Cranberry walnut loaf cake

Cranberries are winter food. For me, their flavour evokes crisp days, frosty cobwebs, and warm homes. This is a recipe for a lovely moist loaf cake which I have made for others on a couple of occasions now - each time it has been well received. It would freeze well so it can easily be made in advance as a gift. The recipe is adapted from one found on My Blessed Life.

Cranberry walnut loaf cake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Butter a loaf tin.

225g plain flour
75g golden caster sugar
50g light brown soft sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Mix these ingredients in a large bowl.

120ml whole milk
30g butter
2 medium eggs
Half a tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of an orange

Melt the butter. Beat the eggs and mix with the milk, vanilla, and orange zest. Gradually incorporate the melted butter into this mixture, stirring all the time.

Mix the dry ingredients with the egg mixture and combine but do not overmix.

150g cranberries
100g chopped walnuts

Add the cranberries and walnuts to the mixture and fold in.

Bake for 55-60 minutes.

A brief history of the last few months

Here are a few things I've been up to recently:

My first macarons

Chocolate cake for Nick's birthday

I think he liked it!

Many flavours of jam

My first iced cake with sugar flowers

Christmas pudding making

The finished product

Delicious rhubarb and blueberry
crumble

My Christmas cake fruit

After baking....

and after icing. 

I'm quite pleased with all my efforts!

Preparing for winter part 2 - and plans for 2012

A month or so ago, I posted about preparing for winter. Life has been a bit mad since then, but some of the things on the list have been achieved. Curtains are in progress, the winter duvet has come out, the chimney has been fixed (thanks Nick!) and the loft has been insulated (thanks Nick and Eric!).

I still need to have a clear out of my closet and of the upstairs 'junk' cupboard. In fact, in 2012 I would like to declutter the whole house. So many things get held on to because they are sentimental, or they might be useful, or I am too busy to think about taking them to a charity shop or selling them. In reality, these things just take over and make life more complicated: more to clean, more to maintain, more to think about. Little by little, I would like to rid our home of the things that are mere clutter, things that we do not use, things that are past it, things that might be useful but then again they might not, and if we did need one we could easily get or borrow one.

That's my mission!

Beautiful and easy roast vegetable torte

I dreamt up this easy weeknight, vegetarian supper yesterday. It was lovely!

Roast vegetable torte - serves 4
Peppers - 1 red, 1 yellow
1 large courgette
1 aubergine
1 large onion
Italian mixed seasoning (or use a couple of sprigs of rosemary and oregano, and some chopped basil)
Olive oil
4 eggs
225g ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Chop the vegetables into pieces all roughly the same size.
3. Place in a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, turning once.
4. Beat the eggs in a jugs, then beat in the ricotta, salt and pepper to form a smooth paste.
5. Transfer the vegetables to a 25cm flan dish, or any ovenproof dish that looks about the right size to hold them snugly. Pour the egg mixture over the top. 
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed up and golden.
7. Serve with potatoes or rice, or a big green salad.

Lovely baby blanket to make

I saw this on a friend's facebook wall, and I want to make one too. So many knitting projects in mind!

Apple crumble

For me, apple crumble speaks loud and clear of crisp autumn days, red leaves rustling on the ground, and the comfort of a warm home. I made one yesterday and it perfectly evoked all that I love about autumn.

Apple crumble - serves 8-10
175g butter
200g plain flour
100g demerara (or golden caster) sugar
200g oats
12 small or 8 medium eating apples
75g sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Handful flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cube the butter into small pieces. 
3. Tip the butter, flour, and demerara sugar into a food processor. Pulse until well mixed into a breadcrumb texture. Add the oats and mix together.
4. Peel, core, and chop the apples. (To do this, I peel them fully, then slice off each side in turn. No messing around with corers for me!)
5. Place the apples in a large baking dish and sprinkle over the sugar and the cinnamon. Use your hands to make sure it is well mixed.
6. Spread the crumble topping over the apples right to the edges. Scatter flaked almonds over the top.
7. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until the topping is golden.
8. Serve with cream, crème fraiche, or (my favourite) custard.

