Bear With Me

There is something quite magical about being the person who brings the birthday cake. Mr TLC’s younger GrandKitten’s midweek birthday did mean that baking time was a little constrained, so I decided that a midweek special was required: a Victoria sponge cake, topped with butter icing, in the shape of an animal. Since the effect […]

Pastries in a Day

I have never mastered the art of folding and rolling needed to create layered pastry, so I decided that it was time to do something about that. When I spotted the Showroom Cinema’s Pastries in a Day course, I jumped at the chance. The fee of £39.95 is really good value, considering that it […]

Let them eat hedgehog

It’s not only the Queen who gets two birthdays, apparently very excited four year olds can do that too. Last weekend was the family do, with a kitten cake that turned out to be a mouse. This weekend a princess-themed children’s party had been planned. A princess theme? Blimey, I didn’t realise Granddaughter Mr […]

Playing Cat and Mouse

Apparently four marks a bit of a milestone: it seems to be the age when birthday cakes become Something Very Exciting Indeed.

The maker though it was a kitten, but the birthday girl declared it be a mouse. Who am I to argue? The main thing is that she loved it.

The only […]

Three

It’s the start of June, which means that Mr TLC’s granddaughter is 3. Where does the time go? It also means that I get to play at baking birthday cakes. Actually, this year I get to do it twice – once for the family do, once for the kids’ party in a few days time. […]

And the winner is…

…Henderson’s Relish!

It is now officially the Vegetarian Society’s Best Store Cupboard Ingredient Winner. Quite right too.

“Everyone should have this gem in the cupboard, a Worcestershire style sauce without the anchovies, perfect to add to almost any savoury dish.”

It may have been better if I hadn’t mentioned to Mr TLC that my […]

Friday Night Take Away

Could I just mention how flipping fantastic Miss Masala’s chicken jhalfrezi and Madhur Jaffrey’s naan bread are? I can? Excellent.

I’d show you a photo, but I was too busy nomming to remember to take one.

The naan recipe made enough to feed me, Mr TLC and approx 5000 others, so we’re trying an […]

You know you’ve become a geek when…

You know you’ve become a geek when you buy bagels, not because you have a desperate urge to eat them, but because you want to try this.

Sadly, I failed. My shop-bought bagels were a tad dry and powdery. As a result they disintegrated. Then again, maybe it was just my lack of skill. Still, […]

Today’s Tweets: Chilli-ed Out

15:44 Contemplating dinner. Not sure if I can face another chilli based meal. Have been eating it since Friday, still a lot to go… #

Actually, I was wrong, we’ve been eating chilli since Thursday. Chilli and rice, enchiladas, chilli and mash, chilli and chilli. Chilli for lunch, chilli for dinner. I like chilli, […]

Dayzed

One side effect of the holiday has been a total loss of my daysense. On New Year’s Eve I thought it was Friday, yesterday I thought it was Friday, by today I had no idea what day it was. Only one thing for it, a traditional Friday night was called for.

Home made curry (with […]