Tried and Tested: Lemon Drizzle Cake

 

 

I have been so spoilt this summer with friends constantly bringing me food and cakes to help out whilst I was in recovery. One day, this cake arrived. It was divine and I asked for the recipe. As I was clearing out old papers today, I thought I would share this recipe on the blog and then I also have it for future needs.

☺

 

You need for the cake:

75 gram softened butter

125 gram caster sugar

150 gram self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 tbsp lemon curd (optional, but it will intensify the flavour)

2 1/2 tbsp milk

 

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix till they are thoroughly combined.

Pour the mixture into a 1kg greased loaf tin and make at 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes (or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean)

 

You need for the drizzle:

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp granulated sugar

 

Mix the lemon zest, juice and sugar. Pour the mixture over the hot cake in the tin. Leave to cool completely.

 

mmm....!

 



Felted Slippers/Socks

Yes, I am still here. 

☺

A long silence from my end, but I am still here!

 

Despite my own health concerns, we have had the most amazing summer ever. Glorious weather, day after day. It really lifts the spirit and in my case, helps with recovery. Talking of recovery, I started back in July at the gym and am now completely hooked. Although I feel my recovery after surgery has been slower than I thought, I so feel the benefit from going to the gym.

Scared straight, I think...

☺

But we are now getting back in to normal routine as Our Boy has started school again - last year before uni! A lot of pressure and so many things that need to happen in the right order. The summer has been filled with him and The Professor travelling around to some of the universities for their open days to help us assess which university he will be applying for. Grades is not the only criteria for acceptance, so a lot of strategic thinking to ensure the right things are done is needed.

 

Good friends have been over to visit and other good friends have moved back home. Unfortunately, that is often the case of many people we meet and form strong bonds with here. A very transient community. On the bright side - people leaving are good in staying in touch and coming back.

 

So, what have I been doing in addition to going to the gym?

 

A lot of various craft projects and some reading. My latest craft project is a pair of felted slippers/socks put together with granny squares.  

 

For some reason I can't upload the pictures I took, so I suggest you check out the pattern and picture found at Drops/Garnstudio

 

I got the yarn from a little local yarn shop called Sheep Shop . The yarn is called Lima and is particularly useful for felting. I only had a needle 7 (forgot to check this on the pattern before going to the shop...) so I ensured the final squares were the recommended size by adding another round. I admit it was a little fiddly to figure out how to sew the granny squares together, but just follow the pattern. It was very exciting to pop the socks in the washing machine (40 degrees and no detergent) to see if it would felt up and work!

 

And it did!

Learning a New Technique: Daisy Stitch

I am constantly looking for new challenges, but I am too impatient to start any new large scale projects. A friend of mine had a her birthday earlier this month and I was thinking of what to get her when I thought about MAKING something for her. She is a great cook and loves to spend time in her cosy, country style kitchen, so I thought a pair of oven mittens would be the right thing and a not too large project!

I picked up this yarn called 'all season cotton' and found a knitting technique new to me called Daisy Stitch on a blog. The blog is in Norwegian, but at the end of it is a small video which should make it clear how to make this stitch.

I made the oven mittens with 26 stitches and alternated the colours so the stitch would be more visible. I made two identical squares which I crocheted together back to back to ensure they would be thick enough and then crocheted a simple border around it.

My friend seemed to be happy for the two she got and I have already made one for myself.

I so love a quick project!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summer Evening Crochet Project

Long summer evenings outside in the garden.... We are fortunate there are few annoying mosquitoes here, so the relaxing atmosphere of the evening can be savoured late into the night. The neighbours are doing the same, windows are open all around and you hear more of what is going on. Music is playing and few seem to care much about getting up the next morning...

Sitting in the garden I crocheted this new glass cover for a tealight partially using the fan-pattern i found on a blog (sorry - in Norwegian). I used very thin cotton yarn and crochet needle no 2.

Bunnen:
1. Omgang: legg opp 3 luftmasker og fest med en kjm.

