Sadly, no pictures...

I guess there are too many pictures lurking on my computer for me to download anymore at the moment. I will sort it out one of these days, but till then, this is sadly going to be a quick post without pictures. Not much fun in that, but I hope you will bear with me anyway.
The other day I went to The Hague with my mother, which always makes for a nice day. We went to the Gemeentemuseum and saw some pictures by Lord Leighton, William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. There was also a show on about painters of roughly the same period, from the Netherlands. It is really fascinating to see how different those pictures are in feel and subject, from the English ones.
The Hague is lovely in summer, they always have a sculpture exhibition on one of the main streets, this year it was all by a Brazilian sculptur, Javier Marin. I thought they were great, as soon as I can get pictures again, I will post them.
Oh, here is one picture of the bowl I bought at the fleamarket, I was particularly pleased as you never see a lot of Carlton ware around here. For me it has such a 30's feel.
One last thing and I will close this boring post, (just felt I had to post though as I had not written anything for a while), it now definitely looks as if I have got my old job back. Next week I have a week off, but after that I start again... it is just too funny. But... I am glad to be working again!

Enjoy the weekend and do something wonderful!

A bit of gratuitous ogling...

But oh so much fun! Do you ever get the feeling that you just need to watch something lovely and romantic? I know I do, and that was certainly my mood this weekend... There are two staples I will always return to, anything with Colin Firth, and Richard Armitage in North and South ( or the Vicar of Dibley, come to think of it). So North and South it was this weekend, and generous spirit that I am, I just felt I had to share some of it with you all.
Well, this meant that I had to spend another (happy) hour or so on finding the best trailer on youtube, it was an awful job, but someone had to do it;). There are actually loads of trailers, so have a look at the other ones if you do not like this one. By the way, do not forget to turn off my playlist at the bottom of my blog, otherwise this will not play... and that would be a waste! If you have never watched this series, go and get it on video. It is a real treat, I promise you, the last scene is one of my favourite moments ever.
Other than that, my weekend was nice but unremarkable. However, on Friday I met up with one of my old friends who I do not see that often and we spend a gorgeously girly afternoon. We went for lunch into town, then did some shopping and later we sat in a cafe and had a couple of glasses of wine. There was loads of chatting and lots of laughter, I love these girly times. We are planning a trip to Paris in November, maybe I should warn the French!

Have a lovely week, I am off to brush up my French!

A lemony weekend and a fun tag...

Is not this the most gorgeous image? I feel I can smell the lemons... at the moment there is almost nothing I like better than the scent of lemons. It is really fresh and uplifting.
I got myself the August edition of Good Food the other day, it is one of the best ones ever! I almost want to make every recipe. Because of a small matter of size etc. that is probably not recommended, but it really is that good.
However, I really could not resist the two recipes below... I unfortunately could not find my camera, so there are no pictures, but they should speak for themselves.

Ginger lemon fizz
makes ml of syrup

50 g/2 oz fresh root ginger, roughly chopped
300g /10 oz caster sugar
2 lemons, sliced, plus extra to serve
Sparkling water

Place the sugar, ginger and lemon slices in a pan. Bring to the boil, then cook until the sugar dissolves. Take of the heat, leave to cool, then press through a sieve.
You can store the syrup in the fridge for up to a week.
To serve, pour into a pitcher and top up with sparkling water and extra lemon slices.

See... it could not be more simple and it tastes great! I used an extra lemon, as I like things quite sharp, but will next time also use less sugar, however that is a matter of personal taste. The ginger just adds a bit of warmth to it and works very well with the lemon. There is an almost citrussy quality to fresh ginger I always feel.

