A thank you gift...

I wanted to take along a thank you gift suitable to the generosity of our weekend invitation.  I had recently been given some decorated biscuits at work and decided that they would be just the ticket.

Our hosts' two small boys are dinosaur mad so I thought that I would also make this a present for them too.  I bought some shaped cutters and a cake box and set to work.  I added a friendly looking Stegosaurus to the box and iced the biscuits to match.

I left some biscuits un-iced and bought the boys some icing pens.  I packaged this up with the cutters and the biscuit recipe and we finished them off together on Sunday morning.

Just another day at the office...

Things have been so busy here that I haven't had two minutes to put pen to paper, or whatever the modern blogging equivalent of that is.  I haven't taken any of the pictures off my camera, shown you my latest charity shop finds or raved about the Hockney exhibition that I finally went to see.

Something that has been responsible for keeping me so busy is also one of the most exciting things I've done in a while.  Last week I left the confines of my desk to do something a little different.  For the last few months I have been working on a brand new show, BBC Good Food Show Spring, and last Friday was the official launch at Bluewater.

We built a mini version of one of the theatres that we have at our main show and spent the day at the shopping centre with James Martin & Olly Smith doing little cookery demonstrations. I worked on the build of the theatre but also got more involved than usual with the actual demos.  I received the recipes in advance and worked out what ingredients and equipment we would need.  I did the shopping and brought most of the equipment from my own kitchen!  On the day I prepared all the ingredients, made sure that they were all set out in the right order and was even in charge of the "here's one I made earlier" dishes that they pulled out of the fridge!

Here are some pictures from the day.  It was long, exhausting but very good fun - I can't wait for the real thing!

 

A whirlwind week...

This week has simply flown by.  Since arriving back from my weekend away I haven't stopped.  Work has been busier than ever and on top of that I've squeezed in a concert (Randy Newman at Royal Festival Hall),  a company conference (including a presentation to 150 people), swimming (after work), two lunches (one as host and one as a guest) and some baking.

I managed to snap a few pictures this week (all with my phone).  I do so hope this week is a little quieter.

Spring is here (and gone again).

Royal Festival Hall in all its 1950's glory.

Cupcakes for our wonderful hosts.

The finishing touches.

Bank holiday baking...

Last Monday the husband and I embarked on a bank holiday bonanza of catching up with family.  We packed up our little car and our travels began. We managed to fit in a Friday night supper in Windsor, a farewell BBQ in Watlington, a late afternoon tea in Hampshire and rounded it all off with lunch in Lymington.

Friends of ours moved out to Lymington a few years ago and I am filled with envy when we go and visit. The drive through the New Forest is so beautiful and they have a whole house to themselves.  And peace and quiet.  And they can be at the seaside in minutes.

But I decided to put my envy to one side and bake some cupcakes to take with us.  I opted for Earl Grey cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery book.  I had an old box that I did up with the help of the husband's faultless font picking and some tissue paper.  The recipe was very easy to follow and the end result very pretty indeed.  I am not sure that they tasted overwhelmingly of Earl Grey but they were jolly good anyhow!

Les vacances...a round up

Unfortunately I failed miserably to complete my final holiday post before the bank holiday weekend over took me.  And I have so much to say.  About food.

Oh, the food!  We ate so well, cheese and rillettes and croissants and ice cream.  The list goes on, and on, and on.  St. Jean de Luz has a wonderful food market, Les Halles, which was our first stop.  We stocked up on local cheese and pate and piles of crusty bread.  The market is host to around wonderful selection of stalls and an equally wonderful restaurant.  La Buvette des Halles spills out from the covered market onto the street and serves a simple menu of fresh produce directly from the stalls.

We tried some super restaurants over the course of the week and gorged on Basque specialities.  We particularly enjoyed the Gateaux Basque, a kind of pastry cake hybrid filled with an almond custard. I have found a recipe and am going to attempt to recreate it one weekend.

I think that the culinary highlight for me was the tiny cliff top cafe that served the most incredible moules & frites.  I'd happily hop back on a plane every weekend for a portion of them!

And so the holiday posts come to an end, not really because I have run out of things to say, but more because I have so many other things that I want to share.

Friday night supper menu...

This evening the husband and I are entertaining friends.  I'm at work all day and so have planned an easy supper menu that I can whip up when I get home.  The idea is that it will appear effortless while being a rather more sophisticated that beans on toast!


We were the lucky beneficiaries of some delicious jamon brought to us by our Spanish friends.  It is so yummy that it needs little more than some bread and olives as an accompaniment.  Following on the Spanish theme I am making a fish stew with chickpeas.  I love seafood of all varieties and this is perfect for an after work stylish supper.  The pudding is the ultimate cheat - I have my raspberry and basil sorbet left from the weekend that will do nicely!

Sunday roast...

This weekend we welcomed home the newly weds from their honeymoon with a lovely Sunday roast.  We are lucky to have a brilliant local butcher here in Teddington, A G Miller, and I treated us to a rib of beef.  Well actually two ribs, but who's counting?!

We slow roasted the rib according to Matthew Fort's instructions.  You turn the oven on as low as possible and pop in the beef.  And you leave it there.  For hours.  In our case it was just over 5!  According to Mr Fort this method retains all the juices and flavour.  I can wholeheartedly agree with him.  It was delicious.  We have his Cooking by Numbers book but I have found the recipe here.  We served with Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots and cabbage and a good gravy.  I made a basil and raspberry sorbet for desert that was fresh and clean and a perfect end to the meal.

Even if I do say so myself it was absolutely delicious!

Another very English afternoon...

This weekend the husband and I went to the Holyport Village Fair to see my Mother and Father -in-law on the Bric a Brac stall.


The village is already very pretty with a lovely green, a duck pond and local pub and the addition of a traditional English fair and some sunshine only made it prettier.


We watched the dog show, tried the coconut shy, had a glass of Pimms and came away with a brilliant cook book.  Published in 1962, Cooking for Two or Twenty has some amazing recipes, some beautiful illustrations and some helpful advice on issues we all face such as how far apart one should set dinner places!

The first BBQ of the year...

This weekend, along with everyone else and their dog, we lit the BBQ to make the most of the beautiful sunshine.


In our household I probably do most of the cooking most of the time, but not when there is fire involved.  Fire and meat instantly means that the husband takes charge.  And the husband taking charge instantly means that nothing is simple.


The conversation went something like this:
Husband:  "I want to make burgers."
Me:  "That sounds really nice, shall I get some mince from the butchers?"
Husband:  "No I mean make burgers." (reaches for Heston Blumenthal In Search of Perfection)


So we not only made the burgers, but also the buns, the sauce and the cheese - yes the cheese.  And it was really fun.  And they were the best burgers.  Ever.

Home made Mothering Sunday...

Today we celebrate our mothers and I have to say that mine is pretty smashing!  I decided to put my new self sufficiency idea to the test and make her gift.


I picked Lemon Curd.  It is her favourite and can be made in small quantities easily.  And it has just 4 ingredients: lemon, eggs, butter and sugar - what's not to like!  I used Delia Smith's recipe, bought a miniature Kilner jar and dressed it up with some ribbon. 


And the best part is that there was just a little bit left over for me!