The Last of the Apples

Hello Friends!

Just the other day, I mentioned to someone how more like Winter our weather is right now. Much of the rest of the country is experiencing the hottest September on record, with a high of just over 34 degrees Centigrade {that's about 100 degrees F} recorded this very afternoon in Kent, while here in the west the winds are 40 mph and it rains buckets full. As the weatherman said at midday 'The South of England roasts and, typically, the west is cold and wet' which just about sums it up.  I'm glad he said 'typically' ~~~

As I type, there is a lamb casserole in the Crock Pot. Many of you know I am vegetarian, and this is for my Mum. I admit, it isn't complicated and that is just as well because I can't taste it to check for seasoning so I really have to wing it when I cook Mum's ready meals for the freezer.  I am such a chicken {not a pun} and buy trimmed and diced meat from the supermarket so that I don't have to handle it. I just open the box and put it in, along with stock and vegetables. It has been so long since I ate, or cooked, meat that I can't remember much about it now. This week, after it's quarterly defrosting and clearing out, the freezer is being well restocked with hearty, warming and nutritious casseroles {both meat and vegetarian}, as well as lots of Apple Sauce, fresh picked wild blackberries, and more. I love this time of year, preparing comfort food and puddings for the Winter freezer more than any other.

I was speaking to my neighbour over our shared fence this afternoon and she confirmed my suspicions that the blackberry pick just isn't as good as usual this year.  Summer was simply too cold and dry, and this is probably to blame. I'm still picking what I can daily and freezing them and will decide what to make once the season is over. However, if you have plenty and would like to get a really delicious recipe for a scrumptious Blackberry Roll then pop over to the blog of my good friend Martha Ellen's The Joy of Home with Martha Ellen where you will find the recipe ~~~

I have put off decorating, but as September is now midway through and the Autumn Equinox is in a few days, I think it is time to bring out the boxes of Autumn decorations.  I am honouring the imminent arrival of Autumn by making a recipe from my Susan Branch "Autumn" book called Cranberry Apple Crisp.  I am not sure if I can, due to copyright reasons, share the recipe, suffice to say {for my British readers} it is very similar to a Fruit Crumble, but if you own a copy of "Autumn From the Heart of the Home" by Susan Branch, you can find the recipe on page 95.

Here it is ~~~

Getting the ingredients together with my green glazed Mason Cash bowl 

I used frozen cranberries, thawed, and a few blackberries that were to hand ~~~

Ready to work in the butter with my pastry blender before finishing by hand ~~~

Ready to bake on a tray in case it leaks! I used wholewheat flour so it looks quite brown before baking

The finished dish 

Nicely layered with plenty of topping and fruits

This will be pudding tonight served with a warm custard sauce ~~~ delicious!

Not much is happening in the garden, but I'm hoping the blackberries will continue to produce some good fruits for the next few weeks ~~~ there are plenty of buds and blooms  ~~~

