Sugar and spice

We've been baking this week, Spadgersdottier and I. We have made gooseberry tart. It was going to be a pie but there wasn't enough gooseberries. I made profiteroles for the first time after much pestering from Spadger


We made little chocolate sponge buns and we baked and decorated cookies. Me, her and pretty much everything in the house are covered in edible glitter. Much to Spadger's disgust hehehehe



This one is my favourite, made for me by my wonderful stepdaughter :oD

Day of rest?

Isn't Sunday supposed to be the day of rest? It doesn't seem to be here. We work Monday to Friday, Saturday is spent at the farm or working on our own garden and Sunday seems to be the day of cleaning and baking. So much so that for the last few weeks Spadger has been taking Spadgersdottier home on his own. There is just too much to do for me to be a passenger in a car for 3 hours.



Right now I have just take a pie out of the oven (leftover cabbage and rabbit since you asked), there are 2 batches of bread on the oven top rising, I could do with making some muffins, the kitchen floor really needs cleaning and I have a hat to sew tonight and should really get started on a dress I'm making for my friend S~. Not much then.



19:06
Hat = finished, banana and sunflower seed muffins = finished but slightly over cooked due to finishing hat, bread = rising nicely.



Next step is to make another batch of muffins, different flavour this time and to clean the kitchen floor. By the time I've done that the bread should be ready for shaping.



20:55
the rhubarb muffins became a loaf which is now done. The bread is on it's second rise. I've vacuumed the kitchen floor but not scrubbed it. Frankly I can't be bothered right now. All that is left is for the bread to go in the oven and there are 2 lots so that is still a bit of time yet before I am done. However other things can be done during cooking time. Serious stuff, like watching Family Guy. I'm tired dude and just want to crash with some televisual rubbish. Not having a tv puts a dampener on that. I only miss the telly when I'm really tired and just want something to occupy my brain without me having to actually think. So DVD time it is.

There have been a few other interesting things in my kitchen of late. Here you can see the last batch of failed yoghurt. This time it all thickened but the texture was off. Usually when you stick your finger in a pot of yoghurt it sticks, this didn't. I looked it up and I think I know what I did wrong. All the instructions tell you to heat your milk to 185 ish and then cool it to 120. The only reason for this that I could see was to make sure any nasties had been killed. Seen as I'm making it with store bought pasteurized stuff that didn't seem necessary. Actually the heat denaturalizes the milk so it will become yoghurt. Who knew! So I am turning the whole lot into labna which is a kind of really thick yogurt, almost cheese.



Behind the picture of the pie you can see a pink silicone mold. This currently has a batch of soap in it. This is the second one I have made this week. The first was half olive oil half coconut oil which is for me, this batch is pure olive oil which is for Spadger. I like the silicone molds as you don't need to grease them either for soap making or indeed cooking. I'm not a fan of the loaf tin for baking as it's so flexible it's really easy to spill stuff over yourself while trying to get it to the oven. It is now my favourite soap mold.

As you can see below, I have a few other silicone molds that I use. Aren't they pretty?

baking and more baking

I've been at work since 7:15 today due to use getting rentokill in. Ah the delights of office fleas. Fortunately I've not been bitten, but then again I rarely am. This does mean I get to leave work at 3:15 today. Woot. Spadger is away tonight for work so I'll be walking home. It's about 3 miles and very up and down hill. With my short legs and general lack of stamina it'll be about an hour to an hour and a half walk. I quite enjoy it to be honest as long as it doesn't rain. Same journey tomorrow morning and maybe tomorrow evening as well depending.


As George was taken away to be serviced yesterday I intend to spend this evening baking and trying to tidy my sewing/crafting supplies out. Everything seems to be taking over a bit and it's all rather higgledy piggledy. I hope to be able to sort out projects to do and maybe cut out some patterns as well. My notions really need sorting.

