Young Truffles believes in being comfortable, especially if it's in a basket stolen from under the nose of Rosie cat, who considers it to be hers by rights. Often a terrible battle ensues - these girls are certainly not the best of friends. The only way to end it before serious injury occurs is to … Continue reading The War of the Cats

I have a lovely lot of lemons here at the moment, and limes - gifts from friends and family. I decided to trial a recipe for a lemon cake that would incorporate leftover sour cream. I wanted especially to use a recipe of New Zealand chef Annabel White. I'd met her during the Restaurant Australia … Continue reading The lemon cake that did

How about this? Have the bread oven fired up and ready to do some baking for the photo shoot here today. Roast beef and lamb aromas floating down the valley in the midst of the snow - sounds go to me.

Well, the chickens and ducks have started laying again in a big way - that's a 5 litre bucket in the photo, and from our few birds it's been almost filled to the brim within a couple of days. Time for some baking then. Jelly cakes top of the list to be made, then sponge … Continue reading Eggs aplenty

It's that time of year again! The medlars that have been 'bletting' on straw for weeks were finally ready for making specialty-of-the-house Medlar Liqueur.  We now just need to wait 6 months until it's ready to drink. The slow cookers on the bench in the background are in readiness for the class here on Saturday. … Continue reading Medlars bletted at last – medlar liqueur coming up!

Lots of fun this morning doing baking with Charly, who came for a sleepover at Nan-Nan's last night. There's lemon and lime shortbreads and Charly's invention of raspberry jam tacos. Lots more baking to do yet. Choc chip cup cakes are next on the menu.

Poppy the puppy seems to have entered into the sprit of the thing here. She was a bit hard to catch on camera as she is rarely still, but teething is a real issue for her. I sacrificed one of my wooden spoons for the cause, so she has something solid to chew on (the … Continue reading The teething toy

Ramekin is back! This dear old ram comes to stay with us every now and then, has done since we moved here. I was told initially that he was a bit wild and aggressive, impossible to get near, but to my way of thinking he is just beautiful. He only came back a day or … Continue reading The Return of the Ramekin

OK, so what do you do when there is too much slice for one household and many visitors to eat? Roughly chop the remainder and mix into homemade ice cream, that's what. Cookies and cream ice cream, eat your heart out! This is WAY better.