Saturday 31 December 2011

Bananas


Looks like it's time for banana cake. 
The recipe will follow.....

Friday 30 December 2011

Recipe for Peppermint Creams


Peppermint Creams - makes approximately 60


  1. Sift 450g icing sugar into a large bowl.
  2. Add 8 - 12 tablespoons of condensed milk and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract (this is quite mild, if you prefer a stronger flavour add more to taste)
  3. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.
  4. Turn out onto a clean work surface sprinkled with a little icing sugar.
  5. Knead until smooth.
  6. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 4mm.
  7. With a small cutter, stamp out individual mints and place onto baking parchment.
  8. Gather up and re-roll trimmings until all the dough is used.
  9. Leave overnight to dry out.
  10. Package up as required for gifts etc.
I pressed a milk chocolate chip into each mint before drying as time was short. Next time I'd like to half-coat in chocolate.

Thursday 29 December 2011

Monday 26 December 2011

Peppermint Creams


Home-made Peppermint Creams
have been
going down a storm
today
at our Boxing day buffet.
I've eaten quite a few!

Sunday 25 December 2011

Christmas Wishes


Ok, so there's no snow yet this year,  but I'll be ready!

Have a Lovely Christmas!

Saturday 24 December 2011

Christmas Smells of Gingerbread


The dough,..


...the cookie cutter...



...the baked gingerbread.

Now cooling on wire racks in the kitchen, I'll be decorating these cookies later. The smell pervades the house and is driving our dog to distraction. She wants to get into the kitchen and eat the gingerbread - but it's not for her!

Some other images of gingerbread - not baked by me! - but plenty of ideas for decoration.

Friday 23 December 2011

Bring Back the 12 Days of Christmas!



What will you be doing on Boxing Day? Visiting friends or family? Shopping? Taking down the decorations? 

Some houses have been lit up since the beginning of December, major shopping has been going on all month - supermarket car parks have been full, traffic queues frustratingly long - and yet it amazes me that so many people short-change themselves when it come to the Christmas Season. Because that is what it is - a season! Not just two days. 

No wonder so many people feel flat when Christmas is 'over' - all that build up for one, or two days at most. 

There are 12 days of Christmas!!!  I know many of us have to go back to work during those 12 days but we can still keep up our decorations, have friends round and enjoy! Let's not allow commercial interests to cut short our celebrations or the media rush us helter-skelter into 2012. Let's enjoy every single day until 12th night.

Have yourself a merry BIG Christmas now.

Monday 19 December 2011

What a Treat!


Ice Cream Sundae with Jelly Beans, Marshmallows and Toffee Sauce

It's a good thing this ice cream parlour is in another town - naughty but soooo nice!

Sunday 18 December 2011

Christmas Robin


Christmas Robin

So lovely to see robins during the winter months and even lovelier to hear them sing.



Saturday 17 December 2011

Pigeon Art


Pigeon Print

A pigeon flew into the closed kitchen window and left a dusty 'body-print' on the glass. I pressed a piece of black paper over the print and this was the result.

Pigeon Art?

Friday 16 December 2011

Unusual Christmas Present


Taken at...


...the National...


...Seal Sanctuary...



...Gweek, Cornwall.


An unusual present for those hard-to-buy-for-relatives/friends who have everything they need.


Tuesday 13 December 2011

Trier Cathedral


Trier Cathedral (Dom St Peter) at Christmas.

I love the up-lit magnificence of the Cathedral; the sense of history and timelessness, that I am seeing something that has been seen by numerous other individuals down the centuries. I wonder about those individuals, how they lived, their hopes and fears and wonder at the humanity that links us all. But mostly I just wonder...

Monday 12 December 2011

Stormy Weather


Storms are on the way. 
According to the forecast we need to 'batten down the hatches' for the next few days. 
Storms are quite enjoyable if you're tucked up warm inside
  -the rain against the window, the wind tossing the trees;
I can hear it now.
Not so great if you're homeless....

Sunday 11 December 2011

Pig's Ear


There's nothing our golden likes better than a pig's ear treat. It disappears in no time!

There's also nothing she wouldn't do to get one either - it's very funny.  When I get a pig's ear out of the cupboard, she tries to anticipate what will make me give it to her. She sits, lies down, stands, sits close; if she could, she'd stand on her nose! I usually use the opportunity for a little training - so she doesn't forget. 

And when she gets the ear, she has a special place on the grass where she goes to enjoy it - and enjoy it she does!


Saturday 10 December 2011

Frosty Weather





It's certainly getting...


...cold now.

Love the way the frost enhances these sage leaves.

Friday 9 December 2011

Advent Wreath



Advent Wreath

I love my Advent wreath! The base is an old oval mirror that was literally gathering dust under a cupboard and the gourds were grown on my allotment this year. 

It's the second week of Advent so two candles are lit. This coming Sunday is Gaudete Sunday when I'll light the red (should be pink, really) candle. 

Waiting, anticipating -  is good.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Last Speakers' Club Meeting of 2011



We had our last speakers' club meeting before Christmas tonight - great fun with four prepared speeches and three rounds of 'Just a Minute'. The latter being even more challenging than Table Topics as we had to speak for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation - when I took a turn I was challenged several times as I hesitated and repeated, though I didn't deviate!

I also gave the fourth of the prepared speeches - a story of a Christmas Eve encounter with Father Christmas when I was three years old. I can still remember the horror of being wide-awake when Father Christmas entered the bedroom - and trying to pretend I was asleep so that he would leave me some presents!

Monday 5 December 2011

A Good Use of Time


I've just spent a relaxing evening 
chatting with a very old friend 
beside a comforting fire. 
Is there any better way
 to spend your time? 

Saturday 3 December 2011

Thursday 1 December 2011

'Tis the Season


It's a...


...dangerous time...


...to be...


...a pheasant!


Christmas is coming...