A slightly more fiddly recipe, but so worth it, is the following:

Blueberry lemon cakes with cheesecake topping
makes 12

100 g/ 4 oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100 g/ 4 oz golden caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
zest and juice one lemon
140g /5 oz self-raising flour
50g/ 2 oz blueberries

For the topping
250 ml/ 9fl oz soured cream
25 g/ 1 0z icing sugar
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla extract

Lightly grease a 12-hole deep muffin tin. Cut out 12 strips of baking parchment, each about 1,5 cm wide. Cut each strip in half, then lay inside each muffin hole to make a cross. Trim the ends so that they rise about 1 cm above the rim of the holes. You'll use these as handles to remove the cakes when they are cooked.
Heat oven to 180C/ gasmark 4. Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, add the lemon zest and half of the juice. Mix together well, then stir in half of the flour. Stir in the remaining lemon juice, then the remaining flour.
Spoon the cake mixture into the tins, about 1 heaped tbsp per case, then smooth over with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle a couple of blueberries over each cake, then bake for 10 mins.
To make the topping, whisk together the soured cream, icing sugar, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Take the cakes out of the oven, they should be pale and just firm. Gently press down to make a flat top, then spoon some cheesecake topping over each cake- the holes should be filled almost to the top. Scatter over some more blueberries and bake for 5-7 minutes more until the topping is just set and gives only a little wobble when tapped.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin, then gently ease away from the sides of the tin and lift out using the paper handles.

Enjoy, these are really quite special.

One last thing to mention is that I got tagged with quite a fun tag by Lisa from Jumble and jelly. Hers is a truly lovely blog, if you do not know it yet, hop over and have a look, it is great. Really colourful and lively and fun to read.

The tag works like this. Grab the book that is nearest to you and write down the 5th sentence on page 161. Then you get to tag 5 more people.

The book I grabbed as it was on top of my to be read pile is: The perfect summer, by Juliet Nicolson. She is the grand daughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. The book is about the summer of 1911. I really want to read this book because of my obsession with Bloomsbury and that period in history in general.

The sentence is:Yet another Times contributor quoted Juvenal to demonstrate that human nature had not changed for many centuries.

These are the people I am tagging:

Heidi The cranberry chronicle
Michelle Chocolate and marmalade tea
Diane Heartshaped
Angie A book a day
Sibylle In training for a heroine

These are all gorgeous blogs, so if you have time, have a look at them.

Enjoy a warm and sunny week!

Brilliant summer treat and the fab shabby chic's giveaway...

Feeling a bit hormonal today, in sharp contrast to how I felt over the weekend. I just could not stop smiling, for no particular reason at all. Do you have day like that, where you really feel on top of the world.
Not sure what brought this feeling on, the fact that I bought some lovely books, or the fact that I lost my first stone... And no, there is no way I will tell you how long that took me, or how many more I need to lose, it is gone, and that is the most important thing. To celebrate, I made myself the most wonderful dessert, and only 281 calories a portion... OK that is quite a lot, but then, it counts towards my five-a-day. It is gorgeous though, and if you are in need of a treat, I highly recommend it.

Raspberry and cherry gratin (serves 4)

7 fl oz milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise
2 eggs, separated
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
squeeze of lemon juice or eau de vie
10 oz cherries, stoned
10 oz raspberries

Heat the milk and vanilla pod in a pan until nearly boiling, then leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. Whisk together the egg yolks with 2 tbsp of sugar until pale and light, then whisk in the flour to make a smooth paste. Whisk the warm milk into the paste. Pour the mixture into a pan, than cook for 3-5 minutes until thickened and the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour through a sieve into a large bowl, discarding the vanilla pod, then leave to cool a little.
Whisk the egg whites until trebled in size and stiff peaks form. Add the remaining sugar a little at the time, whisking well between each addition, untill the mix is thick and glossy. Stir in the lemon juice or eau de vie ( I used the latter I am afraid, it worked really well with the fruit) into the custard mix. Add a third of the meringue to the custard, stir well to incorporate then carefully stir through the remaining meringue in two goes.
Scatter the fruit into a large, shallow heatproof dish. Put under a medium grill for 3-5 minutes to soften the fruit slightly. Spoon over the custard mix. Return to the grill for 3 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

Apparently these count as 1 of 5 a-day...
I never made custard from scratch like this, particularly not a meringuey one...
Before it went under the grill...
And just after... The last thing I want to mention is the wonderful giveaway Mel from Country in the town is staging. If you do not know her blog, you simply must have a look. It is incredibly fun and colourful. She really is a very creative and talented lady. I am sure her give away will be worth entering as she makes gorgeous things and has a really good eye for pretties.

