Making the Christmas cake

There are many recipe's for Christmas cake but this is the one I use. It came from Robert's mum iv added a few thing over the years.

4oz dates

4oz prunes

4oz cherries

half pound raisins

1lb currents

10oz sultanas

4 oz walnuts

4oz almonds

1squeezed lemon and peel

1 squeezed orange and peel

2 tablespoons marmalade

1 tablespoon black treacle

2 teaspoon mixed spice

2teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon nutmeg

At least 3 tablespoons of rum, brandy, or your preference

All these mixed together the day before to let the alcohol soak in the fruit.

It is tradition at this stage for us all to have a stir and a wish.

 The dry ingredients are

10oz plain flour

10oz demerara sugar

10oz hard margarine

1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

half teaspoon salt

6 eggs

 Beat margarine and sugar, add ingredients alternately finally add the fruit.

The cake mixture is for one large cake but i have made two smaller cakes this time. I lined the tins with greaseproof paper.

before baking i wrap brown paper around the outside. it takes a while to cook and this way stops the outside from burning. 

Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes gas 5, 190f 375c. Then reduce heat to gas 2, 150f, 300c and continue to cook for 4 hours or until cooked. When still warm poor over 4 tablespoons of chosen alcohol.



The cooked cakes. I will marzepan and decorate with iceing later. The smell of the house from the ingredence from the cake is geting me in the xmas spirt.

Builders at our house

 As you will know from Roberts blog we are having our house in Derbyshire modernised and the photo's below show the stage the builders are at. After a quick start it now seams to be going slower. We are having a week of work from the 8th and were going to try to decorate but as it wont be ready we are going to have a week away in Scotland. Each job done in the house seams to create more unforeseen work so it will take longer than anticipated.

                                                                        The kitchen

 The outside with the sale board. Due to the currant climate the house would not sell for the price we wanted or what it is really worth hence us doing it up to rent out or to see if it will sell.

 We had the wall knocked down from the kitchen to the dining room to make a great space an open kitchen diner.

                                                                         The bath room

 This space created was the coal house, entry from the out side, the door was bricked up and opened up into the kitchen there will be a door on i think this will make a good room for coats, shoes etc.

                                                                             Bath room

Harvest festival September 25th

Last Sunday we celebrated our harvest festival on the 25th September. We arranged ed the flowers on the Thursday with just the fresh fruit and vegetables and on the Sunday the congregation brought there goods. Nowadays we ask for tins or dry food such as pasta, rice etc. The food is then sent to the M25 project a centre for homeless, drug users or people just looking for a good meal and a talk and comfort and also some spiritual healing.

                                     The main display represented the harvest of the sea and land.

                              This was the harvest of the sea with salt and water, shells and paper fish,                                             fresh fish may have been quite stinky by Sunday

                                                         Fresh fruit and veg bread and flour

 

                           There were four of these arrangements on the walls around the church.

This arrangement greeted people in the vestibule when they arrived

Perfect Sunday morning

 I don't know how tom knows when its Sunday, but I am the first up every day and six days a week he doesn't get up until Robert gets up but Sunday he's up and raring to go. Sunday the Lords day was a almost perfect day. The sky was blue, warm, quiet and the bird song was a delight. Its hard taking three dogs tess is full of life and cant wait to go, scampi is slow and dose her own thing, and tom is big, excited wants to bark but is well behaved. Once all leaded up its a battle to get trough the gate. The words steady, wait good girl is repeated many times.

Waiting to get out the gate tess has to be first

Through the yard the dogs are on the lead and walk steady but once round the corner its all go except for scampi who likes to have a good sniff. Tess is long gone

Its all stop at the gate to wait for the slow humans

The sun made delightful Patton's through the trees

Tess waiting for the command to go

The walk takes us past what I call the Tudor house the light was amazing

Tess and scampi have great play time together it sounds terrible the growling but its all great fun

Tess like to eat grass as dose tom

The walk back to the gate

This bed of marigolds with the banana tree is in the stable yard and is a welcome sight on a dull day

One of the lovely stone troffs planted up by Robert

This is the drive out of the yard to the road

The pear tree against the side of the house

Tom is back first

The herbs i planted in pots have com on really well and stay in control in pots

Herbs the other side of the bench

The Rebeca as with a lot of the flowers this year are not as good as years past due to the cold winter, but its still 8foot tall just not so many flowers

A shorter type of Rebecka

Flowers in pots along the path

Making use of an old milk turn from the farm we used to live at

It was a wonderful morning peaceful a time to pray as I walked, watching the dogs having fun, taking in the surrounding listening to the birds, and knowing Robert was having a deserved lay in. It was over to soon. Although we were going for a family party 35miles away the thought of the busy motorway was a world away not a trip I ever look forward to.

On Sunday the 14th our shop took part in a wedding fare at a local hotel. The Owsten golf club. The idea is anything and everything to do with weddings, car hire,wedding rings, dresses,photo's florist all show there wears and try to sell them to the future brides. If its a long time since you married or had to organize one for a daughter or son you will be amazed at whats on offer. Lessons for the first dance, magic man to entertain the kids, balloon artist, gambling casino table, cartoon artist, chocolate fountain's, and just of late I have heard somebody who had a marque in the garden had mini stalls like a fair ground, with coconut shy's, hook a duck, candy floss, mini fish and chips etc.
And then theres flowers. It seams brides can spend a small fortune on the dresses but want to spend as less as possible on the flowers. I know I do the flowers but they are on nearly every photograph even on the table where the cake sits. Also when we do a wedding fare it can be quite costly as the flowers wont keep or can be used again, where as rings, photo's, favors, video's etc don't have the cost of waisted stock. There was a company promoting their marque where the different trades were trying to sell their goods. We were there with our flowers we also decorated the tables set up for a wedding also the hotel set up a room ready for a wedding so we decorated that room also. It was quite busy and was amazed that some of the brides were planing there weddings for 2013 and even 2014.

A all white hand tie with pearls in the centre edged with eucalptus.

A top table pink and white arrangement

A simple tall vase with lovely smelling lilies

An elegant tall pedestal we did all the tables in the hotel in pink and white.

All white top table

A mirrored cube on a mirrored plate

lovely flowers in a glass bowl

Brides bouquet

Calla lilies in a bowl with steel grass and Chrystal pearls

brides bouquet

centre table arrangement

Simple tall vase with lilies

This massive pedestal arrangement in the marque. It had to go on a shorter stand than I would have liked but a lesson for me was the marque is much shorter than a church where this sort of arrangement would normally go.