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.