Hampers part two

 

Following on from Part one of the Hamper story and this time it's the hampers I made up for the men folk of the family or as a joint family gift. I first did hampers for the men of the family in 2019.  The baskets are from Dunelm Stores at a cost of £6 or there abouts, but are available at other outlets too and they come with the basket with some shredded paper filling, cellophane and the big red bow. Its long since been a standing joke in the family on how difficult the men folk of the family are to buy for and the hampers really started out of pure exasperation of not knowing what to get them for Christmas and them not being very helpful with ideas. 

 

The first year I did the hampers was in 2019. They were made up with lots of delicious treats including panettone, chocolate, specialty coffee, specialty cheeses and biscuits and chutney. 

The chutneys were homemade and lasted well into the new year before being consumed in quick succession and the favorite was definitely caramelised onion.

2020 I gave the hampers a break but brought them back again in 2021.  This time as well as the chutney's and specialty cheese and biscuits they each contained a couple of bottles of their favorite beverage, as well as chocolates and other foody treats.

I also got to play on my embroidery machine and made the toppers for the jar of chutney's. Each basket had a Christmas decoration added that going forward will be able to be displayed on the Christmas tree every year long after I have gone. 

My family love receiving the hampers and always comment they are one of the best gifts,  I am giving them a break again this year but they will return in 2023.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

Mx

Thanks for the memory

 

We had the biggest thunder storm this morning, and for a while we had no power,  it was cold wet and very dark for about an hour.  On these kinds of days I want something comforting that makes you feel like you're wrapped in a comfy blanket when you're eating it. 

Life's a funny old thing isn't it.  Recently an old acquaintance got in touch via face book. Someone I hadn't seen or spoken to in nearly 30 years.  We got to talking about the old days as you do, although his recollections were somewhat different to mine and was surprised when he realised I had got married just three years after we went our separated ways which he considered not very long. 

We have taken very different life paths but It did spark one memory though from 40 years ago. I hadn't been very well with the flu and looked and felt awful and really couldn't face eating much and he presented me with homemade traditional rice pudding, but instead of making it in the oven he had made it in the slow cooker so that it would slowly cook across the day whilst he was at work.   I have to say it tasted absolutely delicious and the nearest thing to the one in the tin and nothing like the claggy mess  we used to get at school and was definitely what the doctor ordered. 

From that time onwards I always made my rice pudding in the slow cooker.  I hadn't made it since my daughter left home as D & youngest aren't the biggest desert lovers but even they have have become a fan. 

If you would like to have ago at making this really easy  comfort food then here goes. 

Small can of evaporated milk

50g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

milk

Pour the evaporated milk into a jug and then top up with enough milk to make 1 litre. 

Add the sugar, rice and vanilla extract to the slow cooker

pour the milk mixture over the rice, sugar and vanilla extract 

Cook on slow for 6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours 

Stir occasionally to make sure the rice doesn't stick together in a lump at the bottom of the slow cooker. 

Thankfully the power came back on and stayed on and there has been a rice pudding slowly bubbling away all day and I can't wait to sit with a bowl this evening. 

Mx

 

Souptember: Pea & Ham Soup a homage to my ex mother in law

 

Souptember continues in our house. Although the nights are definitely drawing in and its at that stage when it's dark when I leave the house and almost dark when I return, I'm not quite at the stage of having a big Sunday roast quite yet but I will go for a gammon joint or ham hock with mash potato and seasonal veg. There is invariably some  left overs which gets used up in sandwiches but I also like to use up in a hearty soup. Pea and ham always reminds me of my ex mother in law as she always made a big pan of pea and ham at this time of year when the weather was cold, wet & windy and it really did just hit the spot.  Ex mother in law recently passed away. She had not been well for a long time and as the children said, she was no longer the nanna they knew and she would of hated seeing herself like that having been such a larger than life character.   So this Pea and Ham today is in homage to my ex MIL.  

These days a lot P & H are made with frozen peas but she did it the traditional way, and in my opinion the best way, with split peas and there was always a packet in her store cupboard as there now is in mine. 

The ingredients needed to make Pea and Ham Soup are:

2 tablespoons of butter

1 onion diced

2 ribs of celery diced 

2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced or minced through a garlic press

4 rashes of  smoked bacon diced or a packet of lardons

1 bay leaf

1 packet [250g] of dried split peas

2 pints of chicken/vegetable stock 

leftover gammon/ham diced into small cubes

salt & ground black pepper

Crème Fraiche [optional]

She would start off by soaking the peas over night to bring them up to their full plumpness, but if short on time they were added directly to the soup but the soup will then require extra cooking time. 