2. omg: 3 lm (som fungerer som første stav). Hekle så 13 st ut ifra ringen (så det blir totalt 14 staver). Avslutt med en kjm i tredje lm på første st (som er de 3 lm).

3. omg: 3 lm, så 2 st mellom hver maske fra forrige omg, totalt 28 st. Avslutt med kjm i tredje lm iførste st.

4. omg: 3 lm, så annenhver gang en og to st mellom hver maske, slik at du i denne omg øker til 42 st. Avslutt med kjm i tredje lm på første stav.

5. omg: Fortsett som beskrevet i 4. Omgang til basen blir stor nok til glasset du bruker. Pass på at du ender opp med totalt antall staver som er delelig med 6+1.

Fortsett så med viftemønsteret som jeg fant her:

Rad 1 : 1 FM i den 2. st, *3 LM, hopp over 3 st, hekle 1 FM i hver av de 3 neste st, gjenta fra * og slutt med 1 FM i hver av de siste 2 st.

Rad 2 : 1 LM, hopp over 1 fm, * 5 ST i 3 lm-buen, hopp over 1 fm, 1 FM i neste fm ( i midten av de 3 fm ), gjenta fra * og slutt med 1 FM i 1 lm.

Rad 3 : 3 LM, hopp over [1fm,1st], * 1 FM i hver av de 3 neste st ( den midterste st av de 5), 3 LM, hopp over [1st,1fm,1st], gjenta fra *til den siste gruppen, 1 FM i hver av 3 st, 2 lm, hopp over 1 st, hekle 1 FM i 1 lm.

Rad 4 : Hekle 3 LM, hopp over den første fm, 2 ST i 2 lm-buen, * hopp over 1 fm, 1 FM i neste fm (den midterste fm av de 3 ) , hopp over 1 fm, 5 ST i 3 lm-buen, gjenta fra * og slutt med 3 ST under 3 lm.

Rad 5 : 1 LM, hopp over den første st, 1 FM i neste st, * 3 LM, hopp over [1st,1fm,1st], 1 FM i hver av de neste 3 st ( den midterste- 3.st av 5 ) , gjenta fra * og slutt med 1 fm i den siste st og hekle 1 FM i den 3. av 3 lm.

Gjenta radene 2 - 5

You can spruce up any old jam jar this way and they look lovely both outside in the garden and inside later in the autumn.

Just make the bottom as large as you need for the jar and ensure the final number of stitches of the bottom is dividable with 6+1. I have seen many bloggers make the covers higher than the jars, but for the sake of fire safety I prefer to keep them not higher than the jar I am working on. It is a quick and easy summer evening project.

Hope you are enjoying the summer wherever you are!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tried and tested: Banana Bread

We are loving the hot weather that has finally arrived. We have had several days with temperatures soaring over 30 degrees. Ok, the nights are a bit sticky, admittedly, but we are NOT complaining!

My days are quiet and rather uneventful, just enjoying the heat sitting under the lilac tree and trying to get back to my normal self. Must admit I am a bit impatient and the pain I experienced after a cautious swim yesterday was not very encouraging, but still, I am making progress. Just a very slow one...

We are all craving fruit and vegetables in the heat, but I had some bananas that had reached the height of ripeness, so making a banana bread was the only solution. It turned out very moist and delicious. You can make it with buttermilk, but you can also substitute this as suggested below if you don't have any:




285 plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
110g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
4 VERY ripe bananas, mashed
85ml buttermilk (or normal milk mixed with 1½ tsp lemon juice or vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Bake at 180C

Sift the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt) into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture.

I baked it in a normal bread tin which I greased well using Cake Release which I got from Lakeland. Bake the cake for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden-brown. Let the cake cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

One Thing Leads to Another...

I am back again after my final two weeks of holidays for this year. Our holiday year runs from 1 October to 30 September, and I now only have one day left before our new holiday allowance starts.

I think we are very lucky - I get 33 working days off a year (plus public holidays).

A great perk!

