Weekend Baking

Sometimes it crosses my mind that I'm not as adventurous a cook as I'd like to be. Don't get me wrong, every once in a while I get the urge to bake something new, something different. That little gem of a recipe hiding away in a cookbook will occasionally reveal itself to me, but, more often than not I find myself reaching for the familiar recipes in my repatoire.

It's no secret that I have a lot of cookbooks. I, unfortunately, haven't utilised them as best I could so, I have made a decision. I am going to revive weekend baking in this here house, to try a new recipe each week from a book of my choice - a recipe that I may not have tried before.  

How d'ya like them apples? In a pie. Got it.


I can't promise that this will be an interesting 'Julie & Julia' project. I can't even promise to make each recipe with the energy and enthusiasm of said project, a la Julie. But I will channel my inner Julia (or Delia, depending on how I feel) and she will emerge, bringing sexy back baking back to my kitchen. I may not be able to keep up the promise of weekly baking, but I'll hang on in there, feebly attempting in my quest for delicious baked goods.


Are you in?

Wales v Ireland

In terms of sporting loyalty, I had a tough weekend. Here... I'll try to explain:
How does a Welsh girl born to an Irish mother make the right decision in choosing which team to support when the most exciting match of the RBS Six Nations kicked off on Sunday?




Image found {via}

 I'll admit I'm not much of a sports watcher (I leave that up to my Mr. Emma) but when it comes to the Six Nations, I love it! But the Wales v Ireland thing has always been a source of debate growing up in in our house. Am I more Welsh because I was born in Wales, or am I more Irish because of my Mum? Oh, I don't know. What I do know is... they both put on a good show!

Much to my Mum's horror I declared I was supporting Wales. I could hear the disappointment in her voice - I wonder, can one be too old to be put up for adoption?

Anyhoo, to keep in with the Welsh theme, my weekend baking should've included some old favourites such as Bara Brith or a few little Welsh Cakes. But that would be too obvious, and I'm afraid I don't work like that. I have this terrible condition where my belly takes over everything. So, once my gut had literally spoken, a Spiced Date and Walnut Loaf it had to be.

Trying to stop myself inhaling the hot-out-of-the-oven cake was truly one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, with the exception of having to wait a whole day before I could eat it, of course.

The delicately spiced sponge was studded with pieces of crunchy walnut and moist dates, and the top was lovely and sticky. I substituted the ground mixed spice for some ground allspice for no other reason than I didn't have any to hand. 

It was not as moist as I'd anticipated and could perhaps have benefited from being taken out of the oven sooner than the recipe asks (I checked it after 1 hr 20 mins and the oven was set at about 140°C) but the cake was delicious and was improved greatly with a steaming hot mug of tea and a triumphant Welsh win!

Spiced Date and Walnut Loaf
The Delia Collection: Baking
Delia Smith


4oz (110g) pitted dates
2oz (50g) walnuts
4oz (110g) butter
2oz (50g) black treacle
6oz (175g) golden syrup
5fl oz (150ml) milk
2 large eggs
8oz (225g) plain flour
1 tsp ground mixed spice
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda


Pre-heat the oven to 150°C
Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin


Chop the walnuts and dates into small pieces and set aside.


Place the butter, treacle and syrup in a saucepan and melt slowly over a gentle heat. Once melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then add the milk. Beat the eggs and add these to the mixture.


Sieve the flour, spices and bicarb into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour the syrup mixture into it. Whisk on a slow speed until you have a smooth batter. Fold in the walnuts and the dates, and pour into the prepared tin.


Place the cake in the centre shelf of the oven and cook for about 1 ½ hours. Once done it will have a rounded and slightly cracked top. Allow it to cool in the tin for about half an hour before turning out onto a wire rack then once cold, keep in an airtight container. The cake will improve with age so try, if you can, to not eat it straight away.

Home

I was looking through some of old photographs and I came across some from a visit home in April 2008.





I grew up in a small village in North Wales until I was 19, when I moved away to study in Sheffield.

  

When I was younger I couldn't wait to move away and experience the bright lights of the city. Now I'm older, I love going home again.

A bunch of flowers

Look at this lovely bunch of flowers! Aren't I a lucky girl?



Yes, I feel so lucky to have been taught how to make my own flowers, that no one need buy me any more, ever again!

I was taught how to make roses and carnations as part of another sugar craft course I did at Tamworth College. Although fiddly, the carnations were a lovely flower to make. I love how delicate they look against the more robust rose.

It's actually a cake...

...a bouquet cake to be more precise!