In a large soup pan add the butter, diced onion, celery, garlic and bacon and cook slowly until the onions are translucent but, not brown as that will add a bitter taste to the soup.  It will probably take 5-6 minutes. 

Whilst the onions etc... are cooking drain off the peas if soaked overnight and rinse thoroughly.

Add the peas, left over gammon/ham, bay leaf and stock and stir to combine. Now simmer slowly until the peas are tender and the soup thickened. This will take about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes if you have added the split peas directly to the soup instead of soaking overnight. 

Remove the bay leaf and season with salt & black pepper before serving. 

This is where I  differ from my MIL's recipe  as I like a smoother soup and therefore use my stick blender to blend the soup but just enough that you can still see whole peas and cubes of ham. Now my ex MIL being a good northern  lass would not of held with adding  a swirl of crème fraiche when serving but I do as I think it adds to the taste but that is personal choice and therefore optional.  Neither was she a baker of bread, she lived next door to a convenience store and would not of thought of making her own bread when she could purchase a loaf right on her own door step. Although she was known for keeping some of the part baked baguettes in her freezer for emergencies, again a practice I also follow. 

Is there a particular recipe a relative made that has influenced your cooking and  is something you now make?

Mx

You can find all my other soup recipe's here

September round up

 Norman & Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're fifteen. But when Jax dies before they turn twelve, Norman decides a tribute act for his best friend just can't wait, so he rewrites their plan 

-Look after Mum

- Find Dad

- Get to the Edinburgh Fringe

Sadie knows she won't win Mother of the year and she's not proud she doesn't know who her son's father is. But when she finds Norman's list, all she wants is to see her son smile again... So they set off on a pilgrimage to Edinburgh, making a few stops to find Norman's dad along the way.

👦

Not my normal genre of book but when a work colleague left it on my desk with a post it that said you must read this, how could I refuse.  The story of Norman's journey to get to the Edinburgh Fringe and potentially find out who is his father is, is both uplifting and a little sad.  It touched the subject of loss very well and there were times when you couldn't help but  laugh out loud.  Definitely a good holiday read ⭐⭐⭐⭐

West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there’s something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.

Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family – and she should know.

Following on from The Familiars and The Foundling, Mrs England is Stacey Halls third novel and in my opinion her best yet it keeps your attention from the start and definitely worth adding to your reading list ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚

Now we turn to what I have been watching on the old telly box.  At the beginning of the summer a work colleague suggested This is Us.  It is only shown on Prime video and runs over 6 seasons with each season containing 18 episodes.  Now you know why it's taken all summer as that's a lot of episodes. Essentially the story is around a family who suffer loss, finds love and everything in between.  In season one you meet Jack and Rebecca a young couple starting on life's journey.  They find out they are expecting triplets which is when life throws them their fist blow.  Over the six seasons you get to know the Pearson family and watch the kids grow from children to adults with a lot of flash backs in between.  I wasn't sure how it would keep my interest over six seasons with so many episodes to each one but I can assure you it does and I can honestly say there are not many programs that I will binge watch but this was definitely one I would and did.   Now the nights are drawing in and autumn is upon us I would definitely recommend snuggling down and enjoy spending the season with the Pearson family. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adrian Dunbar stars in this new series screened over four episodes. Dunbar plays a retired detective who's wife and daughter have died in tragic circumstances.  Ridley is coaxed out of retirement to help with the more complex cases on a consultancy basis.  A long with the storyline's you get to know Ridley as the man and about his family and how he is trying to come to terms with his loss.  The man who confessed to killing his wife & daughter is serving life in prison.  Ridley has never been comfortable that his informant had betrayed him in such a way but as the man had confessed nobody else is looked at for committing the crime that is until another murder is committed and evidence found to the contrary. 

I wouldn't say Adrian Dunbar is my favorite of actors I wasn't that keen on him in Line of Duty, I find him a bit wooden but as a series Ridley was very good and I would definitely recommend a watch on ITV Hub ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Aidan Turner [of Poldark fame, swoon as the picture of a shirtless AT in a field of wheat springs to mind] stars in this drama/thriller and it is a far departure from his Poldark days. Dr Joseph O'Loughlin is a clinical psychologist played by Aidan Turner, he is convinced that one of his patients is responsible for a women's murder but as he tries to prove this the police begin to think that he may be the murderer and trying to deflect his guilt onto someone else. 

