A pause for a wedding...

So, this week's lovely news is that on Monday I attended the wedding of my brother in law and his lovely fiance - now wife. It was a joyous occasion, held in a beautiful country house called St Audries' Park on the coast of Somerset.

The engagement wasn't a lengthy one - when these two make a decision, it's full steam ahead! 

Back in February, I had a call from the bride to be asking if I would be willing to make the cake for their Regency themed wedding. I was delighted to accept, although it was my first white wedding cake, and the bride and I discussed the colour scheme (yellow, gold and royal blue) and the flowers (roses).

So I browsed the internet - and watched the bride's favourite version of Pride and Prejudice - for inspiration.

I found a few links to cakes with lovely domes of roses and ribbons wrapped round them.  The bride wanted to incorporate the iconic pearls from the Pride and Prejudice theme and wasn't sure what colour roses she wanted. 

I mocked up a few different cakes with cardboard cutouts and sent her photos of them.  I sent over several different versions with the pearls differently positioned and with different coloured roses positioned in different ways.  

The bride and groom preferred quite a simple design, with a middle tier wrapped in lace, and ribbon and pearl swags on the top and bottom tiers.  The top of the cake would feature rose blossoms, and a few further blossoms would appear on the lower tiers.  We also chatted about colours a bit further and decided that blue ribbon would be better as it would work with the bridesmaids' dresses. 

There was a slight challenge in that neither the bride or the groom like fruit cake - but thankfully the groom loves chocolate and I have a great recipe (in a book I mentioned in another post, Sweet Things by Claire Macdonald) which produces a dense, rich cake which I hoped would provide a stable bottom tier to support the lemon drizzle and victoria sponge above. 

Once I received the fabric swatches in the post I went out to buy ribbon and sugar paste.  I started by mixing a golden yellow (the yellow on offer was too bright and so I used peach, ivory and lots of yellow gel food colouring.  I started by making the yellow roses, then the ivory ones. 

I made six large roses and six bud sized ones in each colour.  I then used the remaining paste, along with edible lustre powder colouring, to make lots of pearls for the swags. I used a Lakeland edible lace mould and magic icing to create the lace for the middle tier.

I made the bottom, a 12 inch tier on a 14 inch base, with 3 layers of the rich chocolate cake recipe increased by a third (using a whopping 7 and a half bars of dark chocolate!) then added another 2 and a half bars of cooled, melted dark chocolate into freshly made buttercream.  For the middle tier, I used the James Martin madeira cake recipe, splitting a double quantity between two 10 inch pans, drizzled with a sharp lemon syrup and filled with Delia Smith's lemon curd and cream cheese frosting.  The top tier was made with two 7 inch cakes made using my Mum's easy sponge cake recipe  All the tiers were then crumb coated with vanilla buttercream.

 
I then covered each tier with white icing and put on the edible lace on the middle tier, and used a piping bag with magic icing to pipe the swags onto siliconised paper so I could position the pearls.  I left them overnight to set, then peeled each swag off the paper. I brushed the back of these with a very thin layer of the magic icing and brushed the cake with a very thin layer too, to stick them in place.



So: here is the finished cake - not bad for my first 'white icing' wedding cake I don't think...

The joys of silliness

I've mentioned before that I am lucky enough to have lovely in-laws.  My father in law and I don't see eye to eye on every issue, but often on the big topics - family, happiness, being kind and respectful to people - he comes out with something that really speaks to me. 

The last time my parents-in-law came to visit, we were walking the dogs and the conversation somehow turned on to the joys of being silly.  He said how sad it makes him when he comes across someone who feels too embarrassed to ever let themselves be silly or childish.  As he put it, life is enough of a challenge, without being afraid of what other people think.  It's important to let go.  This really struck a chord with me and got me thinking about the things I like doing that other people might think are silly - but that make me really happy.

I love flowers.  I'm not fussy, they can be wild or cultivated ones, and quite often I will stop in my tracks, even in the middle of the street, to take a photo of, or sniff, a lovely flower.  I especially love roses, bluebells and fuschias.  I love the feel of petals.  If you are walking along, and see someone's legs sticking out of a hedge, and the sound of a phone camera going off - there's a good chance it's me, taking a photo of a blossom on a branch because I think it's pretty.  I never do anything with the photos really, other than look back at them occasionally - but I really enjoy it.