I adapted this recipe from one found online. I use more oats because, well, I like an oaty topping. This recipe makes quite a large quantity of topping. Any that is left over can be frozen in a box or bag and used for future crumbles. I used 5 small eating apples and about two-fifths of the topping, and my crumble was big enough to feed 4-5 people. You can't really go wrong: if you have too many apples, just make the apple layer thicker; if too much topping, just freeze the remainder.

Preparing for winter

It is 26 degrees today, so it seems odd to be thinking about preparing for winter, but that is what I am doing. The brief blip of summer we've had for the last few days (during which we did a lot of gardening and took our kayak all the way to Sandford Lock - good times) is surely going to be over very soon, and will be rapidly followed by several months of dark evenings, bitter cold, and the associated feeling of never wanting to leave the house, ever again.

So, here are my thoughts on things my household needs to do before winter really kicks in. We already had the boiler serviced, hurrah!

(By the way, I find the wife of noble character described in Proverbs 31:10-31 totally inspiring. 'When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet... She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.' I want to be just like her.)

• Stock up on tinned and dry goods (for which a semi-major pantry reorganisation may be required)
• Put away summer dresses and make sure winter clothes are ready to go
• Make thermal curtains for living room
• Change to autumn duvet
• Move a duvet downstairs for when we're cold in the living room
• Get a blind for the kitchen
• Install a new fan in the bathroom - no more open windows for showers!
• Make draught excluders for front and back doors
• Clear out upstairs cupboard so we can actually find things in there, and make a place for candles, torches etc
• Get chimney fixed
• Insulate loft in small room

Lots to do! Hopefully over the next few weekends we'll be able to get a lot of this done, and hopefully the result will be we won't be so cold in the house this winter as we were last year.

Butternut squash with spinach and ricotta ravioli

I needed to make a vegetarian main course for my birthday dinner, so I adapted a recipe I found in a Lakeland cookbook.

Butternut squash with spinach and ricotta ravioli - serves 10-12
Five packets (1.5 kg) spinach and ricotta ravioli
1 large or 2 medium butternut squash
Olive oil
300ml cream
150ml crème fraiche
1 large or 2 medium leeks

Peel the butternut squash, halve and remove the seeds. Cut each half into two lengthways, and slice the pieces in slices about 0.5 cm thick.
Slice the leeks finely.
Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, and fry the butternut squash in batches until just browned and tender. If a fork pushes in with little resistance, it is ready. Keep it warm while you prepare the rest of the meal.
Fry the leeks in the same frying pan for 5-10 minutes until soft. Add the cream and crème fraiche and a splash of water to the pan. Bring to the boil and then cook for 4-5 minutes until reduced. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook the ravioli according to the packet instructions.
To serve, spoon a layer of ravioli into a large serving dish, followed by a layer of butternut squash. Repeat, then top with the cream sauce.

I really enjoyed the autumnal flavours. The cream and leek sauce complemented the butternut squash beautifully. And, it was so quick and easy to make!

Birthday dinner - summer meets autumn

On Friday, I hosted a girls-only (belated) birthday dinner. Eight of my lovely friends came and celebrated with me - it was a great evening.

I planned a menu contrasting the seasons - an autumnal appetizer (onion marmalade tarts - recipe below) and main course (butternut squash with ricotta ravioli), and a dessert to bid farewell to summer (individual pavlovas with strawberries and raspberries).

Onion marmalade tarts
The onion marmalade tarts were wonderfully quick and easy to make, thanks to my mother-in-law's recipes. The recipe below is enough for 12 mini tarts.

For the pastry, heat 6 tbsp water and 6 tbsp oil together, mix with 250g plain flour and a pinch of salt, and use immediately.

For the marmalade:
2 tbsp oil
500g red onions, thinly sliced
200ml red wine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then cook the onions, stirring regularly, until soft.
Add the remaining ingredients. Cook on a moderate heat for 40 minutes, until the mixture is reduced and sticky.
Transfer to an airtight container for storage. It freezes well.

