By Stephie, on Wednesday 23rd November, 2011 at 13:50 pm
courtesy of doubling up my accrued Tesco Clubcard points (a supermarket scheme for those not in the know!)…
 750 watts of raw power!!!! I’m not usually in the least bit excited by kitchen gadgets/tools, but when you can get home at gone 10pm and fancy a piece of cake, realise you haven’t got any, but can knock one up in minutes…
 Tasty! What’s not to like?!
Banana and Walnut Loaf
(recipe from the back of a Tesco walnut packet!!)
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 200g of plain flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 100g of margarine
- 150g of caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs (courtesy of your own chickens is best!)
- 50g sultanas
- 50g of walnut pieces
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°c/gas mark 4
- Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin
- Add all the ingredients except the sultanas and walnuts to the food processor
- Process until all is combined (doesn’t take long!)
- Add the walnuts and sultanas to the mixture and pulse for a couple of seconds (if you put them in with the rest of the mixture they’ll be dessicated – as I found out!!!)
- Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake 50 – 60 minutes (half way through I had to cover the top with tin foil to stop in burning before the rest of it had cooked)
- The recipe packet suggests leaving the cake overnight so that the flavours can develop. I suggest eating it whilst it’s still hot and barely out of the oven!!!
Great with a good cup of fresh coffee  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Stephie
By Stephie, on Saturday 10th September, 2011 at 15:54 pm
When I came back from holiday a couple of weeks ago I was horrified to see what at happened to my allotment. I could have cried. Well, I did, just a bit. All the hard work and effort I’d put in earlier in the year, laying out the site, preparing the soil, planting… had been decimated by weeds in a matter of weeks. I couldn’t see the ground plan, or the plants, all I could see were knee-high weeds already in flower.
 Earlier this summer  Now... And as usual I’d overcommitted myself… You know that feeling of taking on too much? I think I live with it permanently. How was I going to sort this out when I’d agreed to help a friend with decorating, agreed to help with organising a half marathon, agreed this that and the other. And, it was the last week of Kim’s summer holiday. And no, he did not want to spend it weeding thank you very much. Who can blame him, it’s a massive task. And I’ve just begun.
I’ve started harvesting:
 My large bucketful of onions - hopefully not harvested too late I’ve started teasing out neat rows again:
 I'll have those leaks standing to attentions please! And I’ve started cosseting:
 Straw beds for my pumpkins Yes, despite the trauma, there’s still the anticipation of good things to come! And if only my tomatoes would start to ripen I will have grown all the main ingredients for this delicious soup. This recipe is for Monica, she’s looking forward to the new season but isn’t sure about my autumn favourite: pumpkin soup – this should convince her otherwise!
Roast Pumpkin and Tomato Soup
Serves 4
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 900g/2lb of pumpkin flesh cut into 2cm slices
- 450g/1lb of ripe tomatoes, skinned and thickly sliced
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 6 tbsp water or 4 tbsp of white wine + 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 pint of vegetable stock
- 4 fl oz single cream (optional)
- seasoning
- chopped chives to garnish
- Drizzle I/2 the oil in the base of a large baking dish and arrange the pumpkin, tomatoes, onion and garlic in the dish in 2 or 3 layers. Drizzle the remaining oil on top, pour over the water/wine and season with salt and pepper.
- Cover with foil and bake in a preheated over at 190°C for 45 minutes or until all the veg is soft.
- Allow the vegetables to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender/food processor and add the cooking juices and as much stock as needed to cover the vegetables. Blend until smooth. (I find I have to do this in batches.).
- Pour the puree into a saucepan and stir in the remaining stock. Cook gently over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cream and cook for 3-4 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve in bowls with the chopped chives on top.
Delicious with a grainy, crusty bread!
Back soon, have a great weekend Stephie
By Stephie, on Friday 22nd July, 2011 at 23:15 pm
I popped over to the allotment between the heavy rain showers this week and picked another mini harvest (and ignored the lush green weeds that are taking over by stealth). The sweet peas are filling the sitting room with their wonderful heady scent, the lavender’s hanging up to dry (ready for filling some gifts later in the year perhaps!), marjoram for a quiche (with eggs from Darcey)…
 Tasty!  Colourful jars of yumminess, mmmm! …some baby beetroot for pickling (just a jar and a half so far) and four artichokes for preserving in olive oil with garlic and marjoram. A very satisfying afternoon’s work
Back soon!