I love fussing friendly dogs and cats.  No matter how tiny or how doddery, if an animal makes a fuss of me, I make a fuss of it.  And yes, if this is your pet, yes I will probably talk to it in a really silly voice.  I will definitely tell it how cute it is. And I might even get down to its height to give it a scritch on the chin or rub its belly.  I'm not so good at human interactions though - especially early doors - so don't expect great conversation!

I love bubble baths. And I take paperback books in with me, and damn the consequences!  Books, and baths, are for enjoyment.  People stare in horror at the bent spines and curled pages of some of my favourites - I just see hours of accumulated happiness.

I love making snowmen.  Wonky, badly proportioned, funny looking snowmen.  Snowmen made from three inches of snow scraped off the whole garden, with a carrot for a nose.  And I love making snow angels, and leaving hand shapes in the snow or frost on cars.  I love making the first footprints in the snow in the garden, and throwing big handfuls of it around. Basically I love snow, provided I don't have to drive in it - and I reserve the right to dive into it just like I did when I was five.

I love licking the spoon.  I think of it as the cook's prerogative.   If I'm making some nice cupcakes, or a chocolate ganache, or creamed potatoes, and I've finished dishing up, no matter who is in the kitchen with me, I reserve the right to get a good mouthful before it all goes in the dishwasher.  And Millie gets the tops off strawberries, carrots and potatoes. It's a thing.  Think of her as cook's helper.  

This is not up for debate, or subject to sensible conversations about calories or nutritional content.

I love snuggling in my pjs - especially under a soft blanket while watching films.  If family or friends pop round unexpectedly in the colder months and find me in this semi hibernated state, well, they just have to deal with it.  And yes, the pjs are covered in cartoons, or cute animals, or are very brightly coloured.  I am totally over the slinky pyjama phase of my early twenties.  Comfy and fluffy all the way. 

I love terrible jokes - including awful puns.  The kind that make you groan and roll your eyes.  I love cracker jokes at Christmas.  I am the one at the works do, resolutely wearing a silly hat (possibly upside-down), glass of wine in hand, listening to all the jokes to try to work out if there are any new ones this year.

I love watching my favourite films again - even if they are, in reality, a bit dreadful.  And if those films have songs, not only will I say the words to all the bits I know (in the case of Muppet Christmas Carol, which I have watched every Christmas since I was 8, that's just about the whole film) I will also sing all the songs.  If you can't stand that habit, well, best just put your fingers in your ears, because I just can't help myself!

I love poring over maps and imagining that one day I will go to the places on the map - and reading up on them, and even actually planning the trip, even if I never get there.  I had a whole trip to South America planned.  Even if I am never lucky enough to make it out there, I had so much fun reading up on the towns and cities I wanted to stop off at.  Maps are like the doors to adventure, standing slightly ajar. I've even been known to copy out maps and colour them in.  Oh yeah - that's another thing I love!

I love doodling and colouring in.  From plans of things I want to do to our house, to little pictures of flowers, dogs, cats, buildings and people, to colouring in the lettering on notebooks, I just love messing round with pencils and pens.  I have to keep scrap paper on hand as I am a little bit nervous I will doodle over something important otherwise.  I've had plenty of funny looks over the years - but I keep on pushing that pen around the page!
 
And lastly (for now, though I have loads of silly habits), I love making random lists.  You may have guessed this by now... But since I am great at stating the obvious, I thought I'd better mention it...

Anyway, I need to stop typing and get some rest - but I would love to hear about those things that rock your world regardless of what other people may think!

Looking forward to catching up on this week's blogs, lovely peeps

H
xxx

Hellos and goodbyes

Hi my dears!

Sorry for the long delay - and sorry for worrying you - it's been a strange few weeks.  I was a bit under the weather for a couple of weeks (I seem to be catching one cold after another at the moment) and then when I got better enough to feel like moving, the spring cleaning bug bit.  We decided to ditch the old leather sofa with its dead springs and get something more modern and comfy and easy to clean - with 2 dogs, something with washable covers suddently becomes a priority!  

We took the plunge and went to IKEA rather than saving for something more pricey and living with a dusty sofas for another couple of years.  Assembling it did take a couple of evenings (especially as there were some bolts missing from one box) but we were pretty pleased with the results.  The ottoman is stuffed to the gunnels with my crafty bits and hubby's board games...