7:26
In the last half hour I have lied to a door to door salesman ( I really wanted to help him but as we're not the homeowners he would need to give his price to the landlord. I agreed to pass it on thinking he would give me the price then. Nope, he needed to take my number and get someone to call me back and a false number rolled off my lips before I was aware of it. I am such a bad person), received a gift of cauliflower leaves for the compost from next door and put the first batch of scallion scones in the oven. I'm not sure how that balances out in the scale of the universe really.

The plan for the rest of the evening mostly consists of baking. I'd really like to sort through my stuff as mentioned above but I can never seem to do other stuff at the same time as baking. My brain gets distracted by the pretties and the next thing you know the baking is burnt. So, baking first, then stash sorting. Plan!

9:14
Scallion scones, done, Chocolate chili cupcakes, done. Rhubarb cake, in the oven.


10:26
Rhubarb cake, on rack. Apple tart thing, in oven. Cookie dough in fridge ready to roll. One they're done I'm off for a shower by which time they should have cooled enough for me to make the ganache stuff to stick them together Oreo style. Man I'm tired. But I need to get it all done before I can go to bed. I've not made the savory pie I wanted to for tea tomorrow but I have cooked the meat ready. So I'll just knock that together when I get home tomorrow. Gonna sign off now folks. Sweet dreams.

experimental doughnuts

Yes dear readers I have been experimenting in the kitchen again. After successfully making cinnamon rolls from this recipe I decided to branch out into totally unknown territory.

Now firstly let me explain where this sudden desire for doughnuts comes from. Working in marketing print our suppliers are always wanting to show off what they can do. One of them has a quite expensive program which allows you to drop a work into a picture so it actually looks like it belongs there not sat on top. So every year we all get little personalized desk calendars. The wastage involved in these things gripes me but I have to admit that I like some of the pictures. March this year is a box of yummy looking glazed doughnuts, one with my name iced into it. I certainly don't have the skill to do that but I thought I would have a crack at the doughnuts. So I found this recipe and set off making them. I soon discovered that I didn't have 2 cutters that fit inside each other right so I went with whole doughnuts instead.



For a first attempt I don't think they turned out bad. I had to go for a pretty shape since I couldn't make rings. I think the only thing wrong with them is they are a tad doughy in the middle. But not half bad.



It's a shame my icing isn't very neat!

2 sleeps til Santa comes

We has sleet and hail last night but it's not melted all the snow yet. There are forecasts for some light snow most days for the next 5 days so we might still have white stuff on the ground on Christmas day. It is a clement 2 degrees C this morning so it's all kinda hanging on hope at the mo.



However the ice on the windscreen this morning formed feathers and I think they are just the prettiest things. The sky was also beautifully pink and the sun was a big glowy ball again.



The day started exceptionally well with breakfast. We had scrambled eggs made from the quiche mixture leftovers, scallion scones from this recipe and hot buttered toast made from fresh bread and butter made by Spadger. Round that off with coffee and it's the kind of breakfast all days should start with.


4:27
So far there has been no snow and it's been a balmy 4 degrees. There is still the forecast of snow though so I'll be keeping my eye out.

In my heart I'm on holiday already. I know there is tomorrow yet but everyone is bringing their kids into work so it will be bedlam with very little getting done. I Have a mountain of little things to do, mostly tidying, before Christmas so being in work tomorrow really doesn't appeal.

*-*-*-* It all goes a bit off track below *-*-*-*

If I'm being honest work appeals less and less each day. not that I don't like my job. I would like to stress right now that I like my job fine. The people are nice and generally I'm helping folk and making them happy with in turn makes me happy. However the world of marketing print really doesn't fit in with my ideals. It's a lot of paper and energy that essentially goes to waste. Not very Kermity.

More and more I long for the farm. Spadger has been in the mindset for a while. He is definitely unsatisfied. I've been plodding along quite nicely. However the run up to Christmas has changed my mind somewhat. I've put a lot of effort into a project that as of right now is still incomplete. I feel no joy in what was achieved because for all my effort I was let down by others. I long for the farm When everything will be down to me and Spadger and we will be the only ones to blame when things go wrong. Which I'm sure they will.

