before and after

We found another good use for the chocolate spread we made during the week... melt some in a bowl, dip freshly made buns into the warm chocolate and then into coconut...

rainy day biscuits

Just as I was lifting the last tray of biscuits out of the oven, the rain started. The kitchen was warm and spice scented, thanks to the extra shake of nutmeg I'd added to the biscuit dough. William was keen to help - rolling and cutting the dough and putting the biscuits carefully on the baking tray. He floured the table and re-rolled the dough, pressing down on the cutters (gingerbread men were his favourite, hence the army of them) and chatting, chatting the whole time and how nice it was to spend those few minutes listening to him, guiding him when the dough stuck or when a head fell off and watching those as yet little hands deftly working and wondering would he remember the damp autumn afternoon with the grey skies and twirling leaves when we baked together.

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Spice biscuits

125g softened butter

85g soft brown sugar

160g golden syrup

310g self raising flour, sifted

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg/ cinnamon or both

Preheat the oven to 160C fan oven/ gas mark 4. Cream the soft butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup, flour and spices and mix to form a smooth dough. It will take a bit of mixing to bring it together into a ball. Then refrigerate the dough to firm up. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough to about 4mm thick and cut with your preferred cutters. Place onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper and bake for about 8 minutes. Watch like a hawk - I got distracted and lit the fire, and some of mine were a little 'extra done' as a result!

good enough for me

This week has beetled along and now we're facing the weekend. It has stayed cold, windy and wet and I had to really make myself get up and out for my morning walk to the lake as it was just so miserable. Needless to say I enjoyed it in the end, especially the little roadside clumps of bluebells and dainty white flowers.

These chilly days are punctuated by lots of time baking in the kitchen ~ fruit loaf, bread, cheese and herb scones, sticky date squares, a celebration cake (filled by special request with chocolate ganache and mini marshmallows) as well as sensible and nourishing pots of warming soups. Of course the boys love this and it gives me a lot of pleasure to see them enjoying it all. Our evenings are spent in a comfortable huddle in the warm sitting room where there's reading and game playing and the odd bit of squabbling to oversee. It is sometimes hard to remember the value of these small things, to hold on to the fact that being here for them, just being their mum and doing 'mum' things like sewing on Scout uniform badges and reading their bedtime stories is good enough.

cake for a cold day

It's like winter here. A cold, cold wind is whipping about the house, the fires are lit and the lights are on. Time for a little comfort baking. The boys pretty much eat any kind of cake and this one is extremely simple and quick to do. It's an old fashioned kind of cake, one which is especially nice with a cup of tea. The aromatic caraway, with its distinctive flavour, is used here in what is basically a plain cake. The recipe is from The Home Cookbook by Monty and Sarah Don.

::Seed cake::

150g butter

150g caster sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

200g self raising flour, sifted

1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Line a non-stick loaf tin (15 x 10 x 7cm) with parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating in well after each one. Add a little flour if the mixture looks curdled. Sprinkle in the caraway seeds and then gently fold in the flour. Add the milk to loosen the mixture and then spoon it into the loaf tin. Bake for about 45 minutes until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool for a while before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.

busy

I got up a little earlier this morning because last night I had the rash notion that freshly made muffins might be good for breakfast and a yummy treat in the boys' lunch boxes. So before bed I made a large batch of muffin batter and left it in the fridge, then this morning I spooned about a third of it into a separate bowl, added some grated apple and a teaspoon of cinnamon, gave it a quick stir and then popped it into the oven spooned into brightly coloured muffin cases...The photo above is an 'after' shot showing all that was left after the boys... Tomorrow blueberry muffins are on the menu (hope they last a little longer!)

Apart from mixing and baking, today I have also been cutting as I am in the middle of making bunting for a special wedding happening this month. An old road map of Ireland will be winging its way to New Zealand in the guise of cheerful bunting to bring the bride a little reminder of home and all the roads she has travelled to get where she is now.

P.S. Hello February, how nice to see you! Icy winds are howling around at present but still the bulbs are pushing through and the hellebores are flowering - spring can't be too far away!