Inspiration

Today I spent the afternoon with a friend of mine, Alison Oakervee, who works for WFI. She has a noble cookery book collection which I went to browse through and discuss. I came away with some great ideas, and a list of books to shop for online. Most appealing though was an author I hadn't heard of before (or watched on Saturday cookery tellie) - Rachel Allen. She's from Northern Ireland, and does have a few books and DVDs out. Her book, Bake, is the one I'm going to try first. I was also tempted by Delia's Christmas selection. Hmmm... All very nice indeed.

I baked a lovely cake this last week - the Apple and Cinnamon Cake in Mary Berry. It was so good that I didn't get a chance to photograph it. While Keith was munching the last slice it dawned on me that I hadn't pulled the camera out. It is a particularly moist and scrumptious cake and perfect for this time of year with its nuts and cinnamon. Delicious and Oh-So-More-ish. I'll be baking it again tomorrow.

chocolate and lemon...

I can't remember when I produced these two creations, but both were scrumptious. The chocolate biscuits were mixed by me, but rolled and pressed by Keith & Zack. I'm afraid they didn't last very long at all, and probably explain why I'm not losing weight !

The lemon cake was a hit. Made with real lemon zest (my zesting skills are dire, or can I blame my equipment - the blunt grater). And hardly a crumb made it back from the event for "starving husbands". Oh dear me.
Apologies for the light quality in these pics... nothing like natural sunlight to make the best of your baking. Kitchen lights just don't cut it.

ps. I'm gutted to see that my garlic press has broken after 8 years. It's one of those hardcore OXO numbers which I never thought would break. What's with that ?