Oh! Grate.

We had another baking weekend… BN loves to bake and we love doing things like that with the girls that keep them quiet where they get to get their hands dirty. I really enjoy seeing them understand how things like this work and getting some peace.

The chemistry of baking - the maths - weigh this - so much of that - mix it gently - fold it in there - measure this into here….

It pleases me to see the maths work and especially pleases me to stuff it in my face eat the finished product

So - BN asked me what I wanted - and the thing is … I only really like a couple of cakey things. I like muffins (or very wet, very chocolatey chocolate cake) and carrot cake… and that’s about it.

**As an aside - the reason for this is two fold. I hate dry food. I can’t stand dry food, that sticks in your mouth and makes you feel like all the moisture is being sucked from your body. Any kind of food that makes you instantly need a drink is just not appealing to me. I’d rather be hungry. And coming from me… that’s saying something.

Secondly - I hate crumbs. Texture is a big thing for my eating experience. I hate anything that is crumbly and makes me feel like if I breathed whilst eating …. that I may choke.

I didn’t say it made sense - I just said there were two reasons *shrug*

Anyway - BN asked me what I wanted and I wanted Carrot Cake. Now I don’t think we have actually ever made it before. We used Mary Cadogan’s recipe that he found on the Internet and you can find it here and it’s called Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake.

And that, it certainly is.

Follow the recipe ….

Grate the carrot into a bowl

Mix all the sugar and the eggs together…

Add the carrot to the sugar and eggs…. and then get an ‘Ella’ to add the raisins after she’s eaten some…

Get a ‘Rowan’ to mix it up a bit…

Ella was very cute - she kept saying Corret Corret… and she loved the mixing…

Flour it up…

Mix in all the dry ingredients and fold gently…

More folding…

(Loving my messy house in the background) This is Ells having her little mix…

Tin it up…. and then bake 160c (fan assisted) for 40-45 minutes…

Rate this recipe… have a go - it was gorgeous… we also made the icing (as per the recipe) and it was just.the.most.delicious.carrot(corret).cake

….

ever.

EVER.

Make it.

Go on,

Now… make it now.

Cup o’ tea an’ a sliiiiiice o’ cayke….

loverly.

Weekend stuff…

It’s been a really lovely weekend.

We haven’t really done anything so much except potter about.

I’ve cleaned my bathroom from top to bottom like I usually do on a Sunday… done a coupla bits… bought mother’s day card and pressie… (unknowingly intelligently I have opted to visit my folks on Mothering Sunday, meaning I have to buy a present can take the present with me)… this is a load off my mind as you can tell…  

We took the girls out for shopping yesterday and had lunch in a little cafe where utterly abnormally, they were a joy and a delight to be around. We found a little place with cheap cafe food in a slightly more faux-upmarket decor … if that makes sense..?!

The result though, was a really nice lunch and the girls were an absolute pleasure to be with.

We didn’t do much of anything else yesterday I don’t think…. (not sure why I struggle to remember yesterday…. Surely a sign of over working myself)

We organised some wedding stuff… getting measured for the suits and stuff, I picked my bridesmaids dresses all that kind of stuff..

Typical ‘weekend stuff’ stuff

Then today - we had a pretty lazy day again. We got up late… thanks to the girls playing in their room for a while this morning… we had a late breakfast… and went to the park, fed the ducks… had a run about…

[....Is it just me or does Ella suddenly look like a child and not a baby?! She's enormous ... and... today was our first ever trip out without the pushchair... (actually it's the second but first sounds better!!)]

There has been moments today when they’ve been a little hmmm…. how to put it….? Testing? Rowan is testing the theory of bad moods and possible causes at the moment…. for example … today she was absolutely fine in the park and then was suddenly … foul.

Her explanation?

The sun got in her eyes and that made her grumpy.

But.. hey. I can see it for what it is. She’s just not sure what the rules are for this type of thing. She has no idea what constitutes a good reason for a bad mood. For all I know she listens to my reasons sometimes and thinks I’m an absolute fruitloop!

So… we came back and collapsed unconscious on the sofa for 40minutes whilst the girls went brain dead to Peppa Pig DVD (gotta love it) and then put Ella down for a nap.

Rowan and I made biscuits …

(out of a ready to bake kit from M&S - really recommend it I have to say … the biscuits were really nice and it was dead easy) and we attempted to watch a movie together… we picked Cinderella Twist in Time (Xmas present from Grampty) … 5 minutes after this photo,

she wanted it turned off because it was boring!!

Then she specifically requested this movie (5 points if you can guess it from the still) and paid attention to it for approximately 9 minutes before she wandered off. Not quite time for the cinema yet then.

She is funny.

But one thing for sure….. she is gorgeous.

