Kitchen Creations!

I have cooked so much over the past few weeks - and eaten some delicious food cooked by other people - that I haven't been able to blog about each recipe individually.  Here are some highlights.

Chocolate Brazil Nut Cake

From my favourite baking book, this is an amazing recipe.  It's flourless, with ground brazil nuts replacing the flour, and made with whipped egg whites.  It's as light as a feather more like a giant squidgy chocolate brownie than a cake (in fact you could bake it in a square tin and cut it up into brownies). 

Lemon Drizzle Cake

This one is a BBC Good Food recipe, and it's an absolute classic.  Unbelievably easy to make (especially if you have an electric whisk), it's deliciously fresh and zingy-tasting and really moist from the lemon and sugar syrup.  It keeps well too because of the syrup.  I've made this several times, twice for Alastair and once for the office and it's been received rapturously every time.

Vanilla Slices

Another BBC Good Food recipe.  Divinely decadent, especially the sweet almond-flaked pastry - and ignore what the recipe says, it's not tricky at all.  I used half of the custard mixture to make slices and the other half to make little ramekins of stewed rhubarb topped with custard.  Rhubarb and custard - a match made in heaven!

Cream Slices

A variation!  Pastry made as above, with jam and whipped cream sweetened with icing sugar and vanilla essence (Chantilly cream to use its proper name) in the middle. 

Pavlova

My fan oven is very fierce, and I'd never made a decent meringue prior to some serious practice the other weekend - I always cooked the meringue for the length of time and at the temperature it said in the recipe, and the outside would brown but the inside remained foamy (yuk).  I finally conquered my culinary nemisis the other weekend by cooking the beastie for about twice as long as it said in the recipe (with a tin-foil hat on from when it started to brown) on the very lowest heat, and letting it dry out in the oven overnight.  It went all crispy on the outside and toffee-y in the middle - bliss.  And, even better I picked up a tip from my favourite baking book that means I never actually need to use a recipe for meringue ever again - all you do is weigh your egg whites and use exactly the same amount of caster sugar!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

I made this for a friend and never even tasted it - how's that for willpower (although it wouldn't have been quite as good a gift with a slice taken out!).

Focaccia

I have ventured into the world of bread-making!  I'd never baked with yeast before - if you haven't either then flatbreads are the place to start, as you don't need to worry about it rising.  I made this for Alastair and it was absolutely delicious (from The Book).

And finally...I have to show you this.

Not pretty, but man did it taste good!  I did a beast of a run on Sunday morning and rewarded myself with this - it was divine!  Pancake recipe from The Book - I need to practice my pancake presentation skills.  It'll be a hardship....

On the subject of food cooked by other people, I have to tell you about an amazing meal I had a couple of weekends ago.  I went to see my godson William and his mummy and daddy over in Manchester.  Sarah is a brilliant cook and created us the most incredible Moroccan feast on Saturday night.  The first course was green lentil soup which was spicy and delicious and which was served with wedges of fresh lime which lifted the whole dish and really made all the flavours zing.  The main course was lamb and olive tagine which was rich, slightly and perfectly salty from the olives and preserved lemons, cous cous and a delicious sticky-sweet aubergine jam.  The absolute highlight was the pudding though - M'hanncha or The Snake as we called it, it was basically a long sausage of home-made marzipan flavoured with rose-water and cinammon, wrapped in filo pastry and coiled in a circle.  It is traditionally placed in the middle of the table so that the diners can help themselves.  Which we did, many many times!  It was one of the most delicious desserts I've ever tasted, and I'm currently officially obsessed with Moroccan food.  All the recipes were from this book which went straight on my Amazon wish list!

Maintenance Week Seventeen

Not much to report this week.  Immediate post-lunch weigh-in on Thursday was 8st 13lbs, not sure what the BMI was as I've lost the print-out, and the body fat percentage was about 25%.  Much as I'd like to think that the extra two pounds is pure muscle from strength training, I think it's more likely to be due to going to my friend's house on Wednesday after work and eating my entire weekly points in one evening! 