It was a bit of a slow burner for me at the start but as the story unfolds it also begins to pick up a pace.

Definitely worth a watch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So that's my September round up and I hope you are all keeping safe & well

Mx

Souptember: Bacon & Lentil soup

 

I have said it before and I will say it again Autumn is just one of my most favorite times of the year. Mainly because when September arrives so does Souptember.  The weather so far has been very favorable here in the Shire but as the nights start to draw in and you get that chill in the air once the sun has gone to bed there is nothing better than a heart warming soup to get you right. We are big soup eaters in our family, especially when my children were younger and if they were poorly they would always ask for mum's homemade soup.  

One of our favorites is Bacon & Lentil and yes you can get it in a can made by one or two very famous companies but there is nothing better than making your own.  Bacon & Lentil is one of the quicker soups to make and can be ready and steaming hot and ready to serve within  20-30 minutes start to finish depending on how quick you chop your veg or if like me I start and make up soup bags when I am doing the Sunday veg by chopping up a little extra veg for a soup and put them in the freezer so that I can just grab them when needed, this of course will add a little extra time to your cooking time but takes about the same amount of time as it would if you were chopping from fresh. 

The other reason for liking soups is most of the time what is required to make it is sitting in the veg draw of your fridge and soups are especially good for using up veg that won't last too much longer. 

If you would like to try something a little different then you will need

1 Tbsp of butter or oil

4 rashes of smoked bacon or a pack of smoked lardons

1 onion finely chopped

1 red pepper finely chopped

2 litres chicken or vegetable stock

1 small sweet potato peeled and finely diced

1 carrot finely diced

1 stick of celery finely chopped

1 garlic clove

200g of red lentils

1 Tbsp of crème fraiche [optional]

 

• Heat the butter or oil in a large saucepan. Add the bacon, onion, red pepper, celery and carrot. Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.
• Add the sweet potato, garlic and lentils to the bacon and vegetables. Stir for a minute, then pour over the stock.
• Season with salt & pepper. Return to the boil then turn down to a medium heat, cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until the red lentils are tender.
• Blend using a stick blender or processor.
• Add the crème fraiche

 

Serve with crusty bread

This soup is great for freezing and makes great grab and go meals for work as by the time lunchtime arrives your soup will have defrosted and all you will need to do is have access to a  microwave to warm it through. If you don't have access to a microwave at work but you do at home take it out of the freezer the night before as it lends itself to a quick and easy to warm through and put in a flask to keep it warm until you are ready. My dad was a long distance lorry driver and his flask went all over the country with him and if your other half is a keen fisherman soups are always ideal to take with them to keep warm whilst waiting for a bite.  If bacon & Lentil is not to your taste you can also find my other soup favorites here.

Mx

Goodnight Ma'am and thank you for your service

 

For most of us Queen Elizabeth II was the only monarch we have ever known she was our constant and I think most of us thought she was invincible. On Thursday 8th September we came to the realisation that sadly she was no super human after all.  For Charles now our King it has been the day he has been dreading not only because it meant taking on that top job but also meant that intaking on this new role it would mean the loss of his beloved mama. 

The images across our screens  of our Queens last journey I think will stay with us for ever and I do wonder what the Queen herself would think of it all. 

The images of her children especially Princess Anne who is every inch her mothers daughter looking so bereft at Holyrood. For most of us when we loose a loved one we can greave in private but for our royal family every inch of their lives is under the glare of the public eye but they have shown such stoicism and dignity throughout the period of national morning. 

Like the majority of the nation we sat and watched the Queens funeral from 9am on Monday 19th September only moving to make a cup of tea or provisions for lunch when the opportunity arose. The sound of the loan piper will stay with me for the rest of my lifetime.  

The flowers reportedly selected by the King from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove containing rosemary for remembrance and myrtle a symbol of love picked from a bush that was originally a sprig from the late Queens wedding bouquet and a very fitting tribute from the family.

Rest well your majesty and thank you for all that you have done. 

