Winter Coat

So this is the result of when I ask mum to take the picture for the blog...blurry!  Oh well.  

I was so pleased with this outfit the other weekend when we went for dinner with both sets of parents.  We decided to meet mum and dad before they flew off on Holiday, and as G's parents live close to Gatwick we all went out for a lovely Sunday night dinner to Jai Ho in Horley.  Very tasty dinner and lovely to see everyone.

I am slightly disappointed that I had just got back into wearing this gorgeous coat from Aubin and Wills that I bought a couple of years back and now the weather is really a bit warm to be wearing a wool coat.

Not that I'm complaining though as the sun is more than welcome!

Are you sad to see the winter wardrobe go or do you love you summer wardrobe more?

Pie-fect

Steak and Mushroom Loaf Pie

I love it when it gets to this time of year and there is nothing nicer to warm you up than a tasty pie. I love a good pie! Olive the versatility of the pie. Big pies, small pies, sweet and savoury.  I even have experimented with round and rectangle! Not to mention all of the different pastry options.

I stixk to short crust as I have definitely mastered this now and am pleased to say not once have I taken the pie out of the oven with a soggy bottom! 

I believe the two key things to a good pie are 1. Cooking your filling first and 2. Using a metal pie tin.

I don't use a recipe for my fillings but so far they have included steak and mushroom, streak and ale, and chicken, chick pea and chorizo.

I do however stick to this recipe for the pastry which works every time. 

Ingredients

250g flour

110g butter

1 medium egg

Water to mix

Pinch of salt

Method

• Put flour and salt in a metal bowl (metal helps keep everything cold = better pastry),
• Rub in the butter,
• Mix in 1 egg and use a metal spatula to bring to a dough,
• Add a tbsp of cold water to bring all the dry bits together,
• Quickly kneed to bring everything together, 
• Place dough in the fridge for 20mins or so to cool down the butter again before rolling out.

Chicken and Chorizo

Steak and Ale

Turning Wintery

While I have been off work looking for a new job I have been able to make the most of the lovely autumnal days and head out for some brisk walks.  I tend to just head along the seafront but I thought it might make a nice change to head up the hill and along the racecourse.  

There are some really fantastic views from up here and it's nice as it feels almost a bit countryside!

I saw some gorgeous red and orange colours as the different plants were turning and now a lot of leaves have fallen it definitely feels wintery.

Bring on the chilly weather, burning fires, crisp frosty mornings and the wintery Christmas season.

Taking In Nature

We had such a wonderful time last weekend spent over in Canterbury at my parents house.  They are surrounded by woods and fields and the weather was so nice that both days we headed out for wintery countryside walks.

On Saturday we collected chestnuts and then roasted them in the oven that evening for a tasty treat while watching our own little fireworks display and standing around the (rather impressive) bonfire. 

Family and friends all came to join in and it was such a lovely autumnal gathering with mulled cider, hot dogs and gorgeous roasted chestnuts.

I didn't quite pull of the 'Walking in the woods' look that Eva from Creativity and Chocolate has pulled off here, but sometimes hiking boots, a bobble hat and a waxed jacket does the trick!

Recipe: Microwave Crumble

So I have something to let you all in on...I don't have an oven!  I did, back in April, and then the element blew and since then everything has all been a bit of a roller coaster and it just hasn't been top of the to do list.  Don't get me wrong, I massively thought it would be, and then it sort of became a bit of a challenge in myself to see how long I could last.

To be honest I think it has been good for us.  Instead of popping something in the oven for dinner I've been cooking a lot more fresh food on the hob and grill.  I miss being able to bake, make bread and home made pizza.  I've found that I can make flat bread on the grill, we make fudge and on the hob treats instead of baked goods, and I do still have a microwave.

I've never really been one for using a microwave instead of to reheat things, and defrost.

But the other week I thought I would try a crumble.  This was inspired by the fact that G found a recipe for microwave brownie and it really worked.

Sure Microwave crumble doesn't go crispy on the top, but if you think of it as a different thing then it actually works!  Last night we had homegrown pear and blackberry crumble! Yum!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients 

(all are rough as I tend not to measure with crumble)

4 tbsp plain flour

4 tbsp rolled oats

2 tbsp grape nuts (optional)

4tbsp caster sugar

50g butter

1tsp baking powder

4 medium pears (pealed, cored and chopped)

blackberries

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Dark Brown Sugar

• Heat fruit, vanilla extract and sugar in microwave until fruit starts to soften.
• In a separate bowl rub the butter into the flour.
• To this add oats, grape nuts, sugar, baking powder
• Mix all this together
• Add to the top of the fruit
• Microwave for 2 minutes
• Check and the depending on the heat of your microwave heat for another 1-2 minutes.