Stephie
By Stephie, on Thursday 3rd February, 2011 at 09:50 am
 For Janie This little pillow is filled with roses. Well rose pot-pourri. And it smells wonderful. Just imagine popping it on the pillows on your bed and falling asleep breathing in the smells of a summer garden. Romantic nonsense? No! Everyone needs a little bit of romance don’t they? I know I’d like some. There’s been a serious lack of it around here for years  (It’s true!) But I digress. What do you think of the pillow? I made it for my exceptionally patient friend Janie (it’s a belated Christmas present) and I think she likes it, which is important! As you can see it’s an asymmetrical patchwork design with hand and machine quilting, some applique and embroidery. The small floral prints are from Liberty and the one with pink and yellow roses is from Tilda.
Are you wondering about the embroidered word ‘trees’? Maybe you’re thinking “it’s a bit random that bit”? You were? I thought maybe you’d be thinking that! Janie and I go for regular walks and I wanted to evoke something that might remind her of the beautiful places we’ve been, Trelissick in the autumn, Lanhyrdock in the summer…Miss P’s when it’s raining! (Slackers the pair of us.) And there’s a certain shade of green that she loves, so I included plenty of it here. And green, well it does remind me of trees…
I hope you like the photo mosaics I made too. They’re a lovely way of showing related pictures together, but I think maybe I need to take some better photographs. Or get a better camera, that might help. I wonder if the images are large enough too – if you click on them you’ll obviously see them full size, but I wonder if people actually bother to do that. Well people, do you?! You will let me know won’t you? I know I can be a miserable git but I really would like you to come back, so tell me what works best for you and I’ll give it a go.
 Details of the front  Hidden heart Until next time then.
Love Stephie x
By Stephie, on Wednesday 29th December, 2010 at 02:50 am
I remembered I was going to post a picture of the gifts I made for friends and family – one each day for 12 days. Well I messed that up didn’t I! It’s still worth doing though isn’t it? Yes, of course it is. Here’s the first three days worth then.
 Knitted corsage with lace, beads and a sweet shell button.  Knitted cowl in Rowan's Purelife Revive. It's a silk and cotton mix and drapes beautifully, but I still couldn't resist embellishing it. Just a bit. (Click on the image to find out more about the yarn.)  Hand made chocolate truffles. I make these every year. Every year I seem to eat more than I give Click on the image for the exceedingly simple recipe. I hope your Christmas festivities are going well? Christmas day was quieter than usual here at The Old Chapel, but it felt really good not to be doing anything for a change. I couldn’t keep my hands off something for long though and on Boxing day gave in and carried on with a small knitting project I’d started – and didn’t get finished in time for The Big Day. More about that later though.
It’s a cliche, but this Christmas really has made me see how lucky I am to have such good, supportive friends. You’re selfless, caring and deeply appreciated. Thank you so much for your comments and tweets, your cards with kind words, your lengthy phone calls, your generous gifts, and most of all the gifts of your time, patience, laughter and encouragement. You lot keep me sane. Well ok, scratch that. You lot have kept me out of a straight-jacket. So far. Keep up the good work!
Lots of love
Stephie xx
By Stephie, on Tuesday 7th September, 2010 at 16:22 pm
I thought I’d pop into my allotment on the way home from Falmouth today. My jaw dropped when I saw what had been going on in the two weeks since I was last there…
 Look at the size of these!! The largest one is 18″ long! I’d say that’s huge for a courgette. And since I’m the only one in the house that eats them, I’d appreciate any tasty suggestions for preserving them – a courgette chutney perhaps? One of the larger ones was a bit soft, so I thought I’d give the chooks a treat. They demolished it in seconds.
 Gobble gobble gone! I did a bit more digging whilst I was there. There’s so much to do though that I need to get my skates on if I’m going to get it done before the winter weather sets in. I’m not putting any pressure on myself though, I’ll just do as much as I can – I’m not sure I can actually fit much more into the day! I want to plant some fruit trees soon, so that’s the next bit I’m going to focus on. Research into Cornish apple varieties that I can grow as fans is next on the list of things to do, right after finishing a couple of Quilts, sorting out my neglected garden, starting more Christmas presents, oh and running a half marathon I can cope…
See you soon,
love Stephie x
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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