To assemble, roll out the pastry quite thinly, and use a pastry cutter to cut 12 small rounds. Fit them in a cupcake tin. Fill them with a teaspoonful or two of the marmalade. Bake at 200C for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Things we grew this year

It seems that the summer is over. Autumn is upon us, with its deliciously crisp days and kaleidoscope of colours, making me want to eat nothing but pumpkin soup and roasted tomatoes.

Tomorrow my parents and I will be clearing my little back garden of its summer blooms, ready for the winter. I've had such a lot of fun in the garden this year, and have been rewarded by quite a lot of produce from it.

My successes have included mixed salad leaves, raspberries (I'm anticipating a second crop later in a couple of weeks), spinach, chard, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, runner beans, and blueberries. I have three butternut squash vines still growing, and I think at least one of them is going to fruit!

Failures: purple sprouting broccoli (never got going), dianthus (pinks - not sure why they didn't grow), tomatoes (blown over by the wind), rhubarb (two of the three crowns lost all their leaves, but I'm hoping they'll grow back next year). My strawberry plants are still in the ground, nearly all of them have survived so hopefully I'll get some fruit from them next year.

Next year I hope to be a little bit more organised and plant a lot more pots of different vegetables. I like climbing ones the best, as they take up so little room for the size of crop you get. So perhaps green beans or peas instead of or as well as runner beans? As well as my trusty salads which are super-easy to grow, and totally fresh when you eat them.

All in all, it was another fun gardening year!

Easy as apple pie

Mum gave me some cooking apples from her garden and I decided to make an apple pie with them. Being a bit short on time, I did not use a recipe, but just went with the flow. It turned out great and it was so easy (if a little bit labour-intensive with all the peeling and coring).

Apple pie - serves 6-8

3 small cooking apples

250g plain flour

125g butter

5 tbsp water

8-10 tbsp caster sugar

An 8-inch pie dish

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat.
2. Make the pastry. Melt the butter over a low heat with the water. Mix together the plain flour and 5 or 6 tablespoons of caster sugar. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and stir well to combine. 
3. Leave the pastry to rest while you prepare the apples. Peel, core, and slice the apples (about 0.5 to 1 cm thick).
4. Roll out the pastry to about 0.5 cm thick. Use a large area with a generous sprinkling of plain flour on the board and the rolling pin. Cut out a circle an inch bigger than the pie dish. Carefully roll the pastry circle onto the rolling pin, and roll over the dish to cover the base and sides. Keep the remaining pastry for the pie top.
5. Fill the pastry case with the chopped apples, and sprinkle with 3 or 4 tablespoons of caster sugar.
6. Gather together the remaining pastry and re-roll to a 0.5 cm thick, round shape. Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin, and roll over the pie dish to cover the apples. Slice off the pastry overhang. Pinch together the two pastry layers to seal.
7. Make three small slits in the top of the pie to let steam escape. Make shapes to decorate the pie with the pastry offcuts if desired.
8. Sprinkle with sugar or brush with milk if desired (I did not do this and it turned out fine).
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
10. Serve with cream, vanilla ice-cream or custard.

Summer holidays

We just returned from a lovely, relaxing week away visiting family, friends, and new places. Sometimes it is so nice to have time to just be, not worry about schedules or chores, time to think and reflect. I feel very rested now and thankful to God for giving us this gift of holiday time.

Tiramisu trifle

My new recipe for this weekend was Tiramisu Trifle from a BBC Good Food book. Things I learnt while making this recipe:

1. Mascarpone mixed with custard tastes really good.
2. Sponge fingers soak up liquid a lot quicker than you would think. I put about 8 in the coffee/amaretto at the same time and by the time I got to lifting the last one out it was totally soggy.
3. Amaretto is pretty strong, especially when disguised by other tastes.

Anyway, it turned out pretty well - at least, I enjoyed it and my parents seemed to. Nick wasn't so keen though!


