Christmas cake

Yeahh – I set myself a target to get my Christmas cake made this week – well I sort of archived it. The fruit has been soaking for a few weeks

One huge 12” square cake which will be cut into four smaller cakes - I had to split the mixture into two bowls as my mixer couldn't cope the amount of mixture

One 8” round; I thought I had two 8” round deep tins umm I'm sure did but I didn't so couldn't make the two at the same time as I had planned. 

We are out all day Sunday so the second it will have to wait until Monday.

Looking back I seem to be behind this year – my cakes were all made by this time last year.

MummyHen X

Hooking for Kitties

Having seen Amanda @ crafty in the med appeal for stray and abandoned cats in Spain - we have two here in the coop . Humphrey 

and Sheene

I just had to pick up my hook. Having got my crochet mojo back a few weeks ago – I started to crochet this blanket;

I saw it on Little Tin Birds blog another great blog if you've not come across Heather before – the colours are muted but really beautiful.  I didn't have an owner in mind so perhaps it can be sold to raise some funds.

I will finish these pin cushions and send them to Spain to help the strays cats.

MummyHen X

Hello – it’s me

I am here.  After a short sabbatical from blogging I am back – perhaps not as refreshed as I’d like but back none the less am back.

Work is still ‘the tiger in the room’ and I am trying to tame it – but it’s difficult. Part of my strategy to reduce the number of hours I work [my contract says 35 but reality is near 60] is to set goals each week for none work activities and stick to them.  We went to see Captain Philips a couple of weeks ago on a Friday afternoon – I had said I would finish work at noon and NOT check email or log back on to work until 8am on Monday – it was VERY difficult but I did manage to stick to it.  I am still waking in the early hours with work on my mind and finding it increasingly difficult not to go into my home office and login.

Money saving is going well – a few wobbles in the last few months but nothing that a months or so of being extra thrifty won’t solve. We have finished paying the community charge so that’s an extra £175 for the next 5 months that can towards credit cards; the final payment on the car loan will be made in a few week then we will be loan free – wooohooo – another £430 for snowballing.

My tin for the Sealed Pot Challenge is still sealed and weighing over 8.5kgs I am really hoping that there will be more than £1,000 in it when its opened on 1^st December – getting excited about it. 

 

Fruit for the Christmas cake has been soaking for a few weeks and I am hoping to that I will be able to make the cake this week.

My mum had her 82nd birthday at the beginning of last month and we spent a lovely day with her and Betty - I made a lovely PoppySeed and Lemon cake; it was really yummy.

 

SonnyHen has started to play rugby again after not playing for a season.  This means that Saturdays revolve around where he’s playing; we all travel together so arrive a good few hours before kick-off which gives DaddyHen and I time to go for a long walk.  Last week we gathered sweet chestnuts (note to self don't gather them without gloves - I still have tiny tiny splinters from the spines in my fingers).  This week there were hips and these purple berries

 

I think they are sloes but not sure - if you know then let me know. 

MummyHen X

Bettys Party

We had such a lovely time at my Aunts family birthday party on Saturday; family party because on Sunday she had another party for church friends and then today is her actual day.

We only tend to get together, as an extended family, at major events the last one was my mother’s 80^th a couple of years ago prior to that it was my father’s funeral. 

We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant in called Moorings; very reasonably priced good food in large portions.  Mum seemed to enjoy her ice cream sundae. 

Back to Mums house for tea, cookies and cake.

 

MummyHen X

Cookie Central

I am still here!!

These are my iced cookies – am actually really pleased with them; given I’ve not attempted anything like this before.  Lets hope everyone enjoys them

 

 Daisy - she enjoys her garden

 Cross - represents her faith (not sure what happened the icing its a little blotchy)

 

Artist palette - her love of painting

 

Elephants - many years of living in India

 

Sorry for the poor photos but I did take these very late last night as I boxed everything up to go to the party.

MummyHen X

Cookies

I mentioned in my last post that it was Aunties birthday in a few weeks and I would be making cookies – not something I have done before but after researching the web I found some inspiration – boy are there some very talented cookie makers out there.  I decided I would give it a go – I can bake and have iced cakes before so why not cookies.

I made a test batch yesterday and my chief tasters – DaddyHen and SonnyHen both asked if there were any more; NO.

During the week I had decided on the shapes – each having a special meaning to my aunt;

So today I made over 100 cookies, recipe from here the only thing I did different was to put the dough in the fridge as when I first tried it was far too sticky and the cookies became misshaped moving from the work top to the baking sheet.  For some reason on one batch I got the timings in the oven wrong it should have been 7 mins but for some reason the flowers and some of the crosses got a little too brown; if I get time I will remake these but once they are iced it won’t show and they aren’t burnt just brown. These are now in the freezer awaiting icing – now that’s going to be the tricky bit.

I have approx. another 40 cookies to make – they can wait until next weekend.

I’m really happy with the elephants (Auntie lived in India for over 30 years) as I searched for a suitable cutter – nothing really jumped out but then I stumbled on this delightful elephant herd – I really liked the shape and the design but I couldn’t find the cutter in the UK and was not going to pay for it to be shipped from the states and I really don’t have the time to wait.  So I made the cutter – I printed out the shape and made a cardboard template and then used a strip of aluminium and bent it around the cardboard template into shape;

I used flat screw driver to bend against for the right angle corners, an old battery to get the bend in the trunk; it took a good few hours to make but I really enjoyed it.

 

MummyHen X

A weigh day – Day 8 - 12

I have not had the time to give you an update

I lost 9lbs in the first week – am really pleased

Monday I decided that I would try a green vegetable only juice; water, chard, cucumber, pear. 

Umm – it isn’t my favourite – it was very pulpy; I don’t have a juicer and I think with the blender the pulp doesn’t blend.  So for Tuesday I strained the juice though a clean J-Cloth it was much better, it’s still isn’t my favourite drink.  Tuesday lunch I was back to my old strawberry with coconut - yummy

Dinner: DaddyHen has made some lovely dinners – sole stacks (layers of sole fillets) with crushed Jersey Royals, capers and caper berries

 

Duck with fondant potatoes with cherries

 

Exercise: Managed a couple of time –but really to need to focus on the exercise 

Work has been very busy; was informed Monday that with immediate effect all budgets would be hit with a 10% reduction, the impact has been that some contractors have been given notice (which I just hate doing), some investment will now been postponed or scaled back.  Hopefully, 2014 budgets won’t be too hard hit as we have some exciting innovative IT projects planned. 

My Mums sister is going to have a landmark birthday in three weeks; I will be making a cake and some cookies.  I have been doing some research into cake and cookie design icing options etc.  I’m no expert but will give it ago – the designs will have meaning to auntie.  I soaked the fruit for the cake this week and made the cake this afternoon – its smells lovely, the holes on the top will be filled with cake that I'll cut off the bottom to make if sit flat. Will be experimenting with cookies tomorrow.

 

MummyHen X