frayed at the edge

A busy day!

Friday morning is always busy, as I rush about getting the housework done, before I head off to Borderland Fabrics for a busy afternoon sewing (and chatting and drinking tea and eating cake .... more about the cake later).   However, I did find the time to take photos of this lovely primula, which is flowering on a windowsill

 

the flowers are a beautiful colour

 

 

the delicate markings on the petals are lovely

 

In contrast, my yucca is getting bigger and bigger!  It sits there, ready to stab anyone foolish enough to get too close .....

 

 

This afternoon I was doing a bit more work on the quilt I started last year, which I am going to give to Project Linus.  I forgot to take a photo (sorry!), so here is one I took earlier!

 

 

Fortunately I didn't forget to take photos of the cake - we had a choice of two today

 

a border tart - very sweet, but delicious

 

 

a lovely, rich, moist fruit cake

 

Oh dear .... I succumbed and had a piece of each!!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne

 

Food glorious food!

As promised, lots of lovely food!!  First is the recipe for the stuffed aubergine.  The quantities are to serve two people.  You will need : 1 large aubergine, olive oil, 250g minced lamb, 1 onion finely chopped, 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 50 g feta, roughly crumbled.  Heat the oven to 180C.  Cut the aubergine in half and scoop out the flesh, chop the flesh finely, then rub the aubergine shells with some olive oil.  Put a glug of oil in a frying pan and fry the mince, add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 mins until the onion is soft.  Add the tomato puree, cumin and cinnamon and mix well then stir in the feta.  Spoon the mixture into the shells, drizzle with a little oil, then bake for about 30 mins until the shells are soft.  Serve with a side salad.

 

Now for our wonderful dinner yesterday!  First the starter  .....

Smoked salmon and strawberry mousse

100g smoked salmon

50g strawberries

150ml double cream

lemon pepper

grapes, lemon zest and dill

Put the salmon, strawberries and cream in a processor and season with the pepper.  Using the pulse setting, gradually blitz until well mixed, but not too thick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put the mixture into four ramekins and garnish with the grapes, dill and lemon zest.  Cover the dishes with cling film and refigerate.  You can make this the day before - take it out of the fridge about 30 mins before eating.

 

 

 

 

The main course

 

a piece of rolled brisket(this one is about 2kg)

carrots

onion

parsnips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put the brisket and vegetables in a saucepan and add about an inch of water.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 3 hours.  We cook ours the day before and leave the meat in the liquid overnight. 

 

 

 

 

The next day, remove the vegetables.  They make a good base for making soup - or add them to your dog's dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring the liquid up to the boil, and boil briskly until the liquid is almost boiled away.  Turn the meat frequently, coating it with the  reduced liquid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put the meat on a serving plate and allow to cool - it is much easier to slice when it is cold.  Pour a little boiling water into the saucepan to deglaze the pan of all those wonderful meaty flavours and use this to make your gravy. 

 

 

 

 

We served it with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, turnip, broccoli .... and of couse, lots of lovely gravy.    There was lots of meat left over - it's delicious on sandwiches with some chutney, or make more gravy and heat it up and serve with lots of mashed potatoes.

 

 

 

And of course there was pudding!

250g pannetone

2 eggs

75g caster sugar

215ml double cream

215ml milk

softened butter

1 slightly underripe pear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slice the pannetone and butter on both sides, then arrange in an oven proof dish.  Whisk the eggs and sugar together, then beat in the cream and milk.  Pour this over the panetonne.  Peel and core the pear, then slice it lengthways.  Tuck the pear between the slices of pannetone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stand the dish in a roasting tray and pour in cold water to come about two thirds of the way up the sides.  Bake at 180C for about 45 mins - check regularly, if the top edges of the pannetone are getting too dark, cover with some foil.  Check that the custard is set.  You can serve this hot or cold, and with cream or custard.

 

 

 

I forgot to take a photo when the pudding was ready, but if the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then this photo says it all!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly I haven't forgotten about Charlene's prize ....

 

A gorgeous little Cath Kidston book, full of tips to  achieve that vintage look. 

 

 

 

A tale of two cakes

I haven't been very organised as far as tonight's post is concerned!!  I only have one photo from today .....of course it is the Friday afternoon cake from patch'n'chat

 

it was absoutely delicious, full of apple ..... yum, yum!

 

I've had a trawl through the archives, and I've found another cake.  This one is amazing ..... it was made for me by my amazingly talented friend Lorraine (remember her wonderful marzipan fruits on our Christmas cake).  She made it for a party I had to celebrate the finishing of my studio ......