Tiramisu trifle
500g mascarpone mixed with 500g fresh custard
90g chopped dark chocolate
175g sponge fingers
175ml amaretto mixed with 300ml strong black coffee
Mixed nuts and/or cocoa powder

1. Dip one third of the sponge fingers into the coffee mixture one by one, and lay them in a trifle dish. They should be soft but not soggy (leave a bit of bite in them).
2. Top with one third of the mascarpone mixture and one third of the chocolate.
3. Repeat twice to use up all the ingredients.
4. Top with mixed nuts and/or a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Takes about 15 minutes, tastes great.

National Trust and IKEA days out

Nick and I hired a car this weekend and went out on fun visits to lots of different places. The weekend didn't work out exactly as we expected, mainly because the hotel we had booked near Gloucester had lost our reservation so we couldn't stay there, but we had a great time anyway.

We started off at Lodge Park near Burford, a 17th-century hunting lodge which the National Trust has restored. It is set in lovely countryside and is very peaceful. There is a small but interesting exhibition about the history of the lodge - firstly a hunting lodge, later cottages, later a home for the last owner and his wife before the family tree died out.

We then visited Chastleton House near Stow-on-the-Wold. Apparently this is where the rules of croquet were first codified. There were two nice-looking croquet lawns but sadly no balls or mallets so we couldn't have a game. The house itself holds a collection of interesting objects from the 17th century through to the 20th, including a terrifying 1940s bakelite bed-warming contraption, like a hot water bottle but powered through one's unearthed bedside lamp socket. Yikes. I really liked Chastleton. The grounds were small but lovely, and included some delicious scented roses and a wonderful kitchen-cottage garden. 

Sunday we indulged in the rather more 21st-century pursuit of shopping. Firstly we visited Bicester Village, which seems to me to be almost a shrine to shopping. Next it was on to IKEA in Milton Keynes, where we purchased a lot of stuff including a new lamp for me and new desk legs for Nick to make himself a standing desk. We assembled it together when we got home (via Stowe Landscape Gardens where we had a cream tea in the car with home-made jam and scones and the most amazing clotted cream ever, bought in Gloucestershire the day before). I think both of us were pleased with the day's results!

Creme brulee

For a while now I have been on a mission to cook a perfect creme brulee. My first two attempts were not great. The taste was fine, but the texture was gloopy, thin, and all wrong. However, I now believe I have found a foolproof recipe. I'm now thinking about other flavours I could make. Chocolate? Cardamom? Coffee? Citrus?

(The side benefit of making creme brulee or any kind of custard is that there are eggs whites left over, and egg whites mean... pavlova!)

Travel Photographer of the Year

I really enjoyed this slideshow from the BBC website of travel photographs which won prizes in the Royal Geographical Society's Travel Photographer of the Year awards. The world is so amazingly rich and vibrant.

First crop of the year

Yesterday we ate salad leaves harvested from our garden. They were so easy to grow (pot plus compost plus seeds plus water equals salad), and tasted so much more flavoursome and less watery than those bags of mixed salad leaves from supermarkets.

Currently my tomato, chilli, sweet pepper, spinach, basil and lettuce seedlings are doing very well, but butternut squash, purple sprouting broccoli and dianthus (pinks) are floudering a bit. I have also sown chard, carrots, artichokes, thyme and runner beans, but they haven't made their appearance yet.

Our Cornish holiday

We recently had a week long holiday in beautiful Cornwall. We spent most days outdoors, walking and looking at lovely coastal scenery. One day was very wet and windy but for most of the week it was dry and we even enjoyed quite a few warm and sunny days. We stayed halfway between Land's End and Penzance in a cottage, where the evenings were rather chilly and therefore involved watching DVDs and eating nice food while snuggled under blankets! It was a much-needed week of rest and relaxation.

I used to go to the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall every year with my family, so it was very special to me to revisit many of the places of my childhood. 

Here is a little slideshow of some of our pictures.