Here's our new suite (you'll have to forgive me for not whacking the cushion on the chaise before taking this one!):

We have also rearranged some furniture so that we can at least make a start on the next stage of redecorating the house - moving the kitchen.  This means the study now has a piano in it - which in a small space is a bit of a squeeze but it is manageable. I hope now that we have some proper shelves for all our bits of paper, we will be less inclined to just pile things on the desk, as it becomes such a dust trap.  

We hired a skip to get rid of the old sofa - and some furniture waiting in our garage to be got rid of - along with heaps of stuff that just needed to be binned.  Before coming here we had moved house quite a lot (moving in together, then to a second rented house) and just piled all our stuff into each house.  Our wonderful friends and family helped with all these moves - so appreciated - but most of them are as sentimental as I am, so our attempts to bin things during the moves were often met with, 'oh you CAN'T throw THAT out!!' from all corners!  

LWH is the smallest house we have lived in, however, and some of it just had to go.  We don't have space to hang on to everything. I can't tell you the relief we felt piling it all up to be binned.  It did bring home to me, though, just how wasteful and throwaway our society is and how much junk we accumulate. 

Following the DIY and the throwing out frenzy, the house is a bit emptier but needs a good scrub ready for the family to come over for Easter day. I get to see both my brothers as well as Mum and Dad which will be lovely, as it has been too long since we were all together. 

I really feel like treasuring family at the moment, as my husband had some awful news on the weekend - his cousin's son, who was almost exactly the same age as he is, died on Friday evening.  I'm sad that I never got to meet him;  I've met his mum and dad on a number of occasions - warm, loving people who are quick to smile and to make friends - and by the tributes on his facebook page, their adored son was very like them.  He was a music lover and by all accounts a kind, helpful, thoughtful man - a profound loss to his parents, brother, partner and all those around him.

I hope all of you are having a lovely spring and I look forward to catching up on all your blogs soon!  Hopefully I will manage a few more pics in the next post....

Love


Hazel xxx

Lovely baking!

 One of my favourite hobbies is baking!  I especially love baking cakes and pies, and I thought I'd share a few of my most enjoyed moments in the kitchen.

One of my most precious memories is making Christmas cakes with my Nana.  Nana is my mum's mum and is very precious - she is my last living grandparent.  

Although I have many happy memories of baking with her, she is no longer able to stand in the kitchen long enough to make a cake.  She is a feisty lady who isn't shy about giving her opinion.  

Unlike most people I know, she wouldn't hesitate to tell me if she thought the Christmas cake I put in her hamper this year could be improved - so when she said how much she enjoyed it, I was really delighted!  My recipe is based on an old Mrs Beeton one, with a few additions.

Before second coat of jelly

Fully glazed

This is how I decorate my Christmas cakes - it's based on an old Welsh tradition that is believed to be linked to 'smuggler's bounty' - heaping dried and glace fruits on cakes when they were available, and glazing with jam to give a 'jewelled' look. I first tried this because I am not that fond of marzipan and white icing, and I've never looked back!  

Traditionally, the fruit and nuts would be heaped in a pile in the centre of the cake, but I like this slightly more, well, Victorian look!  I spread jam or jelly underneath, add the sliced fruits, nuts and candied ginger in rows from the centre or from the corner, then add another thin layer of jam or jelly on the top. It's best to use a light colour so you can still see the fruit's lovely colours.

This year, I also made mince pies. I made my own mincemeat, using some of the mountain of apples from my mum and dad's allotment, using Delia's recipe: Delia's mincemeat.  I have a bit of a tendency to tweak the ingredients to the ones I have available and adjust the spices to taste, but it's an absolutely great recipe and reliably results in delicious mincemeat.  It's well worth making a little in advance.   

These little fruit pies are so tasty.  This year, I made them with a crumble topping, by keeping back about a third of the breadcrumbs from making the pastry and stirring in a little muscovado sugar, and making a rich buttery pastry with the other 2/3, using egg and a dash of milk and a little icing sugar to sweeten.  The self raising flour means the pastry rises slightly and has a lovely texture.

