Cosy

Hello everyone.

Well, after a sunny start yesterday the weather went downhill, with high winds and heavy, squally showers.

DH and I still managed to do our jog around the Outwoods - one half of the lap we had the wind behind us, but on the final left we were battling against it - but we still made it round!

When we got home it was only 7.30 but the rain started with a vengeance, so it was getting dark.  So I popped a candle in my latest charity shop find, this lovely little tea light holder:

It casts such a cosy light around the living room, I just love it.

Darling Daughter had begged to do some baking for a break from her revision routine, and as she asked so nicely how could I refuse?  And just look what she came up with -

A light-as-a feather, fluffy Victoria sponge, sandwiched together with strawberry jam and fresh cream-

It was absolutely delicious, this young lady is turning into a very talented baker.  She really loves to bake and with a household of six, including 3 very hungry brothers, she has plenty of willing tasters!
I was good and only had a small slice, well I am doing plenty of exercise now so a little treat now and then surely is allowed....

We then settled into an evening of watching the Eurovision Song Contest - something we giggle our way through every year.  I don't watch Strictly, X Factor, Britain's Got Talent or any of those shows, but somehow I really enjoy the cheesy, tacky nature of Eurovision!  No stand out songs this year but still a lot of fun.

A busy day ahead, washing, cleaning, shopping, so had better away.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, Helenxx

Seasonal goodies

Good morning everyone, I hope you are enjoying the Easter weekend, and that the weather is kind wherever you are.

We have had a busy weekend, visiting family on Saturday in Manchester, and having a lovely family meal at ours yesterday.

Still time though for a bit of baking...

I made two trays of these seasonal-themed cupcakes, here is a batch I made and took into work on Thursday, our last day before the Easter break:

they didn't hang around for long!

There has been time for coffee and chocolate though, the rewards of getting up early before anyone else is about...

Which also allows some time for some crochet, here is a little peek at what I have been working on...

Any ideas of what it is going to be?

Back soon to reveal all!!

Helenxx

Send a Little Love blog swap

Good morning everyone, hope you all had an enjoyable day yesterday, whether or not you celebrate Valentines Day.  I have to say that as far as DH and I were concerned, it went by somewhat unnoticed, but we did have our Wedding Anniversary last week, and those celebrations are set to continue next week as we are both on holiday from work.

But there was some bloggy love going on here in Moonstruck Towers as during the Christmas Hols I had signed up to the lovely Tracey's Send a Little Love Blog Swap.  My super partner was Karen, and her parcel to me arrived this week.  Would you like to see what she sent to me?

What a lovely bundle of parcels met my eye when I opened the envelope...

First up, this lovely card.  Karen is a very talented photographer, this is one of her photos...

A lovely range of things to make my baking sessions even more fun...

Some lovely ribbon...

This smells super...

Lovely felt pieces and a yummy Lindor egg (now sadly departed!)

And a very pretty heart....

Such a lot of lovely and thoughtful surprises...

Here is the bundle of little bits and pieces I sent to Karen....

but cant reveal any more just in case the post is being a bit slow!!

Just watching a bit of the Winter Olympics at the moment, I love to watch winter sports.  Didn't our British Skeleton athlete, Lizzie Yarnold do us in the UK proud yesterday?  And I loved her interview afterwards, where she encouraged all girls everywhere to really follow their dreams and to be the best they can be, whether in sport, the arts, music, whatever.

Hope you have a great weekend and that the weather will improve.  Have just noticed a bit of fence damage in the back garden, oh dear, how ever will I break that to DH?  He and my brother spent ages putting new fencing up a couple of years ago.  Oh well, could be a lot worse.

Helenxx

Autumn - season of yummy cakes!

Hello everyone

When the weather turns cooler, and we enter the beautiful season of autumn, my mind turns to baking and cooking yummy treats and comforting foods. 

