When I came down to breakfast this morning it was snowing; the roofs and garden were white and it was drifting down quite heavily. By the time I'd finished breakfast, emails, checked my to-do list and written a couple of birthday cards the sun was shining and all the white stuff had disappeared! Feeling so much chirpier now!
I was just in the mood for baking and what could be better than Hot Cross Buns? As I was happily kneading away I spotted out of the widow a female blackbird collecting swathes of dried grasses for nest building, joined briefly by our resident robin. Drat! I couldn't un-dough my hands quickly enough to get a photo, but I did catch the resident squirrel making his way down the beech tree, across the garden and up and away over the garage roof.
On the Home Organisation Front, my new board is now in situ by the kitchen door, and is proving very handy, not least in sorting the freezer contents out.
Regular bread making is proving (oh come ON!) to be quite addictive, both in the doing and the eating! I'm enjoying ringing the changes with various flours and extras. This loaf is one of a pair I made with Einkorn flour - a bit like spelt, just as 'ancient', and tasty. I've thrown in a good handful of linseed and other ground seeds which have given it a wonderful colour and flavour.
We had the last of the freezer faggots - recipe care of Dc at Frugal in Norfolk - yesterday for dinner. They are so tasty, I shall certainly be making these again.
Right, back to the Hot Cross Buns. Erm ....... - well, I had no candied peel so I chopped some dried apricots very small, raisins I had, but no sultanas so I finely chopped some stoned dates (they were SO chilled out .......) and er ....I didn't have any milk powder so they were made with water not milk. And to be honest, as they are for private consumption only, I couldn't be faffed making the pastry crosses. So all in all, they turned out to be ..... just Hot Buns (now there's an image to conjure with!) and blummim' gorgeous they are too.
Yes, they look more like scones, don't they, but they are definitely dough-ey. After lunch we both spent half an hour or so Jim at his fly-tying desk and me sorting my photos out. (oh the joys of retirement)
Next I popped into my sewing room and picked out the fabrics for my jacket. Some are from my friend Magie (one G) at The African Fabric Shop, and some I remember buying at a market stall in Caen on our way to the ferry home. Must be 12 years ago, blimey! Others I have picked up at various quilt fairs over the years. I need to crack on and get started arranging the pieces onto the jacket.
Now we are both pottering about doing what we do, and what needs to be done. The sun is shining and the day has a contented feel about itself. How have you spent Good Friday?
