Skywatch under glass

For Skywatch Friday.

We had afternoon tea under glass yesterday inside one of those fabulous structures that the Victorians built to shelter their precious plants. From the height of this one  I imagine that it was built as a palm house.

We came here after the memorial service for our sports-mad cousin held in the nearby church - a small and charming country building but bone cold. We were far warmer in the palm house!

His cricket bat and cap had been set out in the church.

The grandchildren's flowers displayed another of his enthusiasms, his Jaguar car.

On the back of the order of service card there was a childhood photo that made us smile; regulation school mackintosh, cap and a home-knitted scarf.  The photo that had been stuck on his cap is of his Uncle Harry who played rugby league for Great Britain. The occasion was Harry's benefit match at the end of his playing career.

 

Michael was his biggest fan.

Old photos

Bloggers have recently been posting pictures of themselves as children. My photos are small, battered affairs, some of them now a rather ancient brownish colour. I can remember my father developing them in the kitchen sink! My elder brother is due to go on holiday next month to celebrate his birthday and I sent him this image of us on holiday in Cornwall. He's the character in the sunglasses. Some style!!

I'm paddling sedately with the skirt of my dress held clear of the water. The two Stuart's are being obliging and posing but I am obviously having none of it. Awkward, moi? 

St Michael's Mount is in the background, somewhere that I've returned to many times since.

Here I am with my parents a few years later on another Cornish holiday. I've got a large umbrella across my lap. That's summer in Blighty for you folks! I can recall my mother's dress exactly, a red polka dot with white trimmings.

But we've been looking through our old photos for a sad reason, the unexpected death of my husband's younger cousin. The funeral is tomorrow and we are taking a selection of photos that might be of interest to his sons and grandchildren.  This photo shows three young cousins at the seaside. We were all war babies. I think it's 1945 somewhere on the Yorkshire coast, you can see a man in soldiers uniform in the background. There was probably a roll of barbed wire strung along the sea shore because the children don't look as though they intend to go swimming. Himself is the child with brown hair and the cousin that we mourn sits beside his mother to the left of the photo.

It was always expected that you wear black to a funeral and I still continue to do so unless there is a specific request to wear bright colours. But formalities have broken down these days and people seem to wear whatever they like to any occasion. Generally I think that is a good thing but, for me a black outfit feels like a mark of respect. Have customs changed where you live?
In the evening we watched a programme to mark National Holocaust Day and it was as heart-rending as always to hear the testimonies of survivors and listen to such beautiful music. I am always grateful that our family survived intact, father and uncles all returning safely home.  

In the pink!

I've always loved the colour pink but my wardrobe is primarily a range of black, grey and white. This coat came in a very plain box at Christmas and I was expecting something equally plain to be inside. How exciting to lift the lid and find this joyful colour, described on the coat label as, 'bubblegum.' It's the shade of pink that used to be called, 'Italian' and before that, 'Shocking' after the French couturier, Elsa Schiaparelli. I used to wear her perfume, also called 'Shocking.' I remember it's packaging in a pink box with gold edged trim and I was sorry when I could no longer buy it. Elsa was an Italian working in Paris between the wars, a rival of Coco Chanel. My new coat was made in Italy, which, since it is Elsa's colour, seems rather fitting.
I've got a fine cashmere scarf that I've had for a while and wear almost daily throughout the winter.  Look how close the colours are. My daughters are SO good at shopping and choosing gifts for me!

Linking up with a well-styled life.

What we ate.

Well, the first thing to state is that we ate far too much rich food. Not that I'm complaining, for a short while it's great to be utterly indulgent! I made three cold desserts that were gradually demolished over four holiday days, with six full-time eaters and friends coming to join us.
A hamper arrived on Christmas Eve. Have I told you how much I love hampers? They have all the excitement of putting your hand in a bran tub and feeling about for treasure! You know there are going to be some tasty goodies inside but you don't know exactly what you will find.

 This year's hamper came from Harvey Nick's and was a stylish affair in black wicker. We delved about in the wrapping and discovered all sorts of tasty things. (Absolute favourite is their brandy butter!)

There was a ridiculous black taxi tree decoration on the top layer that went straight onto the tree.

The tree comes in from the garden every year and has ever fewer needles on it's branches. It looks rather forlorn until the decorations are in place.

These are the cold desserts that I made.

Cassata alla Siciliana 

3 eggs

3oz sugar

rind of a lemon

half teaspoon vanilla essence.  Whisk all together until thick then add

3oz sifted flour. Put in a lined and greased 2pint loaf tin.  

Bake for about half an hour at gas mark 5.

Filling and icing.

1lb Ricotta cheese

4oz castor sugar.    Beat together until light. Add

2 tablespoons Cointreau or similar. Divide into two portions. Keep a slightly larger amount for the icing and to this add

2oz grated chocolate

2oz chopped crystalized orange peel

1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts.