I love watching the Hairy Bikers on TV, and over the last couple of weeks the intrepid cooks have been travelling around Europe baking and making yummy treats.  During the episode from Germany they demonstrated a scrummy Black Forest Gateau, so last weekend I had a go at making one.  This was the result

Four layers of chocolate cake sandwiched together with cherries in syrup, black cherry jam, whipped double cream and crumbled Cadbury's Flake

Heavenly!!

Then, the night before our recent trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show I decided to bake a cake to slice up and take with us (I also made falafel and put these inside wraps with hoummus).  I am really into all things Scandanavian, and again, the HB guys had been to Norway where they baked up a storm.  But this time I went to Finland (metaphorically speaking you understand, it is on my must-visit list but I haven't been there yet!!) and made a traditional Tiger Cake - or, in Finnish, Tiikerikakku:

It might not look very glamorous, but the flavours were awesome, the juice and rind of an orange went in, as well as lavish amounts of cocoa.  It got the thumbs up from everyone, and I think will be a regular item on my baking agenda.

What are your favourite recipes for autumn?

Helenxx

Loving these in-between days...

Hi everyone, hope you are keeping cosy today, the weather outside is truly frightful, hasnt got light yet (even though it is lunchtime, this is how it must be in Scandinavia at this time of year), lashing it down with rain (at least in Finland or somewhere like that it would be snow!!) and very windy.

BUT - I love these in-between days in the holidays, not quite one thing or the other, and the bleak weather outside makes being inside even more appealing dont you think?

Im lucky in that I am on holiday for a while longer, so Im making the most of these lazy, comfy, cosy days.

I have had time to do a bit of cross-stitching - all to be revealed soon...

...time for reading, these lovely vintage books were gifted to me by Sue from @home - she knows me too well...

Enjoying the cosy candle light, this was a gift to me recently from my DD, she knows me so well...lovely autumnal motif....and the candle was a yankee candle scent called warm spice - I wish you could smell it - the most super, comforting, something-nice-baking scent you could ever wish for...

And yesterday we had a lovely celebration round at mine as my darling Mum turned 87 years young - this is the cake I made for her...

...all gone now of course!  It was a lemon cake, filled with cream and lemon curd.  DH made us a fantastic roast dinner, the evening was full of laughter and memories.  My darling Mum taught me the love of all things crafty and creative when I was little, when we truly did have to make do and mend.  Thanks Mum!

Well, Im off to make another cuppa, and get on with a bit more leisurely stitching.

Have a lovely day!

Helenxx

Christmas Baking part one...

 Good afternoon everyone, hope all is going well in preparation for the holidays.

I have been baking today, with a couple of my kids helping as well which has been

a) - a lot of fun, so nice to spend time with them now work and school have finished for a bit
b) - really helpful, they are super cooks and take a lot of care with their cooking!

First of all, I must show you my lucky bargain from Laura Ashley yesterday, for some reason these were on sale - they were out of their shrink-wrap but in perfect condition...and so I thought "those kids are going to make a real effort with the baking.  Lets get something chic to put the goodies in - something more interesting than old celebrations tubs!!"

So here we have it, a trio of Scandinavian-inspired tubs:

Here we have a yummy batch of mince pies.  I made my own mincemeat from a Hairy Bikers recipe - you can find it here.  I use orange juice instead of alcohol, and a veggie suet which is readily available in supermarkets:

It doesnt look much does it - but it is absolutely delicious.  These little beauties are brimming with lovely mincemeatiness and made by my daughter.  We will drift a blizzard of icing sugar over them just before serving...

Then we went on to make veggie sausage rolls, my son is the acknowledged expert in making these

These are so delicious!  We absolutely love them.

Going back to the start of this post, I have really got into Scandinavian inspired themes this last couple of months.  I bought this lovely book as a little treat to myself just recently:

It is a lovely collection of recipes and general eye candy.  A most enjoyable read.

Well, Im off to get on with more craftiness - cant say anything more as the recipients may well be reading this ;)

Helenxx