Another of my favourite bakes is these spiced orange cake squares.  I just added a little allspice, vanilla and natural orange essence to a normal sponge batter. I then did a traybake and cut into squares and popped into individual cases.  To decorate, I just cut a rough star out of a clean plastic cocoa tin lid, rested it on the top of each square, and sprinkled icing sugar, caster sugar and a pinch of allspice mixed together while they were still warm. I thought they looked really cute!

A bake I really enjoyed was the 'Emmatines' I made for Emma's birthday.  I did two types - little squares and cupcakes.  Emma loves teal and showed me the cakes she was dreaming of - and I did my best to recreate them!  I was much happier with the cupcakes than the squares, but as it was my first attempt icing cube shaped cakes I decided not to beat myself up too much.  I must admit despite taking the day off work, I was tearing my hair out a little, because I was also trying to get her quilt finished, but thankfully I did manage it all in time to drive to Manchester for the party!  These were in little gold foil cases - which aren't very eco friendly, but it was a very special occasion...

The last bakes I want to share today are some tear and share breads.  I am sure we cake lovers all have that friend who doesn't share our love of cake and sweet things, and in fact prefers savoury - but nonetheless deserves some love and care on their birthday because they are an all round wonderful person.  So the first of these breads was a personalised bread, made of lots of little stars (because this person is a star) with the birthday girl's initials on. This was made using my parsnip tear and share recipe.

Before rising

Ready for the oven

The finished loaf

The second tear and share I loved making was a cheese and onion bread for the work Christmas party, which i made in the shape of a Christmas wreath. I was worried this wouldn't work - and was so delighted when it did. I've included these before photos so you can see the sort of proportions used to make the loaf so that it kept its shape.

Hope you've enjoyed - and I look forward to hearing about your cooking exploits too!. Happy baking, folks....

H
xxx

Personalised babygrows

I was sending a parcel to a loved one, who lives abroad, ready for her daughter's birthday.  I had packed up some lovely clothes, but I wanted something a little more personal.  She is always frustrated by the lack of variety in clothes, especially for little girls, and likes her daughters to have brightly coloured garments that reflect their interests, rather than the typical pale pink. I have skyped with them all quite a lot, but have only met the littlest one once.

I bought a pack of 3 babygrows (I looked all over for Fairtrade but couldn't find them - does anyone know where to get plain Fairtrade babygrows?) I washed them and dried them, and then used Giotto fabric pens - by the way, I'm not trying to flog these pens - it's just they are the only decent type available within 20 miles!

They are a brush tip, iron-to-set fabric pen, and they work just like a normal, good quality felt tip marker would, except obviously they stay put when washed.  I found that they lay down quite a bit of ink and blend easily - but I am sure other brands work brilliantly too.  I would stay well away from Dylon pens though.  Their home dyes - especially washing machine ones - have always been fab, but I found their pens were dry and useless, running out very quickly - and they were somewhat pricey as well.

When littlest came to stay with her mummy and older sister, she was already showing a great personality and letting us know her tastes, despite her lack of years! She simply loves fruit - especially strawberries - so I had a clear idea for my first design!

I slid a piece of card inside the babygrow to protect the back from ink transfer, then drew the outlines using the black pen, as well as the writing underneath. I then highlighted the neck and sleeves with complimentary bright colours to make them look a bit more interesting.  I was really pleased with the look when complete.

The next thing she really enjoyed was sitting with her mummy in the garden, watching our chickens scratch and play in their little run.  She sat there for half an hour, giggling and pointing, listening to her mummy talk about the chickens.  She enjoyed looking at all our animals, but was especially fascinated by our hens.  As I am used to drawing animals, I thought this would be a great theme for the second one. Again, I picked out the red colour from the main image to pick out the sleeves and neckline.

Finally, I am afraid I went with family tradition, and opted for a terrible pun.  Littlest really enjoyed fresh fruit and veg while she was staying, and I thought some carrots might be the order of the day - and I thought it might be really cute to create something for the '24 carat baby' she is....

Again, I drew the outlines, let them dry and then filled in the colour. This time, I used orange, yellow and green to complement the design.

I then ironed them all to fix the images, and washed and dried them again, before pressing them ready to send.  These were so quick and easy to make - and don't have to feature picture perfect images.  The brightly coloured inks do seem to be reasonably tolerant to being washed.  

As white babygrows are available reasonably cheaply - way cheaper than those with cute images - and the pens (around £5-£9 a pack depending where you get them) would be enough to decorate a lot of babygrows, this could be a fun way to make something special for a baby, maybe even a project kids could get involved in to welcome a new arrival!

