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.