A very scary cake.

Before children, the Hubby and I didn’t even acknowledge Halloween. Now however it is a bit event in the Acquest household. Not least because it is Miss C’s birthday.

Some years we go away in the caravan and decorate that accordingly. Last year we hired the local village hall and had a brilliant party with all her Home Ed friends and their families. This year she wanted a tea party with just her family.

Every year her cake is Halloween based. We’ve made ghosts, spiders web cupcakes and last year a tray bake style graveyard. This year I wanted something a bit different. Now I’m no chef, I rarely bake as hubby and Miss C don’t have a sweet tooth and I end up eating it all. My waistline just does not need any help in that department!

I went onto Pinterest and searched ‘ easy b’day cakes’ and felt inspired by a pinwheel style design. It looked easy but elegant in the picture. Just the thing.

I started with a devil’s food cake recipe that I’ve used successfully on a number of occasions.

• 10oz of brown sugar creamed into 5oz of butter is hard work but 3 eggs and vanilla essence help it all come together.
• 8oz plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarb and 2 tsp baking powder.
• 8 floz milk and 3oz grated plain choc melted together all mix in.

Stirred together it’s almost a batter and probably too much for the cake tins I have.

I baked it at 170 for about 40 minutes and it came out ok.

Once cooled it sandwiched together with 10oz butter, 14oz icing sugar and 6oz melted chocolate.

It doesn’t use the full amount and the rest is mixed with another 3oz icing sugar, 150ml soured cream and in theory 7oz more melted chocolate. However I lost my nerve by then and only added another 3 oz  or so of choc.

Then you cover the whole thing in that mixture. Which covered all the crumbly sides and mistakes!

Then the fun began.

It was at this point I realised I should have measured the chocolate fingers before putting the 2 halves together but hey ho. Nothing ventured nothing gained. On they went. Along with M&M’s, Revels and maltesers and some spooky jellies just as a nod to Halloween.

I filled in the bottom in my own unique way. This cake is proper scary.

Not for the look of it but because of the million calories in every slice. It’s spookily bad for you and we will manage every last crumb!!

Lunch with Her Majesty.

Ok so the title’s a tad dramatic but we did have our lunch at Sandringham today. I’m sure had the queen known she would have popped in to say hello!

The view from the window was good and the food was better. Unfortunately by the time it arrived we were so hungry I just wolfed it down without time for a snap!

We had a lovely walk through the woods taking lots of time to enjoy this year’s wonderful autumn colours. The ground was a bit damp and very squelchy in places but we had our stout boots and loved every minute.

At times we could have been the only people on earth. It was so peaceful, there were lots of squirrels and jay’s eating the sweet chestnuts

It was actually quite risky passing under some trees as they were falling constantly and certainly made a solid thud as they hit the ground. Miss C brought half a dozen home to roast but it seemed wrong to take too many when so many cute and cuddly creatures were collecting them. We even saw two deer grazing, although at such a distance it’s difficult to say what on!

There was so much to look at. The park area is even full of wonderful wood carving but there were too many children to do justice to it in photos.

Perhaps next time we will visit the sculptures walk. We didn’t find it until we were leaving but it looked impressive. Everything at Sandringham always does though.

My evening’s entertainment.

Seems I lost this one last night. It was late and I tried to upload 3 times. I’m going to re write it just for the practice!

I’m a musicians wife. When we were younger, before children, I spent my Saturday evenings drinking, dancing and watching hubby do his thing in dodgy clubs and pubs. More recently hubby had joined a grown up duo and I’ve been relegated to crochet and chocolate keeping the home fires burning.

I’m also to be found spending my Monday mornings in the local community library at a knitting group. I don’t knit but I do have the key and am pretty good at tea making. It’s enough to earn my place in the group.
To cement that place I’ve been given the dubious honour of making something from the left over wool.
Many of the ladies are elderly and housebound but we drop wool off to them and they knit squares. It keeps them off the streets and gives them visitors when we collect.

