Cookies

Do you remember these?

Today the first of the cookies in a jar have been created!  My oldest niece DJ called this morning to tell me the cookies were underway - how lovely to know that the gifts are being used.   I have been sent these lovely photos to show progress of the cookie making.

DJ mixing the cookies

This picture made me laugh....  these cookies
 won't be allowed to burn!  LOL

Yum -Well I'm impressed!



All done ...

I think they look great - and DJ does too  :) x

I've been playing a little more with the needle felting,  I think I am getting better as my fingers only have a few punctures this time!

Bear

Flower Fairy

Toadstool House

Mr Milly has claimed the little bear and a couple of the others have been claimed by My Girl and the Portuguese Housekeeper - in fact the girls had a bit of a fight over them which was quite entertaining LOL!



Naughty Dog!

She ate my cake!  

It was a sponge cake - two sponges sitting on a wire rake cooling down and waiting to become a Victoria Sponge - one sponge cake never made it..........  I turned my back for a nano second,  well actually I went out of the kitchen without shutting the door.  I heard Mr Milly shout at the dog and there is was,  one sponge cake with a dog size bite!  How annoying,  I wasn't happy!!!   So out with the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, mixer, pans etc and another sponge made.   The chickens enjoyed the ruined cake though!

Star on pidgeon patrol.   She will chase them away if they land in the garden!

Star is a weimaraner and she is tall,  so it's very easy for her to reach the kitchen worktops.   This is not the first time she has eaten a cake.  Last year I was making a giant cupcake birthday cake for my Sisiter-in-Law,  it was disatrous - the first cake was overcooked and went in the bin and in the chickens,  the second cake the dog ate,  the third cake was OK,  but these cakes take an age to cool down and with all the messing about it was iced when very slightly warm - this doesn't work well with butter icing.  It tasted OK - but the look wasn't upto standard!

It was hot yesterday - too hot to be digging,  so a quick visit to the Lottie a little foraging around the site, some picking on my Lottie plot and a little more clearing.  And look at all the goodies;-

The apples from behind my Lottie,  the pears and plums from a neighbour, runner beans, french beans and courgettes from the lottie,  eggs from my chicks, tomatoes from home and my latest loaf of bread.  It kept me busy for a while, all nicely arranged for a photo moment and then the eggs for the cake  -eaten by the dog,  all the beans blanched and frozen,  apples, pears and plums are now mixed fruit jam.  The rest in the fridge until needed. 

I had fun trying to photograph the jam on a rolling boiling - the camera kept steaming up everytime it was over the pan,  I think I took about 10 pictures before I had one decent one!  That's blogging for you - everything has to be photographed!

Rolling boil

Steamed up camera!

Rolling boil after the magic knob of butter had been added.  
The jam becomes clear  and the fruit scum on the top vanishes!

All done!

Cooking

I have sometime off from work and I am doing the cooking.   It's not often that I cook a meal -  it's just the way our lives are arranged as Mr Milly is the househusband and cooks the meals.    So I have been taking stock of what tools and foods we have around us and how can we do things differently.  A few reasons for this,  the first is money - can we save a bit?  The second - as there is just the 2 of us to cook for now can we do things differently?  The third  - we have the Lottie now and want to use it to its full potential.  And finally we have lots of gadgets in the kitchen, I am a bit of a gadget lover - I don't think we really use them enough.

One of the bonuses of Google - there is an abundance of recipes and information at your fingers tips.  This week we have had a Steak and Mushroom pudding.  I love these types of puddings, but the hours of steaming and having to watch the pan really put me off.   But I discovered this week you can use a slow cooker to steam these puds -brilliant!  Make the pud - stick it in the slow cooker and forget it and no steam in the kitchen.   In fact there was so little steam I was sure it wasn;t going to work!!  It did and the result was lovely - the one pud was enough for 2 of us for 2 days - so very little cost.   Today there is a chicken in the slow cooker - dinner today and a pie tomorrow!

The bread machine has been out too - I'm trying some different recipes to see what comes out and some different flours and yeasts to see if cheaper ingredients make an acceptable loaf.  Mr Milly is usually the occasional bread maker in the house and he sticks strictly to the instructions and the recipes.  I'm not quite so strict and the results so far have been good and different.

The Lottie is managing itself nicely at the min,  the cauliflowers are looking a little loose which is not good for caulis - we will see how they end up.   Everything else is coming along fine and everyday something is different which is fascinating to see.    



Sunflowers are getting tall



The pumpkin is just starting to turn orange.