A lot of this longing has been stirred up by Jenna at Cold Antler Farm She is my inspiration. She works damn hard and loves every second of it. She is one rung up on the ladder (the very tall ladder as she puts it) towards getting her farm. I feel like I'm browsing in the ladder section of B&Q. But on that ladder I shall get. Thanks for your inspiration Jenna. I'll be introducing myself to her soon when I've caught up on all of her blog. I always feel I should read people's archive before making acquaintances.

*-*-*-* Thanks for staying with me there *-*-*-*

One of the jobs I hate most around the house is cleaning the kitchen floor. It's too small to warrant storing a mop so it's a case of scrubbing it with a brush on my knees. I've been avoiding it as I'm a messy baker so it was only going to get worse as I marathon baked. I've just cleaned it now and let me tell you folks, it gleams! Now I am doing some more baking tonight but with the whole kitchen tidy I shouldn't make such a mess of the floor as I have more side space. I hope.

Well it's now 10:10, I've baked all the stuff that I'm giving as gifts to my office. The pound cakes are just in the oven now. I haven't totally reclaimed my kitchen but it looks more likely that I will before Christmas. I've enjoyed a half of a nice beer and soon I will be going to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow but it is the last working one for 10 days. Woot and indeed wahay!

And just to make my night this is happening right now!

4 sleeps til Santa comes

Well it's a stunning 4 degrees today and the sun is shining. I guess this is going to be the end of the snow. When I woke up everything had a tiny fresh covering so I was optimistic. Not any more.

The weather turned and it was a chilly -1 by the time we left work at half five. Ok so it hasn't snowed again and what is there is starting to turn to icy slush. But there is still snow on the ground. The bad news is that the weather forecast for Christmas day is Sunny. We don't get sun in summer!!

Ah well.

I've managed to get the kitchen mostly clean which after my mammoth baking weekend was a task and a half. I still have the floor to do and a quick wipe down of the sides but I can't do that til the bread's done. Our kitchen is tres small and I can't clean the floor without having the door open to back out of. Currently I need to keep the door closed so the room gets warm enough for the bread to rise. There are 2 half pound cakes in the oven for Spadger's team at work. I say half pound as it is one batch of pound cake recipe from the Victorian Farm but I don't have a tin that will hold it all so I split it between 2 loaf tins.



Now what is this crazy stuff I hear you ask. No really, I do hear you ask. I have a very vivid imagination! This my friends is the material of one of my favourite skirts. It was given to me by Spadger's Gran. I think she thought I would use it as material for one project or another. Nope. I loved it just as it was. It had never been worn and I cannot see why. I adore it. There are deer and peacocks, flowers, fruit and little men doing lord know what. It's brilliant. I can see myself in the kitchen of my farm in this skirt making the bread for the week. I guess I can see this so easily as I already do this. Just without the farm.

Anyhoo speaking of bread it wont be long til mine is ready to go in the oven. The kitchen floor can stay dirty for one more day, I'm bushed. So A quick catch up with all you in blogland and then beddy byes for me. See you all tomorrow. And happy solstice!

5 sleeps til Santa comes

Well it's been a busy day again so far. Coffee and bacon sandwiches in the morning, an icy walk to the shop as I'd run out of flour and butter, a few photos taken. We only stopped because my battery dies but the snow started to come down with force then so inside we went. Well, Spadger went. He then had to come back for me as our street is so icy I was effectively trapped on the other side as my feet were sliding so much I couldn't cross the road. He came back to get me and helped me to the door. My knight in a fine hat!

I'm now in the kitchen again. Tis definitely a good job I like baking hehehe. I've got 3 lots of shortbread cooling and m just letting the oven warm up a bit so I can get some mince pies in. I have 2 lots of fudge and 1 lot of Lebkuchen to do today as well. Then all the paid baking is done and I can get on with gifts and stuff for us. I think most of our baking will get done fresh over the holiday though.

Things are still snowy here.