Pavlova, painting, and chicken en croute

This weekend, I achieved Goal #29: Make a perfect pavlova (perfection is hard to define, but I thought it was really, really good). Having attempted twice before to make a fluffy, marshmallowy meringue that does not go all gloopy and flat when cooked, this time I managed to get it just right. Here's how.

Pavlova - serves 6-8
3 large eggs, very fresh and at room temperature
160g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 dessertspoon vinegar (white or malt)
300ml whipped cream
A bit of custard or yoghurt (optional)
Fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 180C.
Separate the eggs (use the yolks for creme brulee, custard, or lemon curd).
Using an electric handwhisk, whisk the eggs on the fastest speed for 5 minutes.
With the whisk still running, add the sugar a teaspoon at a time for a marshmallowy texture, or all at once for a hard meringue.
Reduce the whisk speed to the slowest setting. Add the vinegar and sift in the cornflour, and gently whisk in.
On a tray lined with greaseproof paper, blob the meringue mixture into a large circle, oblong, or individual shapes. Make a dip in the middle to hold the cream filling.
Put the meringue in the oven and reduce the temperature to 130C. Bake for one hour. Turn off the oven but leave the meringue inside until completely cool.
Just before serving, top the meringue with whipped cream mixed with a bit of custard or yoghurt if you like, and fresh fruit.

My other completed task this weekend was painting the radiators in our hallway and kitchen (#49). They look much better now. Once I've finished painting the woodwork in our hallway, it will finally be finished!

I made a new recipe as part of Goal #32: chicken en croute. It wasn't that tasty though. I think it would be nicer to stuff the chicken with boursin or herby cream cheese or goats cheese mixed with sun-dried tomatoes. We used left-over stuffing as a topping for baked chicken breasts the next day, and added some marjoram which improved the flavour. Using corn-fed chicken and/or seasoning the chicken really well would probably make a real difference too.

My plant wishlist

I love my garden. The trouble is, it doesn't have that many plants in it at the moment. The previous owner let everything in the garden grow enormous and so when we decided to do something with the garden (which you can see in this slideshow) we had to get rid of most things. We were left with a few trees, four roses, an archway with honeysuckle and a few other climbers, and masses of Spanish bluebells, which apparently are considered a weed as they are so prolific. Anyway, I am hoping that over the coming months and years I will be able to add to the garden bit by bit, planting shrubs and bulbs that will make it cohesive and beautiful. So I decided to start a plant wishlist, so I can keep track of all the lovely things I'd like to see in my garden.

• At least one peony bush
• Cherry tree
• Clematis Montana 'Elizabeth'
• A climbing rose on the shady wall next to the twisted hazel e.g. Rosa 'Madame Alfred Carriere'
• Hostas
• Lots of tulips
• Giant alliums 
• Dicentra Spectabilis 'Bleeding Heart'
• Geraniums in pots

Seen at a National Trust plant shop:

• Hosta 'Sum and substance' - £7.50 for a 3 litre pot
• Hosta 'Cherry berry' - £7.50 for a 3 litre pot
• Scilla 'Peruvian' - £6.50 for a 2 litre pot

I'll keep adding to this as new ideas come into my head!

101 in 1001

I found out a while ago about a project that a lot of people have been doing and blogging about. It started with a site called Day Zero. The basic premise is that you make a list of 101 things that you'd like to do in the next 1001 days. 1001 days is considered better than a year because it's a longer, more realistic time period. I've been working on my list for a while. It's not finished yet but I'll add to it over the coming weeks (update - finished list on 1 June 2011). It'll be interesting (for me) to see how I get on! My finish date is 21 January 2014.


