Chilled lettuce and potato soup.

Beautiful red and green lettuces,

 no matter how I try to space out the plantings

there's always a glut at certain times of the year.

I picked two large green ones

 added an onion, chives and a handful of scrubbed new potatoes.

In a large soup pot I sweated off the diced onion and potato,

  the washed and shredded lettuce and chopped chives,

 then cooked it all together until the lettuce wilted.

Then added 2 litres of hot chicken stock before

cooking for another 20 minutes, on a low heat, until the potato was soft.

After seasoning to taste, the ingredients were allowed to cool

 before blending thoroughly.

 I also added 4 large serving spoonsful of creme fraiche at this stage
and then chilled the soup in the fridge.

As it was such a hot day

I decided it would be nice to have lunch in the garden

 and so I set a small table for two, by the wisteria.

I picked wild flowers
 from the grassy banks along the side of the lane.
Comfrey, cow parsley and purple clover and placed them in a large glass pitcher.
Two tall glasses of iced peach tea, a baguette
 eh voilà! déjeuner en plein air.

Chocolate and Cranberry Muffins

Whilst replenishing my pantry with baking essentials recently I came across a packet of dried cranberries, they were meant to have gone into a Christmas relish but somehow I had overlooked them during the holiday period.
What to do?
One of my mottoes is "If in doubt ~ bake"
It isn't really a motto, I just made it up so that I could share with you this great recipe for chocolate and cranberry muffins which I came across when I googled "dried cranberry recipes".

Cake, Crumbs and Cooking is a great blog authored by a "twenty something baking enthusiast living in the north of England".
Now I don't know whereabouts in the North this young baker hails from but as a "Lassie from Lancashire" and lover of all things to do with baking myself, this blog ticked all my boxes and I signed up to follow along.

If you're a baker or cake maker you might want to check out the recipe too by clicking here.
Being me, I tweaked the recipe just a little bit.
I didn't have any dark chocolate in the pantry, which is unusual, but I did have a bar of Lait Bricelet, a Swiss milk chocolate with a creamy hazelnut and wafer biscuit filling which I used instead.
Also, a tip that I learned a long time ago when using dried fruit of any kind, always toss the fruit in a little of the flour before adding to the mix.

It helps to stop all the fruit falling to the bottom of your cake or muffin.
A small thing but well worth doing.
Linking this post to Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage, a weekly gathering of cooks and bakers with recipes and good food to share.

The muffins turned out great, very flavourful -  perfect with a cup of hot coffee.
I would just mention though, that if like me you use milk (with or without a sweetened nutty filling) not dark chocolate and don't have a very sweet tooth, you may want to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe.
Linking also to Kathryns Muffin Monday @ Talking Dollars and Cents, click on the link for more muffin recipes.

La Vie Quotidienne.

Beautiful, bold, yellow forsythia bringing spring back to my garden at last.

Nothing much going on around here this week just everyday life -  la vie quotidienne.

Tuesday dawned grey and misty but by midmorning developed into the kind of day that's good for mooching around the garden clearing away winter debris, that sort of thing.

One of my hydrangeas looking forlorn and unloved.

Once I get a pair of secateurs in my hand I do find it hard to stop, and so after cutting back the hydrangeas and allowing the fresh green shoots to show their faces to the sun, I tackled the wisteria which is already showing signs of rebirth.

Bright green shoots at last.

Sharing the garden with all the participants of Susans

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer.

After lunch I decided to make a sweet treat for our afternoon teatime and baked a batch of Lorraine Pascales cookies and cream fudge brownies.

Here's the recipe:
Equipment and preparation: You will need a 20cm/8in square baking tin.
Ingredients
165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped
3 free-range eggs
2 free-range egg yolks
1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 tsp vanilla extract)
165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch salt
154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits, such as Oreos, broken into quarters
icing sugar, for dusting
Preparation method.
1.Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.
2.Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.
3.Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
4.Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.
5.Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares.
Dust with icing sugar.

These are those most luscious brownies I've ever made, dense and fudgy and so full of  "chocolateyness" .
Word of warning!
When you cut them they will crumble a little around the edges and, if you're like me, you will find it hard to resist popping these little morsels into your mouth each time you pass by the plate.

I think the safest thing would be for me to take these straight over to

Miz Helen's for Full Plate Thursday

 and share the love!

Baking Bread with Lorraine Pascale.

Since the beginning of the year Monday evenings have found me sitting comfortably on the sofa in front of the TV, glass of wine to hand, whilst the BBC's new chef glamourous, former model Lorraine Pascale demonstrates how easy baking really is.
 "Baking is fun, it's easy, it's therapeutic, it's relaxing, it's a joy really," she said.
Her ideal meal would start with roasted camembert and garlic followed by a beef fillet baked in the oven with pepper and cognac. It would be finished off with some fondant fancies or a passion and lemon meringue pie. (BBC website)

I enjoy baking very much but normally my repertoire consists of cakes, pies and sweet treats and until Lorraine showed me how easy it was, I had never considered baking my own bread.
Too much kneading, proving, more kneading, and waiting around for the dough to rise.