It's now half past 3 and I have 5 dozen mince pies cooling. This is 2 dozen more than I needed. Mmm, spare pie! I'm just enjoying a lovely mug of coffee and then I'm off to make caramel and fudge and things.

Quarter to six and the caramel is setting, the lebkuchen is in the fridge waiting to go in the oven after tea and the chocolate for the fudge is measured. I'm gonna make the muffins after tea and put the chocolate on the caramel. These last batches will be more white that dark chocolate in their marbling as I've run out. This is what happens when extra orders come in after you've bought supplies!

No my lens isn't dirty, it's snowing again!



Quarter to nine and the lebkuchen is wrapped, 2 lots of caramel are in the fridge so the chocolate will set because I need the tins to make fudge and the muffins are in the oven. All I have left is the fudge and then I'm done. I've spent the whole weekend baking and I'm so tired I could cry. My back hurts and my feet are sore. I have burns on my palm and ripped nails. And you know what? I feel great. I've worked hard and made stuff I know people will appreciate. Tomorrow I will make 7 people smile and that makes me feel all fuzzy.



11:26
well the fudge didn't work very well. I think it's gonna be one of those things that tastes fine but isn't that great to look at. But that is it all done. I can return to a normal life now. The washing up has been organised and now it's stacked it doesn't look half as bad as it has all day. The kitchen is in a reasonable state. Note that I do not say words that are even close to clean or tidy. It is neither of those things at the moment. But here is enough space to make breakfast in the morning and at this point that is all I can ask for. I must go to bed now. Another day at the general workplace tomorrow. Only 5 sleeps to go.

6 sleeps til Santa comes

We when I woke up the snow was still here. The sun has been shining all day though and o more has fallen as of yet so we'll see how long it lasts. As I write a large bank of cloud is coming over so lets hope it's full of snow.

I have 3 lots of shortbread in the oven now and am getting ready to make some bread. This weekend I need to make 6 dozen mince pies, 6 batches of caramel shortbread, 2 lots of chocolate fudge, 1 lot of lebkuchen and 1 lot of gingerbread muffins. That's just for the paying customers. I'd like to make some stuff for the members of my office and some more mince pies for the warehouse men as well plus some stuff for us. I also have 2 bags I have to finish if I want to send them via last post for Christmas. So not much to do really :o)

Spadger is tackling the ironing which we have a tendency to let pile up. He is also making me fish pie for tea (I love fish pie!). Today is shaping up quite well.

3:56
I have got 2 dozen mince pies cooling and 22 just out of the oven (yes I know that is 2 shy of 2 dozen. Grr) The bread has gone in now and the 3 batches of shortbread are cool and waiting for their topping of caramel. I'll be doing that after tea. Did I mention that it is fish pie and how much I love it?? I love fish pie :o)
I think I actually stand a chance of getting everything done that I want to. The only thing that concerns me is the sewing. Fortunately I have been terrible at getting presents to places on time my whole life so I'm generally forgiven when things are late. It's that kind of exasperated forgiveness that comes with a small smile and a shake of the head hehehe

7:09
Well I have done all the caramel. Before I go to bed I will add the chocolate topping so they will be set and finished in the morning so I can use the tins again. I have managed to scald a finger and burnt he palm of my hand when the caramel spat at me :o( Really stings at the mo. Off to watch the Victorian Farm Christmas episodes on the Iplayer now. My friends brother, Peter, is in this and we went and visited him after filming for this had finished and had a look round. Should be really interesting to see knowing we've been there :o) Then I think we are going to watch Hackers which is one of my fav films from my adolescence.

The moon is just starting to creep back and the streets are still snowy. It's been a good day.

8 sleeps til Santa comes

I totally forgot to give you a baking update yesterday so here goes. I made 3 batches of shortbread and one of chocolate fudge. This means I can send in 3 people's orders tomorrow and I have enough mince pies left at the moment to give to our warehouse blokes who work really damn hard and are really friendly to boot! This leaves me with 5 orders left to do over the weekend. No problem says I.

The shortbread loves me


Ok so now to the daily business. I'm gonna be a bit sneaky and do a day in the life of while at work. Little tidbits written down over the day shouldn't be too distracting.