Excercise has been great, cycling to work, a 10k run on Saturday (still grinning at the thought!) and a good circuit training session on Thursday evening.  I have also discovered that kneading bread is a good total-body workout!  It's a grey, drizzly day today so a rest day exercise-wise (apart from the afore-mentioned kneading of bread!), which I need before my weekly run tomorrow.  My mood today matches the grey, drizzly day - I'm tired and grizzly - so I'm off to do what everyone should do when they're feeling tired and grizzly...bake a cake!  Immediate happiness! 

Maintenance Week Erm...

...sixteen I think!  I've got a bit behind with  blogging, hence the sudden rash of catch-up posts.  So what I have got to report from the world of eating and exercising?  Not much to report as far as weighing-in goes.  8st 11lbs since my last post, which is great.  BMI has been around 21, body fat percentage has varied between 19.5% and 28.7% (!). 

Exercising has fallen into a nice pattern, cycling to work every day, using one or more rides for interval training, strength training once a week and running once a week.  I'm really loving my strength training and feeling really fit and strong.  I'm noticing a change in the way I look and feel too.  My tummy still has a little insulating layer (necessary in the cold North-East!) but underneath is hard muscle - the first time I poked myself and felt it I didn't realise what it was for a minute!  I also think that in certain lights and with a following wind I'm getting a bit of a six pack.  You may have to wait some time for a photo of me in a bikini though, given the fact that my summer holiday this year is going to be in Wales. 

Running...running is exciting at the moment!  I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I've become a runner, and it's so exciting!  I used to run a bit, and ran the Race for Life every year for six years, but then I put a load of weight back on, and got "promoted" to a job I hated and was just exhausted and miserable most of the time, and I also had a lot of knee issues so I really thought my running days were over.  But then I lost two stone, and one sunny Winter's day I fancied going out for a bit of a run, and ran/walked about a mile and a half followed by a hot shower, a cup of frothy coffee, half a banana and a chocolate biscuit which were just the most wonderful things ever.  So I went out again the next week...and again...and again...and then I started to get twitchy if I hadn't run for more then a week...and then I started talking about running at every opportunity to my friend Nikki (who's also been bitten by the bug.)...and then I started reading Women's Running...and then I signed up for the Women's Running 10k in Nottingham in July...and then yesterday I went out and ran 10k! 

It's the furthest I've ever run and it feels amazing!  I keep remembering and grinning to myself...it was a good run too.  65 minutes, at an average pace of 10mins 35secs per mile (I'd tell you my splits but that might be TMI for non-runners!).  The best thing of all was that, although I was glad to finish (but at the same time immediately regretful it was over...wierd lot runners!), I didn't feel totally exhausted and unable to carry on...in fact I'm already wondering what my next distance target is going to be!  Although for the moment it's back to the 10k training plan to work on speed, as I'm hoping to run the race in under an hour.  Watch this space!

Sunshine!

I haven't blogged about the garden much recently - largely because's nothing's been happening in it!  It's been so cold and miserable that all I've done apart from a a bit of tidying and weeding, is pot on some peas that Dad gave me and sow some courgette seeds (which I don't think will germinate, as I put them in the cold-frame, and then the next day the temperature went down to 7 degrees). 

I snapped some non-sunny photos the other morning to show what was going on in the front garden.

Given all the greyness and coldness and general lack of garden activity it was a big surprise when me, my camera and some sunshine found themselves in the garden at the same time this morning.  I grew these Colour-magic Geraniums from seed last year.  I was thrilled this morning to notice for the first time that they were being magic - purple and white flowers on the same plant!

The granny-bonnets are back.

And in the front garden we have apple-blossom...

...the first strawberry flower...

...alliums...

...and clematis montana.

Some people watched the sunshine from inside!

Maintenance Week Twelve

I'm a week behind myself, so I'm writing about week beginning Thursday 25th April, which is Maintenance Week Twelve, which means I have maintained my weight for three months!  I am chuffed. 

