Weekend Snapshot

Have really been suffering the last week or so with a nasty bout of cold and flu - germs kindly shared with me by Dave - thanks babe!  Consequently didn't really feel like getting out and about much at the weekend, and the one time I did make a conscious effort to leave the house I got rained on!  :)

So here is a little snapshot of my at home weekend.

I actually got round to doing some good old fashioned baking.  I don't know what it is but I don't really do a whole lot of cooking in the summer, but now Autumn is approaching I'm in the mood for the kitchen again.  I've never made jam tarts before, and I admit they look a bit pasty and untidy but let me tell you they were delicious!

Snoozing with the cats

And plenty of stitching for my city and guilds course.

All in all a pretty nice weekend considering.  This coming week I have a couple of days off work and we are heading for Cornwall for a nice little mini break hopefully I'll have shaken off the last of these germs by then.  Can't wait!

Food Glorious Food

Food has always played a big part in my life i.e I eat way too much of the stuff, lol I used to be really bothered about being over weight and hated how I looked, but over recent years I've grown to be a lot more comfortable in my own skin. I haven't given up my eternal goals of getting fitter and losing a few more pounds but I just don't beat myself up over it as much these days.

Bubbling pans and a big pot of veg curry

Although I've always enjoyed eating food until recently I never felt very comfortable in the kitchen doing the actual cooking. That has really changed recently and with a bit of practise and plenty of encouragement I've discovered a real love of gathering up lovely fresh raw ingredients and cooking from scratch.

Home Grown Chillis

I'm not sure why the sudden sea change, maybe it's just me that's changed, maybe my memories have become twisted over time but when I look back now meal times used to be about cooking something as fast and convenient as possible to quickly satisfy rumbling tummies and make more time to move on to other things.

Candlelit dinner for two

These days I don't worry if dinner takes 2 hours to prepare and cook as I know they will be 2 hours filled with laughter and chatter and the sharing of the days highs and lows. The main problem these days is we both love to cook, so there is always a fight about who is going to be the day's head chef :) Maybe this hat, as modelled by the lovely Mr Tickle, will help :)

So now I'm getting better in the kitchen if anyone wants to share there favourite home cook recipes please feel free :)

Windfall Apples

Last week I was gifted a huge bag of windfall apples. Ok so they might not have been the prettiest looking apples on the block but with a bit of cosmetic surgery they got turned in to 4 delicious crumbles. As you can probably see I added a few blackberries to a couple of the dishes. Looks like the naughty kitchen sprites took a nibble out of this one before it made it in to the freezer. I also made a pie, my pastry skills leave a lot to be desired but what it lacks in aesthetic beauty it makes up for in taste. After 4 crumbles and a pie there were still more apples so a couple more were chucked in to the slow cooker with some pork and a splash of cider for a delicious Sunday dinner.

The freezer is now full, so it's now down to the hard work of eating up some of those yummy puddings. :)

Domestic Goddess?

Still no stitching but instead some more baking.

You might remember a few posts ago I shared the first ever apple pie that I made, well I was telling a friend and the next thing I knew she has gifted me some apples from her tree.

This time I made a cake, I'll make myself into a domestic goddess yet!

I followed this great recipe from VPs blog, thanks for sharing VP! Again I'm pretty proud of my first cake making effort, the cake didn't stay whole for long!

And now for something completely different...

... anyone that knows me, knows that I am a totally incompetent when it comes to cooking. DH does most of the cooking in our house, unless it's beans on toast. Well recently for some reason I have had the urge to venture into the kitchen and yesterday I made my first ever apple pie.
Ok so it's not exactly pretty but it tasted delicious, nothing beats home baked, maybe this could be the start of a whole new life in the kitchen for me?

The drugs kept me lucid enough to venture away from the cross stitch and start on the embellishment of my row robin blocks too. I didn't get too far along the line but at least a start has been made.
Also I drew the winner of the postcard giveaway. Well done ROBIN C, thanks for leaving a comment, please could you email me with your snail mail so I can get the card in the post. Thanks to everyone who took part, and in general I just want to say a huge thank you to every one who takes the time to leave comments here. I do love to blog and it's nice to know that I'm not on this adventure alone!