Pizzaaaaaaaah!

So - another recipe day today!

We thought we’d have a stab at Pizza So we bought pizza base mix (we may be enthusiastic chefs but we’re not that enthusiastic )

So - we bought the pizza base mix and some pineapple chunks and ham etc etc and had a little go

It was a good time actually - even if BN is a bit of a control freak and wants the pizzas decorated ‘his’ way … he claims it’s so they cook evenly throughout but we know better hi honey

The sisters worked as a team until the little one got bored and wandered off to watch Peppa Pig… Rowan was super interested in rolling them out and getting them ready for the oven… only weird thing was she didn’t quite want as much ham *on* them as she chopped up in the first place! Typical

Pouring out the mixture for the cheat’s Pizza Base

Add a little water…

Mix well….

Get a little bit of help from your baby sister..

Knead it…

Dough balls…

Roll it flat…

Pretend to roll it flat… although worth mentioning at this point.. that after watching Rowan get taught how to knead dough, we gave Ella a little ball of her own dough to play with and she rolled it exactly as Rowan was taught. Flat palm, push away etc. etc. She had the actions exact. Very impressive.

Copy and paste… BN did one first to show her the concept of pasting the tomato onto the pizza base and then she copied! Copy and paste!

Decoration…

An extra specially BIG piece of ham going on Mummy’s. I was lucky BN was there to guide her as this was nearly the only piece of ham I got. She decided that one was enough!

What do you think?

This was actually really tasty - she did a fine job

Ripsouto.. Or… Risotto in fact if you’re not trying to name it from your phone :)

Ripsouto.. Or… Risotto in fact if you’re not trying to name it from your phone , originally uploaded by Little Nut Tree.

Another successful recipe from the book we mentioned yesterday… today they made Carrot and Rosemary Risotto… but Italian Herbs in fact when you’re at the Nut House… and you don’t have any rosemary….

I tried some when I got home as they were just sitting down to tea and I have to say it was mighty mighty tasty

Rowan was shoveling it in like she thought someone might eat it first and Ella was keen once she got over the whole ‘I’m-having-a-strop-at-teatime-now-I’m-nearly- 18monthsold-and-think-developing-apersonality-is-just-being-a-moody-cow” attitude and agreed to let me help her…

seeing as all her forkfulls contained about one grain of rice *rolls eyes a lot*

Loving the cheesey rice thing mama

If I’d known you were coming..

I’d have baked a …. frittata?

Rowan and BN did some more cooking today. Rowan’s whole attitude to food and poop seems to have taken an upward turn over the last coupla days and she seems to have developed a bit of an interest again…

We went shopping to the dreaded monopoly of Tesco at the weekend and saw a great deal on a children’s cookery book… £14.99 book of recipes on sale for £5. You can’t complain really.

Well you could. But you’d be daft.

We had a look through in store and found that really most pages had something either fun or something nutritious and easy looking to make on it.

Kids in the Kitchen - Great Buy - Go and Buy it…!

So… today the guys at home had a go at Vegetable Frittatas - if you want to make these boil and cook through, 8oz of potatoes and 4oz of frozen veg (like peas and chopped carrots and sweetcorn kind of thing). Brush a Yorkshire pudding tray with a little oil. Divide some grated cheese and the cooked vegetables in the holes and then fill each with an egg mixture made with 6 eggs, 1/4 pint of milk (salt and pepper to taste).

Place in the centre of the oven and bake at 190C (gas mark 5 or 375F) for ten minutes until the egg is set.

They come out looking like this:

Obligatory arty shot of Frittatas as made by Rowan and BN…

And you get a child this happy to match!

Well if you liked that.. you’ll love this!!

The other day… we not only ventured into the world of Banana Bread… but also Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins…

Rowan is venturing into the world of bakery .. and to be fair.. she’s pretty good!!

Combine 16oz of flour, 6oz of caster sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder a pinch of salt and sift well together.

Make a well in the center and place 2 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup of oil, 4 tablespoons of melted butter - one tsp of lemon juice, 1 tsp of honey, 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of lemon extract and then add 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds.

Blend with a fork and don’t OVERMIX!!

Mix all the ingredients gently and smile for the camera!

Spoon the mixture gently in muffin cases…

….

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 180 centigrade… makes 12!!

These are the finished Rowan Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins…

She was very proud… they were amazingly big and splurged a bit onto one another.. but it certainly didn’t interfere with the flavour!!

Food blogging yet again.. hmmm Floor Pie…..

