Seaweed and sunsets

The evenings are growing cooler.

An evening of sunshine saw us out front, collecting seaweed.

We found over twenty different kinds!

We told stories about the characters we saw in the clouds,

and made little crab kingdoms,

while many a laugh was shared.

One of those gentle Sunday evenings, such a gentle send off from summer,

and we are very blessed.

Good afternoon (apple cake)

The winds are blowing, and the sound of the rain on the roof is soothing.

Lucky me, I have a big box full of apples.

Which I fully intend to make pies with.

However, this afternnoon felt more cake like than pie.

So I looked up a few recipes.

I have no sour cream for my normal german apple cake recipe, 

and I stumbled upon Mary Berry's aga apple cake recipe.

Oh how I would like an aga, and an apple cake, I thought.

Here is the thing, this aga apple cake recipe was lacklustre!

Hence, I made up my own! 

Sorry, Mary Berry, but seriously, no cinnamon, no brown sugar, no vanilla, or walnuts, and..

So I creamed 5 eggs with 350g of butter, some vanilla bean paste and a heaping tsp of cinnamon, some nutmeg and a tiny dash of mixed spice.

Then I added in 300g of brown sugar, and 100g of caster sugar, 

and when it was mixed in nicely I added 1 tsp baking powder, and 435g of self raising flour.

To this sturdy batter,

I added 200g walnuts, 130g desiccated coconut, 4 large peeled and chopped apples, and an extra sprinkle of cinnamon for good measure.

The schlepped the lot in the oven at 180 until it was cooked through.

It came out lovely, if I do say so myself, though I need not, if I want a piece before the hatchlings demolish the rest. 

Happy Friday afternoon! 

Perfect Morning

A perfect morning starts with gale force winds, peaches and cream porridge,

then stories and cuddles,

with two sticky boys and one fur ball.

Happy Friday!