Things that make me happy: 2

I love making bread!  When our last bread making machine broke (we've worn out a couple over years!), I started making the dough in my Kenwood Chef.  I just pile in the the ingredients: 

 150g strong white flour

 500g brown flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp brown sugar

 1 sachet of dried yeast

 1 tbsp sunflower oil

 14 fl.oz of warm water

 and then turn it on!  There's something quite reassuring about the clunking and rocking of my trusty, old machine as it sets to work turning the ingredients into a dough.  I let the machine have its turn at kneading and then I always like to give it a go myself so I tip the warm dough onto a lightly oiled work surface for a few minutes kneading by hand...nothing beats it for removing the stresses of the day!  Using an oiled surface was a tip that I picked up recently from a repeat of Great British Bake Off...it works a treat, so much better than using flour!

Put the dough back in the bowl and leave to rise.

Then, when the bowl is filled with pillowy dough, comes the joy of knocking it back and kneading again before shaping into a loaf or rolls.

Leave to rise again.  Then bake - Gas 7, 30 minutes for a loaf and 20 minutes for rolls - and enjoy the lovely smell that fills the house!

Last night's loaf!

The happiness continues...

with a big bite from a door step of sandwich made with last night's loaf....delicious!

Rebecca

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It was lovely to see sunshine and blue skies here on Sunday and we made the most of it by spending some much needed time in the garden.  All of the shrubs seem to have rocketed sky high with the all the water they've been getting, but the vegetable beds are not thriving as they should be.  I admit we were a little late with some of our planting, but we were picking peas, beans and carrots from the garden at this time last year. The peas have not come through at all,the beans look very sorry specimensand the green, feathery carrot tops are only just nudging up slowly from their rain-soaked bed.

Poor borlotti beans, but lovely looking lettuces

A clump of parsley has bolted, but I have to say I rather like the flowers! I will collect the seeds from them when they are ready as this variety has done really well in our garden and survived all through a Yorkshire winter!

The rhubarb has loved all the rain so I was able to cut quite a lot on Sunday to try out Nigella's recipe for rhubarb fool and to make a batch of rhubarb and vanilla jam, which is our absolute favourite rhubarb jam recipe!

Here it is releasing all its lovely juices into the sugar and taking on the flavour of the vanilla pod and seeds.  Old-fashioned I know, but I do love making jam!

I've been blocking some of my granny squares...yes, I am slowly, but surely, making a blanket for home.  An old foam seat cushion covered with a beach towel has made a perfect blocking board for my little 4" squares and, in a sunny bay window,it seems that it makes the perfect cat bed too!

Cheeky cat!

I needn't worry about the lack of peas for the time being...look what the boys brought back from rugby last night:

a huge box of full of peas from our kind farmer friends

 Delicious!

Rebecca

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Muddy delights!

Thanks to our allotment-keeping friends, whose son plays rugby with ours, this is what came home from rugby training on Thursday evening:


Crates of mud-covered beetroot, courgettes, squashes and spinach...a very pleasant change indeed from the muddy boots and dirty washing that usually lands in the kitchen after training!

Spinach and potato soup is simmering away as I type, the beetroot is ready for the oven and I've been consulting my Women's Institute Book of Preserves and Pickles for chutney recipe ideas as the courgettes are more of marrow proportions! I love pottering around in the kitchen...the simple things make me so happy!

Back soon,

Rebecca
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Home Grown Produce

We have had the house to ourselves this weekend, a situation that is becoming all the more frequent now that the children have grown and have busy calendars full of social events! Our daughter is jamboreeing in Norfolk for the week - camping is not really her thing and the weather has not been too good, but I do hope that she's enjoying the experience! We have no way of finding out until she comes home as, much to her disgust, mobile phones were not permitted! Our son is away in Wales with one of his friends and, despite the rain, we know that he has been having a good time from the texts that he has sent us!

We dug the first potatoes from the garden yesterday...well, hubby dug and I held the bowl! We must have looked a sight...both of us grinning with sheer delight as each little potato was revealed! It was very exciting indeed, especially as these have grown from a supermarket potato that we chitted! And, of course, nothing beats home grown produce! We had to remember when to stop digging as we are only cooking for 2 at the moment and not 4! On the way back to the kitchen I collected the few sugar snap peas that were ready - not enough for 2 helpings, but delicious to crunch on while preparing dinner!

We were also able to collect up the seed pods from the old purple sprouting broccoli plants, which had been left at the side of house to dry. We probably have enough seeds to keep us in purple sprouting broccoli for the rest of our lives! Now that we know what to expect, we'll probably give growing it another go next year as it was delicious!

We've also been enjoying home grown produce from some friends of ours: spinach and courgettes - long ones and round ones! We've not grown spinach before so, when we spotted some packs of seeds reduced to 19p each when we were out yesterday, we couldn't resist! I am going to plant some this week and see what happens!

I hope the spinach is a success as we've really enjoyed eating it torn into warm, griddled courgettes, peppers and red onions with some basil leaves, as pictured below alongside the home grown potatoes, which have been tossed in butter with mint from the garden...accompanied by a glass of something of course!

Over this weekend I have realised who makes all the noise, all the mess, all the washing and eats all the food! It is lovely having the house to ourselves, but I do miss them...they make this house a home!

Back soon,

Rebecca

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Finding my feet on Facebook...slowly!

As you may have noticed from the side bar, my little business, rebeccamaryjane's, is on Facebook! To promote my page a little, I am having a Christmassy-themed giveaway - why not take a look http://www.facebook.com/pages/rebeccamaryjanes/166961191015. Everyone who becomes a fan by 15th November will be entered into a draw to receive a small Christmassy parcel, which will include one of these:

Christmas Pudding Brooch

Well, I really must go now...more Christmas Puddings to finish and then I must return to the kitchen to add candles to the chocolate cake I've made for my lovely hubby, whose birthday it is today, and begin preparations for our small celebratory dinner tonight!

Back soon,

Rebecca

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