First of all I downloaded the recipe for the
 "Doris Grant Loaf  
a no - need - to - knead bread adapted from a 1940's recipe by healthy eating evangelist Doris Grant, who believed white flour - and its lack of nutrients - was the enemy".
Click here to get the recipe for yourself.
LP was right, it was very easy to make - indeed.

Delicious served with Mr B's homemade winter vegetable soup.

Click here for details of all six episodes of Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale.

Flushed with success, after baking the Doris Grant loaf, I ordered the BME book of 100 recipes, released to coincide with the TV series, at Amazon. Click here to buy the book now at half price!
Yesterday, I baked soda bread.
Click here for the recipe.

Perfect for a simple ploughmans lunch served with a small salad, cornichons, English cheddar cheese and of course, Branston pickle.
A nostalgic taste of England in rural Normandy.

(Apologies for lack of ploughmans pix, DH was hungry!)

Linking this post to Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Full Plate Thursday Background Story

When we were young and just starting out in life sometimes we did not have a lot of money.

 Most of our friends were having to stretch the dollars at the end of the month just like us. My girlfriends and I decided that we would pool our food for some of the evening meals right before payday... the last week of the month. I have some of the fondest memories from those days. We would all bring our food together and we had some great food and great fellowship. We would get the food on the table and everything ready, someone would bless the food and then the hostess would say "come fill your plate".

Why not head over there and see how Miz Helen filled her plate last week and what's on the menu today.

Also joining in with Show & Tell Friday with Cindy @ My Romantic Home

and with

 Sherry and Home Sweet Home Friday @ The Charm of Home.

Thanks for hosting, ladies.



Tea Time with my Valentine.



 So glad you came to tea today, sweetheart.

I've been looking forward to seeing you all week long.

I've taken Grandma B's wedding china out of the cabinet, and polished the silver.

I baked Red Velvet Cupcakes with Buttercream frosting.

One for you and one for me,
 and one to share?

A decadent roulade.
Light as a feather sponge cake

 wrapped around fresh cream and strawberries soaked in Marsala wine
and
 dusted with the finest of sugars.

Won't you be my Valentine?

(Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy) 

Click on the links below to join the celebration

Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday,
Valentines Party @ Bargain Hunting with Laurie

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday with Cindy @ My Romantic Home
Sherry @ The Charm of Home for her brand new Home Sweet Home Party
and
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday

February National Food Days

I recently discovered a great website where you can learn all about National Food Days celebrated in the US.

Intrigued, I googled British National Food Days and unbelievably found just one.

But, what a "one" it turned out to be, drumroll please..................

the first Sunday in February has been declared "Yorkshire Pudding Day"

Click here to go to the Recipes4us.co.uk to learn how this celebratory day came about, and please join me on Sunday to honor this wonderful iconic British dish.

Meanwhile ........in the US, February is amongst other things
 Hot Breakfast Month
and the hot breakfast of choice here at the Presbytere is poached egg on toast. Mmmmm!

I don't know if you remember the scene in the movie "Julie & Julia" but Julie had a terrible time trying to poach an egg.

It didn't help I suppose that she hadn't ever eaten an egg in her life and sort of had an "egg phobia". 

During 30+ years of married bliss I must have poached hundreds of eggs, using a variety of methods.

Taught by my mother to use one of these, it stood me in good stead for many years.

A couple of years ago I discovered these little poach pods from Lakeland but couldn't get on with them at all, the egg always seemed to stick a liitle bit, to the inside.

A friend told me that Delia's method is foolproof, click here,  and it is.

However, I found the very best way to poach an egg in the Hairy Bikers 12 days of Christmas cook book which I blogged about here in December.

For the poached eggs, pour enough water into a large deep pan so that it is two-thirds full. Bring to the boil.
Place the eggs, still in their shells, into the boiling water for 20 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon.

Step 1

Add a splash of white wine vinegar to the pan, then swirl the water gently to create a whirlpool effect. Crack one egg into the centre of the whirlpool and poach for 2-3 minutes, or until the egg is cooked to your liking.

Step 2

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Keep warm. Repeat the process with the remaining eggs

Step 3, foolproof.

Do this and you won't ever worry about your poached eggs again, if only Julie had used Si & Dave's method, as shown in my photographs, she could have saved herself a lot of anguish.

Linking this post to Miz Helens Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday gathering and also Gollums Foodie Friday, you can click on the sidebar buttons too, to find mouthwatering food from around the world.

Bon Appétit