Personal
1. Read the whole Bible
2. Get a new job - completed December 2011
3. Read HeadFirst JavaScript
4. Read HeadFirst PHP
5. Have a super-simple month - pretty much every month since Sophie was born! Perhaps a better goal would be: Socialise!
6. Have a baby - Sophie Ann Louise Wu born 4 September 2012
7. Write to my grandmothers six times 6/6 - completed 18 February 2013
8. Go paper-free on all bills and statements - completed
9. Get a facial - completed September 2013 (merci Mamie et Claude!)
10. Save £10 for every task I complete - completed
11. Donate blood - completed 3 November 2011
12. Dye my hair
13. Run a half marathon - completed 6 October 2013
14. Run a 10K - completed July 2013
15. Register for a course - completed September 2011
16. Learn to draw
17. Learn five new piano pieces 0/5
18. Learn the violin
19. Write a children's book
20. Create that website that I've been thinking about
21. Finish reading 'Getting things done'
22. Do the 100 push-ups challenge
23. Keep off facebook for a month - completed 14 September 2011
24. Get weight down to x - completed
25. Finish this list - completed 1 June 2011
26. Learn to play bridge properly
27. Join a club or society

Food
28. Bake bread from scratch - completed 22 May 2013
29. Make a perfect pavlova - completed 29 April 2011
30. Make jam - completed 9 August 2011
31. Eat five things I've never tried before - completed 16 September 2011 (lots of new foods in Japan)
32. Make 20 new main course recipes 20/20 - completed 18 February 2013
33. Make a birthday cake for someone - completed 28 September 2011
34. Learn to make sugar flowers - completed November 2011
35. Make chutney - completed 12 November 2011
36. Make 20 new cakes/desserts - completed 25 October 2012
37. Label my cake tins - completed 29 August 2011
38. Make three different flavours of creme brulee 2/3
39. Make a family cookbook

Garden
40. Build a rock garden
41. Grow and harvest 12 different fruits and vegetables - completed with our first blueberries, August 2013
42. Get a peony for the garden - completed May 2013 (thanks, mum and dad!)
43. Have five different types of tulip in the garden
44. Clear the garden of debris - completed October 2013

Home
45. Paint our hall stairs and landing - completed 7 May 2011
46. Organise the attic
47. Paint the radiators in the kitchen and hallway - completed 1 May 2011
48. Make fitted cupboards and shelves in the living room
49. Make radiator covers in the living room
50. Paint the outside of the house - completed September 2012, organised by my lovely husband
51. Insulate the loft - completed 5 November 2011 (thanks, Nicolas and Eric!)
52. Get the boiler fixed - completed 2 June 2011
53. Get the damp chimney fixed - completed 22 November 2011
54. Paint the garden shed - completed 1 October 2011
55. Replace the door handles
56. Get a '21' sign for the house - completed 16 June 2012
57. Paint the kitchen - completed 10 July 2011
58. Clean the windows outside (or get them cleaned) - completed 18 October 2011
59. Get a frame for and hang the etching - completed 2 June 2011
60. Declutter the whole house
61. Revarnish the floors
62. Paint the banisters
63. Clear out and put new shelves in the pantry - completed August 2012 by Nick

Travel
64. Travel to four new countries 2/4 (does Scotland count?!)
65. Go on a cruise
66. Go camping
67. Go to Scotland - completed July 2013
68. Go on a girls only trip
69. Go on a road trip
70. See the Northern Lights
71. Go to the USA
72. Go on holiday with friends - completed March 2013
73. Go on a winter holiday in the UK - completed March 2013, with snow!
74. Visit five British cities I've never been to before 4/5
75. Visit three European cities I've never been to before 0/3

Culture
76. Complete a 365 photo challenge
77. Go to an opera
78. Read 20 books 16/20
79. Watch five classic movies I've never seen before - completed 26 September 2011
80. See a Shakespeare play - completed 22 August 2012
81. Go to ten National Trust places - completed August 2013
82. Go to a Prom - completed 20 July 2011
83. Go to the Tate Britain - completed 17 December 2011
84. Go to Portobello Market - completed 17 December 2011

Craft
85. Host a craft evening - completed 11 November 2011
86. Make curtains for the living room
87. Make a dress
88. Get a sewing box - found my childhood one!
89. Complete four knitting projects 4/4 - completed February 2013
90. Complete five cross-stitch projects 4/5

Fun
91. Leave a note in a library book - completed 2 October 2011
92. Complete a jigsaw - completed 8 May 2011
93. Go for a family bike ride - completed 8 October 2011 (Oxford to Tackley)
94. Host a neighbourhood party - completed 31 December 2011
95. Host Christmas
96. Swim in the sea - completed 25 June 2011 (at Highcliffe, Dorset)
97. Host a tea party - completed 25 May 2013
98. Go kayaking ten times 2/10
99. Go on a picnic - completed 31 July 2011
100. Go to a theme park
101. Go to a ball

Completed: 60/101
Last updated: 17/12/2013

Christ is risen!

