Bank Holiday weekend

Ah, bank holidays! Why can't every weekend have one? Ours has been a good mix of home and away, practical and pleasure.

It started on Friday evening with a charity belly dancing event. I wore this tunic which I found in a charity shop this week for a bargain £3! A lovely evening though maybe not what I was expecting. I definitely didn't expect to find that the only drinks were mint tea and water!

Saturday, I went to the theatre with two friends to see I capture the castle. It was a musical production and very good. Later, Chickpea and I watched the film as she'd missed the play because she was out being fitted for a bridesmaid dress. Yes she's being a bridesmaid for her best friend whose getting married in October.

Bank holidays usually mean baking and this one was no exception. One of my all-time favourite recipes, Delia's ginger cake with lemon icing. Yum! And even better the day after when the ginger has had more time to develop.

Less successful were the waffles made in my new cast iron pans. The mixture stuck and burned. Back to the drawing board and the internet to find out how to use the pans properly as the instructions on the box were clearly no help.

This seems to be one of my most common positions on bank holidays: constantly washing up! All that baking and scrubbing of burnt pans. And yes, I still use the old-fashioned method. No dishwashers here.

Water of a different kind in my latest jigsaw. Not my usual subject but I enjoyed this one with all the patterns and colours. I always have a jigsaw on the go and have already started the next one - with a picture of ice cream!

More water and the grebes are back! I was really hoping they'd return after raising two beautiful stripey babies last summer. They're much earlier this year though as it was towards the end of 30 days wild in June when the babies hatched last year. She's been on the nest a couple of weeks now so it looks like we'll be having grebelings before long. So exciting!

There are already babies on the lake though - the first ducklings of the year born earlier this week. Eight here but she only had seven yesterday. I never get tired of watching ducklings.

And so to today and a walk in the woods. Carpets of wild garlic...

...and bluebells.

And smaller patches of wood anemones. My favourite time of year to be in the woods.

Especially when being entertained by water-loving dogs bounding around and chasing sticks.

Back home, I've put up a hanging basket bracket this afternoon from which I'll be hanging bird feeders. I only had a fat ball to hand until I can get a feeder. If you look closely you might be able to see a yellow daffodil in the background. That's also a feeder but the birds have steadfastly refused to have anything to do with it. There are sparrows nesting in next door's eaves and they pop by each evening for a dust bath before bed, squabbling over the best spots. So cute!

And that was our weekend. The cherry blossom has almost blown away now but it's been absolutely glorious this spring.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too. Not long until the next one! xx

Lemon bakewell & 'the package'

When I opened the Christmas present from my friend, I felt completely overwhelmed by her generosity. She had bought us a £50 theatre voucher from the Gift for Two range that you find in high street stores. For someone who loves theatre, this was the perfect gift. Last weekend, Chickpea and I excitedly looked through the list of shows at the eligible theatres, picked out our favourite, the date and even the seats. I then phoned the special hotline number to book it. First obstacle, the show was not part of 'the package'. They sent us a list and it became apparent that only a small selection of  shows was part of 'the package'. Not only that but (second obstacle) only a small selection of dates for each show was part of 'the package', hardly any of them on a weekend. The final obstacle came when, having finally managed to decide on a show from the limited selection and on a date when I could get a day off work, we couldn't even have the seats I'd picked out as, you guessed it, they were not part of this pesky package!

I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time seeing The Mousetrap in Liverpool in April. However, it could have been a much less frustrating experience. If you're thinking of buying one of these gifts, please just be aware of its limitations.  

Anyway, after these frustrations, what else was there to do but bake cakes? With most of the jar of lemon curd left over from the pancakes, I decided to make lemon bakewell tart. The recipe doesn't give the ingredients for the pastry so I had to find another source and ended up using the one in The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake. I was clearly having one of those days though as the pastry didn't go according to plan and I just couldn't get it to roll out large enough to fit my rectangular tin without cracking. Aagh!

After a short break for foot stamping and cursing a rethink, I substituted a smaller square tin. However, I still had lots of pastry left so decided to make individual tarts like those in the Bake Off book. I used my largest cookie cutter to make circles, and rolled them out a little bit more so they would line the bottom and sides of each hole of a silicone muffin tin.

When the pastry came out of the oven from blind baking, the ones in the muffin tin looked far better so I filled those first and used the leftover mixture for the square tin.

And here they are! The individual tarts came out beautifully and slid out of the silicone tin with ease and no sign of a soggy bottom! They tasted pretty good too, particularly when served with the remains of the lemon curd creme fraiche - yum!

And the square tin? Well, the tart came out and, again, no soggy bottom. There were a few moments while trimming off the excess pastry around the top when I felt like I was part of a Carry On film. As I hacked and sawed at the pastry, bits flew off ricocheting into other bits, travelling all over the worktop, me and the floor! Despite that, it was equally as delicious. A bit on the flat side because I'd used most of the filling for the individual tarts but this seemed to give it a chewy texture with a crisp top.

And so the message for today? All's well that ends well :-)

Hope you're having a lovely weekend. We're have a day out tomorrow and I can't wait! Hopefully I'll get some good photos and will share later in the week. x

42nd Street

Yesterday it was time for my Dad to redeem his 70th birthday present. His birthday was actually a few months ago so he's had to wait a while. However, when I bought the tickets for 42nd Street, I knew it was the perfect gift: Dad loves going to musicals. It's also something he likes to share with me and Chickpea as we love it too. Mum can take it or leave it so chose not to accompany us this time.

Knowing it was a musical full of sequins and glitz, it seemed appropriate to wear a few myself. As we got on the train in bright sunshine, Chickpea said I was sending sparkles around the carriage like a walking disco ball!

We took an early train in case there were delays but also so that we could enjoy a pre-performance coffee and cake. Carrot cake and a latte for me and Dad. Pumpkin spice latte and an apple fritter doughnut for Chickpea.

Then it was time to make our way to the theatre. Excitement was building as we approached and joined the crowds. We made our way to our seats in the second row of the Circle. The atmosphere was buzzing. The lights dim, the orchestra strikes up, and the curtain starts to rise.

How I wish I could have shared some images from the performance but photography wasn't allowed so you'll have to make do with this from the programme. Maybe you can sing along with us though - you'll be surprised how many of the songs you recognise: Keep young and beautiful, I only have eyes for you, We're in the money, Lullaby of Broadway, and of course,  42nd Street. The songs have been going round in my head ever since.

The costumes didn't disappoint either - lots of sequins and shimmer. My favourites though were the colourful '30s outfits in the rehearsal scene at the beginning: shorts, tanks tops and halternecks in ice cream colours. And the shoes, oh the shoes!

Of course those shoes were put to good use for some wonderful tap dancing. The floor in the row where we sat vibrated as people in the audience just couldn't help tapping their feet along with the dance numbers. On the way home, me and Chickpea would randomly break into (very bad) tap dancing - the urge was irresistible! It makes me wish I'd kept up the lessons. I still have the shoes though so, you never know, I might take it up again one day.

You'll probably have gathered that we had a brilliant time. More importantly, Dad had a brilliant time and really enjoyed his birthday treat. Hope you enjoyed your weekend too.