Lemony Lemon Brownies and Views from the kitchen.

If you like lemon then these are seriously lemony and delicious

I got the recipe off Facebook but I have changed the glaze to

2 teaspoons of lemon juice and not 2 tablespoons for as you can see here the glaze was too runny

Recipe at end of post

How do you think my teapot got out there?

Reflecting through the window!

Early evening sun after dull and wet days

Love looking out of the kitchen window this time of year

Lemony Lemon Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, large
2 tbsps lemon zest
2 tsps lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the tart lemon glaze:
4 tsps lemon juice
8 tsps lemon zest
1 cup icing sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
3. Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.
6. Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy.
7. Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges.
8. Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not over bake, or the bars will dry.
9. Filter the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice.
10. Spread the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula and let glaze set.
11. Cut into bars and serve.

Cookies & Cookies

It's a long time since I have posted on baking. I still bake regularly but don't get around to taking photos
I did this time

Oat biscuits with Cranberries

These are out of this world delicious

The recipe came from Joanna Trollope a popular author. It was her contribution to a recipe book being sold to support breast cancer

They are melt in the mouth crumbly

Stem Ginger Biscuits

Recipe from Sunday Mail 'You' Magazine

These are melt in the mouth crumbly too

 with a real kick of ginger

Recipes as follows

Oat Biscuits with Cranberries  (Joanna Trollope’s)

6 oz self-raising flour                    2 ¾ oz Porridge oats                     5 ½ oz granulated sugar

1tsp bicarbonate of soda            1 tspn baking powder                  6 oz butter

2 tbsp golden syrup                      3 oz dried cranberries (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.  Grease two large baking trays.

Put the self-raising flour, oats, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a bowl.

Place the butter and golden syrup in a pan and melt slowly over a low heat.

When completely melted pour into the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. At this stage can also add the dried cranberries.

With a teaspoon scoop out small spoonfuls, roll them into a ball and place (not too close together) on the baking trays. Flatten slightly with teaspoon. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer carefully with a fish slice to a wire rack and cool before serving.

Stem Ginger Biscuits

4 ½ oz butter, softened                3 ¼ oz golden caster sugar          1 tsp vanilla essence

2 balls of stem ginger very finely chopped          

5 oz self-raising flour     2 tbsp ground ginger

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/4 gas and line 2 baking sheets with greasproof paper.

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy (about 5 mins. using an electric hand whisk)

Fold in the chopped stem ginger. Bring together to form a dough.

Using a tspn scoop out the dough and form into balls (about the size of a walnut). Place on prepared baking sheets about 5cm apart and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

Place in oven and bake 12 – 15 minutes until biscuits are golden and firm. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely. If wished dust with icing sugar to serve. 

Late September Musings on Life

Late September has been a particularly busy time with a variety of happenings (is this unusual I ask myself!) Here we have one of particular interest

Great to have guests who passionately believe in helping others. Having had approximately 600 guests stay with us over the years we always believe it is a two-way thing. We may offer the hospitality but we gain so much in return through the sometimes amazing people that stay with us. Here dinner is over and Alan is chatting with Harry, Tom's support driver who stayed with us over night.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Tom Benyon OBE and his wife Jane at their host's home during the evening.

Tom & Jane

Tom is 70 and he and Jane are walking 18 miles a day covering the distance between York Minster and Canterbury Cathedral (350 miles)

Not a mean feat in our current weather, gales, torrential rain and flooding.

Tom is a retired member of Parliament who founded a charity called ZANE which helps support the people of Zimbabwe who have lost their homes, land, businesses and everything. They are often elderly people who went out to South Africa when they were  young.

Tom does one of these sponsored walks every year and in 2010 walked 450 miles from Edinburgh to London.

Apart from all the information he writes a very interesting blog which can be found on the above link.

The walk finishes today and we were kindly invited to attend a Black Tie £120 charity dinner cruise and auction on The Thames as his guests but unfortunately we have a prior engagement (see below)

Quite a number of birthdays too this week and having little time to make cards I found a quick way round it. I used some of my photo collages. We will be attending the 40th birthday party tomorrow evening which is a change from the 60th birthday parties we have attended recently!

Sunday we are off to spend a day with Jane and the Grand children which brings us to the end of the month and as the beginning of October is set to be an interesting and busy time I will leave that for another post. 

Thought I'd leave you with one of my favourite teatime treats
Ginger Iced Oatie

12 oz rolled oats      3 lev. Tspns ground ginger           6 oz marg.

6 oz dark brown sugar        3 lev. tblspns golden syrup

For icing      2 oz butter    3 lev. tbspns syrup             6 oz icing sugar

1 ½ lev. Tspns ground ginger

Mix oats, ginger and sugar together.  Melt marg. And syrup and stir it into dry ingredients.  Spread mixture evenly in tin.  Bake Gas 4/ 180C 20 – 30 min

Set aside to cool.          7” x 11” tin.

Melt butter and syrup and stir in icing sugar and ginger.  Cool mixture to allow it to become firm, then combine the ingredients.  Spoon icing over cool oatie base.  Mark topping with a fork and cut when cold.

The Garden Saga Continues

I am surprised that nobody won the test!

The greenhouse has gone

Mark and Sue said they were absolutely blessed to receive this as Sue grows her own vegetables and has always wanted one

We were blessed to know that it is going to a new home where it will be well used as it was in the past

nearly gone

Gone and now the work begins

The old shed on the right is next - it has served us well

The people at the back of us allowed their 13 Leylandi to grow to about 40 feet. They eventually cut them back after they had damaged our fence and were affecting the greenhouse

When Alan began to remove the fence this is what he found

all the foliage had been piled up behind our fence and was causing more damage

Nothing we can do as we don't want to cause a fuss

Today it's time to begin dismantling the shed

I wish  had got a photo of 80 year old Alan on top of the shed roof  while it was dipping in the middle with the shed swaying

I was none too pleased

After a hard days work we are beginning to see the light

as he dismantles it a plank at a time to begin with,

necessary as the shed is leaning over too much

So what was I doing while this was going on?

My hard work will begin when the site is cleared and I can begin planning and planting so for today it was sorting things indoors, laundry and baking of Date Scones and Gingerbread

While continuing to enjoy the Crab Apple blossom

Christmas Scenes Around My House

It's Christmas
the tree is up

along with my knitted Christmas craft

with a different view from the conservatory

with a peep into the dining room

and some lights in the front

the cards are made, written and posted

the cake is made

marzipaned

and iced

and the Blackbird feasts every day outside my kitchen window

I think wrapping the presents will be next

in a week's time I will be looking forward to the Christmas edition of Downton Abbey

Did I say that life was looking good!

I am just being facetious, Christmas is more than these outward symbols as we know so I look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus and enjoying the company of my family, aware that many do not have that privilege for whatever reason. My heart goes out to them and they will be in my prayers.

The Last Week in October

Late October always seems a dreary time in the garden but if one looks more closely the colours, shapes and textures defy that notion

From the garden it's off to the farm shop

Where the influence of the USA is apparent

Back home with 2  new deliveries in the post this week

Having had my last mobile stolen in the burglary

It's a Blackberry for me this time

another sharp learning curve!!

and these more than  wonderful slippers made in Australia

made with genuine Shearing - the wool of a special sheep

I won't be showing the other 2 deliveries expected tomorrow

Alan's first Laptop and a new digital HD tv for the dining room

Then there is the card I made for the wedding we attended yesterday

I am always mesmerised at the gifted voices so many West Indian people possess

Another amazing voice - did not want her to stop

and now I think it is time for me to stop for afternoon  tea

with cupcakes from Barbara's kitchen