 

The cake was so beautiful, it was a shame to eat it!!  All the decorations were made from icing - Lorraine must have spent hours making them.  The silver tube that you can just see in the top corner of the cake was an indoor firework - it looked amazing when the cake was brought in ..... but unfortunately it set off the smoke detectors!!

 

As promised, I have chosen the winner of the octopus giveaway - in the end it was an easy decision, as all but one of the people who commented on the drawings had won something in previous giveaways .... so the winner is Charlene!  This is where the disorganisation appears again, as I forgot to take a photo of the prize - I'll show you on Monday!

 

Several people have asked about the stuffed aubergine recipe .... I'll post it on Monday, when I'm also going to tell you about the meal we will be having with our visitors on Sunday.

 

I hope you all have a good weekend, love, Anne

 

Spring is in the air!!

It has been wonderful this week to get back into our normal routine, after the disruption of the last few weeks.  So we headed into Hawick this morning for our usual Thursday cuppa and a scone, which is my treat!    I had a pot of tea, and Malcolm had this magnificent cappucino

 

 

When we got home, Malcolm spotted these snowdrops peeking through the gravel in an old half-barrel which sits next to the front door .....

 

 

and this little alpine in one of our  wooden planters bravely putting out some new leaves ....

 

 

If that's not enough evidence that spring is (or might be) in the air, then surely this lovely card from Lindsay, inviting me to her next Woolgathering, should convince you ...

 

 

Not quite persuaded?  Then my other post surely means that it's nearly spring ...

 

.... no, I'm not entirely convinced either!!

 

I spent the afternoon in the studio, working on next week's Tuesday Tutorial - all I am going to say is that it involves chocolate!!

Then it was time to make dinner, which meant that I could try out this fabulous new knife that Malcolm bought for me on Tuesday

 

So what did I make ..... aubergines stuffed with spicy lamb and feta - this is it ready to go in the oven

 

We also had a side salad (mine is the one without tomato - while I like cooked tomato, I just don't like raw tomato in a salad!) 

As you can see, the salad is garnished with  strawberries - I don't usually buy foreign strawberries in winter, but Jennifer and her husband are coming to visit on Sunday, and I need strawberries for the starter ....... I'll tell you all about the meal on Monday!!!
 

 
 

 

 

 

Comfort food!

We didn't get the forecast snow overnight - hooray!  And it hasn't snowed today - double hooray!!  BUT, it is bitterly cold, so this morning I gathered together these ingredients

 

and this recipe

 

While the dal was cooking, I also got out these ingredients

In a bowl I put about two tablespoons of the chilli sauce, two table spoons of lime juice and one tablespoon of mint sauce.  I finely sliced the onion, added it to the bowl and mixed everything together well.  I covered it with clingfilm and popped it in the fridge for the rest of the day

 

This evening I made chicken curry and reheated the dal, then assembled it all (don't worry, Malcolm got some too!)

 

It was a wonderful warming dinner, just the thing on a very cold, but very beautiful day

 

I would love a comment from you, because then I could put you in the draw for my first anniversary giveaway!

 

ps - I'm sorry some of the photos are aligned left - yes, you've guessed, Typepad is having one of its regular wobblies and won't let me centre them!
 
 

 

 

I must make a note of that .....

I love notebooks ...... big ones, small ones, in between ones ..... so imagine my delight when I found not ONE, not TWO, but THREE notebooks in my Christmas Stocking!!  First was this little tiny one

 

It's perfect for in my handbag, for shopping lists, things to do, those moments of inspiration which you have forgotten by the time you get home if you don't write it down there and then ........ and best of all,  you too could buy one here  - do have a look at the website, as there are all sorts of delicious notebooks and cards ..... and it's all made with recycled paper!

 

The next one is exceedingly cute .....

and it gets even cuter ........

..... when you open the cover, this little scene pops up!  And yes, there is a website for this one too!

 

And then there is this glorious one .....

... a wonderful confection of felt and beading - I already have plans for this one!!  (unfortunately there is no website for this one).

 

So, what was it I wanted to make a note of?   Oh yes, I have to write myself a reminder to bake next year's Christmas cake on time (I'm always late doing it!) and to get more of Lorraine's wonderful marzipan fruits to decorate it.  We had a slice of cake with our afternoon cuppa - and Malcolm enjoyed his marzipan lemon!

  
 
 
 

The icing on the cake

On Monday, I sorted out all these ingredients and utensils ......