Mx

Hampers Part one

 

I have long been a follower of the author Amanda Prowse.  She always comes across as a very genuine person and very down to earth.  Occasionally she will make up one of these hampers as a giveaway which I think is a really lovely idea. So much so that I'm afraid I pinched her idea as Christmas gifts for my girls. I did tell Amanda and showed her  the results and she was very pleased that such a simple idea will encourage others. With this in mind I  thought I would share with you what I did for my girls for Christmas 2021. 

It began with finding hamper baskets that were a reasonable size and a reasonable price. It soon became apparent that those you find in hobby stores are way too small and way too expensive. Those on internet sites don't always give the size of the basket they just say large and if you message the seller to ask how big they are they generally come back with large....  I then happened to go past a charity shop in our local town and there sitting in the window was a hamper basket £10 and of course it had take me home written all over it.  After that trawling around the local charity shops looking for hamper baskets became a new pass time.  This did at one point become a new obsession as I ended up with more hampers than I actually needed each one costing around £10-£12, but never fear the extra's have been put to good use and hold a lot of yarn, fabric and even Christmas decorations.  

The baskets measured approximately 20 x 10 inches which I thought was a really good size for what I wanted, and don't be put off if you find one and it no longer has it's straps as you can purchase these from Amazon as well as other internet retailers for around £5 a pair. 

Now you don't have to make a lining for them but as my new learnt skill was using a sewing machine and I still needed all the practice I could get making a lining for the baskets was a good way of getting some more sewing time and pushed me to learn something new. 

Now for the fun part

Picking the items for your basket.  I knew I wanted to give them a copy of the The Boy, The Mole. The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy as it is such a lovely book and as neither of my girls are big readers I wanted something that was more an open at any page and find a beautiful drawing and verse and this book provided both of those things. I also discovered the book Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury a beautifully written book and illustrations of friendship and hope so obviously that one had to be added.  From there I visited The Works and found a diary and mindfulness journals, as both the girls are journal writers. For my daughter I added her favorite hand lotions and candles and finished off with some foody treats and a winnie the poo mug full of chocolates and for my daughter in law foody treats which included a musical tin of biscuits with a Christmas scene and a gnome mug that has Mumma Gnome on the front and I filled it with chocolates and wrapped both  the mugs in cellophane. 

I knew I wasn't going to be able to wrap the baskets and I knew they wouldn't fit within cellophane wrapping so I decided upon some Christmas themed ribbon and a rather large bow and Scandinavian patterned bells which from memory were also from The Works but any bells or decoration would finish them off beautifully.

In fact at this point I was waiting on a new set of straps for my daughters hamper and they did also have a home made Christmas decoration added to the handle by the time we had our Christmas get together. 

All in all I think the hampers cost around £40-£50 to put together and the most expensive part was the basket but at £10 each I considered them to be a bargain and both the girls have gone on to put them to use within their homes so they have been repurposed and not sitting collecting dust in the attic. 

I chose to make the girls book hampers but to be honest you could use all sorts of items and not just for Christmas, one lady from the crafting group made a pamper basket for her daughter who was due to have a baby.  Another lady made a baby shower gift for a friend. Another made up a date night hamper for her son and his wife who had recently had a new baby so staying in was the new norm. To be honest the possibilities are endless with just a touch of imagination and I have to say that they both commented on what a fabulous gift. Which is lovely the only trouble is how do I match it again this year. Any ideas gratefully received😏

Mx

So many projects so little time

 

Over the summer I have really tried to complete some of my on going projects but yet the pile continues to grow.   My mother was a superb machinist and I know I have said this before but she was only 4ft 10 inches tall and in the 50's we didn't have stores that catered for the smaller person but that didn't stop my mother oh no.  She made herself suits and dresses all in the latest styles and for every box jacket suit she made there was always a matching handbag and shoes, I know this as there were boxes full of them when we cleared her house out back in 1990.  Machine sewing was the one thing that had always eluded me until we got to lock down and after borrowing a machine from a friend to do my bit and make scrubs bags I was hooked.  Since then I have gone from strength to strength but I still hadn't had ago at making myself anything.  Around the same time my daughter decided she wanted to learn how to make herself clothes but obviously with lockdown we were not able to be together, but she would show me all the beautiful things she had made for herself and I would show her my latest cushion cover 😀  anyway I finally decided I would take the bull by the horn and have ago at something reasonably simple.

I chose the  Tilly & Button Cleo pinafore dress  and I fell in love with this pattern from the start.  It has really clear instructions and I was able to trace the pattern so that I could preserve the original pattern. It also means if I want to make a smaller or bigger size then I can just trace the pattern again to the size that I want. 

