No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

candlelight_2013

KATE it is good to see you again, we have missed you. Hope you and yours are well.

Take care

Candlelightx

jlhmd666

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Would DS like individual pies/quiches/large sausage rolls as an alternative to a sandwich? They survive pretty well if you wrap them tightly in foil and along with a piece of fruit cake or some fruit and nuts would be a pretty energy full and substantial lunch for a 15 year old.

If he'd like them I make a 'Nakd Bar' lookalike which is sugar free

Blitz together all ingredients until very finely milled in a food processor. Take from mixer bowl and compact together with your hands then roll into a long thick sausage shape in a piece of cling film. Fridge overnight and cut off pieces as you want them. It keeps for weeks if you give it the chance to, but doesn't usually last long as it's YUMMY!!!

4.8 oz pitted dried dates
2.9 oz raw cashew nuts (pieces are fine)
1.7 oz seedless raisins /dried cherries
0.6 oz cocoa powder
2 teaspoons honey

The cheapest source of cashew nuts and dried pitted dates I've found so far is Poundland. I use the Urban Fruits Dried Cherries which I get in Mr.T.

I like the sound of these, MrsL and VJsmum I'm going to try your recipes too

VJsmum wrote: »

Oh wow, Mrs LW your raw cake bar thingy is sublime :T

I changed recipe slightly to make with what I have so instead of cashews I used 3 oz almonds and 1 oz desiccated coconut. Everything else was the same

Absolutely delish.

Do you mind if I put on my blog? I will credit you and direct people here.

(If anyone looks. Blog is a work in progress but I hope to update 3 or 4 times a week and am learning re presentation. There are a cuople of recipes on Already though).

I have also made some apple and cinnamon bars, thus

Ingredients

8 ounces pecans (2 cups)
5 3/4 ounces rolled oats (2 cups)*
8 1/4 ounces pitted and halved dates (1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces chopped granny smith apples (or similar) (2 cups)
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the pecans and oats out on it in a single flat layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until toasted and fragrant.
Keep the oven preheated to 350°F. Line an 8" square pan or a 12" x 5 1/2" biscotti pan with parchment paper, leaving enough parchment on the sides to use as "handles" for pulling out the finished bars.
Place the toasted nuts and oats in a food processor along with the dates, cinnamon, and salt. Process until the mixture is coarse and crumbly, with no large pieces remaining. Add the chopped apple and pulse in until there are no longer any large chunks left. Continue to process until everything starts to clump together, using a spatula if necessary to help move things around. This process may move slowly, but eventually everything should come together.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, using a wide, flat spatula to pat it down into a flat and compact layer that takes up the entire space of the pan. It helps to fold the extra parchment on the sides over the bars, and flatten with the spatula on top of the parchment (to prevent sticking). Be patient with this; the bars will look the exact same once they're done baking, so try to make them really flat and even.
Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes, and then slice into bars. Once completely cool, lift out of the pan. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Except I used walnuts instead of pecans (really must update my stocks) and I soaked the dates for a short time as last time I made it , it was rather dry.

I will put photos and recipes on blog later

I also made chocolate crispy cakes

1oz sugar - I used 3/4 oz xylitol
1 tbsp syrup (I used agave syrup)
2 oz butter
1 oz cocoa or vey dark chocolate

Melt all together in a pan or microwave and then add

4 oz rice crispies

Spoon into cake cases and chill

hoglet121

Morning everyone :-)

Well spring is definitely on the way here - it's now light when I leave the house and the birds are singing (until next week when the clocks go forward!) Time to plan what's going into the garden for the year... DH started making noises about putting in 2 dwarf citrus trees so I'd best get those in before he changes his mind! I have a stubborn lime tree which has set fruit each year but not gone any further.... My boss is a bit of a citrus tree expert and between him and the garden centre I've learnt I need to feed it more and spray for citrus whitefly. So I shall be doing that for the new additions too - I'm thinking lemon and mandarin. I gave the passionfruit a good blast of feed too - last year I had a 40 foot plant, which invaded the neighbours,and 1 fruit.

This year shall also involve less tomatoes (20+ plants last year and they just took over), more chilllies, a clear out of the thyme and orgeano to allow some sage and maybe basil in, strawberries in the strawberry pot (traditional I know, but last year it was used for ((more)) tomatoes...) mint in a pot, and something green.... Cut and come again lettuce (slug problem?) and maybe beans and peas? We have a tiny garden so I am pushing it a bit but I like to make the most of it. I got a fair bit of broccoli from it over the winter but the cabbage and cauli didn't really amount to much.

