And We're Off

The Christmas cake has been  started. I'm using a Pink Whisk recipe. It has worked out beautifully for the last few years. You steep the fruit in brandy for 6 weeks before you make the cake.http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2012/09/time-to-start-your-christmas-cake.html

A large jar of lemon curd another pink whisk recipe. It never fails. It was meant to be 2 smaller jars, but glass and hard floors don't get on.
http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2010/07/super-zingy-lemon-curd.html

The lemoncello is from Lorraine Pascale new book Fest, Fresh and Easy Food. It is something I have always wanted to try

.

Not to waste the last of the vodka I added 2 vanilla pods so in a few week time I'll have lovely Vanilla extract for baking.

The 2 pots of Christmas potatoes I planted up are coming along nicely.

I got to plant out some wallflowers I have grown from seed. Hopefully the neighbours cat will not dig them up.

Add a present of Garlic. All going well I will get to the allotment next week to plant them.

 

 

Potato, Carrot and Parsnip Cakes.

The 2 things I always have in my kitchen is potatoes and carrots. At the moment parsnips are cheap in my local shop so there is few of them around as well. Mix them together with a few spices and this is what you end up with.

350g Carrots.
350g Parsnip.
350g Potatoes.
125g Bread Crumbs
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander.
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin.
I egg, beaten
Salt & Black Pepper.

Peel and chop the carrots, parsnip and potatoes to roughly the same size.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and mash. Add the ground cumin and ground coriander, Leave to cool.
Add the beaten egg, the bread crumbs and the seasoning,  Mix until all combined.
Shape into 8 cakes and if you have the time chill for 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.

Lovely served with a green veg.

Enjoy

The Allotment .......at Last.

I do have a allotment but the poor thing has been ignored a lot this year. Every time I plan on going there something happens. If it is not the weather it is something else. I managed to pay a visit on Monday morning. Yes that was the day the sun was shining for a couple of hours and it was great to be outdoors. It was a lot tidier than I expected but I did resort to weed killer  before the holidays.

I had a few plants I had grown from seed so I decided to put them in the ground. They can take there chances it is better than just leaving them to die off on the picnic table.

There was purple sprouting broccoli, kale and cauliflower. The white stuff is vermiculite. I use grit as my slug control and I ran out.

I got to bring home a harvest so I was quite pleased.

The onions didn't do well at all this year . The red ones failed completely. 

                                   

Some raspberries, broccoli. 1 Kohl Rabi the other one has something strange living in it so I put it on the compost heap The bolitti beans didn't do great. I fact I had a hopeless year with all sorts of peas and beans.                                                                                                                                                

This is the first time I have ever grown Kohl Rabi never mind the little question of what to do with it.

 So after looking it up on the Internet I peeled it and cut it into cubes. Tossed it in some oil with salt and pepper. I roasted it in the oven for about 15 minutes.

It was OK, not the most exciting vegetable in the world.

September........In Pictures.

Christmas Dinner........Maybe

New Wellies

New Delph

Honeycomb Cheesecake.

Homemade Naan Bread.

Lemon Tray Bake.

Blog Swap

I signed up for my first blog Swap in August, It was run by  http://blueberry-heart.blogspot.co.uk
I was partnered with http://feltabulous.blogspot.ie/
My parcel arrived yesterday morning full of lovely goodies, all beautiful wrapped in tissue.

A Handmade Macrame Bracelet.

Beautiful Handmade earrings and bracelet.

A lovely handmade Felt Brooch and heart.

There was also seeds and lovely notebook and book marker, a packet of felt leaves in lovely autumn colours and 2 cards.
I was delighted with all my lovely gifts. Thank you so much.

Here is what I sent to my swap partner.

UPDATE

Early this week the postman knocked on my door with another parcel from my blog swap partner.
Inside was another gift that she had spotted after she had posted off the original parcel.

The enamel mug is perfect for taking to my allotment and another pair of beautiful handmade earrings.

Once again Thank You for been such a wonderful swap partner

Dahlia's

Dahlia Darkarin, Striking colour

Bishop of Llandaff

Elegance

I have no idea of this little ones name. but she has a lot of history.  She is from a garden of a friend in Kildare and she has been saved year after year from her Mothers garden. So by my friends maths she could be about 60 years of ago. A true heritage plant.

Strawberry Ice Cream Cup Cakes.

I have been fascinated by cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. So while doing the shopping  a couple of weeks ago I bought a box and had a go.

I made a all in one sponge mix

125g soft butter
125g caster sugar.
2 eggs.
150g self-raising flour.

I chopped up 6 strawberries and folded them into the sponge mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 160C fan or until a skewer comes out clean.

While they were baking I mashed up 4 strawberries in a sieve over a bowl and left the pulp to drip through.

Butter Icing.
150g very soft butter.
300g icing sugar,

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the strawberry pulp a spoonful at a time until you are happy with the taste and colour. If you feel it is a bit too soft put it in the fridge for a little while.

Trim off the cake level with the cone and pipe a large swirl on each cake. Top with 1/3 of a flake.
The flakes cut easier if they are kept in the fridge.

3 packs of 9

Place in the centre of a large square of tinfoil.

Scrunch up the foil around the cones to stop them burning and to support them.

Add strawberry pieces.

3/4 fill.

Bake until a skewer comes out clean.

Remove foil and cool.

Enjoy.