pickle it!

christmas pickles from naomi who has been very busy 'making christmas' this year!

(and yes they are 'pickled brussel sprouts - my favourite vegetable)

birthday season

In our house January is birthday season. Although in many ways it's not the best time to have a birthday (mine falls a few days after new year) I do like starting a new year with a new age and spending my birthday money in the January sales. So here's a summary of our birthdays through their cakey goodness...

(R's tropical birthday cake, meringue piles on birthday plates, birthday tea, my apple and wensleydale birthday cake)

good things

just a few things that have brought me much happiness over the last few days...

• that I managed to cook myself two perfect boiled eggs on Saturday morning. Although I am actually quite a good cook as a general rule my boiled eggs are always undercooked and partly raw (I am not a huge fan of timing things) so much so that both 'R' and my Mum will not let me cook them boiled eggs and always insist on doing it themselves....
• that I got my copy of Dita von Teese's new book Stripteese signed by the lady herself on Friday evening.
• that my seedling are growing! albeit quite slowly...
• that I went to the Sunday UpMarket on Brick Lane yesterday with my sister to find that not only it has expanded hugely since I last went and now has loads of vintage stalls upstairs but one lady had a box of 'free stuff' she was getting rid of at the end of the day and I got a kimono with this amazing dragon on! it has a hole in one of the shoulder seams and the belt is missing but otherwise it's in perfect condition. I have another one in dark blue I bought ages ago which I altered and made into a shirt/top type thing and am yet to wear so had been kind of regretting it but now I have another one I can flounce around in when it gets warmer!
• that it has been forecast to rain all day (although it isn't right now...) and there's loads of good stuff to listen to on the radio iPlayer including last week's Dylan show!
  

music to bake to...

I'm quite particular about my baking conditions. I like to bake in the afternoon but not before 3. Baking in the morning is also ok but it then somehow seems like more of a necessity than an indulgence. And baking in the evening is wrong - I don't know why it just is. I'm also quite particular about the music I listen to whilst I bake. (perhaps this is connected to the indulgence part?) Mostly I listen to Peggy Lee but Dizzy Gillespie I find also works well. For me baking needs something that's upbeat but soothing and not too distracting. I am also most happy to bake when it's a bit grey and dreary outside and therefore feels most warm and cosy in.
I think I am particular about these things as someone who is gluten intolerant cake or biscuits are an indulgence. I only have them when I've had time to do some baking so therefore the conditions must be right. Although I am greatly appreciative of the supermarket's 'freefrom' ranges, and on the whole their products are good, few of the cakes and biscuits live up to expectations (except for sainsbury's doughnuts but these are also a treat at £1.99 for 2...) and as with 'glutenous' cakes I think home-made is always better.

perfect autumn dinner

Last week I made the perfect autumn dinner - lamb chops roasted in red wine, rosemary and garlic and plum crumble with custard - both were variations on recipes from Nigella Lawson's amazing book Feast. (I learnt a lot of what I know about cooking from Nigella and I love her wholly unapologetic attitude towards food). Having just completed an MA I have spent most of the last three months researching and writing my dissertation with little time for anything else, including cooking, so I am relishing having time to cook again and have insisted on making dinner nearly every night since then. I find something incredibly restorative and calming about making a good dinner and at this time of year there are few things better than pottering around in the kitchen knowing that something yummy is baking in the oven.