Mum’s lemon drizzle cake

My Mum passed this recipe on to me when I began making my own home, you can make it for a song and its lovely to have to hand when someone calls over. It reminds me of her whenever I make it – which makes it taste all the more sweet!

6 oz self raising flour – sieved

4 oz margarine

6 oz caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 lemon rind -grated

Chuck everything in a mixing bowl and mix well

Pour into a greased 2 LB loaf tin and bake for 1 hour at 180C gas mark 4

Make icing with the juice from the lemon and ice the cake when baked before you turn it out to cool.

Lovely with a pot of tea…

or a cheeky glass of fizz!

a sweet festival

Our local Summer festival was held in a field by the sea yesterday

I love going to it as it an uncommercial and back to basics as you can get

Graeme, one of the gardeners from Mount Usher had a table where he was demonstrating propagating 

His wife, animal lover Barbara was judging the dog show

All my choir ladies were popping up everywhere – selling raffle tickets, making teas, counting money in caravans!

My old friends the Mansons from Ballyrogan had the art stand and were creating masterpieces with the children. 

I had a lovely chat with the gents who run the bee keeping association for Ashford and district

They were telling me all about the hierarchy of bees and showing me the Queen holding court while all her courtiers were cleaning her (she is the one with the green mark below)

    

I bought some honey from them. I look forward to it knowing that this honey was made from local oilseed rape, clover and brambles. 

I also learnt something I never knew, that when your honey granulates, (which is a good sign by the way – it means it is pure honey) it can be brought back by gently heating it – in a saucepan of water or if you are cooling down the oven – you just have to take off the lid while doing so.

At one stage, as they were doing the raffle I was asked to pick from the tombola (which I couldn’t reach) I was described as they were trying to get my attention – on the mic as “the lady with the little dog and glass of rosé” I thought  “that sounds like me” “oh it is me!”

 

boys against the girls in the tug-of-war

with a very strict ref

the boys – just before they lost….

Tidy up time….

all that was left by the evening 

 

Aladdin’s Cave

Something to do in WIcklow on an Autumnal day.

Meet Aladdin,…. otherwise known as John.

John has a penchant for nice old things. And lucky for us he likes to share them with us. I often pop in to his shop to see whats ‘new’. Even if you only have a tenner in your purse you can still come away with a little vintage treasure. His little shop situated on the hill in Enniskerry Village is always worth a visit. When I am looking for those decorative items for clients’ homes,  John’s shop of curios and antiques is one of my go to places.

Come on in and see…..

and afterwards you can go for a walk at the foothills of the Sugarloaf Mountain.

Rhubarb Syrup

July, for me, is a month of parties, birthdays (mine), picnics and sitting enjoying the garden sipping refreshments of one sort or another. So last night, in an effort to deal with the abundance of rhubarb and also tapping into one of my favourite flavours, I made Rhubarb Syrup.

So while sitting here in the sun, sipping this beauty I will pass on inspiration…

I simply melted 1.25Ib of sugar into 1.5 pints of boiling water, brought it down to a medium heat. I  grated a good chunk of fresh root ginger into the syrup and added a large bunch of rhubarb (scrubbed and sliced in to 2inch slices) and gently cooked the rhubarb until soft, I then left the mixture to completely cool down and for the flavours to infuse. When cooled, I sieved the liquid into a jug and poured into a sterilised bottle and some into a freezer bag as it freeezes well. You could also make ice cubes from it. The syrup in the bottle should keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. oh and I have kept the rhubarb bits as a fresh jam to have in the fridge.

What to do with it?

Well you can simply mix it with sparkling water or lemonade over ice for a good picnic drink…..

Drizzle it over ice cream or fruit salad…..

Add prosecco or champagne for a Rhubarb Bellini…

Mix with vodka and freshly squeezed lime juice for a Rhubarb Martini…

Mix with gin and lemon juice and tonic for a refreshing aperitif….

I am on the hunt now for some more vintage cocktail glasses & a shaker.

Drinks on the Terrace anyone?