Moving

Hubby dearest, in all his geeky wonderfulness, has moved my blog. You can now find me here:

http://felinedream.craftyblogs.net/

Lemony goodness

Following on from yesterday's post here is the Lemon Syrup Cake (once again from Nigella Lawson's bank of highly fattening but truly yummy recipes) I made. I was really impressed with how easy this was to make and so glad it turned out well. I took it into work with me today and it as devoured by my colleagues. In fact one person didn't believe I'd made it myself.

Cake:
125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
175g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk

Syrup:
Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons (about 4 tablespoons)
100g of icing sugar

23 x 13 x 7 cm loaf tin, buttered and lined, preheat the oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 4.

Method:

• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Add eggs and lemon zest, beat in well.
• Add the sieved flour and salt, folding in gently but thoroughly.
• Add the milk, mix in.
• Spoon into loaf tin and put cake in oven for 45 mins, or until golden and a cake tester comes out clean.
• About 10 minutes before cake is due to come out of the oven, dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice, over a low heat.
• As soon as you take the cake out, puncture holes all over the top and pour the syrup on to let it soak in. Make sure there are lots of holes in the top so it doesn't all go down the sides.
• Wait until it's completely cold to take it out of the tin (otherwise it will crumble into syrupy mush).

The kids

It just dawned on me that my kids will feature prominently in this blog so I really ought to introduce them; my son Devin (6) and daughter Brodie (2). They are really keen on all things crafty and, despite today's reluctance, Dev loves to help me out in the kitchen.

A Day Off

Last night I had to rush up to the local hospital with my 6 year old son. He has a history of ear problems and had grommets fitted in September. This time there was smelly gunk and blood coming out of his ear. Doctor dismissed it as an ear infection and gave him antibiotics but I'm keeping him off school (and therefore me off Forest School) today just to be on the safe side. I had planned for us to do some baking together to pass the time, but when it came to it he decided that he'd much rather play the Wii while I baked. I started with Nigella's Snickers and Peanut-Butter Muffins (which are featured in this post) and moved onto her Lemon Syrup Cake (which I'll blog about when it's cooled, out of the tin and ready to photograph).

Nigella's Snickers and Peanut-Butter Muffins

Ingredients (makes 12)

250g plain flour

85g caster sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

pinch of salt

160g crunchy peanut butter

60g unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

175ml milk

3 x 65g Snickers bars, chopped

Preheat oven to 200c.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add peanut butter and mix until consistency of course crumbs.

Add melted butter and egg to milk before gradually adding mixture to the flour mix.

Mix in snickers pieces before transferring to muffin cases.

Cook for 20-25 minutes (they're done when the tops are golden and firm to a light touch).

Cool and enjoy.

They tasted fine. My only complaint, and I think this is a totally personal thing, was that there wasn't enough chocolate. I think next time I might try replacing one of the snickers bars with chocolate chips and see where I get with that.In other news, my exciting fabric arrived today. I'm really pleased with it and can't wait to start on the two projects I have up my sleeve. It's been a long time since I did any sewing but I'm hoping that if I take my time and follow instructions (and ask for help when I need it) all will be fine. For those of you who are interested, here's a wee peek at my gorgeous Alexander Henry material.

Cherry Almond Loaf Cake

So, as well as making a batch of caramel shortcake this evening, I decided to attempt my first ever loaf cake. I love anything with cherries and almonds in it so went for Nigella Lawson's Cherry-Almond Loaf cake. I found this really easy to make, although I destroyed my kitchen in the process (there is butter where no person should find butter). I can't tell you how it tastes because Nigella's recipes don't exactly suit a Weight Watchers diet but at least it looks good.

Ingredients
200g glace cherries
250g self raising flour
225g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2-3 drops almond essence
100g ground almonds
6 tablespoons milk

• Preheat the oven to 170°c. Halve the cherries, wash them, pat them dry and toss them in flour.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Gradually add the beaten egg and almond essence.
• Gently fold in flour and ground almonds.
• Fold in cherries and then the milk.
• Spoon mixture into loaf tin and bake for 45-60 mins (I found I needed to add an extra 10 minutes).
• Cool cake on a wire rack

Forest School

Every Tuesday I, along with another teacher and a couple of Rangers, take a group of pupils out on Forest School. We go to a local wood and build a fire, cook some food and then attempt to craft things out of the materials which surround us. In weeks gone by we (and when I say we, I mean mostly the pupils) have built tables, benches, a shelter, bows and arrows and have also done some nature inspired art work. A few weeks ago one of the Rangers taught me how to chop down a tree safely and we used the wood to make a surround for the camp fire. Today the Ranger helped a group of 3 pupils make the rather impressive bench you can see in the photo. I was so impressed with it that I thought I would share my rather poor camera phone picture with you. Over the next few weeks we (and by this I mean the pupils and me, yeay) will be making more benches, some tools and learning how to tie pretty knots. Hopefully I will manage to remember to take my camera with me so that I can photograph my crafty exploits.

Slightly off topic but the food today was amazing. I ate the best potato scone I have ever tasted.

Today I am making...

...an essay.

For the past 6 months or so I have been working on the SEBD (social, emotional and behavioural difficulties) 2 module of my postgrad. All should be well, after all this is the sector I work in and therefore have much knowledge of. Not so. The essay is more than a month overdue and although my tutor doesn't seem to have a problem with it I really do. I have another essay on Modern Educational Thought due in on 18th June so I need to get this one out of the way.

So today will be spent cutting, pasting, scraping and re-doing all the components of said 3,500 word essay while attempting to entertain a 2 year old and a 5 year old. It's a craft of sorts, although I'll not bore you with pictorial evidence of the finished article.