I ended up giving my Mum the flowers on top of her own birthday cake one year. She still has them stashed in a shoe box somewhere, and ever the embarrassing parent she'll get them out to show her visitors:

"Look at what my daughter made" 

"Oooh!"



Ch-ch-ch-changes!

No, I'm afraid this isn't a David Bowie based post. I figured I'd just rip off his song title to illustrate the ch-ch-ch-changes (sorry) I've made to my new bike.

The beautiful original cream tyres on my Gazelle were, well, past it. Cracked, dusty and tired there was no way I was going to risk going on an adventure without immediately replacing them. After all, I didn't want to be riding a death trap.

I wanted to replace the old tyres but if possible keep the cream colour as they look lovely against the dark green frame. With the Gazelle being my first vintage bicycle I had no idea where to start looking for replacement tyres, as Tamworth isn't the sort of town to cater for the more traditional bike.

As a regular reader of Lovely Bicycle!, cream tyres feature a lot on Velouria's blog, and Schwalbe Delta Cruisers seem to be the tyre of choice. A quick search on the web confirmed that I could get them in the UK at a reasonable price, so what was I waiting for?

Mucky pup...

Ahem. The cream tyres may be a problem to keep clean - maybe I should've opted for black after all?



Chillin' at the castle

See! You can't even see the dirt from far away!

I made the decision to take the front rack off the bike, which to me, did nothing for the overall look of the Gazelle. Without it, it feels less cluttered and the bike is 100 times more gorgeous, not that it wasn't before mind you! The rear rack is more than enough for me and what I carry, although I may have to get some funky bungee straps to aid with my more bulky cargo.

When I bought the bike the dynamo light was totally knackered so it had to go. I'd like to replace it when I have the time but I need to do a bit of research to see if I can use the original light with a new dynamo set and how best to fit it to the bike.



Wheeeeeee!

So, those are the little changes that have been made to my bike so far and I'm quite pleased! What do you think?

Oh, go on then. Here's some David Bowie.

What?!

The other day I stopped off at the supermarket on my way home from work, locked up the Gazelle and popped in to grab a few bits. Back outside, as I attached the pannier to my bike I noticed a group of young girls on their bmx bikes watching me getting myself ready to head home - feel free to use the picture below as a visual aid. Honestly... this was them.



Yeah, but no, but... what you lookin' at?



Intimidating? Uhh, yes!

As I cycled away I overheard one of the girls comment, "Why would you wanna ride that?"

Forgive me if I'm being stupid, but wtf? Why would I want to ride a bicycle? The girl on a bike really did ask that question. God, I need to get out of this town.

Okay, okay, I'll cut her some slack. The more I thought about this comment from Sharron* she can't have actually meant what I thought she meant, can she? I mean, its fairly obvious why someone would ride a bike. It keeps you fit and healthy and above anything else it's great fun! OH! Sharron must have meant the style of bicycle i.e. upright, traditional and darn beautiful.

It is a fact that 50% of bicycles in Tamworth are of the mountain variety, and the other 50% are bmx bikes. So to 'fit in' in this town should I have opted for a bike that I already own or a bike that I can do sweet jumps on? Well neither, thankyouverymuch.

I'll happily stick to my fabulous new bicycle and hope that I can inspire other ladies in this town to follow suit and see that traditional is not something to be scoffed at.

(*Name has been changed to protect identity)

Gazelle Implala

Oh my goodness, it's been an age sice I last posted. The nights are drawing in and winter is definitely on it's way. But...

 

I'd like to introduce you to my new bicycle! She's a 1975 Gazelle Impala, a bicycle make that I'd only really heard of through Lovely Bicycle! Isn't she a beauty?

As you might know, I'd been dreaming of getting a traditional bicycle for such long time and had been saving hard all summer but with one thing and another I never actually got round to buying one. Looking for cheap books on ebay I found myself once again dreaming about bicycles and typed 'vintage bicycles' into the search bar. There were loads! After an age of searching and a failed bid on a vintage Raleigh I found the bike that would be mine. With my heart racing through the bids I was soon the proud owner of a vintage Gazelle, and at a bargain price to boot! 

Since getting her I had to replace her original cream tyres with some new Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, which I hope will last for years to come, only because I'm a very lazy bike owner. 

I never imagined that I'd find a bicycle on ebay after I had my heart set on a new Pashley, but I would definitely recommend it for those of you that are on a budget. There are some real gems out there, but be prepared to search hard for the right bike for you. I think myself lucky in finding a beautiful bike in such great nick.

So, would you consider buying a vintage bicycle on the internet over a brand new one?

If so, happy bidding and good luck!