Easter 2011

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." (Matthew 28:5-6)

Easter is one of my favourite times of the year. It is wonderful to have a yearly festival pondering on Christ's death and celebrating his resurrection.

Here are some of the things we did this Easter.

I made Easter nests and Nick and I scoffed the lot.

We painted our hallway. It's nearly finished, but not quite!

It's now a much lighter, brighter colour. You can see the difference between the darker blue on the left and the new colour.

We made sweet and sour chicken, deep fried. Yum.

Julien enjoyed hunting for Easter eggs in the garden. One of the eggs vanished mysteriously, with only the wrapper left behind. I wonder what kind of animal did it.

I made a Simnel cake following Mary Berry's recipe, complete with eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven disciples remaining after Judas' defection. Somehow I feel sorry for Judas because he is scorned yet his role was vital in God's rescue plan to save us through Jesus' death and resurrection. Anyway, we enjoyed the cake with some friends of ours, their children, and a cup of tea. Delightful.

Laura and Nick's potato wedges

We made potato wedges last night using only raw ingredients and raw inspiration. Seriously, no recipe. It's unusual for me to make up a recipe but the potato wedges turned out so well that I might just make a habit of it.

Potato wedges

Potatoes - allow one large or two medium per person - we used orla but any roasting-type variety would do

Sea salt

Pepper

Paprika powder

Chilli powder

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 200C.
Cut the potatoes in half, then cut the halves into thick wedges. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Add a good sprinkle of paprika powder and chilli powder. Mix it all up with your hands until the wedges are well coated.
Drizzle olive oil over, about one tablespoon per potato or a bit less if you are doing loads of wedges. Mix it all up again.
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper (very important, otherwise they will stick). Place the wedges in one layer on the sheet. Bake the wedges for 40-50 minutes until cooked through, turning them over after about 25 minutes.

Inspiration from Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. 4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek hisface!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strongand take heart and wait for the LORD.

Money-free weekends

A while ago I found a post I really liked on a blog I follow, The Simple Dollar, giving 100 suggestions of activities to do on money-free weekends.

The concept is simple: take a weekend, and don't spend any money. Not even for food. Eat what you have in the cupboard/freezer, and do activities that are free. Not all of the activities suggested count as fun in my book (who actually enjoys putting their financial papers in order, except accountants?) - but I like the idea of having a money-free weekend because the idea strikes me as a way to get 'back to basics' and enjoy a simpler, more frugal life.

Also, the activities in the post don't have to be done at the weekend. Actually, they would be a great way to fill any spare time when it's hard to think of something to do. This evening, for example, I feel a bit down and not that keen on doing my usual activities of going to the gym or cleaning, so I am making a loaf of bread. It's rising in the kitchen right now. There is something therapeutic about knowing it is there gently rising and something enticing about the thought of the aromas which will fill the house as it bakes, and the taste of it once it is finished.

Bluestockings

I am mid-way through reading Bluestockings by Jane Robinson (reviewed in the Telegraph here and available on Amazon here), which has been lent to me by my mum. It's been an enjoyable and enlightening read so far. Although I had a vague idea of the lack of opportunities available to women in the not-so-distant past, I was shocked to find out how late British women were allowed the same educational opportunities as men. They were not granted degrees at Cambridge until 1948, and not even admitted as students at many universities until the late 1800s or even the early 1900s. This got me thinking about two things: how privileged I have been in my education, and how women in many countries around the world today do not have the same privileges that I have had. I studied at Oxford as an undergraduate and a postgraduate. My grandparents never had that opportunity, being from working class homes. My great-grandmothers probably would not have even been allowed to go to university. If I lived in the developing world, I may not have the opportunity to go to school at all, let alone university.

