Almond and Raisin Tea Loaf - Recipe

Bonjour!

The other day I discovered a packet of (almost out of date) flaked almonds lurking at the back of the kitchen cupboard ... I also had a stray egg that was a couple of days old hanging about in the fridge ... good excuse as any to throw something together then ...

6oz/180g Self Raising Flour
4oz/125g butter/marg
1 egg
3oz/80g sugar (I used Demerara)
1 1/2oz/40g raisins
1 1/2oz/40g flaked almonds
A few drops vanilla essence
4-5 tbsps milk (approx)

Nothing new here (there rarely is with my cooking!) - mix up the flour, butter, egg, sugar  and vanilla essence with the milk to give a good consistency (add more milk if you think the mixture is too stiff - I'm sorry ... I can't say the work 'stiff' without thinking 'mistress to bishop'!). Stir in the raisins and almonds. Place in your desired loaf tin - mine's approx 21cm/13cm.  Bake on 180 deg conventional - I guess that would be 160 deg fan (I don't have this luxury at the moment as our fan oven is broken - we've had it fixed once and it's gone again so have given up for the moment!) or Gas No4 (but I've never used a gas oven so you'd have to double check!) for 45-50 minutes.

It's not overly sweet as I've tried to lessen the sugar (although the raisins compensate for this) and does have a slightly firmer (ooh matron!) consistency than a standard cake type thing (must be just the one egg) but tastes lovely sliced up and spread with a bit of butter with a good strong cuppa!

What's been lurking at the back of your kitchen cupboard lately?


Jen x


PS. Apologies ... I appear to have had a 'Carry On' moment or two there!

Cherry and Ginger Loaf - Recipe

Bonjour!

From one sweet cherry to another (if you have no idea what I'm taking about see previous post!). The other morning I had an hour or so to spare (actually - read that as 'I chose to ignore the huge ironing pile') so decided to try out my new Breville hand mixer (£11.99 on offer at Sainsburys - which I thought was a bargain!) ... I had some cherries and ginger to use up (don't we all on occasion) so made a Cherry and Ginger Loaf type thing  ...

6oz/180g self raising flour
4oz/125g butter/marg
1 egg
3oz/90g sugar
3oz/90g cherries
2 oz/60g crystallised ginger (chopped fairly finely)
a few tablespoons of milk

I mixed up the flour, butter, egg and sugar with enough milk to give me a good 'cake' consistency, added the cherries and ginger, piled it all into my ceramic loaf dish (which measures 21cm/13cm) ...

... and baked on 180 deg (conventional oven - the fan in ours has broken) - think this is Gas 4 (but don't quote me on that!) for 55 minutes - you could get away with 50 mins if you don't like too crusty a top  ...

Then all you have to do is make a huge cuppa and dig in! Unfortunately it's very moreish so some restraint has to be exercised ... good  luck with that!


Jen x

Birthday Bits ...!

Bonjour!

So you may or may not know that it was my birthday recently - actually it was a while ago now!   The day consisted of some shopping, some family and some food! My musician brother was home so he cooked a 'birthday' curry and my other brother was over in France (where he lives), so he sat within the confines of the laptop (on Skype) situated on the piano to be exact, watching over us and chatting whilst we had dinner - it was like having all the family in the same room! Here are some of my lovely pressies ...!

The Body Shop Bath and Shower Gels from my friend, L'Occitane and Gatineau goodies from my lovely mum. Mac lippie in Lady Danger from a friend and the hubby treated me to the Liz Earle Botanical Essence No15 (love it!), Real Techniques Core Collection and Philip Kingsley Scalp Mask - good to know he has my scalp's best interests at heart!

Bought myself the No7 Illuminated Make-Up Mirror (half price) with money from a good friend (now I'll be able to see all my wrinkles and open pores illuminated and magnified!) and couldn't resist this long-line 'Run DMC' distressed T from New Look - go me! The lovely bright scarf came all the way from my Aunt in sunny Melbourne, Australia - thanks Auntie J! x

My brother's tasty Sinhalese style chicken curry with aubergine, red pepper and fresh coriander and mum's wonderful triple layer milk choc birthday cake - once you start eating it you can't stop!

So yes - I can't complain - it was good! The only spanner in the works was caused by the boiler packing up at the end of the day - luckily after we had cooked and eaten but there was no long hot pampering soak in the bath that night!  Thankfully we managed to get it sorted pretty sharpish (I nearly hugged the plumber!) - washing hands in cold water was painful after a while! NEVER underestimate the power of a good boiler or a good plumber for that matter chaps!

What do you think of my birthday bits then?  Have you ever hugged your plumber?

Jen x

Birthday Bits And An Excuse Of A Clothes Haul!

Bonjour!

It was my birthday the other week - the hubby took me out 'shopping' and for lunch which was great - not so great that he managed to buy some clobber and I bought absolutely nowt! It's always the case isn't it - you have your birthday dosh on you and can't find anything that takes your fancy ...

Anyway just a couple of bits I'd picked up previously ...

All from H&M ...

Tomato red dress - actually got this ages ago in the sale but forgot to post about it so better late than never! No idea when I'll wear it but I like the colour and if we ever get some warm weather I'll dig it out and may even do an OOTD to give you all a good laugh!
Crimson and blue check shirt - now and again I get a yen for a good old check shirt but do wonder about releasing my inner hill-billy ... let's face it I'm no Daisy Duke!
Black loose knit jumper - it's black, basic and loose knit ...what else is there to say - apart from I'll probably just chuck this on with my coloured jeans!

Moving on - a few birthday pressies from the hubby and kids ...

I love the Mandara Spa range - these were all on half price offer recently at Sainsbury's and I hinted to my little girl that now would be a good time to get her Dad to buy these for my birthday (as I was still under spend ban at the time) - she took the hint and the rest is history!

I usually have 'birthday money' to spend from my parents but my lovely mum - bless her - always manages to pick up a few 'surprises' for me to open - even at my age ...!

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora Eau de Toilette - gorgeous little bottle of fresh summer fragrance - peonies to be exact - lovely!
Gatineau Paris Radiance Enhancing Gommage - I've been wanting to try this for ages - can't wait to use it to try to rid my skin of the 'greyness' all this bad weather has brought about!
Gatineau Paris Defi-Lift Revolumising Lip Care - this is one of my absolutes favourites when it comes to lip care. I use at night as a lip treatment - love it - full review here.
Silver Diamonique scroll ring - I love silver and white gold - particularly band-style rings. Mum's such a sweetie - thanks mum! xx Close up below!

Mum used to make and ice all our birthday cakes when we were little and she's still at it as you can see - tasted fantastic!

Needless to say the cake - large though it was didn't last too long!

I'm planning a couple of serious shopping trips over the Easter hols with my girl so hopefully may have a  proper haul to show you soon!

Jen x