This weekend has been a catch up weekend, which is good as the weather is STILL pretty lousy.We have emptied the loft of my Son's stored belongings as he and his girlfriend move from Winchester to London next weekend. Because we don't have to help move them (horrrrraaaaahhhhhhhh!) we washed all linens and clothes and ironed them. We are good like that, but in reality it is just our way of helping, which as I've mentioned is infinitely better than driving a lorry to the centre of London.
We have christened the new Kitchen Aid by making a Blueberry Cranberry and Almond cake. Oh so easy and very delicious. I used cranberry and blueberries as that is what we had left in the freezer.
Summer fruit and almond cake. Serves 10 Prepare :10 minutes Cook : 1 hour 15 minutes plus cooling
150g self-raising flour sifted 100g ground almonds 175g unsalted butter 150g golden castor sugar 2 eggs 2tbsp milk 1tsp good almond essence 380g summer fruits (if frozen they need to be thawed and drained) 25g granulated sugar
1: Preheat the oven to 170degC, gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm spring form or loose bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment. 2: Put the flour and almonds in a bowl, add the butter,castor sugar and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the milk and almond essence, mix, then fold in 200g of fruit. 3: Spoon into the tin and level the surface. Scatter with the remaining fruit and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until golden and firm, and a skewer comes out clean. Scatter with the granulated sugar, cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For ages I have not known what to do with a whole stack of magazines. They have stayed in the loft or sat in the conservatory for ages. and generally got on my nerves. Finally all the nice bits have been removed and found their way into folders so that I can be inspired. I have gardening, home, food, craft and a book of cuttings called nice stuff. A flick through them will inspire me to do all things lovely. Although it looks like the folders are as big as the stack of magazines, believe me they are not, the pile of magazines in the photograph is a small fraction of what I had! I promise to not hoard magazines anymore.
