April Kitchen

 It's bright and sunny again (at last) here today....after a few rather chilly days and a very damp easter, today the sky is blue and the birds are chirping outside my window again.....i made some little spring inspired cakes the other day......

 ...it was nice to do a bit of baking after mostly working intensively over the last couple of weeks....lovely to have a bit of time to do other things like baking and crafting just for fun......

 .........a while ago i did a review of tea towel designs for al at all tea towels, and when i decided to give one of them away as part of my winter giveaway, al kindly said i could pick another one too.....so i chose the one in the pictures above called a nice cup of tea.....i discovered that the artist who designed it was the same one who designed the first tea towel i picked....linda edwards, whose lovely website can be seen here......the tea towel, like all the ones stocked by al is lovely to use and i love the colours in my april kitchen.....

 ................and a very SwEeT block here along with the coloured chocolate flowers.....from fee, of course....

 .........lots of spring flowers brighten up my kitchen at the moment....some of my favourites are the natural primroses which i grew from tiny plug plants a few years ago.....i have quite a big primrose patch in the garden now, and pot up a few as presents or to enjoy indoors for a while.......

 ............some daisy cupcakes in spring green paper cases........all gone now.......we still have some chocolate flowers left though, as well as some easter eggs still to nibble..........

 ......i had a bit of time to make some more blocks for the farmer's wife quilt over the weekend break....

.........i had to include this one today because it's name is...broken dishes.....i love this block pattern, i remember first discovering it years ago and thinking how the little pieces did look like shards of broken dishes........ i have a couple more blocks to sew together, and my flower patch quilt is nearing completion now....and i've begun a new crochet blanket but will save that until next time :-)
.......thank you for calling in to see me in my little bit of blogland today.....i hope you are having a sunny week and enjoy the coming weekend too.........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cosy Kitchen

 As the days are drawing in and becoming darker, I find I'm spending more time in my cosy kitchen, making warming wintry meals like soups and casseroles, and baking things to put in the freezer, just because it's so cosy in there...........this week I had a nice surprise when the lovely Al McCavery contacted me and asked if I'd like to choose two tea towels to review from his website All Tea Towels....(yes, please)......

 .....the website is a cornucopia of designer tea towels made from the finest quality linen, cotton or linen union and I was really spoilt for choice....I eventually decided to choose the Enchanted Forest Tea Towel because its red and white design chimes in perfectly with my Christmas themes and I love all the woodland creatures and sweet folk art style decoration......

 ....and the Union Jack Tea Towel because I also love the Brit chic look (and am currently working on a magazine commission for next year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations) so this design is perfect to be drying my dishes with right now........

 The All Tea Towels site is a lovely one to browse for gift ideas (shipping is fast and worldwide), and there is a charming page on the History of Tea Towels (and Dish Towels too)!

 One more thing to show you for my cosy kitchen this week.......at last I have made a granny cushion for my cane chair (where I sit and stitch, knit or crochet sometimes while waiting for a cake to bake or dinner to cook)......yes, the Bright and Flowery granny cushion  has had it's final flower sewn on, and a border crocheted round it ............

                                             ..........and now it is in place my cosy kitchen ..........

             I hope you like it..... it was inspired by many of you and the wonderful crochet you create!

Thank you for dropping in to see me today, and for those who leave such sweet comments a big thank you ....I read each and every one and enjoy them all. Wishing you all a happy cosy week. Back soon xxxx

Baking Buns

The recent hot sunny weather has made me less inspired to bake things, but until we became so sun kissed around here I would bake a batch of our current favourites each week. Sometimes it's flapjacks, sometimes it's scones, or maybe a tray bake - very easy traditional recipes, old fashioned home baking is our favourite. The latest craze before the heat wave, was rock buns. I don't know what made me dig out an old recipe and, finding I had all the ingredients in stock, begin to make these simple little cakes. They are called rock buns because of their shape, not (hopefully) their hardness. I love recipes where you throw it all in the mixer and it's done quickly and you don't have to wait too long for it to cook. These are so delicious and tempting - the lemon zest makes them really yummy.

Favourite Rock Buns

100gbutter, 225g plain flour, 2 level tsps baking powder, 1/2 tsp mixed spice (optional), pinch salt, 100g demerara sugar, 100g mixed dried fruit, grated rind of 1/2 lemon, 1 large egg, beaten, 1 tsp milk. Place baking parchment on two baking trays. Rub the butter into the sifted flour, baking powder, spices and salt until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, fruit and lemon rind. Pour in the egg and milk, and mix until stiff and crumbly. Use a big spoon to drop the mixture onto the baking trays, roughly shaping the cakes into similar sizes. Bake in the oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container and they'll keep for a few days - or maybe not......