our tooth fairy offerings in!

The tooth fairy came and found the tooth. We were all very excited in the morning to find that not only had she left two £2 coins!!! she had also written a lovely letter congratulating Ollie and reminding him to keep brushing his teeth to keep them nice and clean.

Fish bowl jelly- an idea that didn't work!

I found some fish jelly sweets which I impulse purchased and I thought it might be fun to surprise the kids with their own little fish sweetie fish bowl. I even made blue jelly using water. apple squash, blue food colouring and gelatine!
Unfortunately the sweets all swelled while the jelly was setting and it really wasn't very obvious what it was meant to be. Ollie ate it up anyway but Max wasn't very keen on the swollen sweeties.
Maybe next time I will just push them in from the top just before serving. I also think the jelly was a bit too heavily coloured so less food colouring next time.

Happy 8th Anniversary honey - 'Olive You'

My Nan

Very sadly, my Nan (the boys called her Gran-Nan) died quite suddenly at the age of 85.

I will miss her very much and just wanted to put together a montage of photos of things I will always remember her for as my own kind of memorial for her.

To Nan, with all my love Katy xx

Is this my last supper request?

French onion soup, aioli and swiss cheese on toast

Cheese, Bread, Onions, Red wine, Mayonnaise and Garlic - What can go wrong? 

Maybe followed by some evil chocolate pudding and ice cream and I think I have my last supper request should I ever need one!

Rainbow grain salad

This was whipped up out of random bits we needed to use up but it is well worth remembering the recipe as I would love to recreate it again.
Ingredients

• Quinoa (cooked in stock)
• Cous cous (cooked in stock)
• Red pepper
• Courgette
• Red onion
• Carrot (all above tumbled in smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, coriander, olive oil and roasted)
• Red chicory
• Artichoke hearts (from antipasta mix)
• Sundried tomatoes (as above)
• Nicoise olives (as above)
• Coriander
• Roast chicken breast
• Sliced chorizo (from antipasti mix)

My first quilt is finished!

It is double side and only big enough to cover the bed minus the pillows but I am very pleased with myself! Now I want to do a better one!

The Best Ever Carrot Cake Recipe

I make this claim based on everyone I have ever made it for (and that is a lot!) stating this to me and immediately requesting the recipe.

The recipe came from some weird collection of pamplets I found in mum's unwanted recipe book stash. She had never made it but now she regularly make it.

I love it so much - it doesn't look the best in this picture but the taste is fabulous. It is not too wholesome tasting, it's lovely and moist and easy to make. I have the recipe committed to memory. I have photographed it here as a double layer but I regularly make two single layer/tray bake type of cakes instead as I do like a decent icing to cake ratio (I know that defies the point of making a 'healthy' cake!)

• 225g self raising flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp bicarb
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5tsp salt

(Mix all above in one bowl - I don't bother sifting but do so if you like)

• 3 eggs
• 175g sugar (I use 100g dark brown sugar, 75g of light brown or caster sugar)
• 150ml veg oil (or other tasteless oil)

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, the whisk in the sugar then slowly whisk in the oil.

• 200g grated carrot
• 50g raisins or sultanas (you could also add 50g nuts but I don't like it personally)

Into the liquid bowl alternate adding carrot then flour, carrot then flour until all incorporated. Then add the raisins. It'll look like this;

Cook in 2 lined loose bottomed 20cm cake tins in a preheated oven (150*c) for 35mins or until skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then ice,

Icing

• 50g melted butter cooled a bit
• 100g cream cheese (really only philly will do!)
• 250g icing sugar
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean's worth of seeds if you feel extravagant)

Mix together and refrigerate for a while. Also it really helps if you sieve the icing sugar.

Sunday lunch - Roast Pork Tenderloin & Cherry, Blueberry Crumble

This Sunday lunch was roasted pork tenderloin wrapped in tarragon and prosciutto ham. With tender stem broccoli and sugar snaps, roasted diced potatoes, swede, fennel and shallot with thyme and rosemary. Served with the most delicious Pommery mustard, white wine, shallot and cream sauce, made with the juices from the roasting pan.
Dessert was a simple crumble made from diced eating apples, blueberries, and cherries with a hazelnut crumble topping served with cream.

Home made Soft Goat Cheese with Oregano Crust

I got quite into cheese making about 2 years ago and then when I was pregnant stopped for a while as I didn't want to risk anything.
However I have picked up my cheese cloth once more and I started with my most successful and simple soft goat cheese.
There are a few slightly technical items you need but it isn't too tricky.

