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Our lovely new canvas get yours at a discount price!

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Before I was married or had children, I used to snigger at people who had large photos of themselves adorning the walls of their house.

I suppose not so much their kids, but the cheesey wedding pics that took up a whole wall of their living room.

Roll on a few years and, with a wedding and a child under our belts, I have totally changed my view on this.

If you’ve spent a fortune on a wedding, why shouldn’t you have the chance to look at a memento of your day every time you pass the stairs.

Likewise, when you’ve agonised in labour for ten hours, why shouldn’t you stare up at a photo of your little darling when you’re settling down to watch Corrie and think ‘I made that?’

I am being facetious but you get what I mean.

wedboo

When We moved to the farm, I ordered a photo of our wedding on a canvas and a photo of Boo when she was a baby. They have pride of place in our lounge.

So when the lovely people at Canvas Design offered me another canvas, I jumped at the chance to bore people with our faces look adoringly at our wall art.

I had to pick another photo!

It was a toughie as we don’t tend to have many family photos together. I don’t know why, I suppose unless someone else is there taking photos, it is usually Hubster or me behind the lens.

Then I remembered one from when we went on the Santa Express last December and choose that one.

It arrived superbly packaged and was massive. I moved an exsisting photo from a wall in our lounge and replaced it with my shiney new canvas.

elr

It looks lovely (if I do say so myself) and now, wherever you sit in the living room, you can’t escape from seeing a photo of one of us.

It’s our house, deal with it.

If you too would like to have a homage to yourself and your family, Canvas Design has kindly offered readers of my blog, a 15 per cent discount off any canvas and delivery is always free.

What are you waiting for?

To get your 15% discount, go to http://www.canvasdesign.co.uk/ and enter BLOG15 at the check out.

6

My Nutty Banoffee Fairtrade Cake Creation

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So we’re coming to the end of Fairtrade Fortnight.
I celebrated the start of the two weeks with Fairtrade wine and I am seeing it out with cake-it’s a hard life.
I am still on my diet so I will be just looking at said cake and enjoying watching other people eat it having a very small sliver.

Just because the fortnight is drawing to a close, it doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels and forget Fairtrade even existed.
There are people in this world still working in terrible conditions for very little money just to bring you your morning coffee or your chocolate bar. Not to mention the bananas that your children eat.

So rather than berate you until you sign this petition: http://foncho.fairtrade.org.uk/ (please class yourself as berated), I am being very kind and sharing my Fairtrade recipe for Nutty Banoffee cake.

Nutty because, let’s face it, being a but nuts makes life more interesting but really, because it contains bonefide Fairtrade nuts from the amazing people at Liberation Nuts.

Liberation Foods was set up in 2007 to help small-scale nut farmers gain access to UK and international nut markets.
Liberation purchases its nuts from these co-operatives on Fairtrade terms, which means they always pay at least the Fairtrade minimum for nuts. They also have comedian, Harry Hill as an ambassador so I’m sure they won’t mind me saying, they must all be a bit nuts too.

So, the best bit, the Nutty Banana Nut Cake. recipe
You will need:

ingredients

8oz Fairtrade Caster Sugar
8oz Wholemeal flour
8oz butter or butter alternative-margerine etc
1 tsp baking powder

1tsp Fairtrade cocoa (optional)
4 Fairtrade eggs (ok they are from my hens who get a great ‘corn’ price for their eggs)
1tsp cinamon (optional)
3 Fairtrade bananas
2tbsps milk or cream
100g of Fairtrade nuts. I used peanuts but you can swap these for a Fairly traded nut equivalent of your choice.

For the filling: A can of consensed milk,
1 Fairtrade Banana
Some Fairtrade nuts retained from the 100g above.

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease two 8-inch baking tins (I use frylite spray for greasing).

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Chop your peanuts, You can use a food processor but I prefer bigger chunks in my mix and, to be fair, hate washing it so I did it by hand with a knife. Plus, I feel like a celebrity chef when I’m chopping nuts with a knife. I have no idea why.

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Sieve the flour into a bowl. I used a strong wholemeal bread flour so I sieved it a few times.
Add the Fairtrade sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and cinnamon and mix with an electric mixer.

banana cream

In another bowl, chop the banana and add the cream and mix with the electric mixer. Add the banana to the cake mix and give it another blast with the mixer.

add nuts

Add the chopped nuts and fold into the mixture.

Divide mixture between the two tins and bake for 20 minutes on two shelves then swap over for the remaining 15-20 minutes.
Please note, you know your own oven. During the last 15-20 minutes, please check your cake. You will know it is done when it is just browning around the edges or, a skewer comes out clean.

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Allow to cool in tins for ten minutes, then turn out onto wire wrack to cool completely.