Over the summer I made two of these pinafores one in denim and one in velvet neither of which I had sewn with before.  They are so comfortable to wear and as patterns are not cheap to buy I like to feel I am getting my monies worth and to that end  I have already brought more fabric to make myself some more for over the autumn/winter months as they will look great with my big woolly tights and my boots.

At the beginning of the summer we said goodbye to one of my work colleagues who had always admired my crafting especially anything to do with crochet as she was learning herself.  I wanted to make her something that would remind her of her time with us every time she looks at it and then I remembered I had the machine embroidery pattern for a reading pillow which also covers both her crochet and reading hobbies.  The pattern is from Memories in Thread and stitches out beautifully. 

August also saw my little grandson turn four, I mean how can he be four years old already? Any one with a small child will know how important Paw Patrol is in a small boys life.  In fact he is pretty much obsessed with anything Paw Patrol related.  Always one for promoting reading in the young I knew just the gift for this young man and together with Paw Patrol books to pop in side it made the perfect gift and I am told he uses it every night for his bedtime story, although his parents do insist it's sometimes a good idea to pick another bed time story other than one involving, Rocky, Chase or Marshall (ok I confess that's the only names I know of the characters😊)

Also over the summer friends of mine showed me the merits of charity shop finds.  We had, had a conversation where upon I said I would love to try my hand at machine embroidery onto clothes, but as I still class myself as a relative newby to this hobby I didn't want to spend a small fortune on an item of clothing only for it to all go badly wrong.  Oh you need a charity shop day said a friend. I had given to charity shops many times but must confess it had been a rarity that I would have the time to actually look in them to buy anything unless I spotted something in passing the shop door. 

A day was arranged and after a hearty breakfast to get us started  I not only found a denim jacket that now adorns a beautiful dragon machine embroidery pattern from Urban Threads  but also a denim shirt which now adorns one of my favorite flowers and also bees. 

I have to confess that charity shop hunting has now become a new thing and I might just have picked up two more denim jackets that are now waiting patiently to be upcycled. 

At the beginning of the summer my niece had a baby girl and of course where there is a new baby coming there has to be a baby blanket doesn't there.  I was recently asked how many baby blankets have I made for family, friends and work colleagues and I have to confess I have lost count but I know I have a thank you card or  photograph of most of them on my thank you wall with the new arrival insitu.  

Someone in the office did suggest that when I come to retire that all those I have made baby blankets for over the years should bring their now not so small child into work with their blanket and get a photograph of them all together.  Sounds like a fabulous idea but people do move on and whether we could all get together to pull off such a project would be another thing but I have a few years yet in which to work out the logistics. 

One thing I have failed at this year was my sock challenge.  In 2017 I set myself a challenge to make a pair of sock each month for the 12 months and I really enjoyed doing it at that time, so much so I decided to do it again this year.  I was keep up with it until covid came to our door and I just found for weeks afterwards that I just didn't have the energy to pick up my needles when I got home from work.  This was the pair that I had started in April that did finally get completed in around June.  I have however subsequently cast on another pair with one down and one to go so I am finally getting my knitting mojo back again.

And my final project this summer was to make a retirement cake for a surprise get together for a friend who has just retired from the NHS after 30+ years.  She is my long suffering partner in crime at all things crafty and we have been referred to as Thelma and Louise by our other halves when we set off for our next road trip. She didn't want a big fuss but we couldn't let her go without doing something so another colleague invited her around for lunch under the auspices that they hadn't seen each other before she officially retired and guess who was there when she arrived😀and a great afternoon was had by all🎈🎈🎈  There is a slight back story to this cake as the week before the get together I had been in Cornwall visiting a friend and her dad who at 95 has not been very well of late.  This particular friend is a superb baker so much so that she made my wedding cake nearly 40 years ago. Thankfully the friendship has lasted longer than the marriage did.   She knows I can bake a cake but I know my limitations when it comes to decorating one.  The cake was therefore a joint effort of my baking and her decorating skills.  I think what made it taste as good as it did was the Cornish free range eggs courtesy of the GP who lives next door and good old Cornish butter.  Nobody could believe that the cake had travelled for 8 hours in searing heat all the way back from Cornwall up to the East Midlands and survived. 

