cake and cookies

The old mojo seems to have gone to sleep again. I really had to kick it hard to come up with some creativity this week. I was stuck between projects and didn't know where one finished off and the other began! So I was reluctant to start anything else. 

I hate waiting around...waiting for something to happen and yesterday was just that. Husband was waiting for the acute nurses to visit and check him out and I was getting bored. Thumbing through recipe books and looking at pretty pictures gave me the urge to bake. Chocolate and peanut butter squares sounded good and I had all the necessary ingredients, so quick as a flash, the decision was made and I started to bake.

Before too long the house was full of nurses and surprise family visitors all arriving at the same time. I had plenty of helpers and who said 'too many cooks spoil the broth'? In this case helping hands certainly enhanced my efforts at making chocolate and peanut butter squares and the kitchen became a hive of activity while husband John was in the sitting room being looked after by amazing NHS nurses. 

The cake mix was done and Joanne poured it out into a baking tray leaving enough in the bowl for a good finger licking session afterwards and Alex broke up chocolate buttons to sprinkle over the top. The finished cake was so good. Definitely one to make again and it will go into Nana's favourite recipes book.

That was yesterday and today I thought why not try a recipe using gluten free oats. I had bought the oats at a gluten free fair last weekend and hadn't baked with oats before. I searched for a recipe on-line and found one for thick and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at glutenfreeonashoestring.com . Its a great site and I visit quite often. The only changes I made to the recipe was to use mixed fruit instead of chocolate and I have to admit to being puzzled as to what the american term Baking Soda was. I could choose between British baking powder and bicarbonate of soda but which one? I finally used baking powder and hoped it would work. I also used less sugar and slightly more egg. 

The recipe was very easy to make and though I must have made the cookies bigger than they should have been (I made 18 as opposed to the 24 stated in the recipe) they turned out well and I think just one would make quite a filling and healthy breakfast. They taste very yummy too, crisp on the outside and chewy inside. 

I wonder how long these will last when shared out with family. I'm off to watch Master Chef now.

Playing at the kitchen table

Yesterday was special because it was my Mother's birthday and although she is no longer with us I think she must have been in spirit because she would have loved yesterday's play time.  Two of the grandies and Aunty Teresa all turned their hand in making flower wreaths, though not all at the same time I'm glad to say. C treatment doesn't allow for too much fuss all at once. Non of it was planned. It just seemed to evolve and before we knew it we were sharing an old family custom of creating wreaths and chatting at the kitchen table. My Trotter forebears would have all been familiar with this custom, albeit, their wreaths were the earthy plant type. Four of the wreaths shown above are now hanging from the door handles on my landing at the top of the stairs. It brightens the place up a bit. Aunty T's wreath is now hanging on her kitchen wall.

What birthday would be complete without handmade cake? 

At the beginning of the week I had made my very first carrot cake. The recipe was given to me by my niece Cheryle from an Asda magazine and it proved to be an enormous success. The recipe was for a double layer cake but I made just a single layer as I didn't want any to get wasted but I wish I had made two layers now, because it was so delicious. Even my husband who claims not to like carrot cake came back for seconds. Being gluten free and also lactose free meant it was suitable for all the family and I will certainly be making it again.

Home baked gluten free cakes and pastries are far better than anything I've eaten that is shop bought. It has taken a while to get the hang of gluten free baking but I'm getting there and well worth the effort. 

I'm looking forward to my next gluten free challenge.

Phew! that's a lot of greetings cards

I've been working hard this last two weeks putting together bundles of cards for fundraising. I'm so glad to be able to do it and if it helps Charlie Bear, the Church Roof and Cancer Connections in their good works then I will be a happy bunny.

I'm using up lots of craft stash that has been in storage for too long and also of course my laptop and printer that I couldn't do without. The cards are mostly prints of my own pressed flower artwork with some embellishments added. To add a bit of interest I've also included faded images on the card inserts.

It was fun making the mini cards. At only 4 x 4 inches they were fiddly and surprisingly time consuming but I think worth it. The tiny floral images are my own and they are layered on top of background paper cut to size  and a bit of glitter, gel pen and peel offs added to finish them off. They also have a decorative insert and a short message.

I owe my life to good surgeons, cancer specialists, my faith and the support I got from many wonderful people. The least I can do is give a little bit back and if I can encourage others to do the same then its all worth while.

Easter cupcake decorating with the grandkids

Easter is coming and I thought we could play at making some birds nests cupcakes with yummy teeny chocolate eggs.

It starts off well! Nanna does an example of one then leaves the grand kids to carry on by themselves.

 Jasmine very carefully adds butter cream to the mini cupcakes. This is the base of the birds nest.

Yumm, this is finger lickin' good! Sprinkling coconut on top comes next.

Wow! Jasmine is doing well and has a head start on Natalie. Three little eggs in each nest sounds right.