Next the dulce de leche. Now, I googled this to get it right and there are many, many ways to do this. The old fashioned ways on the hob in a pan of water or in the oven take hours so, in true cutting-corners style, I choose the microwave option.

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You blast it in two-minute intervals on a medium setting and whisk in between until a) it has turned a toffee colour or b) it has been cooked for at least eight minutes.
Please make sure you whisk the mixture whilst wearing an oven glove as it is very, very hot.

At eight minutes, I chopped in another banana (the heat of the dulce de leche cooked this banana-yum).

Allow to cool. Put a small amount between the cakes (enough to cover one half of cake) and place on top of each other. Then spread the rest of the gooey, sticky loveliness on the top of the cake and sprinkle some more Fairtrade nuts (I did chop these a little finer).

finished cake

So there you go. My Nutty Banoffee Cake.

I hope you try it out.

Please, please, continue to buy Fairtrade products throughout the year. They make such a difference to people all around the world.
Supermarkets, especially Sainsburys, have the largest range of Fairtrade products so it makes it easier for people like me to help whilst doing the weekly food shop.

This recipe is an entry into the Liberation Nuts Banana and Nut Bakeoff during Fairtrade Fornight.
If I win, I get a nutty hamper. How exciting would that be?

You know what though? The real winners of Fairtrade Fortnight are the farmers and producers which you help by buying their Fairtrade products.

 

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Egg-gate

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So two weeks on from our delivery of ex-commercial hens, we’re suffering a bit of an egg-gate situation.

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I lovingly painted signs eggs for sale, created an egg-cellent display in which to sell my eggs and even made loyalty cards-but nine boxes of eggs and get your tenth “absolutely free.”

I was really happy. Pancake Day helped or not, as the case may be.

By Wednesday, we had completely sold out. No yolk.

So yesterday Hubster came in and sternly said “we need to talk.”

Many things went through my head, the utmost, what has he found out about or what have I done.

It turns out, he has a case of egg envy.

basket

He thinks the eggs should be for the family, not for me to sell. The rant went on for a good ten minutes. I should have filmed it.

The breaking-point being when he breakfasted in his mother’s house and there were no eggs. “How do you expect me to function in a morning without eggs?” was my favourite phrase.

I thought it was hilarious. I asked permission to bake later that day and whether we should stop having scrambled eggs for lunch.

Then the hens, obviously cottoning-on to the situation in doors, played the ultimate trump card. Yesterday they laid only two eggs. Yes out of 23 hens, we got two eggs.

I was laughing my head off. I did reluctantly hand over the two eggs to Hubster to keep the peace.

I then hot footed it to the feed merchants to shell out for some mixed corn for the ladies. I thought maybe they were bored with their layers pellets although, they do get other bits throughout the day.

As I was heaving the corn out of the car, one of the workmen asked if I had any eggs. I had to reluctantly admit that the hens were on strike but as soon as they started laying again, he could have a box.

When a hen reaches one year of age, their laying does tail off a bit but I think yesterday’s crack was extreme.

We’ll see what today brings.

Maybe the girls were just egg-sausted.

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Lent-my 40 day weightloss challenge

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Traditionally, Lent is a period of abstinence, penance and self-denial to bring Christians closer to God. It emulates Jesus’ 40 days spent in the wilderness and prepares believers for Easter. Not chocolate eggs, but new life and Resurrection.

I have decided to therefore use Lent as my own little episode of self-denial and abstinence.
After my public announcement that I was on a strict diet, I have lapsed somewhat yet my June deadline for a two-stone weight loss still looms.
Lent therefore is a manageable time span to deprive myself of my favourite al things without it seeming like ‘forever.’
I am hoping however that the six weeks may rid me of some of the worst vices.
Years ago I gave up sugar in coffee for Lent and never went back. Hopefully this might happen again.

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My biggest item to give up is Pepsi Max-my friend, crutch and love. I LOVE Pepsi Max. It used to be Diet Coke but I changed to Pepsi Max and never went back (unless it had sold out in the supermarket). It is an ok drink in moderation but moderation, my friends, isn’t one of my strong points so it has got to go.
For Lent I will drink water and sugar free juice. I am also planning to avoid all chocolate, cakes and other sweet stuff.

shred
However the next penitent activity is the big one. I will exercise every on of those 40 days. Think the 30-day shred DVD but for 40 days.
I am honestly confident about this. 40 days is not forever and surely the six weeks or so will be enough to see a difference. Who knows? I might not be far off the two-stone target by the end of it.
I have weighed myself. I’m afraid I can’t divulge such personal information but I refuse to become obsessed with the scales so I will weigh myself again on Easter Sunday and let you all know how it went. This was me on Sunday when I was going to a blogger event in Liverpool.

me

I will put the same dress on for the next photo to see if we can see a difference.
I am doing this post to publically shame myself into doing it. If by Easter Monday, there is not a follow-up post, I give you my permission to publicly berate me.
If you want to follow progress or join in yourself, my Twitter hashtag for the challenge is #40dayWLC. Maybe if a few others join in, it will make it a but easier.