 

So, the family holiday was spent in Venice in July and these last two weeks I have been potting around at home (love it!) and also visiting friends in Zurich.

 

One of my projects while home was to get the gate to our garden replaced. The old one was rather shabby looking and not very sturdy, so a new gate was aquired and painted while waiting for the man to install it. 

 

I was very pleased with the new gate, but once it was installed the rest of the fence looked really shabby and the color seemed faded and the algea at the bottom was really showing. So, more paint will now be bought and the rest of the fence will get a new lick of paint so it will all match.

 

Yes, that is what often happens...

you start touching one thing and it leads to more projects...

 

Come To Lido!

Summer memories from Lido Di Venezia:

Just outside Venice is the island of Lido with a lovely, looong beach. We only had a couple of days on the beach when we visited Venice, but I think I would stay in Lido if we go back to Venice. It is just a short vaporetto ride in to Venice city.

Life is slower there than Venice (and cheaper). One of the days we rented a sort of tandem bike for two people and squeezed ourselves in (the 4 mans bikes were all taken) and rode around the island.
It was mad!
3 people squeezed in: two were biking, one relaxing (guess who!) and one steering (again, guess who!). Not the most efficient bike, but it was oooooh, so fun!

I had the biggest fit of giggles while we were making the roads unsafe for the rest of the islanders... I am just glad we didn't tip over in the curves...! It felt like we were 'racing' around...

There was also a "flee market" by the beach, but that was the most expensive flee market I have ever encountered. Ridiculous prices, to be honest. But still fun to browse!

And yes, we did a bit of what you normally do on the beach, too

:-)

We fell in love with Lido, to be honest.

I can see us going back one day...



Colourful Burano and Wishful Thinking

We made good use of the water buses (vaparetto) while we were in Venice this summer. I get restless in these lovely sunny and hot places as with my freckly and fair Scandinavian skin there is a limit to how much time I can spend on a beach so we try to go to places where there is lots to see and do.

Venice was a perfect combination of city/culture/history/beach. One day we took the vaparetto to the island of Burano. Most people have heard of Murano where they make glass (yes, we went there too), but a little further on you come to the island of Burano where they make beautiful lace. Little old ladies were sitting in the numerours lace shops making lace. So intricate and amazing they see these small stiches and thread... Each lady specialises in one particular knot so each piece of lace is made by many hands and takes MONTHS to complete!

But the quiet car free island of Burano which is also criss crossed with canals like Venice was also a sight to see and we wandered all over (it is very small) looking at the amazingly colourful buildings.

There doesn't seem to be any rules as to which colour you can choose...

these buildings are not sinking (I think)... we can only blame the photographer :-)

The place was so peaceful and obviously with a lot less tourists than Venice.

I started thinking perhaps I wouldn't mind spending a year there, perhaps writing a book of sorts and spending the days just 'thinking'... It was that kind of place.

a tile on one of the colourful walls of Burano...

Ah, well, just as well this is mere wishful thinking.

It isn't only Pisa that has a leaning tower... Not sure I would dare to live too close to this church tower...

Knowing me, I would probably get bored...

Could you spend a year in a quiet, secluded place away from your normal life?

Back From Venice...!

This blog break was quite unplanned, but it just felt right to take a break from the blog while we were 10 days in marvellously, mad and magical Venice!

But I am back on the blog again now!

Venice... no place like it.

A very different way of life living surrounded by water (and tourists).

We had found a lovely romatic loft apartment 5 mins from St. Mark's with a roof terrace and the most amazing view of Venice. The charming hosts lived in the flat below and were extremely generous and friendly. Truly a lovely place with charm and character - although it had 78 steps to climb since the flat was in the loft... - yes, I counted! But we had air conditioning!
☺

We felt we got to know this maze of a city quite well since we were there for 10 days. Most tourists stay for only a couple of days. Madness, if you ask me as there is so much to see and do.

More stories and views of Venice will follow...

Ready To Go!