As we are now approaching Autumn and hunker down time I had a good tidy up of my sewing room and a look through all my on going projects.  I am not going to confess just how many there are but you will get to know as I share the completed projects here in my little blog space. It's going to be a busy time a head is all I am going to say😍

Mx

Crème Caramel from Mum's Kitchen

A few years ago now my son suggested that I make a recipe book for his partner of all the things I used to make when he and his siblings were growing up.  I was a little apprehensive as I thought she might think I didn't think she could cook.  This was not the case at all and when I presented her with her gift at Christmas she was thrilled with it and has continued to add her own favorites as well as other recipes from her own family.  Then during lockdown I was talking to my daughter who was looking for a desert for their stay at home special occasion meal and we came up with Crème Caramel. The meal  was a great success after which  she suggested I set up a family face book page for the family and add recipe's to it something that her and the rest of family can all refer to hopefully long after I am gone. We decided to call it Mum's Kitchen and we all add recipes and photographs of the things we make,  

Some might think that Crème Caramel was a bit old hat and it was something I hadn't  made  for such along time but when I did as it was still as delicious as I remembered and far better than those little ones in plastic pots in the supermarket.  

If you would like to have ago yourself you will need a few things from your Nigella under the stairs cupboard.

Ingredients

For the caramel · 160g/6oz sugar · unsalted butter, for greasing the ramekins

For the custard · 4 free-range eggs · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 30g/1oz caster sugar · 500ml full-fat milk

     

In addition you will need 4 small ramakin dishes or jelly moulds

Method

1. Pre-heat oven 150C/300F/Gas 2. Warm the ramekins in the oven, so they are warm when the caramel is poured in.

2. First make the caramel. Pour the sugar and six tablespoons of water into a clean stainless steel pan.

3. Dissolve the sugar slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon over a low heat.

4. When there are no sugar granules left, stop stirring and boil until the sugar turns a dark copper colour.

5. Remove immediately from the heat to ensure the caramel does not burn. Quickly pour the caramel into the warmed ramekins.

6. Set aside to cool and become hard. (Do not put in the fridge because the sugar will absorb moisture and go soft and tacky).

7. Once hard, butter the sides of the ramekins above the level of the caramel.

8. For the custard, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and caster sugar together in a bowl until well mixed.

9. Pour the milk into a saucepan, gently heat over a low heat until you can still just dip your finger in for a moment, then strain the milk through a fine sieve onto the egg mixture in the bowl.

10. Whisk together until smooth, then pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins.

11. Stand the ramekins in a roasting tin and fill within 1cm of the ramekins with boiling water from a kettle.

12. Cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the custard has set. Do not overcook the custard – check around the edges of the dishes, to make sure no bubbles are appearing.

13. Take the crème caramels out of the oven, remove the ramekins from the tray and set on a cooling rack. When cool, transfer to the fridge overnight so that the caramel is absorbed into the custard.

14. To serve, loosen the sides of the custard by lightly pressing the custard away from the side of the ramekin and loosen. Place a serving dish on top of the ramekin and turn upside down. Lightly shake once to loosen the crème caramel out of the ramekin and onto the plate.

Serve with cream or on it’s own.

💗

I hope you will enjoy making it as much as we did, and if you did maybe you could start your own family recipe page a project for winter months.

Mx

Summer book fest

 

Yet again time just seems to have gotten away from me over the summer and here we are about to enter into the autumn months of 2022.

Over the summer months I have had a bit of a book fest, well there's nothing nicer than sitting in the sunshine with a good book is there. So what have I been reading during my absence. 

The Seagull -Vera Stanhope series book 8

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy former detective superintendent and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper and Vera played a part in his downfall. 

Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body is buried close to St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officer find not one  skeleton but two.

This cold case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known as the 'Prof', were close friends with Hector, her father. Together, they were known as 'The Gang of Four', and Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as the past begins to collide dangerously with the present. 

I have now finally completed all nine of the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves and I am eagerly awaiting the release of the tenth book in the series in September. Whilst the Shetland series is very different to the books by Ann Cleeves, the Vera Stanhope series has for the most part stayed true to the books so it will be interesting to see if the books and the series going forward do the same. Would I recommend - definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Long Call - Two Rivers Series Book 1 - Ann Cleeves

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too.

Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers Region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.

A body has been found on the beach near Matthew's new home; a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death. 

Finding the killer is Venn's only focus, and his team's investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind, and the deadly secrets that lurk there. 

