love those cupcakes

A bite on the side

When a perfectly chilled glass of wine (a mug of hot chocolate might be more appropriate for today's weather) needs that extra something, you could bake these.  Little cheese biscuits.  The recipe makes lots of crumbly, buttery, salty, bitesize and very cheesy nibbles.   Easy to make and even easier to make disappear.

This batch is destined for a bake and make swap at my WI group....... 

....if I can stop nibbling.

 

Little cheese biscuits

 (I'm not sure where I found this now slightly amended recipe but if it's yours, let me know and I'll credit appropriately)

100g/3.5 ozs plain flour

100g/3.5 ozs cold butter, cut into cubes

100g/3.5 ozs of finely grated cheddar and Parmesan mixed, plus a little extra finely grated Parmesan for sprinkling (or you could sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds)

Half tsp mustard powder

Pinch of salt (don't add if using salted butter) and cayenne pepper

1 egg, beaten, for brushing

 

Place all ingredients except the egg into a food processor and pulse until the mixture clumps together.  Tip out onto a lightly floured board and knead just until the dough is smooth and well blended.  With your hands, roll into an even log shape 3 or 4 cms in diameter (you're aiming for bitesize biscuits).  Press the ends flat using a round ended knife.  Cut the log into two and wrap both in clingfilm.  Chill in the fridge for about half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan assisted/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray (you may need to use two) with parchment.  Take the dough from the fridge and remove the clingfilm.  Dip a sharp knife into a mug of hot water and slice thinnish biscuits from the logs and place on the baking trays.  Brush each biscuit with beaten egg and sprinkle over a little finely grated Parmesan (or sesame or poppy seeds).  Bake for approx 10 minutes or until golden in colour.  Remove the biscuits from the trays and cool on a rack.  Once cold, store in a tin or sealable box.

 

Savouring lately

My word of the year is 'savour'.  And this weekend has been about being determined to really enjoy what's on our doorstep.   I find it all too easy to dwell on, to bleat about, what's lacking (a decent bakery, a theatre, shops which sell items costing more than a pound, good restaurants, a mainline station, an airport that actually has flights, jobs) where we live.  So I parked Moaning Minnie and set out with a smile on my face and a knapsack on my back (well, not really but you get the gist) to take the time to  appreciate:

* The last of the tulips at the back of the house, the first poppy in the front garden and a basking Buddha

* The evening walk around the neighbourhood with the always enthusiastic Boo and the unmistakeable iridescence of fluttering fairy wings (you know I'm right) in the woodland

* Fruity tea, coffee cake and frangipane tart down the road at Ormesby Hall (more about our visit here to follow)

* The fragrance of spring blossom and wild garlic

* Time spent with the friendliest of stables' cats who was minus a tail

*  *  *

Him:  Why are you taking photographs of those?  They're dandelions!                    

Her:  Sighs deeply, raises eyes heavenward and exits stage left.

An ill wind

This week we've experienced sunshine, pouring rain and heavy hail showers.  Today it's blowing a gale.  The garden took a bit of a battering overnight and this Fatsia japonica near the kitchen door was one casualty.  I'd realised a while ago that it was top heavy and had intended to transfer it to a larger pot or a border but, finding it was literally rooted to the spot, decided to leave well alone. 

So I made a batch of chunky oat and raisin (with added nutmeg, coconut and choc chips) cookies to munch on whilst I ponder its future.

Recipe from here.

 

Bilingual

I'm now fluent in Spanielese.

Translation:

Get off your backside and take me for a walk.  Pretty please?

 

No such thing as a free lunch

But there is such a thing as a free tea.  Four of us (the mister, the now rent arrears free Aunty M, a family friend and yours truly) had ours yesterday, courtesy of the Boy's Christmas present to us all. 

If you've been visiting here a while, you'll know that I'm rather partial to a proper afternoon tea, preferably one I haven't had any part in preparing or serving.   This one at Crathorne Hall was as delicious as when we last visited, from the welcoming glass of champagne to the warm fruit scones with buttery clotted cream via plates of assorted finger sandwiches, perfectly teeny tangy lemon meringue tartlets and other sweet treats.  All savoured under the watchful eye of the delightful Lady Somebodyorother.

'Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea'. 

(Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady)

 

Something for the weekend

Plans to plough on with the list of jobs outdoors went completely out of the rain spattered window today.  Even the cats have done nothing more energetic than seeking shelter under the garden table on what I like to think of as 'the terrace' but which in reality is nothing more than a little paved area the other side of the living room french doors.  At least from that spot they get an uninterrupted view of the pigeons filling their boots on the bird feeder.

So instead there's been a spot of baking - a carrot and orange cake (made up as I went along) and a batch of the mister's favourite, cheese scones (Mary Berry's 'Very Best' minus the sugar and with the addition of a teaspoon of mustard powder and a small mountain of grated cheddar).

 Despite a flurry of online ordering, I'm still lacking a more appropriate summer wardrobe so the change in the weather is providing something of a reprieve.  And it turns out I'm a size 10, slimmer than I thought.  No wonder it looked like I'd been raiding the dressing up box.

Later today there's the weekly visit to 83 year old Aunty M.  After a phone call from her (very understanding, I'd have to say) housing provider yesterday, I need to broach a rather delicate subject with her. Let's just say that her, ahem, avant-garde approach to household expenses management has included failure to pay rent.  Over a long period.  Tricky.

Afterwards, there'll be a long walk with Boo followed by a home cooked curry and a film.  Unfortunately, I ordered this one before reading the reviews.  I never learn.

Odd-jobbing outdoors

The past week has mostly been about tackling the long list of garden jobs.  Not everything has been ticked off but borders have been cleared of weeds, shrubs have been brought under control, grass has been cut, garden furniture has been power washed and oiled, green recycling bags have been filled.  

One particular eyesore requiring attention was a little sloping border at the front of the house, adjacent to the drive.  Originally planted with a conifer and shrubs when we moved here 20 or so years ago,  it was all looking horribly overgrown so the mister was in charge of cutting the conifer back and digging out all of the existing plants before replanting with alpines (we need to buy more) interspersed with slabs of slate (we need to buy more of these, too).   

I was in charge of the sweeping brush, snacks (recipe for chocolate digestives from here)

and the camera, noting that the anemones have finally flowered

and the tulips, especially these orange ones, are continuing to provide some welcome colour at the back of the house.

Boo was in charge of gathering up the empty plant pots.

Well, why have a dog and bark yourself?