Home by the Fire.

February at the cottage has brought beautiful clear bright skies & chilly days.

All along our garden hedge at the side of the church Snowdrops pop up their delicate little heads. Such a pretty gentle pure flower that adds such joy the the garden at this time of year. Soon the jolly sunny Daffodil will be blooming all around the village, already they are standing tall just waiting to open.

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The Rooks in the Spinney at the end of the garden are flocking & starting to nest. They are one of the busiest birds & chatty too while they work building their nests up high in the Pines. 

It is wonderful to hear the songbirds in the early hours when the sun is rising. Spring seems just around the corner & our thoughts are on the vegetable patch & what we are going to grow this year.

Last year we bought a piece of land off our neighbour who wanted to make his garden smaller. Our plans for this land is to make an orchard using old heritage varieties, so there will be much to do once the weather gets warmer. We levelled  & cleared the land of trees & bushes in the Autumn finding some lovely old items from times gone by. 

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Life has been wonderfully busy at the cottage, I do love a busy kitchen & that is where we have been spending most of our days near the wood burning cooker.

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I have been experimenting with different types of bread.

This one was a country loaf with Basil & tomato in it.

A lovely bread to have with a hearty soup.

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A little touch of Spring.

I found this beautiful 1920's tea set last Summer, it's perfect for Spring time.

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The twins decorating little boxes.

They love to be at the table with you.

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I had some coloured glace cherries to use up from Christmas so added them to rock cakes instead of raisins.

The children loved them & they looked so pretty too.

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The smell of fresh bread is one of the simplest joys.

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Fruit Bran Loaf & Wartime Ginger Oat Biscuits.

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This is the first time I have made these little biscuits & they were lovely.

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Wartime Ginger Oat Biscuits.

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In a pan melt 4 ozs of margarine with a dessert spoonful of golden syrup & 3 ozs of demerara sugar. If you can not get golden syrup honey might work or a light corn syrup.

Add to the pan 4 ozs of self raising flour & 4 ozs of oats, plus a tea spoon of ground ginger.

Mix well & spoon small rounded balls on to a greased tray.

Bake for 12 minutes at 325 / 170  

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Making quiche & mincemeat maids of honour.

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A visit to the Maud Foster Windmill.

They sell the most wonderful stone ground organic flour.

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I purchased some strong Spelt flour for bread making.

This is the first time I have used this flour, it has a lovely flavour.

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Making Marmalade.

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The oranges & lemons brought a little touch of sunshine to the kitchen.

I had never made Marmalade before, there was such a wonderful smell while making it.

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Jolly little jars of sunshine.

It tasted beautiful & I will make it every year now.

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We have quite a few meat free days in the week.

This is a favourite of our's Wartime Woolton Pie.

It's root vegetables cooked in stock with a mash potato & cheese topping.

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You can find the recipe on the internet, Lord Woolton was Minister of Food in the Second World War.

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Ma larkin's Shortbread from her little cookbook.

I use this book so much & really recommend finding a second hand copy, they are out of print now.

I use the quiche recipe from that book as well.

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Cinnamon Raisin bread for Sunday tea.

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I use the same bread recipe most of the time & play around with it, this dough was made with half whole wheat flour.

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Little everyday cinnamon buns.

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In a bowl mix 4 ozs of margarine with 4 ozs of sugar until soft.

Add 4 ozs of self raising wholemeal flour, a drop of almond essence & 2 eggs. Add a drop of milk to make a soft dropping consistency.

Fill small cake cases & sprinkle tops with plenty of cinnamon & a little sugar.

Bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes, check after 12 minutes.

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I have another 1930's bow scarf on my needles.

This one is for myself, I do love vintage greens.

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Wholemeal Madeira Cake from Delia Smith Book of Cakes.

Another wonderful book you can find second hand which I use all the time.

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A new book arrived in the post last week.

I have the others in the series which are wonderful. This book is full of history, idea's & such lovely photo's.

I have been making my way through all the Miss Read Fairacre Series this Winter, such a wonderful series to disappear into each night before bed.

I can see me reading them again & again.

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The twins all ready for a little disco in their new 1950's style dresses.

father Christmas bought them their faux pearl necklaces.

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Homemade sausage rolls & fruit cake.

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Light Fruit Cake recipe.

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Cream 6 ozs of margarine with 6 ozs of soft light brown sugar.

Then add 3 eggs, 4 ozs of plain flour & 4 ozs of self raising flour.

Lastly mix in 6ozs of dried fruit & 2 ozs of glace cherries.

Spoon in to a greased & lined 7 inch cake tin & spinkle top with sugar.

Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 325.

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Saturday Tea.

A weekly tradition.

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The joy of board games.