Teeny little butternut squashes are starting to appear



Busy Hands

Today we are expecting visitors,  My  Dear Father-in-Law  and his wife are visiting from the Isle of Wight,  we haven't seen them for a little while and we are all looking forward to the visit.  I think we will be having a bit of a houseful for the day as friends and family pop in to say hello.

Carrot cake was made yesterday and this morning a lemon cake will be going in the oven.  Carrot cake takes a while to make and bake,  the lemon cake is incredibly quick and easy,  but both are really tasty and everyone seems to enjoy them!!

I found the recipe for the carrot cake here Aunt Mary's Carrot Cake,   And if you fancy having a go - here is the recipe;-


Ingredients

Serves: 12

• 275g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 4 eggs
• 400g caster sugar
• 350ml vegetable oil
• 375g grated carrots
• 125g chopped walnuts (optional)
• 200g sultanas (optional)

Preparation method

Prep:30  mins | Cook:45  mins

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C / gas 3. Lightly grease and flour a 20cm cake tin.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream together eggs and sugar. Add oil.
4. Slowly add dry ingredients and blend together well. Add carrots, walnuts and sultanas.
5. Pour into cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes. Check after the first 35 minutes, to see if a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If not, continue to cook, checking every 5 minutes. (I find this will take at least 1 hour to cook)
6. Top with a cream cheese icing and enjoy

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients for the topping

• 200g (7oz) Full Fat cream cheese
• 56g (2oz) softened unsalted butter
• 56g (2oz) sifted icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For the topping, mix cream cheese, softened unsalted butter, sifted icing sugar and vanilla essence, until smooth. Allow the cake to cool and then add the topping.  It is important to use full fat cream cheese - anything else and the icing will be runny, the full fat version makes a thicker icing.  This cake will keep for a few days in an airtight container. That is, if you can resist it that long!

I have had my crochet hooks out this week.  My Girl will be going away next week and some new hats are required.  I found the most amazing wool with sparkly bits running through it,  the hat is made and out in the sunlight it sparkles!

Whilst visiting Blogland yesterday I came across this Blooming Flower Cushion,  I really did want to have a go,  I rummaged through my wool stash to find the colours I wanted to use and made a start.   It has grown quicker than I thought it would,  so I think it will be finished in a day or two!  It is supposed to be for My Girl's bedroom, but I have a feeling it will end up in her suitcase as she packs next week!

Thank you for my gifts

I had some lovely gifts from my family for my birthday;-

My Girl surprised me with the pretty pink birthday cake - she said I always make the birthday cakes so it was my turn to have one made for me!  She had also sat at the sewing machine for a few hours and the result was a beautiful top - I look forward to wearing it!



About 25 rows of shirring to achieve the stretchy bodice of the top.

 Mr Milly made me a happy Mrs Milly with a brand new shiny red camera.  I love it and so far the pictures have been great!

My Boy was next - in typical My Boy style dropped by in the morning and then went out again without even saying hello!  He wanted to give me a gift for my birthday but didn't know what I would like.  He was hoping he could pop in and  talk to his dad for a bit of inspiration without me noticing!    Ok, I work in my office upstairs, but it is at the front of the house with a window overlooking the road and he does drive a truck - he really is difficult to miss!  But he did well - I now have a lovely new bottle of my favourite perfume.

My favourite perfume, my favorite colour and in the most adorable little bottle

Charlotte the Lottie scarecrow was my gift from My Bro and his family and flowers arrived today from My Sister in Law and her family.   So all in all  I think I was spoilt!

Thank you one and all for my lovely gifts  and beautiful cards x x x

Happy Birthday...................

......... to me!

Happy Birthday

Today it is My Girl's birthday - 19 years old today and doesn't the time fly past!   We are having a bar-be-que this  afternoon, just family and a couple of My Girl's friends I think there will be about 16 of us in total.

So today we will be busy!  Mr Milly has made the burgers and humus, and this morning we have a mad rush to tidy up house and garden ready for our visitors.

My Girl managed to look after everything quite well whilst we were away - although the Lottie is looking very very weedy!    The morning we left for our holiday My Girl was a little sad as she was staying home, anyway the taxi arrived to take us to the airport, lots of hugs and kisses as we loaded the car, then we were waving bye bye  My Girl  love you have a good week,  the taxi  went along the road a little way and then turned round, we drove past the house and My Girl was now waving frantically - I realised she was waving for us to stop - What's up?  - 'Mum I've looked myself out of the house'!!!!!   What is she like LOL!!  The front door had shut behind her and there she was on the doorstep in her PJs and we hadn't even got out of our road!      We did chuckle all the way to the airport me and Mr Milly!

El Medano beach

View from my sunbed!

Another  view from my sunbed - isn't it gorgeous!