I look forward to reading about more of your projects soon :)

H
xxx

Pets, beautiful pets.... (photo heavy blog)

Just thought I would take a minute to introduce you to our lovely indoor pets! 

The day we brought her home

My darling cat Pandora was the first of our little zoo.  She's a moggy who we have had from a tiny kitten (we think half Persian but we're not 100% sure).  I fell for a picture of Panny and drove forty miles to collect her immediately.  She was a little ball of fur with big golden green eyes and silken fur and I just fell in love.  My husband is animal obsessed and fell for her like a ton of bricks too.


The experience of buying her was a powerful lesson.  The lady who sold her was insistent that she was quite a chilled out little cat who just wasn't interested in jumping around.  When we said that we had bought her some kitten kibble, she told us not to bother in future as Pandora was 'fine on adult food' - and always tried to eat her mum's kibble out of the bowl.  

Pandora the poser...

When we got out of her darkened living room and had Pan home, we realised that one of the reasons she had no energy was that she was so hungry.  She scoffed the portion of kitten food in record time and immediately perked up. 

The second, equally worrying thing that we noticed when we had her in the light that she was absolutely crawling with fleas.  It was so bad that while my husband rushed to get some flea treatment off Emma, I got her in the bath to

Pandora's box

physically wash the worst of them off her tiny body.  I had never seen so many.  I would never buy an animal this way again; both of us were horrified that anyone who seemed so normal could keep any animal, let alone a kitten, in this condition.

Being dunked in the bath must have been a frightening experience for a tiny little kitten in a new place.  She hated being bathed (as most cats do!) and to this day she has an ongoing war with every hairdryer we bring into the house, but she was so much more comfortable with most of the fleas gone.  Once she had been treated she transformed into a bouncy, playful little kitten - she was so good at hiding, we had to put a bell on her for fear of stepping on her!

Showing off her fluffy tummy

As we've had her, her tail's got bigger and puffier and her fur has got longer and fluffier, as you will see from the photos.  

She is definitely a one and only - we have fostered one cat and adopted another (who sadly died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism just weeks after we had him). She has always been much happier as a single cat, although she gets on fine with our dogs.  One of our favourite sights is our 2 kilo cat chasing our 25 kilo dog round the house in circles.

Millie on her first walk

Our first pooch is Millie, a shar-pei we had from a local rescue kennel called Croft's.  She is chocolate brown and is lazy, loving and has a deep and abiding hatred of baths, just like Pandora...

I originally wanted to get a poodle type - and we went and walked dogs at the pound in order to get used to walking them and the level of fitness we would need, in the hope of eventually finding the right dog for us.  When we first started visiting, we weren't in a position to take home a dog because we were renting, and didn't feel it would be fair to get a dog not knowing whether we would be able to home it reliably in the future.  

Millie settling into her new home

Walking the dogs at the rescue was fun, although it could be sad too.  The first dog we fell for with a thump was called Sindy - a big, gentle silver girl who was a Neapolitan Mastiff cross.  She had to be sent away to a specialist rescue where she could be fostered in a loving home as she was starting to show signs of kennel rage.  Although we were sad to see her go, it was definitely exactly what she needed

The second was an adorable, cheeky Newfoundland girl, Fifi, who broke our hearts, but thankfully for her she found a wonderful home well before we found our little house.  

So when I saw Millie's big brown eyes, I didn't want to fall for her and have to say goodbye again.  The first time we walked her, she was just on the end of the lead the whole time and wouldn't even take a treat.  She was so shy and timid but she blossomed a little more every time we saw her - starting to woof and wag her tail as soon as she saw us walk past her cage.   

Millie sporting her muzzle

Every time we went up to walk her, I knew it would probably be the last one.  I just couldn't believe this sweet pooch would be without a family for long.  But as our house purchase dragged on and on, we still continued to walk her every week.  Finally, our house completed and we were able to visit the rescue centre and amazingly she was still waiting for us!!  

When we first got her home she was totally overwhelmed, having spent months shut in at the rescue centre, and didn't know what to do with new people or places.  She chased Pandora and we had to do weeks and weeks of training to get her to understand that Pandora was boss (now they are good friends and even rub faces when they haven't seen each other all day!)