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I found some raspberries & blackcurrants from our garden at the bottom of the deep freeze so I made a pie using bramley apples as well.

Lovely for our Sunday dinner.

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We made London Buns for the first time but used lemon zest instead of mixed peel.

The girls love to bake & get great joy from serving them at tea time.

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Last week we popped over to a lovely market town called Louth.

They have a reclamation yard, we are looking for a new old scullery sink to replace our even older one.

It's a wonderful place to have a rummage.

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Another quiche, a great way of using our eggs now the sun is out & the chickens are back to laying.

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Custard cake for lunch.

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This is just my basic sponge recipe that I have posted before but I add a thick custard to the middle.

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My love for this little boy just grows & grows.

He is my shadow & gives such joy.

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Every evening he is here closely by my side.

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A few new finds from our local antique yard the other day.

It was cold but lovely to get out & find some treasures.

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Thank you dear readers for all your comments, I read & appreciate every one.

I hope you enjoy the recipes.

Fondly Michelle

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Autumn Mellows into Winter

We have quietly slipped in to November, the misty magical mornings are upon us and beautiful low sunrises and sunsets surround the countryside.

All around the village the fields have fallen silent, leaving freshly ploughed fields with some having their tiny wheat seedlings planted. 

There is a quietness in the thickets and the tall spinney at the end of the garden.  Birds have flown leaving a stillness in the garden.

The grand old Oak tree's in the village are the last to see their leaves fall. While most have lost theirs, the oak stands tall with their covering of deep green. I watch them when I hang the laundry out waiting for signs that they will fall. Once that happens Winter will be truly upon us. The pheasants are back with their high sharp cry a true sign of the year coming to an end.

Life has been busy at the cottage with preserving as much as we can from the garden. The freezer is full with pies and crumbles, dessert cakes made from apples and pears. The pantry shelves are laden now, beauty is all around us.

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Apples have been going in too many different things, all my cook books have been well used finding new idea's.

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Getting ready for Christmas.

I have just finished this Christmas tea cosy, it was a fun knit and brightens the kitchen up on these dark days.

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We have had two birthdays lately, our two eldest Sons.

This is a Cherry and Almond cake baked for Dene's birthday.

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Fresh bread to go with homemade soup.

You can't beat it on these chilly days.

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It has become a tradition to read Pumpkin Moonshine every Halloween.

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Some of the books the postman has brought this month.

They will be well used.

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More ways of using apples.

Our trees have been truly abundant.

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The twins wearing their poppies to remember.

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The chickens have just got a new home.

It is lovely to watch them from the cottage walking up the little ladder.

The are happy hens.

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This is another new recipe given to me from a lady on Instagram.

Cherry and Oat Slice.

We have made it many times since.

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Changing colours in our village.

I love this time of year.

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The last of the gardens produce has been going in to chutney.

Green tomatoes, pears, apples and beetroot.

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Fruit Chutney Recipe.

2 to 3 onions.

3lb of mixed fruit.

1 teaspoon of salt.

1 teaspoon of dry mustard.

1lb of brown sugar.

1 pint of malt vinegar.

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Chop up onion small, then chop fruit. Peel and core the apples or pears and take stones out of plums.

Add everything to a jam pan and boil until mixture goes thick.

Boil roughly for an hour.

When you drag a wooden spoon over bottom of the pan and it separates it is done.

I idea is to boil of the vinegar.

Bottle up and don't eat for about 6 weeks.

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This is the recipe I use every year and it uses up so much fruit, I put green tomatoes in too.

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Cold Tea Cake is one of my favourite cakes.

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I started a new blanket for George, he does love to be cosy.

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This is an upside down pear cake that went in the freezer for Christmas.

The freezer is well stocked mostly with apple goodies.

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Pear Jam.

This is the first year I have made jam with pears and thought it was a nice way of preserving our pears.

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George is always somewhere cosy this time of year.

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Our hens are still laying wonderfully despite the misty mornings and shorter days.

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Beautiful berries on the holly bushes surrounding our cottage.

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Homemade Christmas Puddings.

The twins made their wish when stirring them.

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The colours are stunning this time of year.

Its lovely to walk through the countryside around our village.

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Chocolate Cake made for Harry's birthday.

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These are apple and mincemeat pies that were bound for the freezer for Christmas.

I put a layer of mincemeat in the bottom then layered cinnamon sugared apples over the top and then covered with a crumble mix with pastry stars to finish.

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Christmas is creeping up on us so we had a trip to an antique centre to hunt for vintage items for the twins, they love the out of print Enid Blyton stories.

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One of the pretty stalls at the antique centre.

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This is a pretty thatched cottage on our way to a lovely market town we go to quite often.

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I hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful Autumn colours.

This time of year is so beautiful.

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Fondly Michelle 

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