So that's a weekend trip to the garden centre planned.

today did not start well - dropped my lunch all over the carpet jsut as I was walking out the door - homemade soup! Argh! It's fairly chunky so I did manage to salvage most of it (sorry to those with a more squeamish disposition, but waste not want not in my house - I'll just try and pick out the cat hair...) but I did have to clean the carpet at 6.15 am. Urgh, what a start to the day!!

Hope everyone's having good days where they are!

Hoglet x

candlelight_2013

Hoglet I am envious, you are just coming into Spring and lighter nights, and we are into Autumn and it is dark by 8.30.

I hadn't realised you changed the clocks in NZ, I had never thought about that.

I do love going to garden centres, in particular at Christmas time because they have the most beautiful decorations, expensive, but nice to have ideas for your own home.

It wasn't a good start to your day was it? You could have done without having to clean the carpet at that time of the morning. Hope it hasn't left a stain.

Take care

Candlelightx

hoglet121

Hi Candlelight,

Thank you for your lovely comments :-)

We do change the clocks here but at different times to the UK, so I think we get about a month or so of extra daylight saving. Always plays havoc when trying to skype the family as we have to remember if we're 13, 12 or 11 hours ahead.

As for the carpet - hmmmm I don't think I did a great job. We do have quite a few stains at the moment, courtesy of our furry friends, so I think we will look at shampooing it once the weather is warmer.

And yes garden centres a lovely aren't they? We don't get the extra bits here as you do in the UK - one we used to go to had sheds, clothes, gifts, homewares, decorations, food etc, but we do have a cafe and the staff are extremely knowledgeable :-) At least it does mean that we're more likely to buy just what we came for and not be tempted by anything else...

Have a lovely evening

Hoglet x

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone, hope you're all just busy, I know I am these days, I'm off to visit the Zebra child for a few days as of tomorrow and just wanted to say Hello before I go. Lyn xxx.

katep23

Have a lovely trip MrsL, safe journey x

Been busy this weekend:

Pickled shallots
Pickled courgettes
Started two gallons of cider
Started a new wine kit
Put on five trays of courgettes to dehydrate
Made a big batch of veggie chilli

Just relaxing with a glass of homebrew before preparing for the week ahead!

hoglet121

Morning everyone :-)

Kate you sound very busy! We've got 2 batches of beer brewing at the moment and I'm making noises about the need for cider and ginger beer to feature soon...

Busy weekend for us - referees' annual dinner, 3 batches of chicken chasseur for the freezer, 3 loads of washing, ironing, craft club hosted by me so much cleaning required - more on that later, plus rosemary and potato bread and butternut, potato and rosemary cheesy pasties made for craft club memebers to enjoy...

So, about an hour before craft club were due to arrive I figured I'd better clean the downstairs toilet. Stuck my head under the sink to fish out cleaning bits to find.... a flood. Argh! No water dripping from pipes tho... Anyway, further investigation proved the fault to the filter for the fridge had got blocked and water was seeping from the top. Everything under the sink needed cleaning, cleaning basket was going mouldy... DH was dispatched to hardware shop to purchase replacement filter - $115 later - sheesh!! Ended up with air in the system once the filter had been changed so it leaked until we'd drawn enough water through to clear it out. About 10 mins before everyone was due to arrive there was water pouring out of the fridge, power tools all over the kitchen, DH swearing, me trying to clean up mould from under the sink and I still hadn't cleaned the bleedin' loo! Anyway, peace was restored in the nick of time and no-one walked in on a flood :-)

I don't exactly feel thoroughly rested and refreshed after that weekend. Here's to a better week!

Hope you're all well

Hoglet x

candlelight_2013

Good morning,

Very foggy here at the moment, and the leaves are definitely turning. A lovely time of the year.

DD1 was born on this day 46 years ago, where has the time gone? I was a mere slip of a girl at the time:) who had no idea what childbirth and bringing up a baby entailed. We will be visiting her in a little while, but she doesn't want to do anything particular for her birthday.

LYN I hope you are enjoying your time with your Zebra child and having many cuddles

FTM I hope you are all well. Have you done anything to your hair or are you just going to leave it to grow out? I love hearing about the projects the girls are studying, have you decided what you will be doing with them this winter? Give them a hig from me please:)

Kate I have pickled shallots and red cabbage and i am really pleased with them. My Mum used to have the large glass sweet jars with onions and red cabbage always for Christmas.

Hoglet lucky you - Spring, but I also like Autumn as well, so not too bad and we did have an exceptional Summer this year. I just hope Winter won't be overly long because i don't like Winter one little bit.

AOT are you OK?

Have a good day all and "see" you soon

Much love
Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

That Zebra's got a toothiepeg!!!!!