Cinnamon and Blackberry Cake

By special request, something cinnamon-y  for the birthday girl Heather. Fun things are rocking up at a party and proceeding to whip cream whilst wearing your favourite frock. Also, decorating said cake with symmetrically placed berries. No pictures this time but this was a good'un. Thank you Dan Lepard! Love you Dan Lepard! Recipe here.

Fondue + Fortune Cookies = Happy New Year!

This New Years Eve I had my first ever fondue. All I can say is 'Om nom nom' and  'Hey, fondue! Where have you been all my life? We are made for each other!' I marvelled at the combination of Gruyère, Emmental, white wine and vodka and as I dipped bread into cheesy goo I realised I was consuming what was essentially, a  cheese cocktail. Oh my.

Dad facilitated the fondue whilst I, wanting to make a contribution to the last meal of the year, and decade, thought it would be fun to make fortune cookies. After a bit of Googling I found this recipe and proceeded to, in Dad's words, 'mess about' in the kitchen.  I added a dash of milk because the first batch were too thick to fold. You have to spread the batter as thinly and smoothly as possible and only cook two at a time because you have to fold them as soon as they come out of the oven before they harden. Basically, its a bit of a performance. But what do you expect? This is magic we are making here!

Ta-da! Pick a cookie, any cookie. 


My, possibly erroneous, folding technique made the fortunes stick to the cookies. Ooops.

Cookies give good advice, no?
Happy New Year!

Recipe for a Merry Christmas

Take one family and a few time-honoured traditions. Add: a tree that touches the ceiling

 
a crib complete with moose, signpost and plenty of camels

a big bird (roasted)

root veg chopped with precision and a few elegantly gift-wrapped placemats 

 plenty of fudge

a strudel

and some amaretti paper flying fire fun!

Serve with as much good will to all men as you can muster and a steady stream of silly games. 'Tis the season to be jolly after all. 

Pear Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake

No story. Just one darn tasty cake. Try this recipe from BBC Good Food out next time you have a few spare pears knocking around. Grown-up tasting and great for naughty breakfast. 

Spooky Shortbread Fingers

As excuses for parties go, Halloween is by no means my favourite. Make new friends with people with monster masks and faces dripping with fake blood? Frankly, I'd rather not. Halloween as an excuse for a spot of themed baking? Now we're talking. 

A Halloween baking session left the kitchen covered in witches finger biscuits. A bit scary. Click here for the recipe. 

Mad Men Soiree

We had a Mad Men themed party! The food looked a bit like this... 

A sixties-inspired spread: onion dip, vol au vents, cheese straws and banana salad!

Cheese Straws (in ounces for authenticity)
4 oz plain flour                         1 egg yolk
pinch of salt                              2oz Cheddar cheese
dash of Cayenne pepper         1 tablespoon water
2 oz butter
Rub together butter and flour until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the finely grated cheese and bind with the egg yolk and water. Knead lightly and roll out. Cut into lots of strips and a few rings if you feel like some extra faffing for presentation purposes. Bake in a hot oven for 7-10 minutes. Cool and place the cheese straws into rings for serving.
"Cheese Straws, in neat little bundles slipped through pastry rings, make delicious cocktail savoury snacks." 
~from Woman's Own Cook Book (1964)

A faithful reproduction of a pretty exotic sixties salad. It might be an acquired taste but I think its rather handsome. 

Silver Darlings: a day of herring inspired fun

I have many guises. On Saturday 17th October I was wearing my puppeteering hat. Its quite a new hat! Dark Squid Inc. (Susie, Rosie and I) performed 'Secrets of the Sizewell Sea', an underwater tale involving nuclear waste, mutated sea creatures and everything in between, to an appreciative audience of toddlers, parents and grandmas at  Tide museum Gt. Yarmouth's annual herring day. Herring-related activities of every manner imaginable were the order of the day, and it was great.


We have big ideas and exciting plans for new shows and performances at different venues. Watch this space!

Stars of the show Vilma the Whale and Stephen Seahorse

No prizes for guessing what we had for lunch... 

Herring in a roll £3.00! 

The problem with herring is that it is an attention seeker. Not satisfied with a whole day to celebrate its history and influence on the economy of Gt. Yarmouth if you have herring for lunch you will still taste it at dinnertime. 

I was more than a bit excited about this picture I made for my Mum. 

Can't wait until next year for more herring-inspired fun? Get yourself down to Gt.Yarmouth's Time and Tide Museum already!