Saturday 9 November 2013

Review and preview


Most weeks are busy around here, but this past one - well, I was so excited when Friday came around I celebrated with Gardener's World and a Baileys coffee. We've also packed in plenty of nice things over the week, like trips to the wool shop (I tidied up my knitting box, too: I need to stay organised as there are currently four projects on the go).


We've been eating apple and almond cake and took some to Jay's mum's house last night. There's still some left over. Hooray!

I baked some cornbread using a recipe from the BBC website. Verdict: it had potential. Next time around I'll omit the sugar and tinned corn, halve the ingredients and bake it for twice as long as instructed. Like I said, it had potential. The crispy top was nice but the overly sweet, doughy centre... not so much.

On a savoury note there was butternut squash risotto with plenty of Parmesan and fried sage. Comfort food at it's best. Even better: leftovers. One of my favourite words.


I bought some little cyclamen plants yesterday. One (in cerise pink) for Jay's mum and this one for myself. They were £1 each. Every year I buy one. Every year it dies on me. Maybe this year my fortunes will change. Apparently they like a cool windowsill and we have plenty of those.

We've had some crazy weather. From one minute to the next the house is either dark and gloomy or bathed in yellow light. In fact we were just plunged into darkness before a big cacophony of thunder and lightning, followed by hailstones the size of marrowfat peas. The dark's lifting again now.


A few bright, crisp days earlier in the week meant some walks around the locality. The conkers have all gone but there are still plenty of autumnal delights. Woodsmoke in the air, for one. I love that smell.


We're having a slow Saturday and tomorrow we're off to Lancs for a family walk and cold-weather picnic. The little button badge was a gift. Made me smile.


We're wrapping up warm at the moment. My new tartan scarf is big enough to wrap around me as a shawl too. I need it - we've had frost the past few mornings and our visit last night under a clear sky had us shivering with cold (it was nice to get indoors and run a bath).

Hope you're keeping warm this weekend :)

12 comments:

  1. I am a cyclamen killer too! I read that you should only water when really dry and remove all the drained through water after five minutes. Apparently it makes them rot. Now they tell me.

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    1. I tried it - still death! I'm determined to win this year. I'd understand if I struggled with orchids or something, but cyclamen!!!

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  2. I look forward to Gardeners World with a glass of wine. Sarah

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    1. It's one of those comforting programmes, isn't it? So sad next week's the last one (until the Christmas special). Suppose I'll have to turn to all those recorded episodes of The Good Life for my comfort viewing :)

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  3. Love the positive spin you put on the cornbread recipe! Butternut squash risotto is a favourite in our house too - it's so perfect for autumnal evenings. We like it with fried chorizo in too for a bit of a chilli kick.

    I'm hoping your project productivity will give me a kick up the bum to get cracking on all the things I need to make for Christmas...time is rapidly running out!

    Beautiful photos as ever x

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    1. Thank you.

      And I'll post on my next batch of cornbread (with photo) - hopefully it'll be nicer second time around!

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  4. What beautiful photography, I love the angles you take your photos at. Thanks so much for coming and visiting and commenting on my blog, lovely to meet you :o) I love the leftovers word too...yummy thoughts about a butternut risotto, wow! Would make a difference to our usual mushroom risotto. I have had the most wonderfully hot bath and am now snug with laptop and knitting close by. Have a fab week ahead xox Penny

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    1. Hello! I love visiting nice blogs - nice to meet you too. The risotto was yummy and I had leftovers as my other half doesn't like rice (no, me neither). Oh well, all the more for me!
      Glad to hear everyone's getting into hibernation mode. Hope you enjoy your week too x

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  5. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Yes cyclamen can be tricky. I followed my Mum's instructions and always water it at the bottom of the pot. They don't like their tubers to get wet or be too heavily covered with soil (apparently!!). Mine also benefitted from not being watered after the flowering season; I left it when I went on holiday it went very, very brown and looked extremely dead but no it came back to life in the winter....it's still going strong. It seems the more poorly I treat it the better!
    N

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    1. Hello! We did indeed have a lovely weekend - hope you and yours did too.
      I'm still tiptoeing around the cyclamen and have decided I may name it Barbara Cartland - it just sits there being pink and frilly and I hover around trying to attend to its every whim. No doubt that won't last. My memory's like a sieve so it'll end up being neglected and hopefully do what yours did!

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  6. Such nice photos. I love butternut squash risotto - with fried sage too, yum. We often have it with pancetta and peas, that's nice too. Excellent winter stodgy comfort food. x

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    1. Hello! Pancetta and peas sound good - I'll give that a go next time. Must remember to buy risotto rice too!

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