The Heron's Cry - Two Rivers Series Book 2 - Ann Cleeves

North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coast -line. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists, what he finds is an elaborately staged murder - Dr Nigel yeo has been fatally stabbed. His daughter Eve is a glassblower, and the murder weapon is a shard of one of her broken vases. 

Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He's a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew us unnerved though to find that Eve is a  close friend of Jonathan. his husband. 

Then another body is found - killed in a similar way. Matthew finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home. 

 

I am an Ann Cleeves fan and her latest novels The Two Rivers series is the new storyline  and follows the life of DI Matthew Venn and his husband Jonathan.  Long Call has been made into a drama series on ITV and so far the series is staying more or less true to the books so it will be interesting to see how this goes going forward. Would I recommend this new series of books - definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Wedding Dress - Dani Atkins

Suzanne is engaged to be married to the man of her dreams - except the lead up to her wedding is beginning to feel more like a nightmare. Can Suzanne uncover the truth about her fiancé ahead of her big day?

Bella's life was on track until the day of the hen party when everything changed. Now she must find the strength to rebuild her future - and decide who she wants to spend it with. 

Mandy's grandmother has fallen in love but her family don't approve.  For her grandmother's dreams to come true, Mandy has a secret wedding plan, and a very special dress to find. 

These are the three strangers who stories are about to be woven together by one perfect wedding dress. 

I have been a fan of Dani Atkins books right from the beginning The Wedding Dress didn't get the best of reviews as there were those that said it was more a book of three short stories rather than her usual style of writing.  In fact I think what was missed about this particular offering from Dani Atkins is that the story is that of the wedding dress and not about the three central characters to the book.  I thought it was very well written and would definitely recommend. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Six Days - Dani Atkins

Gemma knows that she and Finn are destined to be together. They are soulmates. But then, on their wedding day, he never arrives at the church. 

Gemma is convinced Finn wouldn't abandon her like this, even though he has disappeared once before. But back then he had a reason. She feels sure something terrible has happened, but no one else is convinced. Even the police aren't concerned, telling Gemma most people who disappear usually turn up in a week ... assuming they want to be found that is. 

For the next six day Gemma frantically searches for Finn, even though every shocking revelation is telling her to give up on him. Before long, even she begins to doubt her own memories of their love. 

How long can she hold onto her faith in Finn if everyone is telling her to let him go?

Six days is the latest novel from Dani Atkins and I can honestly say there are not many books that make me want to cheat and look at the last page to see how it all turned out before I get to the end but this one was such a page turner that I stayed up way too late reading as I just couldn't leave the story not knowing what was going to happen next.  Definitely worth a read in my opinion. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Betrayals - Bridgett Collins

Two young men, Leo and Carfax, close friends and fierce rivals. A family ripped apart by madness and tragedy. One women, her life built upon a lie, with a mysterious connection to them all. 

Set within what appears to be boarding school/university in France the story unfolds through exerts from a diary written by Leo twenty years ago.  Leo is now back his former academic institution as a disgraced politician seeking sanctuary.  Claire is the only women to of ever achieved the status of Magister Ludi and the most revered teacher of the Grand Jeu. 

Bridgett Collins is well known for her teenage and young adult books and has just entered into the world of adult fiction.  I must admit I was left a little confused by the style of writing and maybe that's because I am in my sixtieth year and can't quite get in touch with my TYA brain anymore.  The storyline felt a little disjointed to me but that is only my opinion others may well think differently. Would I recommend to others?  Only if I was certain they liked this style of writing otherwise probably not.  ⭐⭐⭐

The Other People - C.J. Tudor

Driving home one night, Gabe sees the face of a little girl who he knows in the rear window of the car in front. She mouths one word 'Daddy'

He never sees his five year old daughter, Izzy again. 

The police believe she's dead. But three years later, Gabe still drives the roads, searching for the car that took Izzy, never giving up hope. 

Fran and her daughter, Alice, aren't searching - but running. Always one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them. 

Because Fran knows the truth about Gabe's daughter and she knows what those chasing her and Alive will do if they ever catch them. 

I had this book sitting in my to be read pile for over a year and I would occasionally pick up read the back cover and move onto something else that is until I had no other books on the pile to read.  I can't say it was the best book saved till last but was certainly a good psychological thriller and a very interesting storyline. Would I recommend to read - yes if you like a good psychological thriller. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well that has been my summer reads. What have you been reading over the summer months?

Mx