but already the leaves are starting to turn colour ~~~

Until next time
~~~Deborah 

The Haphazard Baker Strikes Again ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ this is a cautionary tale with a moral ~~~ when making a dish for the first time, read the recipe all the way through. Simple.  You won't always get away with it, although I scraped through this time.

The incident happened the other afternoon when I was whiling away a moment or ten {as you do} on Pinterest, I came across a recipe for Peaches and Cream Scones which you can find here and I pinned it on one of my Good Things To Eat series of boards.  Now, as it happened, I had a punnet of slightly over ripe nectarines on hand, but was missing some of the ingredients called for in the recipe, so I Googled "Peach Scones" and came up with quite a few, all slightly different, recipes. In the haphazard style that only I can imitate, I muddled them all up to suit the ingredients on hand and off I went to the kitchen to bake these delicious sounding treats.

I was in a bit of a rush, and in gathering my information I failed to notice one major difference in the 'wettest' recipe, {see below}.  My plan was to do what I normally do {and also imitate the image on Pinterest} with a large round cut in triangles. I read a lot of recipes and methods, and figured they all ended up the same way.  Not so. Mixing ingredients on a mean average from across the recipes, I ended up with a very wet dough that I was supposed to dollop into muffin pans, or into spoonfuls on the baking sheet. What I did with my very wet heap of dough was plop it en masse in the middle of my baking sheet to make one of those circular scones you cut in wedges.  My clue that something was not right should have been when the knife would not mark out the desired wedge lines. O~er!

I put it in the oven, Gas Mark 6, for 20 minutes, but after 15 minutes it was growing rather rapidly across the tray. O~er! again.

Too late now ~~~ so, Onward and Upward, as they say ~~~

I adjusted the temperature {slightly lower} and turned the pan. I put it back in for another 15 minutes, now way over the anticipated 20 minutes, but eventually I took it out, a great big patty looking more like a loaf of bread than a scone ~~~ oh, well ~~~ not quite as planned, but it is cooked, and it is very, very delicious.

 

You can just make out a couple of the score marks.  This is how it looked once cut into wedges ~~~

Ready to eat, with honey and butter, for tea.

I did make notes as I went along, and this is a list of ingredients I ended up using after reading three or four different recipes. The thing about scones, unlike with cakes such as a Victoria sponge, you have a little more flexibility in what you add or leave out ~~~ as the Giant Peach Scone has proved ~~~

2 cups plain/all purpose flour, sifted
1/3 cup golden granulated sugar
1 slightly rounded teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg {optional, to taste}
6 tablespoons butter or baking spread
2 large eggs, beaten
2 small pots vanilla flavour Activia yoghurt {about scant 2/3 cup}
1 cup of fresh nectarines {or peaches} skinned and diced.

In a bowl place sifted flour, baking powder, sugar, and nutmeg. Chop in the butter and rub lightly until resembling fine crumbs. Add the beaten eggs and yoghurt. Bring together, then cut in the diced fruit.  Mixture will be wet.

*according to one recipe, you now drop this wet dough by spoonfuls on to a greased baking sheet or into greased muffin pans and bake at 375 for 18 ~ 20 minutes.  This is where I went astray ~~~ and ~~~
I plopped it all on one large heavy, greased baking sheet and formed into a circle and baked at Gas Mark 5, 375*F for 25~30 minutes, keeping an eye for the last few minutes or so.

So the moral of this cautionary tale is to read your recipe right through to the end!  In this case, all's well that ends well!

Bon Apetit!

Until next time
Sincerely yours
Deborah

GBBO is Back, so More Cake ~~~ and more books too ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ There is always room for one more book {or two} and cake. Last week saw the very welcome return of Great British Bake Off .  Has it really been just less than a year since Nancy Birtwhistle won?  Do you remember 'bingate'? Are we really now on Series 6? How time flies when you are having fun.

Have you watched it? What do you think so far?  I think they made the correct decision with who went home at the end of Episode 1, but was so shocked at the end of Episode 2. From Star Baker to going home in less than a week!  Such a shock, I guess no one knows which way the judges will call.

I had never made a Madeira Cake before, so decided to set to in the kitchen, where Emily is always ready to help.  I used my trusty Mary Berry's Baking Bible recipe and this is what we got ~~~ one Madeira Cake complete with the requisite crack in the centre {apparently, this crack is a signature of a good Madeira Cake} ~~~

Deeply Cracked Madeira Cake

Cracked Across the Perfectly Risen Top

If you are interested, Lakeland Ltd have brought out a range of GBBO products, but I'm quite happy with how my kitchen is stocked, so won't be taking them up on any of their tempting offers.

So, we have our cake, let's put the kettle on because there are more books to think about this week. We have a new postman, and so far he has delivered five parcels of books to my cottage since he started this round just over a week ago! Poor man, trudging up our drive with heavy parcels!  Never one to be able to resist a bargain, how could I possibly say no to two books in like new condition by one of my favourite illustrators, Mary Engelbreit, were made available to me for the princely sum of just 24 pence {plus nominal postage charges} for the two!  So, here they are, just arrived, Mary Engelbreit's "Autumn", and her "Christmas Companion". Bargains or what? Sometimes I think that vendors don't know what they have on their hands! My good luck on that one then.  I also secured a copy of Mary's "Winter" and that is on the way.  One man's rubbish, another man's treasure and all that ~~~

Books by Mary Engelbreit, Illustrator

So, if you will excuse me, there is cake to eat, tea to sip, and books to be read ~~~ until the next time ~~~ when I promise I will try to return to the garden ~~~

Sincerely yours
Deborah