Mini, Miranda and me!

After making the decision to get techy with it and spending hours deliberating I finally took the plunge and agreed to have an e-reader.  The next big decision was which one - Kindle Fire or mini iPad, and as you can see I went for the iPad, mainly because the boys both have Mac's so we can face time, share with the cloud amongst other things.

I'm really happy with my mini and I decided to order directly from Apple to take the opportunity of having the free engraving.  Mine says 'Lynetta's litte pad of joy' and it makes me smile when I read that.

I've been familiarising myself with all the different and wonderful things it can do and have already downloaded a few books ready to read, but I couldn't resist buying (and to be honest I know I would always want to) a real book, mainly because it was cheaper as a hard copy than an e-copy, of my favourite comedian Miranda Hart.  There's just something about Miranda that tickles me and I cannot help but laugh at her television programme.  Here's hoping her book is just as funny, which I'm sure it will be, as with these long winter nights coming in I'll be wanting something chipper to read.

TTFN

Lynetta Xx

Week 43 - Chocolate Marshmallow Teacakes

Paul Hollywood's recipe for chocolate marshmallow teacakes will certainly make an impression.

- The Great British Bake Off.

Faff Factor = 6

Bake = 9

Keeping Up Appearances = 9

Total score = 24/30

OMG, OMG, OMG, I cannot tell you how excited I was when these little (or should I say rather big) gems popped out of the mould and I even squealed with delight when I cut the first one open.

Last Saturday I spent a wonderful afternoon with my friend Sarah making these teacakes.  Move over Tunnocks Lynetta is in the house.  We found the recipe to be very easy to follow, but just in case we kept the episode of the Master Class to watch and refresh our memories and a good job we did too because there was a stage we could of gone horribly wrong.

Each stage was pretty easy albeit a little time consuming. After baking the biscuits, which next time I will roll out thinner as mine were a little bit too thick to fit in the mould, you needed to heat the chocolate and coat the moulds then wait to set.  You couldn't really move on to the next stage of whisking the marshmallow until they were ready to fill and waiting 45 minutes to an hour in between could of really been put to better use, but having Sarah to talk to with a cuppa made the time go alot quicker.

Now back to that Marshomallow, yummy yummy yummy.  You really have to make some, it's just like the inside of a walnut whip all soft and silky gooey lovely mallow.  The recipe however made more than enough to fill the teacakes, to be honest it made twice as much that was needed which I felt rather extravagent and waste of ingredients, I will have to write to Paul and let him know!

The above picture shows the best 2 of 6 that I made.  For some reason which both myself and Sarah are trying to work out the chocolate went a funny colour, all pitted and mottled creamy colour.  We are debating if this was not tempering the chocolate correctly or the moulds were faulty.  Time will tell when I bake them again.

So another week down and I am so glad I made these.  I really felt I ticked a few more boxes with my baking this week.  I really enjoyed making the teacakes and even more so eating one or two of them as well.

Only 9 more recipes to go until my challenge has ended.  I need to make up 3 weeks somewhere though but with Christmas looming I'm sure I can find a recipe or two to bake.

Love to all

Lynetta Xx

 

Fundraising......

On Friday the whole nation got behind a big fluffy yellow bear called Pudsey and helped raise £27.4m (figure as of today but with pledges it has been estimated around £42m).  I love Children in Need, it's one of those times when working in a school is so exciting or is that my excuse to dress up?  This year we had a PJ day and I managed to bag myself a little bargain with the t-shirt above and teamed it up with a starry pair of bottoms.  The children were so excited to see Miss B (that's me) in her pj's and thought it really funny, however after a few hours at work I became very lethargic and lazy and really didn't get much work done - but then it's a fun day so I was excused by the Headteacher to play.

In the evening I settled down and watched the show from the beginning to end.  I must say that I think one of the presenters (naming no names but the oldest one) is a little past his prime and needs to hand over the reigns to someone new and exciting as he is very lack lustre in his presentation but other than that the show once again was funny and entertaining.

I was touched as well as horrified to hear of the stories of children having to care for their mum through illness, of a family who lost their 2 children to a crippling disease and of the abuse children are put through.  This is one fundraiser I support fully as all the money is given to UK Charities and as they say Charity begins at home.

Love to all

Lynetta Xx

Perhaps that's it?

Oh my, I've been a little lazy on updating this little ol' blog here over the last couple of weeks and I really can't pinpoint why that is.  I've not been uber busy, just the opposite really and plodding along with everyday life.  Perhaps that's it? Perhaps I've just got nothing to say (now there's a first!)

With my cooker problems I've not really got back into the baking challenge as yet, could that be because I don't like failure and need to get familiar with my new oven?  Perhap's that's it?

I've got many knitting projects that I could be starting now the weather has taken a turn and the nights are drawing in, or should I be finishing my crotchet cushion project before starting another?  Perhaps that's it?

I've recently located a crop in my area so I could start scrapbooking again, but then I've not been taking photo's of Jack on a regular basis to do any layouts of any worth so why create something out of a necessity rather than for the love of the art?  Perhap's that's it?

It'll be my birthday in a couple of weeks and I'm being asked for ideas for a present but I really really cannot say what I would like, have I got to the age where I've got everything that I need?  Perhaps that's it?

But one thing for sure I'm happy plodding along in my little life, I'm happy having a routine, I'm happy having simple uncomplicated days so why try and change something that isn't broken?

Yes that's it! I'm happy :-)

TTFN

Lynetta Xx

Week 42 - Apricot and Marzipan Loaf Cake

 The combination of soft-dried apricots and chunks of marzipan produce a richly flavoured loaf cake.

The cake is pretty and special enough to bake in a round tin as a celegration cake.

- The Great British Bake Off.

Faff Factor = 7

Bake = 8

Keeping Up Appearances = 8

Total score = 25/30

Phew, I finally felt confident enough to give the new cooker a whirl and bake myself a cake.  After such an unhappy start in my kitchen the new cooker is now my friend.  It's taken a week for the temperature to settle in and it's finally running at around 5 degrees over, but I can compensate that with my tweaking of the knob and always using my tempearture gauge.

So back to my challenge and to try, once again, to get back on track (I'm now 3 weeks behind!).  This weeks offering is an Apricot and Marzipan cake.  I chose this recipe due to the method as I've not made a cake where you rub the cold butter into the flour to make brearcumbs prior to adding the wet ingredients.  All to do with science I suppose but the taste of the cake was a little different and special.  Very light and crumbly.

Another taste new to me, and one of which I found not to be to most peoples liking, is cooked marzipan.  It's rich almond taste and smooth texture added to the light and crumbly cake, however I think I cut the apricots up too small as you can see from the picture they are really little dots once cooked (lesson learned for this week) but this didn't distort the flavour.

To be perfectly honest this cake reminded me of Christmas and thinking about it some more it

would be a lovely alternative to a rich fruit cake. I also think it would be a great addition to a winter tea table all warmed up with custard (I'm now having a thought of baking this again for visitors over the festive season).

Whilst making this cake I really giggled to myself as I was thinking of all the bakers from years ago because no electronic implements were used, just my hands, a mason and cash mixing bowl and a wooden spoon, now you can't get anymore old fashioned than that!

Looking forward to getting back to regular posts again.

Toodle Pip

Lynetta Xx