Millie is the most loving, chilled out dog at home, but not without her problems. She is still afraid of new people, though she doesn't run away any more, and she can be dog aggressive occasionally - especially when she's under the weather.  She has to be walked with a muzzle on at all times, not only because I would not forgive myself if she harmed another dog, but also so she can be safely socialised and with luck, eventually put this behaviour behind her.

Millie with us on our honeymoon

 We've been talking for a while about getting a second dog who can help Millie to learn her manners and to get used to dogs and doggy behaviour so that she doesn't overreact to everything.  We hoped this would improve her confidence and help her to live a happier, more normal doggy life.  Also, as we both work, we wanted her to have company, as she sometimes got stressed about being alone.  But we wanted the right dog - one that is a good fit for our family - friendly, confident, non-shedding (because Millie sheds enough for two!) and able to behave well around cats.

 This is where our darling new pooch comes into the story.  

 

George looking a bit sorry the night he came home

My hubby was looking at the rescue centre's facebook page  about a month ago and noted a video of new dog, 'Sherlock.' He was a pale coloured poodle type dog, dashing about and playing with a squeaky toy.  

He persuaded me that we should go up to Crofts and walk Sherlock - just for the sake of a walk...! I don't know what it was about this video, but I insisted on taking the extra lead, 'just in case'...  After a walk with Millie to check they got on, him demonstrating a fabulous lack of interest in a cat, and then a bit of paperwork, he was ours!

When we got him home, we just weren't sure about his name.  He had been assigned it at the pound, but it didn't seem to fit, and if I am honest I didn't really fancy standing in the park yelling 'SHERLOCK' to call him back!!  So I had a scour through my bookshelf for names and finally settled on George.  He responded to this almost straight away.

George after a clip and a bath

George had been a stray, and though the rescue centre had deflead and wormed him and given him a bath - but he was still straggly, with holes in his coat where he had chewed to scratch the itch, and thick fur between his toes. First thing the day after adopting him, we took him to a brilliant groomer who spent two and a half hours bathing him, clipping his nails, trimming off his tangles, brushing his fur, cleaning his ears - the works!  He looked so much better - but was still a little thin as he wasn't fully recovered.  

George at the park

Now, after a few weeks with us, he is fully settled in.  He has had a few problems with accidents, and at first he was too excited to eat. but he is now getting the hang of living in a home again. 

He has loads of energy, is slowly building up weight, eating properly and bouncing around at the park like a lamb in springtime.  George is a live wire, always bringing his ball for us to throw, bounding around and as delighted as Millie to see us.  His beautiful curly fur is starting to grow back - including the bald patches which are now showing up as light brown spots!

Much to our surprise, Millie was fine with him, without a muzzle, in a matter of days, and after a week we started leaving them alone together, a little at a time.  They now spend their days together and friends have noted that Millie is much more confident and relaxed! 
 
 I hope you've enjoyed being introduced to my little monsters :) 

H
xxx 

My favourite recipe books

Hi lovely followers!

I've been thinking a lot about cooking and recipes lately, partly because Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday as my mum calls it)  and St David's day are looming.  That got me thinking about - and leafing through - some of my favourite recipe books.

I love reading, and I have a lot of books - including a lot about cooking.  I really enjoy looking through all of them, but there are a few I return to again and again.  So I thought I'd write a bit about them - and why I love them so much!

Beautiful books

Chocolate heaven...

Firstly, there are a couple of cookbooks I just love to look at. I've barely cooked from them, but just love to read them and handle them. 

The first two are the lovely Green & Blacks books 'Chocolate Recipes', and 'Ultimate Chocolate Recipes' (thanks for that one Emma!)


The photographs are so beautiful and the recipes practically leave you full, because they sound so sumptuous you can practically taste them.  I tend to use them for ideas and inspiration, or just when I want to dream about chocolate for half an hour!

Scrummy cakes

Third is the wonderful 'Cupcake Magic' by Kate Shirazi which was a birthday gift from a dear friend.  I not only love her imaginative and colourful cakes, but her writing style is really fun and her recipes are easy to follow. 

The book is divided by how complicated the recipes are, but all the sections contain designs which look spectacular.  And if that's not enough, a part of the price goes to the British Hen Welfare Trust, a fantastic organisation that rehomes ex-battery hens and also campaigns for better conditions for chickens!