I realise I have not been able to read a lot of blogs in the last few weeks, I really missed you all and will do my utmost to catch up with you all in the next few days.

Have a gorgeous evening!

Summer colours...

Normally I am a pastel colours kind of girl, I love pinks, soft greens and greyish blues. But in summer, I am sure it has to do with the quality of the light, I really feel drawn to the hot colours. Like these ones...
Just look at these cheery beauties. I had meant to eat out in the garden tonight, but just as I went outside, it started to rain again. So that was a bit of a disappointment. But... on the plus side, have a look at how incredibly vibrant these Zinnias look after a shower. I have always loved Zinnias, but have not always been able to find them in the nurseries I have been to. Which makes these ones extra special...
The little sunflowers are a fun story. Apparently a mouse stashed them in one of my little flowerpots for later and then forgot about them. So, they came up, incredibly cramped together and with not much room for a root system, but they have also decided to flower. Which makes me smile every time I see them.

Have a colourful evening!

Thoughts of future projects...

This morning I received this book that I ordered from Bol.com ( the Dutch equivalent of Amazon). I simply could not resist it, I just love the look of the one with the red, white and blue border... I can not wait to start this project, it will just be so much fun, I love things that are made up of smaller parts, they seem to finish just that little bit quicker.
I have also decided on two other tops to knit, after my success with the first one.
I will have to pick my time to get the yarn though, as I have to go to Amsterdam for it. The next few weeks I will be working full time, and my weekends are pretty much booked, so I fear I will have to bide my time I am afraid. Patience is not my biggest virtue, but it can not be helped.
I am happy to be at least working again for a few weeks, all be it in my old job (long story) as a temp. My colleagues are over the moon, I just think it is funny!
The other thing I did this morning is have a walk around the fleamarket that is held in the middle of town every fortnight. I did not bring my camera, so unfortunately there are no pictures. There was a lot of dross, but there were two stalls that had quite nice utility crockery. I nearly succumbed to the temptation, but did not have enough money on me. Oh well, maybe next time...

Have a fun weekend and do not drown in the rain!

Grasshopper...

That is the name of the colour of the yarn I used... Not sure that that is very flattering, but as everyone, including me is obsessed with being green these days, it seems oddly appropriate that I should use it.
Anyway... as you can see I have actually finished this project from a few posts ago. Remarkably quickly for me, I have to be honest, but I tremendously enjoyed knitting it. The border took a few attempts, and I had to frog ( see what I did there?) the beginning a couple of times, but it all went remarkably smoothly.
To celebrate my accomplishment, and to stay in the green theme, I baked myself these cookies. I love cornmeal anything and lime is truly one of my favourite scents and tastes. There is something so uplifting about it.

Lime cornmeal glazed cookies
Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest, plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6 limes total)
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (2 medium oranges)
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for coating glass
Lime glaze

1. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg, beat until just blended. Add citrus zests, lime juice and almond extract.
2. With the mixer on low speed, add flour and cornmeal. Continue beating until well blended. Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line to baking sheets with baking parchment. Fill a small bowl with cornmeal. Using a 1 1/4 inch ice cream scoop, form balls from chilled dough. Place balls on prepared sheets, spaced about 3 inches apart. Dip bottom of a medium drinking glass in the cornmeal. Flatten balls with the bottom of the glass until dough is about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Bake cookies until crisp and light-golden brown around the edges, 14-16 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely.
5. Meanwhile, make the lime glaze;
3 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
8 table spoons fresh lime juice, plus 2 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest.
Stir the ingredients together and use glaze immediately.
6. Place a wire rack on top of a piece of parchment paper. Pour the lime glaze over the cool cookies, allowing the excess to drip over the edges. Let glaze set.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Enjoy the weekend and do a little sun dance!