Apart from that it's been a quiet week.  I did a brilliant circuit training session on Thursday, I was in the mood to really go for it, and I felt absolutely exhilarated afterwards.  I'm becoming addicted to circuit training, and I like the way you can push yourself hard or take it easy depending on what you feel like.  I've got to be careful to keep off my knees though, as I can testify that they're still protesting a bit two weeks later!  My kindly circuit training teacher designs a special "no knees" circuit for me when necessary which is great. 

Alastair and I did a lovely walk on Saturday by way of celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary, and went out for lunch the following day too.  We also had a lovely meal with Mum and Dad on Tuesday night.  I cooked Moroccan Lamb Tagine and served it with cous cous, and it was absolutely delicious.  For pudding I made a rhubarb strudel with rhubarb from the garden, and we had much wine too!  In spite of that I fitted in a good run on Wednesday - 7k!  I am wondering if a hangover is a little-known performance-enhancing factor for runners?!

Anyway, after all the meals out and wine I was surprised to weigh in at 8st 11lbs on Thursday 2nd May, as I'd eaten all my daily and a lot of my weekly points and hadn't been trying to lose weight (possibly the first and only time in history that this will happen - I want to savour the moment!).  BMI 20.9, body fat percentage 25%.  I have to try and eat all my daily, weekly and activity points next week - looking forward to that!

Cauldron Snout Ninth Anniversary Walk

Spring in the Front Garden and King Rhubarb's First Crop

It's Spring!  I haven't blogged about the garden for months and months and months, due to the fact that it has mainly been a) snowing and b) bloody freezing, but all of a sudden Spring has crept in.  I can tell, because I took my coat off in the garden for the first time this year yesterday.  I was easing myself gently back into gardening by weeding and tidying the front garden.

Before...

After...

King Rhubarb also surprised us by emerging from the snow almost ready to crop.  Obligingly,  he produced a stunning first crop just in time for my parents visiting last week.

He made a rather tasty rhubarb strudel (my own recipe, dead easy, all you need is rhubarb, ginger if you like, breadcrumbs, ready-made puff pastry and icing sugar).

Maintenance Week Eleven

Well, Maintenance Week Eleven was very exciting...Jules and I went to Center Parcs.  It was ages since we'd seen each other and we were both just dying for a break.  The week before went UNBELIEVABLY slowly, but at last I caught the train down to Peterborough and Jules came and picked me up.  I'd never been to Center Parcs before and didn't know if I would like it, but I absolutely adored it!  We went on a quiet week, just after the Easter holidays, and I can imagine it would be a bit more hectic if you went in August, but in spite of the fact that there were lots of people about and tons to do there were woods, lakes, wildlife and lovely open spaces, and it felt very tranquil.

Of course it wasn't all tranquil...we had so much fun playing in The Dome, and went on The Cyclone three times!  We also zipped around the site on bikes, basked in the sunshine on the lake whilst pedalling energetically in a pedallo (that was hard work!), went on two runs...and an Aerial Adventure!

It was scary but brilliant!  We felt compelled to sit quietly by the lake and eat ice-cream for some time afterwards.  And of course, it wouldn't have been one of mine and Jules' weekends away without some seriously good food.  We started as we meant to go on, with a seriously good lunch at a pub near the Center Parcs - highly recommended, with seriously good hearty British food and very friendly service.  I had venison and cranberry suet pudding...it was amazing.  The food at Center Parcs was also amazing.  There was a huge choice of cafes and restaurants serving a wide variety of foods, from American diner food to an exceptionally high quality Indian restaurant which served us probably the freshest, tastiest and most delicious Indian meal I've ever had.  There were also some total indulgences like gorgeous pancakes, pizza, Doritos and dip and chocolate brownies (most definitely in the plural) which were just fantastic.

I was more than surprised when, on returning to earth and Durham after our fantastic break, that I weighed in at 8st 12lbs, BMI 21.5, body fat percentage 26.1%.  Result - and what a fantastic weekend.