A Little Bit of Everything

 It feels like this past week has zipped past in a flash. We had a very successful parents evening at Imogen's school at the beginning of the week, it's a big year for her this school year as her GCSEs are at the end of it.

I had my first mammogram on Wednesday and will hopefully get the results in a couple of weeks. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the 2 mamographers (I believe that's what they call them) were lovely ladies and made me feel completely at ease (there really is no dignity in being a woman is there, but worth it to have regular check ups to keep you safe) and as an added bonus we didn't really have to wait long so the whole thing was over with in around 20 minutes.


I didn't really get anything done the week before so I really wanted to make some cakes this week. I've made these a couple of times and we all really love them, lemon cupcakes. I use equal amounts of self raising flour, caster sugar and butter (4oz of each), a pinch of baking powder and about a teaspoon of lemon essence and a couple of eggs. The whole lot goes in one bowl and is whisked until lovely and smooth

Distribute the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and I have the oven on Gas 5 for about 20 minutes (our oven isn't the best in the world, so you may not need as long).

The scrummy buttercream topping is made with butter and icing sugar with a tablespoon of lemon essence this time. They really don't last long once they've been made.

I've also done some knitting this week. Little Zack has already outgrown the cardigans I made him and Holly said she needed some the next size up. I found this pattern in a local charity shop and quite liked the diamond pattern on the blue cardigan.

 I found some lovely, soft white yarn in my stash and knitted it up for my gorgeous grandson.

The tricky part was finding some cute buttons. I have loads of buttons, but many of the sweet little wooden ones are more 'girly' in nature. I thought these little bunnies were quite unisex for him.

A bit more progress on the cross stitching. The top picture is from last time, the bottom half is now. It was good to use a bit of colour though I'm still just working on the snowman's hat, I am enjoying doing it even though progress appears slow.

Holly wanted to have a day back at work on Friday so asked if we'd have Zackary for the day. Obviously I didn't even hesitate and was all ready when she dropped my little firecracker off at 8am. He came in his little Ninja Turtle babygrow and was oh so gorgeous.

I'd bought a cheap baby bouncer chair second hand during the week so Zack would have somewhere to sit. He loved the rocking motion.

Mummy came to pick him up at 5.30 and he was tucked up fast asleep and exhausted after a day of playing and nanny singing lots of nursery rhymes. I'm pleased to report that he didn't wake up at all last night until it was time to get up this morning, so we did well tiring the little dot out. We're doing a babysitting stint this afternoon so mummy and daddy can go to Ikea, he may not be as tired out after todays visit as Imogen has him tucked up in his pram walking around the park, lots of fresh air, but also sleeping.

What's everyone else up to, I can't help but feel Christmas is slowly creeping up on us now...


Take care
xxx

Tear and Share Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

Thought I'd do a spot of baking this afternoon. I'd seen a garlic and cheese tear and share in shop the other day and thought a pepperoni one would be nice with some pasta and tomato sauce.

Firstly I had to check I had enough strong (bread) flour in stock!

This is my favourite measuring bowl, it measures in grams, ounces, cups and fluid measurements. I used 450g of strong flour.

I popped the flour in my Kmix, added a teaspoon of salt, teaspoon of sugar and a sachet of yeast (7grams), I also added about 30ml of olive oil, the equivalent of about 2 tablespoons.

As it mixed, I gradually added some tepid water. I started with 300ml, but ended up increasing it to 320ml. Once I finished adding the water, I left it to keep kneading (dough hook on my Kmix) until it looked lovely and smooth and felt elastic and bouncy!

Into a dish to be left to proof

Covered with a clean tea towel

An hour later, it doubled in size. When I lifted it out of the bowl, it felt so light and full of air, just as it should.

On the work surface with some more flour sprinkled under it.

Hubby passing through the kitchen, so commandeered to do some rolling...

Couple of blobs of tomato puree smoothed on with the back of a spoon.

Before placing on the bread, I put the pepperoni and cheese in a bowl so I could add a couple of pinches of oregano, then spread it evenly over the rolled out dough.

Rolled the whole thing like a swiss roll and cut into pieces.

I placed them next to each other in a greased dish

Left for another half hour to proof a little more. Then used a brush to spread a little oil over the top. You can just see in this second picture how it's spread a little more.

In the oven for half an hour

Really turned out nice, light and tasty, enjoyed by all (the second tray was sent to my son)

Take care
xxx

A Birthday and a Spot of Gardening

Thank you all so much for your lovely and encouraging comments on my last post. it really does mean a lot to me, thank you :)

Firstly let me tell you about the magnificent Mother's Day present my wonderful lot bought for me. I've coveted these from afar for quite a while, but this is mine... yea...

It's a KMix from Kenwood, the design is fire cracker. It's proudly sitting on the kitchen counter, though I do still need to find a good place to store the attachments for it. I couldn't wait to use it and as my son was about to turn 26... time for a birthday cake methinks...

It was a family affair, as birthday cakes here often are

lots of chocolate just like the one we made for Imogen last year as Adam had requested the same (without the 1 Direction decorations)

The easiest cake I've ever made, it was quite mesmerising to watch

All contributing, Daddy adding the icing sugar to the buttercream

Imogen doing the important taste test and bowl scraping...

Adam was really pleased and very happy to wrap it up and take it home with him, Imogen would have been more pleased if he'd forgotten to take it!


I haven't put as much time into the garden this year as I probably should have. I was hoping for a warmer weekend on Saturday, it was a bit grey and dull, but not cold. I spent the afternoon in the greenhouse replanting my baby petunias and lobelia.

I love to see pots full of colour when we're in the garden, and hopefully these will continue to grow and flourish. I wish now I'd planted more seeds, especially some vegetables. we do have some tomatoes and garlic

I also picked up this bargain tomato planter

With a photo of how the tomatoes should grow from under it

I've planted a tomato plant in it though it didn't seem very happy hanging there upside down. My camera needed fresh batteries so I can't show you how forlorn it looked, but when I checked it this afternoon it looked much more chipper, so fingers crossed! I have visions of buckets full of tomatoes and me cooking up lots of tomato sauces to freeze.

I've enjoyed touching base with everyone again though I still have lots of blog reading to catch up with.

Here's a happy picture of one of my baskets to end with

Take care
xxx