The Ladies Who Dine met last night at the house of our Dutch friend. They have recently bought a new house and I am officially 'jealous'!

☺

We had made it simple by splitting the different dishes between us - somebody brought the dauphinoise potatoes, somebody brought a yummy salad, another brought cheese and crackers, I brought a dessert and the hostess provided the main and a starter. There was wine and water and delicious coffee!

The combination of it all was excellent - it was so scrumptious!

No need for breakfast this morning...

And per usual - at some point in the evening we started reminding each other of favourite songs and singing 70s and 80s classics...

So typical us and always a lot of fun!

Hope we didn't scare the kids (or the neighbours!)!

The group has grown and shrunk over the years. This friendship group began when some of the mothers of boys in the same class started going out for dinner together almost 12-13 years ago. And it became a friendship group which started seeing each other regularly, particularly when a few of us started doing yoga on Tuesdays and we now meet at the pub afterwards.  At the moment we are 7 ladies meeting up (if we can make it) more or less every week after yoga and in addition we occassionally explore various restaurants in the area, each others houses, go to London, the movies or exhibitions.

To me they are a safe place to share happiness, sorrows, concerns, hopes, ideas and dreams. Some have left us and moved to other countries, but at least one of the original Ladies Who Dine is still in the current group. And we have just been told one of our 'old' members is coming over from Canada later this summer!

♥

Thanks, girls - so grateful for your friendship and company!

It was a blast last night!

So Close....!

We have endured another wet summer weekend...

Good weather to stay indoors doing some crocheting and watch the Wimbledon finals...

Our Neighbour and I took a friend out for a quick lunch as it was her birthday earlier in the week and then we all hurried home to watch the finals at Wimbledon.

I am normally neither a big fan of watching sports on the telly nor a tennis fan, but this was rather exciting! However, it didn't matter how much I was trying to will Andy Murray to win, Roger Federer was simply the better player - this was his 7th Wimbledon title!

So, Andy didn't win the title, but he won the heart of the nation with his tear filled and gracious speech.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the entire nation...

Come on, Andy!

There is always next year!

Tried and Tested: Sunflower Bread

Not much sun over here this summer...

Heard on the radio it was the wettest June since they started keeping records...

Soooo fed up with the rain!

Last night I started a dough of bread, but left it in the fridge to rise overnight and I baked it this morning before heading to work. I must admit I don't eat much bread, but there is something very satisfying with the smell of home made bread.

Besides, there are others in the house who just can't live without bread!

I used only white flower today along with sunflowerseeds and pumpkin seeds, but I normally use a random mix of flours to get a darker/healthier variety. Note that you must use minimum 1/2 l of white flour, if not,  the bread becomes too heavy. This is my tried and trusted no-work-no-kneading-recipe and I know it by heart! So easy, and so nice to pop the bread in the oven and serve fresh baked bread for breakfast. It makes two smaller breads or one large.

1 l flour

0.5 l water

2 teaspoons yeast

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons sugar

4 generous tablespoons olive oil

2 generous handfuls of sunflowerseeds

2 generous handfuls of pumpkin seeds

Mix well and let it rise on the counter for a few hours.

Pop the bowl with the dough in the fridge and let the dough continue to rise overnight.

Bake on 175 degrees for about 40 mins.

taken with my IPhone via Instagram

Seemed fitting to bake the bread in my sunflower mould as a dear and lovely friend of mine brought me gorgeous sunflowers for no other reason than to brighten my day!

♥

Now, where is that real sun....????

Tried and Tested: Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam

5.30 am...

An alarm clock set in error rang somewhere in the house and by the time I found it, I was wide awake.

Light summer mornings help as well... even if it is a Monday!

Well, no point in going back to bed. After a quick shower, I started the washing machine, continued tidying up after the return of Our Boy who came back yesterday afternoon after a successful canoing trip in Sweden (although literally covered in mosquito bites...).

Now what?

An idea!

My former neighbour popped by yesterday and had brought a load of rhubarb from her garden. There was a punnet of strawberries in the fridge 'begging' to be used. 