9:49
We have had our unit manager calling all the other ones trying to sort out my Project issues I mentioned the other day. Maybe we will still get everything out in time!

11:16
It's snowing. Tiny little flakes that won't settle but it's snowing!!! I love snow so very much.

11:58
The sun is out so I guess that's it for the snow today :o(

1:49
This project will be the death of me. I have had enough of it today.

2:42
It's snowing

2:43
It's stopped.

2:44
It's started again :o)

5:21
Nearly home time. Man I can't wait. It's been an awful day and I can't wait to get back to my baking.

So when we got home the garden looked like this.


And there was this stuff everywhere.



We even had one of these hanging from the bird table.


Wow my day revolved around snow and a hated project :o)

10:32
Well I've made the shortbread I needed to and baked bread and made rolls to turn into garlic bread. I've not done much else simply because no one has brought me a tub to take their stuff home in apart from one other person. I need to do theirs separately though as no animal fat can be used.

It has been snowing on and off all evening and it looks like a Christmas card outside. This is what our road looks like now. Much whiter than earlier.


Getting to work in the morning will be interesting if it doesn't melt. I'm voting for skiving and making snowmen but Spadger's not going for it. I adore snow!!! The high points of my day have been when the white stuff was falling from the sky. Even the most run down places look pretty covered in snow.

Tomorrow is Friday. My momma is coming round for tea and the weekend is my mollusk. I can't wait.

The mince pies have exploded

Well the madness that is the baking I'm doing for people at work is beginning today. I have 2 dozen mince pies, 3 batches of millionaire shortbread, 1 batch or chocolate fudge and 1 batch of experimental plain fudge to make. Eep says I. Lets hope that my pastry mojo has come back.

I just made plain fudge for the first time!!!! :oD


Now to see if the pastry in the fridge will actually roll out.


It wasn't the best pastry I've made but it rolled out enough. Why is it that recipes never seem to yield as much as they say? My pastry amount said 3 dozen, I barely managed 2. I guess a lot of it is how thin you dare roll it. The last one was far thinner than any that had come before. Maybe I'll get 3 dozen out of the next lot. I only needed 2 anyway so I'm happy. There was even a little bit left over for Spadgersdottier to make a Doughman. We covered him in sugar and she declared him tasty.


Ok I have the pastry mojo back however I over filled them and many have fallen apart. Spadger is ecstatic as he is getting "Gone wrong cake"

Well I managed to not do anymore baking apart from the shortbread layer of some millionaire shortbread. As well. I've cut out the pieces for a couple more Christmas presents so I look like I'm in for a week of baking and sewing.

Simple is hard work

Phew, no one ever said that the Simple Life was easy.

Sunday always seems to be our mad day. We get lazy during the week and things pile up. Suddenly it's Sunday and we have to get Spadgersdottier back home and there is a ton of stuff to do. So today Spadger took her home on his own and I stayed at home. The main reason for this was to get the bread done. However while he has been gone I have cooked the bread, vacuumed the whole house, dusted the living room, scrubbed the kitchen floor and cleaned the bathroom. It's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. The only this wrong with all this is I missed the dinger on the oven and the top of the bread is a little crisp. Oh well. I've also cleared all the ironing today.

I must get better organised if I'm going to live the Simple LIfe. There is so much to do and I refuse to go down the convenient but wasteful/chemical route anymore. Up until now all the housework got left until the weekend. That is just the way it has always been. I think I need to start doing more as I go. Sweep the kitchen after I make bread, wash the bath thoroughly after use, that kind of thing. There just isn't enough time on a weekend to do everything unless I dedicate my whole weekend to it. Once we get into planting season I will have to be organised as there will be as much to do outside as in so we will both be busy.

Living Simply does not mean easy or with less to do. I guess it means more deliberatly. I'm not going to quote Walden as so many people do however living deliberately is the first step in a Simple Life I think.

So now to go and deliberately get some cake as I think Spadger has just pulled up!