When the cake has cooled cut it horizontally into three layers and sprinkle the bottom and middle layers with another couple of tablespoons of Cointreau. Spread the filling on the bottom and middle layers of cake, put on the top layer and chill. Spread the remaining portion of sugar/cheese mix over the cake and decorate as desired. I used white chocolate stars. The photos show less than half the remaining cake, rather clumsily cut - it should show quite distinct layers of filling and cake. 

It tastes good! 

This torte is such a great recipe, easy to make, freezes well and is so rich that a little goes a long way. Eight of us ate it on Boxing Day and there was plenty left over for the following day.

Truffle Torte

3oz  crushedAmarette biscuits spread over the base of a 9inch cake tin that has been greased and lined with a circle of paper.

1lb melted chocolate

5 tablespoons liquid glucose

5 tablespoons rum mixed together and slightly cooled. Add

1pint lightly whipped double cream. Blend all together well and pour into the tin. Cover with cling film and chill. (Or if making well in advance of eating then freeze.)

Invert onto a serving plate and dust with cocoa powder.

 

I decorated with rum truffles and sprinkled on some edible gold dust that came in my Christmas stocking.

Rum Truffles

5fl oz thick double cream

1oz unsalted butter

2 tablespoons rum heated together in a saucepan to simmering point. Add

5oz  grated dark chocolate and blend everything together until smooth. Mix in

1 tablespoon Greek yogurt and pour the liquid into a bowl. Cover with cling film and refrigerate  to thicken.

Roll into small balls and decorate as desired with dipped chocolate, toasted almonds, chopped ginger or rolled in cocoa powder. Like the torte, they freeze well.

In contrast to the torte this cheesecake is refreshingly light and fresh tasting.

Lemon Cheesecake

4 oz crushed digestive biscuits mixed with

2oz melted butter and pressed into the base of an oiled 8inch loose-bottomed cake tin.

Filling

12oz cottage cheese

2 oz sugar

2 egg yolks blended together with the

rind and juice of a lemon.

Half an ounce of powdered gelatine melted into three tablespoons of water and

5 fluid oz lightly whipped double cream added to the mixture and blended in. Pour onto the biscuit base and chill.

If your New Year resolution is to diet then I apologise for posting these recipes!

Last-minute Christmas cake

In the spring I made a load of marmalade from my homegrown lemons. I didn't chop the peel very finely and the man wot I live with was not impressed. He's the marmalade eater and he hasn't eaten the stuff. What to do? Delia Smith's Christmas book has a last-minute Christmas mincemeat cake. Well, I've made my mincemeat and know from experience that it will disappear quickly enough over the holiday period so why not substitute marmalade instead? This is such a quick and easy recipe.

450g marmalade
225g sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
150g dark brown sugar
150g softened butter
175g mixed dried fruit, (I added some dried cranberries for a bit of colour.)
50g walnuts
3 eggs.

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly and pour into a 20cm cake tin that has been lined with greaseproof paper. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes approx at gas mark 3. leave to cool in the tin before turning out.

I added some blanched almonds and marzipan stars to the surface before cooking.

I should have kept it in the oven for a little while longer because as it cooled the centre dropped slightly. How annoying - I hope it will be okay when it's cut!

Hay-on-Wye

Hay-on-Wye is lovely small Welsh town close to the border with England. It is known as the 'Town of Books' with over thirty bookshops in it's narrow old streets selling both new and second-hand books. Every summer the town holds the Hay Festival of Literature, ten days of talks and entertainments. It's a lovely place to visit and impossible to leave without buying a book (or few!)

This week the windows are dressed for Halloween with a paper moon and a bat flying across the display in Richard Booth's glorious bookshop on Lion Street. He is the person responsible for transforming this small market town into the world's first book town. It's definitely something to crow about!

The exterior of the shop is full of interesting ornamentation

and it is hard not to be tempted inside.

Upstairs the Folio Society Reading room has comfy chairs

and for Halloween, a Dracula cushion to lean against!

Other shops are equally pleasurable

and sell not only books

but 

also

all manner of covetable things.

 There's a pair of matching corner cupboards from France in the window of Llewelyn and Company.

"Where can we put them?"

"We can't, we haven't got enough room."

"Oh, what a pity!"

We have only got enough room for the tiny furniture on these shelves.

Another shop is selling 'best quality old tat'!

There is nothing remotely tatty about the greengrocer's shop. 

I look with pleasure at what is on offer, it's a delight to see local produce, quince and Ribston Pippin apples, a name that I remember from childhood, long since banished from our supermarket shelves.

A large red apple called 'American Mother' is for sale. It's a variety that I've never heard of and I'm just remarking on the fact when the supplier happens to walk by. The shopkeeper comes out, amused at our enthusiastic conversation. He can't promise to always introduce me to his suppliers, he tells me, although he'll do his best!

 It's market day

and the town is busy.

But Hallowe'en is coming

so we better get home before dark!

for Skywatch Friday.