 

....... ready to ice the Christmas cake

 

 

first I heated some apricot jam

 

 

and brushed it over the cake

 

 

I kneaded the icing and put it on a board dusted with icing sugar

 

 

I rolled out the icing, trying to keep it roughly circular

 

 

I rolled the icing carefully round the rolling pin

 

 

the icing is a bit bigger than the cake ........

 

 

........... so that I could use the trimmings to decorate the cake

 

 

I cut out stars using a cookie cutter .............

 

 

....... and arranged them on the top of the cake

 

 

I don't like marzipan, so I added these wonderful marzipan fruits, made by my friend Lorraine, for Malcolm and other marzipan lovers

 

 

then I got carried away and added some sparkly ribbon!

 

 

finished with a ribbon rose

 

 

I sat the cake on the lid of the cake box

 

 

then covered it to keep it fresh for the few days until Christmas

 

I wish I could give you all a slice - but I'll think of you as I tuck into it!!

  

 

It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht ........

...... morning!  I took this photo yesterday just before 8 o'clock

 

it was a lovely clear, cold, frosty morning.  You can see the lights of Hawick on the horizon.  I then tried taking another photo of the moon using the zoom .... the background has come out very dark, but I was amazed to see the detail of the surface of the moon!

 

Of course, Friday means cake, and Annette triumphed with another of her sponges - a chocolate one this time

 

Unfortunately, the weather today was back to damp and dreary, but when it started to rain this afternoon, the sky was brightened by this double rainbow

 

I know I shouldn't be thinking of starting a new sewing project when I have so many unfinished ones lurking in the studio, but for the last few weeks, I have been thinking about making a new runner for the chest of drawers in our bedroom.  So this afternoon I got out one of my many notebooks and did a little drawing

I haven't done any applique for a while, so I am looking forward to getting started!

 

I was tidying up before I came back into the house at the end of the afternoon - and thought I would take photos of the silly tin I keep odds and ends in ...

The foam shark is actually the top of a pen, which I got as a free gift in a shopping mall in Singapore years ago - I never use it, I just like it!  The back of the tin is also silly .....

 
  
 
 
 
 

Does anyone know where Noah is .....

..... because we could do with building another ark!!  We have had rain, rain and more rain, and although we haven't been as badly hit as some towns, there has been some flooding.  I took these photos this morning, when the river had gone back down quite a bit, but some of them show just how high the water got.

 

the river here is feet deep, where it is usually just inches deep

 

 

these trees are normally at the water's edge

 

 

if you look at the centre of the photo, you can see debris caught under the bridge

 

 

there is a small island under these trees!!

 

 

you can see the line on the bank where the river reached its highest level

 

 

this is a large tree trunk, jammed against the bridge

 

 

the noise of the water rushing past is frightening

 

But of course it's Friday, which must mean it's time for Annette's latest masterpiece!!

yes, it was as delicious as it looks!!

 

Finally, we just want to say a very big thankyou to everyone who has left comments and sent e-mails.  There have been tears reading them, but there has also been laughter - Malcolm hadn't ever thought of his Dad as a handsome man, but of course he thinks so now, when several people also said he looks like his Dad!!

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

 

Many, many thanks ....

...... to everyone for all the kind words for Malcolm - it means a lot to him to know that so many people are thinking of him.  He went down to Ashington first thing this morning and is staying overnight in the hospital with his Dad, who unfortunately is still very, very ill.  Malcolm and I had a chat last night about writing about his Dad, and we came to the conclusion that I would tell you what was happening, but I won't say much more for the moment - we just didn't want you to think that I was posting my usual nonsense regardless of the turmoil in our lives.

So ..... I didn't go with Malcolm today as I had a major appointment at the dentist!  I know, it's all been going on for months, but another two appointments and it should all be over - but then comes the real pain - the BILL.  I took the opportunity of a day in the house to get on with domestic things - doing the ironing (my least favourite job) and cooking for the freezer - I still have a big pot of bolognese simmering!! 

During the day, I had an awful thought - when I did the post about the sticky toffee cake, I had a whole packet of butter in the photo - but I didn't say how much to use!  Please don't put in the whole packet - I used about 60g.  I have now amended the post - I just had the most awful vision of people melting a whole packet of butter.....

Of course, I have still been knitting, and the first little Christmas gnome is taking shape

 

I'll finish his beard tonight, and get started on number two - I think I will do him in green!

Stuart was planning to visit baby Mia tonight, so hopefully he will phone later with a full report!!