Food

Over Easter we had such a lovely time with all my boys together, my Mum and Dad plus one of my sisters with her hubby and son. A full house. Our family is truly a foodie bunch, way before anyone had made any other arrangements all meals had been accounted for.

We planned a afternoon tea, everyone made something. On each plate I placed an egg cup with egg cosy that I made and a little suprise for everyone underneath!

On the lovely cake stand that my bought as a present are the wonderful strawberry cheese cake cupcakes.

This Noah who made as laugh as whenever he asks for more food he just shouts "cake"

I though it would be a great opportunity to get all my boys for a together photo, Mmmm they don't look to impressed do they?

I hope you had a lovely Easter break whatever Easter means to you, maybe a filled with food as ours!

Community crafting and Super Soup.

This post has been a long time coming! About a year in fact, when I started blogging I was so impressed by the support and creativity in this community I was inspired to do more. Here was the birth of a community quilt project. I gave everyone young, old, male, female, stitchers, non stitchers a blank square. All you had to do was decorate it.

After some time I got the square back and I have made a village quilt that is to have it's home in the village hall. A place that needs lots of love and making pretty, a perfect place then.

So today we hung the quilt and invited everyone along for tea and cake. So here is a our final quilt.

This Arthur's square he was the youngest (he had a little help)

These where my two squares

Plenty of tea and cake to go round!

We also used the village hall along side two lovely ladies that ran an event called Super Soup. For a donation to Christian aid you could some truely wonderful soups and home made bread.

All the hard work of making the quilt was really worth the lovely day  sitting around having soup then tea and cake. Villagers just dropping by for lunch and to see their square in the quilt, a really relaxed time but a real sense of community. I just love bringing like minded people together for crafts or food music whatever it just feels so great ( after all the worry of will any come or want to take part goes!)

I think I will really strive to work in groups more often.

PS a litle sneak preview of my OPOW!

Home Baking.

It has become a little tradition for Arthur and I to bake a cake on a Friday, it's a little celebration and welcome to MrPB who has been working away all week. This week though I have followed in the footstep of the Barefoot Crofter http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/  recently Jacqui had made a whole batch of cakes to supply the family for a while!

So here we are joining with Linda at http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ for Creative Friday. quiet a selection top right to left: loaf of bread, chocolate and banana loaf, two almond and honey cakes. Bottom row right to left : banana and raisin muffins and three seed flapjack.

We often make cakes but I have noticed a real change in Arthur today in the way he helps, growing up fast in the answer to that !

Stop Thief, not another!!

The three seed flapjack is a real special one, I've made it into my first tutorial on my other blog if you want a peek. http://charlottesewfarsewgood.blogspot.com/

The Most Intense Apple Flavour Ever.

In the UK we have had a bumper crop of apples this year. All starting with dry spring so there was perfect blossom, a wet and sunny, wet and sunny summer, allowing for lots and lots of apples. Now at the end of the year we are having a rather warm November which has allowed for collecting the last few wind falls. Mr PB has managed to find an amazing cooker from the last tree standing in an old walled garden (now sadly a swimming pool ). So Saturday afternoon was for a batch of apple cooking.
First up a huge batch of stewed apples for the freezer.

Secondly was sour dough muffins with apples rains and Cinnamon.

Finally for the most intense apple flavour you will ever taste should you make it up, Apple Butter! Apple butter is like a condensed jam or preserve. It is easy to make :

3il of apples washed. Chop with skins and cores ect., put in pan cover with water and boil/ simmer until is mash able. Put all the mixture through a sieve, then weigh and for every IL you have of apples add 350g of soft brown sugar. The into a pan and simmer for along time until it becomes a thick creamy consistory. Put into jars. The scrape all the left over bits and eat with white toast!!

We often use blogs to share our enthusiasm and joys of life's adventures. Sadly it doesn't always go to plan, I blogged about my wonderful rosehip syrup that was at the time wonderful  http://myfamilymyway.blogspot.com/2011/09/rosehip-syrup-and-leg-warmers.html

Unfortunately it has all gone a bit fizzy and didn't preserve properly, although we did get to use some I did have to through some away too.  Better luck next year, so very disappointing.

MMmm CAKE.

 

I just wanted to share with you a little story of cake, quiet possibly one of my favourite things pf all time. This is a special sour dough cake mix, passed on by Nicola a lovely potter in our village. Herman is a friendship cake that is alive and continues to grow over ten days.

This is Herman the cake mix on day one, we had to keep him on the side stirring him on each day, adding ingredients on day four and nine. Watch hoe he grows, it is really amazing!

On day nine we split Herman into five equal parts, in theory you keep one and give away the other four in friendship. Because we are greedy we gave away two, leaving us with two cakes to make up and one to start all over again.

The mix is quiet dense and you can add what you like, we had one with a fruit cake mix and the other choc and choc chips! I was really surprised at the size and the flavour is great. A real interesting taste that is thick but not over sweet.Looks like everyone else like it to as there isn't much left!

Just as well I kept a batch to do it all over again, I think it was a real success. I wish I could tell you how to start the sour dough but I I don't know. What I really like is the fact that it can keep growing and growing!

Rosehip Syrup and Leg Warmers

Each year I seem to have a passion that I follow, lets say strongly. In the past wild food or foraging has been one of them, and to my delight I have some amazing recipes that I will seek out year after year, one of those is Rosehip Syrup. I used a recipe from the most fantastic book, Wild Food by Roger Phillips, it is a must in the world of food for free, the photography is stunning and creative.

After completing a lovely Autumn walk this weekend I had enough rosehips to make my syrup. Knowing that this syrup is so utterly amazing I have cut my rosehips by hand for the last few years, but this year I had a new gadget to help. MrPB bought me a little present from the recycling centre which at the time didn't go down to well! But now all is forgiven as this wonderful creation made my job so so much easier.

OOps picture gone a bit funny, sorry! This is the recipe :

1kg of rosehips

4 and half pints of water

450g sugar

. Mince up the rosehips and put in pan

. add 3 pints of boiling water, wait for it all to reboil

. infuse for 15mins

.strain through jelly strainer

. put rosehips back in pan

. add another 1 and half pints of water, bring to boil again

. infuse for another 10 mins

. strain again

. now reduce the rosehip water to a litre

.add your sugar and dissolve

.bottle

eat on everything, but our favourite is with stewed apples, cream and syrup poured over the top.

I have also been busy knitting my first pair of leg warmers. I am not really a knitter although I am keen to improve. I really enjoyed making them, this pair will be off to Kent for my sisters birthday, but I am making myself a pair now.

There's a little place I know..........

Have I told you how much I love this time of year? For the simple fact that there is masses of lovely fresh fruit and veg everywhere. There is always something to make, and my taste buds are buzzing making all sorts to see us through till next year, when I get to start all over again!
There is a little place I know that has three wonderful plum trees. I have never seen anyone else picking from these trees and every year there are kilos and kilos, I pick bag fulls ready to make all sorts. This photo is in fact my second batch of plums.

I have become a plum snob as I can only eat good English and in season plums, nothing else compares. I make a good batch of jam, I like it rather tart! I also add loads to chutneys and I make a plum ketchup which is received with love from Mr PB as he has an allergy to anything from the tomato family, so he often lacks sauces and chutneys  ( but luckily he married the right girl and now his taste buds are happy).

I have also been rather inspired by rag rugs, in the past I have made a lovely wall hanging but what do you think of my rag rose broche?