I think I may be lapsing into the realms of boring and sad.. but hey! Who cares.. this is my space so to hell with it…

BN made another really cool meal today -I don’t live my life around food honestly but it just seems that at the moment my days are filled with cooking/eating meals looking after kids and cleaning up pooey nappies and I know which I’d rather read about…

Hmmmm….. Floor Pie

This served 8-10

2 sheets of puff pastry (or make your own)
4 chicken breasts
8 rashers of bacon (smoked unsmoked whatever you like)
1 large leek
a good handful of de-shelled broad beans
cheese sauce (1pint milk, 2 tbsp flour ish - depends on yuour flour try it out and see what you need, and a blob of butter/marg whatever you use as both work fine. Heat all together from cold and stir till thickened and then add as much cheese as to your taste)

Fry off bacon till really crispy and set aside
Cut bitesize chunks of chicken and fry off, while ‘melting’ the leeks in a little milk over a low heat.
Add the cheese sauce to the leeks and then add the chicken and bacon.
Add herbs and a touch of lemon juice - simmer until you’re happy chicken is cooked through.
Add broad beans..

Oil and Flour a baking tray and make a pie
Bake after egg washing and airholes at 180c for 40minutes.

We had with chips and pickles - it was amazing. BN (dajogo on Flickr) made it up and everyone has agreed it needs to be made again..

The Simpsons refernce to Floor Pie is simply because the Simpsons are cool and because the pie that came out of the Oven was soooo massive the quote just popped out and the name stuck!!

Pastie DAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

Today is pastie day - A BN family tradition stolen by us and reinvented somewhat to make them a little bit tastier. Ever since BN can remember BN-Mum has made pasties on the day after Boxing Day and any left over turkey is finally used up to make them.

Uncooked Pasties

They are the best pasties that have ever been made and must be consumed as the main food source on at least ONE day over Christmas and they are made as follows:

To make 6 huge pasties:
RECIPE
1kg of turkey mince
freshly ground black pepper
a healthy amount of mixed herbs
1 pack of stuffing of your choice - we use cranberry and chestnut cos it has a christmas feelie
1 small tin of condensed vegetable soup

mix it all up and fold it in a puff pastry type pastie situation crimping the edges etc. and wash with egg and bake for 45mins (from raw) or until golden and cooked through (check that out for yourselves really I think all ovens are different). We cook at about 180c in a fan assisted oven.

Take a private moment and take this somewhere with a fork and a jar of picililli!!! mmmmm.. yummy!!!!!!!

They are great - you must have them with a plateful of pickles and chips and relive your turkey exhaustion from Christmas day

The reason they have to be huge pasties is because in BN family tradition BNDad, BNMum BN’s big bro, Paul and BN all had competitions to see who could eat the most pasties.. I think the record was only ever two and that’s held by BN to this day

Enjoy!!

ps you can use minced leftover turkey if you wish as this really *would* be following family tradition

what a lovely day

I’ve had such a lovely day today - I’m really enjoying this for a start and in conjunction with flcikr I feel I’ve really found things that I am good at. I feel addicted to sitting on this all day at the moment and finding things to put on it - look for things that interest me, add things to ‘million things’ and just enjoy it in general.

Rowan has been testing from the word go this morning and I’m not sure it has much to do with Xmas. She was awake until pretty late last night jabbering away and fell asleep close to 10pm I think. She woke at 7.30 this morning and has been full on non-stop *all* day. She is right in the phase of attention grabbing where she feels it necessary to repeat and repeat until she feels that she can stop and this doesn’t necessarily seem to have anything to with whether she has managed to attract attention or not. ‘mummy mmummmmeee mmmaaaaarrrrmmmmmmeeeeeeee, mummy, mummy, MUMMY’ - ‘yes Rowan?’

pause

‘um spishal spashal marmite potatoes bowls and dishes’ - ok … ‘are you hungry?’

‘no.’
‘mummy, mummy, muuuuuummmeeeee, mummeeee…’ and so it continues.. my patience ran thin..

However, having said all that - she is being absolutely delicious about Christmas and is so excited.. She calls it kimmus and Father Christmas is just Kimmus.. she knows he’s bringing her presents and she wants something pink - how girli… think it would be impossible for me to raise an ungirli girl though seeing as I take an almost palpable sense of pleasure in anything pink, purple, fluffy or remotely related to Dora that I can buy for her so it’s hardly surprising.

BN has made some mince pies unlike any ‘normal’ mince pies by making the pastry unlike pastry and more like biscuit (as I hate pastry ) - great for my Christmas eating not so great for my hips… but bah to that.

Recipe
500g of self raising flour
250g butter crumbled together with
125g golden caster sugar
The zest and juice of 1 lime (to be faffy)
I egg yolk - mix through
Then added water to make a soft dry dough..

Knead it for 10 minutes and cut shapes etc.

Assemble pies brush with egg wash (ooh swanky) and bake for 30 minutes at 190c -