So, my version of Rhubarb and Strawberry jam was born:

400 grams strawberries

400 grams rhurbarb

400 grams sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring it to the boil and let it all cook for about 15 mins and transfer to clean jars.

To add to my productive morning, I also mixed a batch of dough ready to bake some bread when I get home tonight. I think fresh baked bread with some of this rhubarb and strawberry jam will be nice...

Oh!

I think I hear the washing machine finishing.

Just in time to hang before going to work.

Already a productive day and it isn't even 8 am!

Have a good and productive day

- no matter when it starts for you!

PS: I just realised this is my 501st blog entry.
Wow!
Who would have thought...

May I Introduce You To...

I popped outside the door to take some pictures of all the lovely flowers in full bloom. Suddenly, I lost concentration and became aware of something making a lot of noice and creeping into view through the lense...

May I introduce you to TenTen?

The neighbourhoods most talkative cat!

He is not our cat.

He kind of "belongs" to one of our neighbours.

Well, he actually belongs to some other people on a different street...

Ok, here is the story of TenTen:

One dark and blustery night (all stories start like that, don't they...) our neighbours had a knock on the door at 10 pm. There was a very concerned lady explaining that she had almost run over a cat as the silly creature was just lying in the middle of the road... Since our neighbours house was the closest she thought perhaps the cat was theirs? It wasn't their cat, but our neighbours are kind and loving people who took the cat in and the cat absolutely loved it! 

They called him TenTen since he arrived at 10 pm on the 10th day of the month...

The neighbours searched for days to find out who TenTen belonged to. Yes, he was chipped, but the owners had changed address so the vet was not able to contact them. To cut a long story short, after a lot of detective work, our neighbours found the real owners. They had several cats and were well used to Ten Ten leaving for days on end. We all think with several other cats in the house it was a bit too much for him.

So, his owners didn't mind that he more or less moved in with our neighbours who fittingly enough are called Charity. He sometimes goes back to visit his original family, but most of the time he likes it around our cul-de-sac with his 'new' family. He is the friendliest of cats and talks to everyone. If you leave your doors open, he will visit and make himself at home.

However, not in our house.

Our Cat sees to that!

They do get along nicely and sometimes TenTen comes to our garden to play with Our Cat, but Our Cat draws the line about visits to OUR house.

I think TenTen's talking is too much for Our Cat who is more of the dark, mysterious and silent type...

All in all, a happy ending to the story of TenTen.

I think the point that you don't choose a cat - the cat chooses you has been well proved!



A Hidden Gem...

The Plough, Fen Ditton

A while ago I had bought tickets for us via Groupon for a different type of river cruise. Punting is the norm here in town, but this was a trip on a barge outside of town.

I suddenly remembered these tickets and as they expire soon, The Professor and I decided that today was the day for a river cruise! The weather didn't start out too great, but hey! this is England - it is bound to rain at some point in the day so that can't stop us!

The boat left from The Plough in Fen Ditton, a pub previously unknow to us. We found the place and it turned out to be a gorgeously charming place. But before exploring the pub any further a handful of people joined us on the most relaxing river cruise ever. This picture is from one of the properties we passed. It had also once been a pub, but it was now privately owned.

There were lots of gorgeous properties along the river and loads of birds with the young ones.

There were also groups of rowers training on the river. Our Boy rows for his school and they regularly come down this end of the river. Our guide told us about 200 boats train on the river every day. It is always a concern to find a balance between the rowers and the local wild life.

Further down the river, closer to town we passed several riverboats. Looks lovely on a summer's day, but not sure I would like it in the cold and damp winter...

The weather perked up and we passed a group of people having a party in their garden along the river. Unfortunately, they only waved to us, but didn't invite us in

:-)





We also got some attention from the cows along the bank who studied us with interest. Apparently, there is an old ancient law that allows the cows to graze in the fields around town and also in the park close to our house.

The cruise returned to the pub from where it had started and more people had arrived to join the next cruise. It only takes 45 minutes - perfect to work up an appetite!