Last night I decided to alleviate the quiet times by working on some of the 60 plus squares I was given this week. These are a good batch, many are actually square and consistently knitted. I sorted the colours a bit and decided to try crocheting them together.

I think it’s started quite well and if I ever work out what’s happening with my blog perhaps I’ll get to finish the post. In the mean time the cat likes it!

The winters preparations.

We’ve had a busy but satisfying day in the garden. The poly tunnel is being cleared in stages. Most of the tomatoes went a fortnight or so ago when the first of the lettuce went in. The melons went today.

We’ve had 5 altogether. The first was by far the best but I’m afraid we ate that a while  back and I forgot the photo. These 4 are smaller and probably should have been picked before now. They were hanging in tights for support and I didn’t realise they had gone a bit mouldy at the stem end. Still they ate ok.

Leeks and some rather slug chewed cauliflower went in between the lettuce already there. Last week’s peas that were there died it seems.

Cabbages and more lettuce went into the space the melons vacated.

The marigolds still flower but get cut into the soil as the space is needed. I read somewhere that they keep away wire worm both while growing and rotting so that will be useful, as the ground was grass previously.

In the main beds I lifted a parsnip. It had looked promising through the soil but ….

Clearly I didn’t dig the beds deep enough. It will go well with the world’s smallest carrot

The onions and garlic went in.

Next to a bed of leek seedlings brought for a pound at my local garden centre, there were so many I’ve even put some in the tunnel.

They are a bit feeble still but fingers crossed!

Fuchsia, Choisya and Antirrhinum look good.

The Cosmos is nearly over. This little Fuchsia is hardy and beautiful but needs moving as it is swamped by others.

My only pumpkin waits for Halloween. Miss C has grand ideas for it should it keep long enough.

The Christmas potatoes are worryingly poor. The stems keep going brown and soggy so I’ve cut them all down.

Comfrey seedlings look healthy. Homemade tomato feed next year I hope.

During a visit to Poundland this week I found the perfect solution to our gardening dilemma. As the garden is so long we have to lock the back door if we work on the bottom end of it. We wanted to let friends who call know we are home so I brought this rather apt sign and the cute little lizard. £2 problem solved.

A busy week.

Its been a busy week here. The days are warm but the evenings cold. We’ve lit the fire for the first time. I forgot to get the chimney swept or it might have been used a month ago!
The first few fires are never the best but eventually there’s a bit of ash build up and then they seem much better. Our fire is multi fuel but we only ever use wood. I use a mix of brought hardwood and home grown trunks donated by the Bee Buddy from land he manages. Our garden seems to be full of piles of it at the minute so we really must have a huge chopping and splitting effort. 

I brought some leek plants on a recent garden centre visit. They cost me the princely sum of £1 and on separating them I had rather more than expected. This meant I had to rapidly remove the celery from the veg bed I wanted to put them in. I’d been intending leaving it in until we used it as I was told it would be tastier that way.

I had to set up a processing system on the garden table. It was just to muddy and to extensive to come into the kitchen.

I filled the kitchen sink.

Then I filled a sweet tub.

Then I’m afraid I gave up and just threw it away.

I washed it, I picked off worms, slugs and bugs, I scrubbed it with a brush. Boy did I get sick of that celery. I intended blanching it but ran out of time and motivation.

I ended up freezing it raw chopped into small pieces in tubs and then just in half sticks in bags. I’m hoping it will work for cooking. There’s a lesson there I’m sure, probably to grow less celery.

A bit like the grow less tomatoes lesson.

AND the pick less apples lesson.

Dehydrated, sliced, frozen whole.

Miss C even used them to make a garden bird feeder.

It could just be beginners luck but my garden has done me proud this year. I’ve been keeping a log of a lot of it so I will have to count up and post. I might never do so well again and I’d hate to forget!