I am grateful to all the women who worked so hard so that those who came after them, including me, could enjoy privileges that they did not have. Much has been achieved, but there remains a long way to go before all women around the world have the same opportunities available to them.

Lynn Pack Photography

I made lots of updates to the Lynn Pack photography website yesterday. Check it out at www.lynnpack.com.

Roman blind

The roman blind I made last weekend is finally up!

I also made some matching cushion covers, which were really easy: one piece of fabric (length: 2x width of cushion plus 11 cm, width: width of cushion plus 4 cm), hemmed at both short ends (2 cm hems), folded with right sides facing and ends overlapping by 7 cm, then stitched on both sides taking a 2 cm seam allowance, and turned inside out to create a pillow-like cushion cover. I plan to add some buttons to the back 'pocket' to jazz it up a little.

I really enjoyed making the blind. I'm now thinking about what window treatments to make next, for our downstairs room.

Vegetable boxes

A few months ago, we decided to start getting fortnightly vegetable box deliveries from Abel and Cole. It's been really fun opening up the box every other Tuesday, seeing what's inside and thinking about what to make with it. We've tried some veg that we never would have thought of trying before: celeriac, black salsify, and turnip, among others. We never get carrots or onions though, since they're pretty cheap to buy in the supermarket. Another plus is that we've really reduced our meat consumption, which is good for the environment, our health, and our wallets. This week we got: orla potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, purple sprouting broccoli, red pepper, courgettes, radishes, and parsnips. I'm looking forward to seeing what we get in the spring and summer, as different veg come into crop.

One particular recipe that I've really enjoyed is Chickpea and Spinach Curry. I make it like this:

Chickpea and Spinach Curry
1 tin of chickpeas
1 red pepper, chopped
A bag of spinach, washed and chopped if large leaves (or substitute with any leafy green)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Sunflower oil
2.5 cm ginger, finely chopped
Green chilli, finely chopped
Medium curry paste
Turmeric
Cumin
300ml vegetable stock
Tomato purée
Fresh coriander (optional)

Heat oil in a large pan. Cook onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli gently until soft. Stir in two large tablespoons of curry paste and after 1 minute add 2 teaspoons cumin and 1 teaspoon turmeric. Cook for 1 minute more.
Add the tomatoes, pepper, stock and a good tablespoon of tomato purée. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the spinach leaves in batches, allowing it to wilt before adding the next.
Stir in the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes.
Season and add coriander if using.
Serve with rice or on its own.

Walk in the park

Here are some pictures I took on a lunch time walk in the Oxford University Parks today.

The cricket pavilion under blue skies. It was a bit breezy though, and not that warm.

These daffodils were in full bloom...

but these ones haven't woken up yet!

Things I've done this weekend

1. Made a pavlova for the first time.
2. Made dumplings for the first time.
3. Made a roman blind for the first time.

Conclusion: all three very good both in terms of fun had and end results.

Photographic evidence of the pavolva:

My meringue ended up like one large slab, but because I whipped the cream well and mixed a small pot of custard in with it, it stayed on top nicely. 

Pavolva recipe:

Whisk 4 medium egg whites until firm.

Add 200g caster sugar bit by bit.

Spoon onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 1 hour at 140 degrees.

Turn the oven off and leave it in there until cool.

Add the topping just before serving: 300ml double cream, whipped until thick then mixed with a small pot of custard, and topped with fruit.

Our garden in the winter

A selection of pictures from our garden this winter:

Frosty morning. 7 December 2010.

Then it got even colder! 18 December 2010. The snow was with us until just after Christmas.

The violas were snow survivors, planted in early October and still there on 6 February 2011. (Update 20 March 2011: they are still going strong and show no signs of fading.)

Crocuses and snowdrops, heralds of the approaching spring. 6 February 2011.