Sunday baking.

Yesterday I spent the better part of the day in my apron baking. 
I had a lovely ol' time to myself listening to music (MGMT, Newton Faulkner and REM if you are curious) and making a floury mess.

Scrummy yummy cupcakes, a few topped with lime buttercream and sprinkled with coconut.

And also

Bread to go with dinner.

I love baking bread but my rubbishy wrists hate it, particularly after making pizza dough the night before.  I use Jamie O recipes (after trying many others) but think I will be trying out some Baker Boys ones soon, love them!  Realized I love a man dusted in flour, who knew?

My Biscuits were playing happily, Mr Biscuit was maintaining his friendship with his guitar and I was in my lovely kitchen baking.  Happy day!

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I do it like an Italian...apparently. Every day!

Who am I to argue with the pucker Jamie Oliver?  

 C'mon, who doesn't yearn to be Italian?

We'll just turn over very quickly the fact a few pages later it says Italians don't have chocolate sprinkled on their cappuccinos. 

Ciao

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The 52 Marvellous Makes Madness Challenge - Week 6!

What a glorious day we are having up here in my wee piece of Scotland.  I hope all you lovely folks down south are blessed with such good weather on your bank holiday, fingers crossed.  I never look at forecasts so am oblivious...

Last weeks make was these...

 yummy, scrummy, in my tummy [lots] brownies!

Not to be too decadent, they have bananas in them, so healthy really if  we discount the butter, sugar, chocolate and walnuts.  I love brownies, especially the edge pieces that are slightly over done.  I had forgotten all about this recipe from a long ago Good Food magazine and my Biscuits find them less rich than the ones we usually bake from Nigella's Domestic Goddess or Jamie 'O's Cook with Jamie.  I love the ease of making, of stirring lazily and the soothing smell of chocolate warming in the pan.  I want one now so am thrilled I had enough sense to freeze some.

I am stuck a little on this weeks make as I am reaching into the realms of Christmas making - I know it's early but if I don't start now I'll be a 'baldy, crazy lady' Ali, like the scary cat lady from the Simpsons, ready to crumble in a heap in the corner, wanting  never to see Christmas again and I can't have that!  No way No how!!  I give myself a huge list you see and this year, I'll capitalize that again for effect,   THIS YEAR  I am determined to get ahead, hence the problem.  I don't want to be showing them all in detail on here in case the cat gets out of the bag but it's what I'll be mainly making.  I'll maybe have to play that game with the photos, of really close up parts of the makes, making it hard to tell what the full thing is.  But that would defeat the purpose really as of course I want to show them...aaah!!

Ach we'll see.....

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The gate clatters....

...and the letterbox opens followed by the loudest rattle of post falling on to the hall floor.  "Oh, Oh Goodness!!"  "Is that my buttons?"  Out of the chair she leaps forgetting it's a whirly one and nearly falls face first onto the floor.  There, there on the floor is a package with her name on it.  A squish and a shake later and it's definitely buttons, definitely those prize winning[s] buttons.

So she willfully rips carefully unwraps the paper to reveal a bounty of beautiful buttons falling out of their packet upon which she shows relief at not having to rip tentatively open and risk spilling the contents all over the floor.  Aah the joy!  The heart skipping delight!  The swell of happiness in her bosom!

Indeed a bounty of beautiful buttons!

She sighed again and again!! 

Once her heart had settled and her brain began to remember the world external to button love, she noticed the rest of her post.  

"A magazine?  Ooh a magazine!  Can't be Country Living........could be Good Food......and PANTS!   I hope it's not Hubby's boring car one, Classic Ford."   

"Wait a minute...wait one minute!", the cogs slowly begin to move, "Jamie? Jamie???"  

"Ooh..OOOOOH!"  A small memory starts to stir, getting bigger and bigger.  "OMG!  Didn't my lovely mother-in-law say on my birthday she was arranging a subscription for me?  She did, aah She did!  

"Yiiiiiippppppeeeeee!!!!!!"

A hop, a skip, a jump and a twirl later she smiles the biggest smile a lady can manage when she nearly killed herself hopping and skipping and jumping and twirling.  "That'll do pig!!" 

And that is the story of a happy Ali who cares not a jot she gave up yesterday's sunshine to clean, a sacrifice all the more considerable as today the sky is the colour of grey old pants, for she has buttons and a magazine.

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thank you lovely Jade xx