SuperBusyMum

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My review of Lush lipstain thanks to #nwblpool

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I love make up. Always have.

When I was about four, my mum gave me a little bag with a clasp (how grown up did I feel?) with some of her own make up to play with because I loved it so much. As a punishment one time when I was bad, she threw said bag away. I still feel that pain now.

Fast forward to being a mother myself and little Boo is a bit of a make up fan but at only three, she has beaten me by a year. Most soft toys have a smear of eye shadow on them. The poor dog has had blusher brushed on and some of my walls have been painted with lip gloss but hey, it’s all a learning curve.

I was lucky enough to get a ticket for Northwest Bloggers beauty blogging event last Sunday which was held at the very swanky Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool.

It was a great day with lots of brands and a rather impressive goody bag.

Since becoming a mum, my make up habits have changed. Instead of taking my time applying lots of different products, I try and apply my slap in record breaking time without little fingers getting hold of my best bronzer.

So when I saw Lush at the #nwblpool event, I was pleasantly surprised. While they still do see many of their traditional line like fruity-smelling bath bombs and creams and potions that wouldn’t look out of place in my kitchen cupboards, they now also sell makeup.

I think I was one of the first people to approach the lovely Jen Hunter who won make up specialist of the year at the pro beauty awards and works for Lush.

She was so nice. Despite me probably being the oldest and fattest person there, Jen made me feel very special and let me have a go of the Lush wheel of destiny (I’ve called it that as I wasn’t sure of its official title-but it has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?).

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I had to close my eyes and spin the wheel and then, without thinking about it, pick three colours.

I choose a pale blue which is unlike me as, if I had thought about it I wouldn’t have chosen-I’m more of a pink kinda gal), a coral and a shimmery pinky-gold. Every colour in the wheel represented a state of mind so my three represented calm, believe and charm. I’m not sure whether I am that calm (I think Hubster would say not) but I was quite impressed with believe and charm.

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Jen applied the believe lip stain with a brush and, if I do say so myself, made me look semi-decent.

I was therefore delighted to find a Lush lip stain in the goodie bag we received from the event.

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It was in the believe shade which is a reddy, pinky, coral. One of my favourite colours and I have tested it’s longevity today.

As a busy mum and farmer’s wife, I need make up that will look and stay good from dawn until dusk and sometimes beyond.

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I applied the stain at 6.30 am this morning, just as I was getting dressed for work I cropped the image-who wants to be photographed at 6.30am?

Between 6.30 and 8.30, I drove to work, drinking water in the car and coffee when I arrived at the office.

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I then had cereal for breakfast and drank more liquids during the morning as well as speaking (a lot) in the office.

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I was going to stop the experiment before lunch but on inspection, the lip stain was still there so I ate a sandwich for lunch too.

This is what it looked like at 2pm.

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That is a full seven and a half hours since I applied it I’d eaten two meals and countless drinks. Don’t I look profesh at my desk?!

I think you’ll agree, this product has staying power.

What busy woman has time to reapply make-up throughout the day?

The fact is, if you use Lush lip stain, you won’t have to.

I wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Our flippin’ great Shrove Tuesday with a little help from Peanut Hottie

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Our family LOVES pancakes. We don’t need much of an excuse. Sometimes we have them Christmas Day for breakfast as a treat. Other times, we can see the pancake episode of Peppa Pig and use that as an excuse to have them for brunch,

Shrove Tuesday is another matter. Everyone is eating them and talking about them. How do you have yours? How do you make your batter? How long do you leave your batter to stand for?

For Peppa Pig pancakes, I don’t usually measure the ingredients. I just put them all in a jug and whisk.

Shrove Tuesday calls for the perfect pancake so I did measure the ingredients out tonight.

I added something a little bit different though. To my flour, I added two heaped tablespoons of Peanut Hottie.

peanut hottie Collage

Peanut Hottie is an amazingly delicious and moreish peanut butter flavour instant hot beverage and they only went and sent me a sample to review it.

We did try it as a drink. I was expecting a nutty hot chocolate but tastes nothing like that. It tastes of very nutty peanuts. It also says you can bake with it which I found very exciting. Who doesn’t like a peanut flavouring in baking?

So, our traditional pancakes had a twist this year.

This what we did.

As with normal pancakes, you will need:

220g plain flour,

2 eggs

1 pint of milk

Oil for frying

2 heaped tablespoons of Peanut Hottie

peanut hottie

Toppings/fillings of your choice.