1. Some cheese culture starter powder (available from cheese making specialists - I use this one as we used to live very close to it but they have online ordering)
2. Rennet either vegeren (which you can get in some branches of Sainsburies) or animal rennet which you can get from the specialist. You must check what you have is in date if you are like me and don't use it that frequently.
3. A tuperware pot with lid (sterilised) and clingfilm
4. Saucepan (sterilised)
5. A cheese cloth. Or similar - muslin may work?
6. A thermometer. I use one I bought from the cheese suppliers but if you have one for jam making etc that may work.
7. A sieve/colander

First you have to make a cheese starter solution using the freeze dried starter powder. Instructions come with the powder but here they are;
Heat one litre of fresh milk (I use goats milk from the supermarket) to 90*c and hold at temp for 10 mins
Remove from heat and rapidly cool by placing pan in a sink of cold water until thermometer shows 20*c
Sprinkle in the powder and whisk in well.
Place in sterilised tuperware, cover liquid with clingfilm and put on lid. Leave at 20-22*c for 24hrs
It is ready when it smells sharp and clean and kind of yoghurty.
Then freeze into ice cube tray for future use, keep back 30mls (2tbsp) for immediate use.

Now make some cheese.
I used 3 further litres of goats milk. I heated to 90*c and cooled quickly to 20-22*c.
Add the 2 tbsp cheese culture (or 2 ice cubes) and 3 drops of rennet (which you have pre mixed with some cool boiled water (about 1tsp). Mix well and leave covered in a warm area (20/22*c) for 24 hours.
When you revisit it it should have separated into curd (the solid) and whey (the liquid).
Put your cloth into a colander/sieve and pour the lot on (allowing the whey to be drained away)
Tie up the corners of the cloth and hang to let the remaining whey drain off over the next 24 hours. (I am lucky enough to have been given a cheese press to I use this at this point but hanging it works just as well)
Then just take out the curd cheese and sprinkle with salt ( I like to use about 2 level tsp for this amount - but it depends on how you feel about salt. Salt is what gives you the flavour but I don't like to have too much salt in our diet)
Then I form a shallow cylinder shape and drop it into dried oregano to give it a Greek vibe which I like,  but you can add anything you like. Chives, pineapple, nuts, garlic, whatever!

I find if you leave it in the fridge for 3 days or so, the flavour really develops and it tastes great spread on a cracker or some sunflower seed bread. Mmmmm.

'Shrooming

 
 

Today we went mushroom hunting in the woods!
We found some edible yellow brittlegills, but we were hoping to find some ceps as we saw some in this wood last year. I think it might still be a bit early for ceps.
The boys had great fun and found loads of different mushrooms, purple, red, brown, yellow and white. They enjoyed trying to find them in our reference book and finding out if they are edible or not.
Mushrooms are one of the only types of food the boys don't like to eat so we only had to tell them a couple of times not to touch!
Instead of mushrooms we enjoyed a picnic of still warm from the oven, home made Cornish pasties, super yummy and exactly what we needed after walking around for 2 hours!

Super hero cape

Today I finally got fed up with tying and re-tying blankets around necks to make super hero capes and so we made a super hero cape out of one of Daddy's old t-shirts.
We cut a triangle shape from the back of the shirt (as the front had a logo), incorporating the neck hole.
I cut an S out of a red fat quarter I had knocking about, but I couldn't be bothered to sew it on so stuck it on with pritt stick.
The whole effort took less time than one knot! Why did super mummy not come to the rescue sooner!

Roast Autumn Fruits tart on Blueberry Almond cake base

This was the perfect weekend pudding for a very autumnal feeling windy day! It also used up some soft fruit I had left over from the week.

To make this tart requires 3 stages; roasting fruit, making cake base and making creme patisserie

Roast fruit

• 1 punnet (about 5) nectarines (cut in half and stoned)
• 1 punnet (about 5) plums (cut in half and stoned)
• 1/2 punnet blackberries
• 1/2 punnet blueberries
• vanilla syrup (type used for coffee - or sugar would do)
• cinnamon, ground ginger

Pre heat the oven to 200*c

Put  the prepared fruit into a large baking tray, spinkle with some cinnamon and ginger (about 1 tsp each) and pour over syrup until all fruit lightly coloured, and bake for 20 mins or until soft and smelling good!

Blackberry, blueberry & almond cake tart base

 This is a take on a classic cherry and almond tray bake cake.

• 125g self raising flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 125g butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 large or 3 small eggs
• 1/2 punnet each of blueberries and blackberries

Throw all ingredients in a mixer and whisk up.

Stir in the fruit.

Place in one 20cm cake tin .

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 mins or until golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean.

Creme Patisserie

 We followed this recipe Creme Patisserie but substituted soya milk for milk as we had some from a visiting friend that needed using up. It worked perfectly well!

Then assemble the cake by spreading creme patisserie onto the cooled tart base and put the cooled fruit on top. I also glazed with some warmed homemade plum jam to make it lovely and shiny! 

Bob's your uncle!

To be honest writing it out here makes it sound very complicated. We had made the creme patisserie for something else and had loads left over so we didn't do it at the same time. You do just bung the fruit in the oven really and all the cake ingredients into a mixer.