Learning new cuisines

This one was hard to track down!

The first of these has to be The Art of Romanian Cooking by Galia Sperber.  I went to Romania when I was in my late teens, and my, what a beautiful country with every landscape from high cool mountains, to lush valleys filled with sunflowers, to ancient cities with topsy-turvy roofs.  I met many wonderful, welcoming people and tasted food unlike anything I had ever tried before.

I returned from Romania determined to try to cook some of the heavenly dishes I had eaten while I was there - so I bought this book. It didn't disappoint. The chicken and sausage casserole (which I make with chorizo) and zrdente (noodles for soup) are special favourites of mine!

Bargain book

Next up is Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko - a book I got at the bargain book store. I've never been to Japan, but I got a taste for Japanese food when I lived in London (mainly at Satsuma in Wardour Street if I'm honest). This sumptuous book could just as easily go in the first section, with its gorgeous photos enough to make anyone hungry - but even better, it de-mystifies many Japanese ingredients and explains what to look for in terms of quality and freshness.  

A large section of the book describes food and ingredients, then simple recipes follow - with replacements suggested for hard-to-get ingredients.  This book allowed me to give my little brothers their first taste of sushi.   I just love it!

Surrogate Welsh Granny!

The third of these isn't really a book but a set of books.  They aren't expensive, and they don't have fancy photos or lots of details. They give me something different - simple, tasty family recipes for the Welsh cuisine I have come to love so much since moving here aged 6.  

I learned lots of North Eastern recipes as a kid, like 'Metantatterpie' (meat and potato pie), bubble and squeak and Staffordshire oatcakes; but I don't have a Welsh granny to teach me how to make Welsh cakes, cawl, bara brith, or crempog - so I am learning from these books (£1.95 each). They are perfect - easy to understand, well written and full of local - and literal - flavour.  Thanks, Bobby Freeman!

Spice is nice...

Fourthly, a book which almost certainly never won any prizes for beauty, and doesn't credit its authors on the cover, probably because there are several contributors.  This book has short, to the point recipes and is easy to use.  

If you love Indian food but have no idea how to start from scratch, this is a great choice. It's not overstating to say that this book helped fire my fledgling interest in cooking in my late teens - and moreover, there are so many recipes, you can get a good feel for how to start experimenting.  It has everything from korma and dhansak to naan breads and lassi - and while there are definitely more elegant, sophisticated and up to date books available, this one is a good place to start.

Books I grew up with

These are books that are very close to my heart - books and recipes that were a big part of my childhood. 

Sweet memories

The first of these is one I remember cooking from with my mum and my dad from an early age. We are a cakes and biscuits type of family - my mum is fantastic at baking cakes and my dad makes amazing biscuits.  

There are so many beautiful recipes in this book, many of which I have adapted over the years to make my own.  Our family have made sauces, biscuits, cakes and puddings out of this book over the years - and not one has been other than delicious.  It's out of print I believe, but if you see a copy, I really recommend you snap it up!
 

Family heirloom

The next is the fabulous Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book. Please do beware of modern imitations - I shelled out for a modern version to keep this fragile family heirloom as intact as possible (as you can see it has been loved over the years) but the recipes were NOT the same - and I saw a sneaky footnote 'based on Mrs Beeton's recipes'.  Very loosely based is all I can say.

My mum has a newer copy which I used growing up, but this was inherited from my great aunt when she sadly passed and it has an inscription to her mother 'To Mary, from Arthur 26.9.27.  This is such a treasured possession, which I handle with great care. It has hundreds of recipes - and although some are outdated, many of them are just fantastic.

Family memories

Finally, and this is cheating a bit because I didn't grow up with this actual book but rather the recipes in it, this book is my own - a hand written recipe book containing family recipes - mum's yorkshire puds and easy sponge cake recipe, a Christmas cake recipe (which I am still perfecting!) and a yummy chocolate mousse from my wonderful mum in law.  

To me, these beloved recipes will make any place feel like home, and I look forward to adding to it as the years go by.  I hope one day someone else will enjoy them as much as I have.


 What are your favourite recipe books?  I would just love to hear from you about what you like to cook and why! If you want me to share any recipes, just let me know and I will try my best to oblige.  I was thinking of Welsh cakes ready for St. David's day?

I'm off to make some practice pancakes!

H xxx