So, we ended our day out with a lovely lunch at the pub!

This is definetely a place I will take guests next time anybody comes over!

I love discovering hidden gems, even after all the years in my corner of England!



Making The Most Of Summer!

Amazingly enough, The Professor is home for a few days and as Our Boy is still in Sweden, we are making the most of the days alone. Although, I am still working we manage to steal some quality time meeting up for lunch on a very hot and humid day.

♥
Our preferred lunch at our favourite pub "The Eagle" is almost always a Greek Salad . The pub dates back to the 14th century and is famous for the Raf ceiling which boasts signatures of Raf pilots from all over the world who returned from the Second World War and signed their names on the ceiling using only cigarette lighters, candle smoke and lip stick. The pub is also where Watson and Crick announced to the world they had discovered "the secret of life" (DNA).

The place was packed, so we shared the table with a very nice Australian couple who just happened to stumble across the place and had no idea it is the town's most famous pub.

The Eagle's Greek salad is so simple but comes with the most generous helping of olives and feta cheese,

- just what you need on a hot, sticky day.

The Summer's First 'Wild' Adventure...

The first adventure this summer started this morning.

Our Boy had his last IGCSE exam yesterday (think he has had 20 exams since 10 May! not sure this is a satisfactory system of evaluating academic knowledge, but that will have to be discussed another day) and at 4 am this morning he left with the outdoor pursuits group from school for 10 days of canoing in Sweden.

They are heading to the Swedish 'wilderness' around Ed, north of Gothenburg in Sweden.

I must admit it was a bit amusing earlier this year when we attended the school's information meeting and they talked about the 'wilderness'...

Ed is just across the border from where I grew up in Norway.

We never looked upon it as 'wilderness'...

☺

I am sure they will have a great time!

Just hope it won't rain too much.

The Professor also took off this morning for two conferences on the continent leaving me and The Cat to fend for our selves.

I am sure we will be fine!

You can just imagine all the PLANS I have of all the things I am going to get DONE...

Famous last words...? 

♥

May Events... in June

Last night was the May Concert in St. John's College. The end of year events used to take place in May, but now they are always in June. It is still called May-week... 

The May Ball is the traditional end of year BIG party in the colleges. Each college has their own night and whilst Trinity's party was on next door, St. John's was also getting ready whilst our concert event took place for their party which is tonight.

What a great evening we had!

Lovely music in the Chapel and then gorgeous canapes and drinks outside. The weather had decided to be on our side and it was a lovely summers evening.

I have started using Instagram and kept taking pictures and putting up as the evening progressed.



Bridge of Sighs

And as we always do, at the end we piled out to the lawn, passing the Bridge of Sighs to see the fireworks from Trinity College.

Magical!





The Men Are Bonding...

What a summer of celebrations!

Just as we finished celebrating Mrs Queen, the football frenzy gets going.

Not that I could care less about football...

But my generally football uninterested Son and Husband always become football interested whenever there is a big event like a European Cup (is that what is going on this summer?) or World Cup takes place. Then suddenly all matches must be watched and discussions about the games become a daily occurrence...

Yesterday their tickets for the Olympic games arrived in the post. They only managed to get tickets for one event - rowing. In my mind, not too exciting, but this is Our Boy's favourite sport and he rows for school, so I guess it makes sense....

to him and his dad.

End of Another Academic Year...

Tomorrow is the end of the Easter term here at the University.

The academic year is divided into three terms: Michaelmas Term, Lent Term and Easter Term.

True to tradition, as we do at the end of each term, we invited all the students working in the area of research my group is related to for a lunch in the President's Lodge in one of the old colleges.

Here are some (poor pictures taken with my IPhone) glimpses of the walled garden

The weather looks nice, but it isn't quite the summer temperatures we could wish for and the event was held indoors. 

Still, I wore a dress AND no stockings!

☺

Our own office summer party will not take place for almost another month in this garden so we can hope it gets warmer by then!

♥