Method:

Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the Peanut Hottie.

Make a well in the centre of the flour, break the eggs into it and begin whisking.

Add the milk gradually while continuing to whisk.

Whisk until the mixture is smooth and lump free.

It is recommended to let the batter stand for optimum pancake results but, if you can’t wait or are in a hurry, even ten minutes will do. My mum always let the batter stand over night in the fridge but let’s face it, we’re not all that organised.

When you are ready to cook, make sure the oil and the pan is very hot before you add the batter.

Coat the bottom of the pan and, rather like making an omelette, make sure one side is cooked before you even attempt to turn it over.

When you are sure that the first side is cooked adequately, you can flip it or, if you are a little unsure, it is quite acceptable, in my book, to carefully turn it over and cook the remaining side.

Serve and enjoy.

mine

It is traditional to have sugar and lemon juice with your pancakes which I had (with a bit of banana).

hubster

Hubster had golden syrup (check out the big farmer thumbs-up!).

peppa

I decided to give Boo a choice-banana, sugar, white chocolate drops and syrup.

She ate most of the banana in the split second it took me to take the pancake to the table.

decisions

Then she really enjoyed sprinkling chocolate drops onto her pancake.

Our other family member, Rosie the dog was not left out. She got her own little plain pancake which she really enjoyed.

rosie

All in all, we really enjoyed our pancakes with a twist.

Peanut Hottie is now a favourite baking ingredient. Why not try it out for yourself?

Whatever you decide or decided to top your pancake with, remember it is Fairtrade Fortnight, so I really hope you choose Fairtrade products wherever you can-especially if you are having banana in there.

Remember too there is always the savoury option too if you prefer.

me

Happy Shove Tuesday.

We're going on an adventure
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Spring is coming and we’ve been outside

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The weather this week has been beautiful here at the farm. Cold and crisp but mostly dry with lots of sunshine-does that make me sound like a weather presenter?

Anyway, dry weather means only one thing down on the farm. Outdoor play.
I feel like we’ve had a very productive week.

coop bunting
Mummy painted bunting on the chicken coop. It is very open where we live and while I would have preferred to put up real bunting the painted variety is a good alternative to the fabric variety getting blown away.

feeding noise
With the chickens so close to the house, I thought it would be safe for Boo to feed the chickens while I prepared meals.
It was going well (so I thought). She is very, very mean when it comes to the size of the crumb she breaks off the bread. Think the size of a grain of sand.
The mean mum in me thought this didn’t matter as it would take her longer to finish and give me longer to cook uninterrupted.
One time though it went very quiet. I nipped out to check and was met with this.
Did you eat any bread Boo?
No Mummy. What do you think?

bread face

Then, after my last gardening post, with Boo going to nursery for two mornings a week (to prepare her for the free Early Years entitlement after Easter), I had a minute or two to myself and guess what I did? Have a relaxing bath? Catch up on TV programmes that are not Peppa Pig?
Don’t be silly, I painted one of my wooden tubs.

painted tub
I am going to use them as planters and I was pleasantly surprised with the result.

I then drilled got Hubster to drill holes in the bottom (he doesn’t trust me with power tools, I don’t know why) and Boo and I set off to find rubble to act as drainage.

helping
I found a wheel barrow lying around-the joy of living on a farm is there are all sorts of weird and wonderful things just lying around to use.
Boo has her own wheel barrow so was quite happy to follow mummy around ‘helping’.

wheel barrow
I found some rubble but who knew spading things into a wheel barrow was such hard work? I could feel it working my waste and arms-who needs a gym?

After taking said rubble pack to the container, I felt a bit down beat. My two wheel barrows worth of rubble barely covered the bottom. I knew my compost wouldn’t fill it so guess where we headed next?
You guessed it-the muck heap.

stuck on stone

What an experience that was. Boo’s wheel barrow got stuck on a stone while I was holding my breath, literally shovelling poo and no matter how many times I told Boo that even though the ‘thing’ being shovelled ‘looked like straw’ it was actually poo, she was fascinated by it. Cue the wipes when we got back to the container.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to put the compost in. So I did.

soil

Gutted. Even with a layer of rubble and horse manure, the compost hardly touched the sides. I need at least another 25kg bags to get it anywhere near plant worthy.
It was tea time and, by this time, Boo was cold and had, had enough so the next episode the best bit (the planting) will have to wait.
We did have a good week though. Doesn’t the sun make you just feel better?

rubble

Please note I am not sure the horse manure thing was right. I have since read on the internet that ‘organic matter’ (the polite term) should have rotted down for at least six months before you put it on your garden, so let’s see. I never professed to be a gardening expert. The whole point of this exercise is trial and error. I imagine it will be more error but let’s see. I’m not laying down my trowel yet.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall