binkyboots

wow! that cake looks gorgeous, so shiny (bet it tastes rather good too ) last night's dessert here was apple and blueberry crumble (finally, a night chilly enough to make crumble desirable) with home made custard.

I warmed some with sprigs of rosemary and a little garlic then used it to drizzle over a foccacia recipe instead of olive oil.

mmm.. figs. yes, the fig vodka is gorgeous, better now it's getting older I think. essence of figs, sounds gorgeous, can you take a picture of the bottle? must try and track some down. is it thick like molasses? if so I guess I'd most likely go simple (I are simple) cheese, bread, good butter....

a loaf of bread... more complicated than I look.

tonight will be pizza night! pizza, sweetcorn, salad and possibly cheesecake

350

plain yoghurt and a teaspoon of damson and red wine jam (still warm from the pan) bliss.

I'm on for gnocchi! yum... I had the best gnocchi in Milan, very very plain with light'ish tomato sauce and a little basil snippied through it.

what gorgeous pictures!! I just know this will be a lovely week

porridge, truly the nicest bowl of porridge I've had in quite some time, creamy, slightly salty and tasted of lovely nutty oats.

supercook is the one I use, I looked at their website (here) but it doesnt say if it's single or double acting, you could email their customer enquiry centre though.

oaty, golden syrup buns... used some bread dough I'd made and not shaped, realised we all like something sweet in the morning! the oats and barley flakes make it sound wholesome and sensible

I love my mixing bowls, I have something of an obsession... hmm, for bread making I have two bowls, both pottery and glazed. one larger, one slightly smaller. for beating eggs and preparing small quantities of liquids I have a nesting set of green pottery bowls from highland stoneware, they have pouring lips. a large cream pottery jug for whipping cream small (half litre) pyrex measuring jug one stainless steel bowl, mainly used when making custard as it cools quickly when put into cold water, thinking about getting rid of it though. one large plastic bowl with a tight lid, used for resting yorkshire pudding or pancake batter in.

a spoonfull of the milk which is simmering (and has been for, three hours now) for christine ferber's praline milk jam. a lot like condensed milk, but better. I'm waiting patiently another hour to add the praline powder, then one more before I jar it

it's a kind of curry, see more info here. and a take away menu here yum

tonight's dinner is breakfast! darling husband likes breakfast and wasn't well this morning so... one trip to the farmer's market later and he's having a scotch breakfast. black pudding, sausage (links, he doesn't like lorne), fried egg, fried tomato, beans and a tattie scone. washed down with a mug of tea (what else ) I'll be having yoghurt, lol

Yup, sainsburys organic chicken which frankly is not all that marvelous (but streets ahead of their bargain chickens) is about £9. In comparison an organic bird from the nice meat lady at our school is closer to £15, however hers is really delicious, none of that vile, wet mushy flesh. Dont even get me started on chicken breasts £14.99 a kilo is not an uncommon price for them, happily my family have learned to love thighs

today the longest queue at the farmer's market was for a tomato stall, well, I had to satisfy my curiousity, joined the line, stood in the sun and waited (im)patiently. when we got to the top my husband taste tested a couple of cherry toms and baby plums, his verdict "best tomatoes ever" ok, had to buy some and now, they're sitting in the diningroom smelling delicious, only thing is what I really want to do with them is continue to sit and sniff them. I want to do something that wont muddy that gorgeous flavour... mozzarella, basil, tomatoes just sliced on a plate is the current winner for tommorow's lunch. though, a fresh, chilled tomato soup might be good too, or indeed a blt.. argh, decisions

doh! I really need to stick a card that says "preview your damn posts" on top of my monitor. worked for learning to drive, lol. mm.. pomegranate and seven spice, wish I had some chops in the house.

mmm... bowers, ever since you recomended it I've been trying to spend our meat budget there! they're so nice as well, even for someone rather shy like myself, although, I think I would not have the courage to ask for something to be brined (really, very shy)

I would guess he was out of tamarind and used pomegranate molasses for a nice sour taste.

if you do try the homemade ricottaesque cheese dont throw out the whey, it makes a delicious loaf of bread, just sub they whey for water (or half and half) and, in a nice circle of life moment the bread is very good with the cheese and a little honeycomb spread on it so.. you can tell what we were doing yesterday then!

I use it in chilli instead of chilli that, couple of squares of dark chocolate, cornbread cobbler topping also used it to make meatballs, chopped spring onions, spice mix, minced lamb and salt, plus an egg I think.

as far as the tequila goes I'd be very tempted (and if I had an ice cream maker certainly would) to make nigella's margarita ice cream, condensed milk and tequila could be a very happy combination!

a fried egg, really soft though, I get the pan very hot and just drop it in for a second so the yolk is still soft. that with a little ketchup (and plenty of salt) is just gorgeous. or biscotti and a glass of milk for dunking.