 Ah Ha! Who gets caught with their fingers in the bowl of chocolate eggs.  Never mind, Natalie's cup cakes are finished and she can eat the left overs.

 Granddad enters the room and his eyes light up at the sight of all those scrummy cupcakes just waiting to be eaten.

One little mite didn't get to join in because she wasn't feeling well. Poor Lils didn't even eat her snack. Maybe next time Lils.

Summer in Chains

I haven't done much in the way of creativity this last week but I did find a fossil lurking in my witches cauldron. The cauldron has had no attention for years but due to a kitchen re-vamp the cauldron was unearthed and you won't believe what I found inside. Last year's summer covered in cobwebs and tied down in chains. Before it got a clean up I thought I would take a photo 'cos I thought it looked quite arty and then I did a bit of digi manipulation and came up with the above image. I like it!


I've had a busy weekend...well busy for me! Still recovering and still on treatment but it was good to have visitors and I'm so thankful for young Marton our friend from Hungary who assembled some additional new kitchen units for us. John and I have a larder cupboard each now to house our hobby stuff. In my case its largely baking equipment and in John's case its his home brew stuff. I have my art and craft stuff in the spare bedroom and John has all his other stuff in the garage, garden, shed, greenhouses and loft. What a hoarder he is!

I still love playing with my mini cupcake maker and made some minis for breakfast. The butter cream is actually made with olive spread, not butter, so its nice and healthy and tastes nicer too. Each one an individual luscious mouthful and so quick and easy to make...smile!

Think I will make a card with my summer in chains image and show it next week... Bye for now.

Re-cycling Christmas cards

Two blogs in one day. My goodness, things are looking up! It goes to prove how creative I've been over the last week. Something that I have sadly lacked for too long. Its good to have my mojo back.

Christmas might be the last thing on people's minds right now but I couldn't help playing with last year's Christmas cards and re-cycling them. I have some mount board scraps that I squirrelled away several years back just in case they came in handy one day and I guess that day, or week or month has arrived. Time certainly slips away when you're having fun.

An ever breeding collection of cut outs from used Christmas cards, glitter glue, ribbon, peel offs, flowers and embellishments and my trusted glue gun and more took over the dining table like some rampant alien species until I was left with a six inch space to work on, so then I removed myself to the kitchen breakfast bar for more space. Crafter readers will know what I'm talking about at this stage and I'm sure there will be a smile and giggle or two.

My idea was to decorate mount board making them into plaques supported on plastic stands...the type that small plates are displayed on. My first effort took me absolutely ages but as I progressed each one got easier to make. The only trouble is I have run out of plastic stands and I can't remember where I bought them many moons ago. So now, my dining table is clear again, at least until I find more stands.





Maybe I will be able to raise a bit of money for worthy causes, next Christmas.

This one is my favourite.

Withered apples and all that stuff

What to do with withered apples? I have to say they stored well in my wooden fruit bowl and although now wrinkled and drying out they were still edible. Apparently, last week was Bramley apple week but I never got round to buy any, let alone make anything with them which is a pity because Bramleys are the best cooking apples. My withered apples were the Gala variety and as I loath wasting food I just had to do something with them.

withered gala apples

I found a recipe for a cake tray bake and using a bit of adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying and a few additions I was able to create a recipe that was gluten free and happy with different kinds of fruit. My maths teacher would have been proud! I cored and chopped the apples but left the skin on and tossed them on top of the cake batter. The result was a scrummy cake, especially with squirty cream...yum! 

apple cake with cream

blueberry cake with cream

Blueberries work well too and my family love the cake so it was a bit of a scramble to get my fair share. 


Honestly! You would think they would consider who baked the cake in the first place...never mind she says, smiling.

blueberry cake tray bake

I'm really enjoying the discovery of baking all over again and experimenting with gluten free recipes makes it an exciting challenge. I bought a blank recipe book from Home Bargains the other day for only £1.99 or something near. Ridiculously cheap anyway. I have called it Nana's recipe book and aim to fill it with tried and tested family recipes, some of which I will enjoy making with my grandchildren.

making a mess

My first entry was a recipe for cheese scones which I made with the help of granddaughters Natalie and Jasmine...did I say help? Mum wasn't about so we had great fun making a mess on the breakfast bar. There were some squabbles as to who did what and I had to play referee at times but it was all worth it. 

more hands on mess

Amazingly, these scones had no egg in the mix and in the mayhem I forgot to add baking powder but I was amazed at how they turned out. They were the best cheese scones I've ever made. So maybe I shouldn't have been adding egg all these years. 

cheese scones

Natalie showed her appreciation by spreading hers with jam! Cheese and jam scones??? There's no accounting for taste! I suppose the added bonus was that the girls washed up and dried afterwards. What more could a Nana ask for? The scones were meant to be for Dad but I'm not sure he managed to get any.





Next playtime, the girls and I will make a scrapbook page about our baking fun afternoon. That should be fun...smile.