Blueberry & Lemon Cake.

By now you may have guessed that I love lemon. I never used to, it is a relatively new phenomenon so I guess you could say I'm making up for lost time. Whilst you're here, feel free to browse a couple of my other lemon recipes - Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Drizzle Cake are just a few of my favourites. This one is even NICER as it's packed full with fresh blueberries which go all gooey when it's cooked. So, without further ado....

Blueberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake

Equipment Needed:

- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Weighing Scales
- 2lb Loaf Tin
- Small Bowl

Ingredients:

- 125g Butter/Margarine
- 125g Caster Sugar
- 3 Medium free range eggs
- 175g Self-Raising/Rising Flour + 1tbsp extra
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 100g Blueberries

For the syrup:

- 50g Caster sugar
- 4tbsp Lemon juice

For the icing:

- 125g Icing/Confectioners sugar
- 1tsp Blueberry conserve/syrup - I used natural blueberry sauce bought from a health food store

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to GM3/170C. Grease/Line (I use loaf tin liners) your 2lb loaf tin. In a large bowl/mixer - whisk together the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, flour and zest a bit at a time and mix for 3-4 minutes. Toss in the blueberries with the extra 1tbsp flour and FOLD in. Spoon into the tin and cook for around 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

2) Whilst baking, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice & bring to a boil. Leave to boil for about 2 minutes and set aside.

3) Spoon the syrup over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.

4) If you are using conserve, press it through a sieve & scrape off the underside. Mix this with the icing and a little water or lemon juice until it is just runny. I used water, but will try lemon juice next time! Drizzle it over the cake and leave to set.

5) Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

I edited this with the 'Beautiful Mess' app - it's cute, check it out!

The cake is really soft, moist and fruity and is perfect for summer's day. I enjoyed a slice of mine in the garden with a glass of Pimm's and a book about The Wild West (that is supposed to be for children but I am loving it.) 

Hope you enjoy it!


Much Love xxx

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A Walk with My Camera.

We British are so fickle when it comes to the weather. Of course, we are famous for moaning about it, and not so good at appreciating it when it does work in our favour. Well today, I am changing the trend and enjoying every minute of it. When the sun is out, so am I. So this morning I took a nice walk to the post office and went up to the hills with my buttock toning fit flops on my feet.

Everything looks so different in the sunshine so it doesn't require a lot of skill to take a decent picture, I snap away on my Nikon D40 when I get the urge, so here are the results:

I adore blossom trees, these are right at the end of my street.

Barbed wire screams countryside.

My favourite view in the world, just around the corner from me.

My favourite shot of the day!

The daffodils at our front door.

Now it's time for Pimm's in the garden!

I for one am thankful for the sunshine! For me it means picnics, Pimms and flip flops everyday. I hope you make the most of it...

Much Love xxx

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People versus Things.

I've had this post rattling around in my head for the past few days but got distracted by 'Nashville,' my favourite EVER television program, which I have to keep reminding myself is infact, fiction. So here it is, better late than never!

I have mentioned topics similar to this before, but never this exactly. I want to talk about where we place our true value. Is it in people, or is it in things? 

We all like to accumulate things. I, for one cannot stop buying things that one day will fill a home of my own. I'm forever buying tea-sets, vintage glass, anything from Cath Kidston (hence the picture) and strangely enough, bed linen. But what would happen if one day, I was asked to give it all up? What if all these nice things that would make for a beautiful tea party were one day taken away from me? Would life still be liveable? For me, OF COURSE. 

My treasure doesn't live in the things that I own. I don't place more value on my laptop than my friends. Though it may do a lot of good things for me such as; allow me to send emails, listen to music, watch films, edit photos, make presentations - it doesn't do other things like; listen to me when i'm upset, offer me support and guidance, love me, make me laugh, support me, console me. All the 'real' things that I couldn't do without. 

I have learnt this lesson first hand lately. At the moment, seeing as though I only work part time, I am not exactly raking it in. I have to budget, say no to things I don't really need and think about where I want to invest the little that I do have. But working little hours has given me something truly beautiful. Time. Time to be with friends, to bake with them, to eat with them, to talk & listen to them, to drink tea with them, to relax with them. Time to be with my family. Time to read, to travel, to discover new places, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. We all know that we don't get time back. We never know when it is going to run out, and we must, MUST, MUST learn to make the most of it. 

We cannot spend our lives chasing after 'things' that in the end, mean nothing. We so easily convince ourselves that we need to be a part of the latest trends, that we need this or that to be truly included in a group etc etc. But do we? It's so hard in a world that tells us the complete opposite, that we are defined by our wealth, the beauty of our homes, what we drive, how we dress and  who we are seen with. But when we take a step back, does any of that truly matter? Or instead should we be defined by something else?  

Perhaps we should be defined by how well love each other. How accepting we are of others, despite our differences, financial status, location, occupation and live together in community. By how quickly forget the past, the arguments and disagreements that nobody can even remember why they started and move forwards. Our willingness to be inconvenienced to help somebody in need, or indeed somebody who wants a sympathetic ear. Our desire to give up our time to volunteer for a local Charity. Our joy to sacrifice a coffee to buy a homeless person some lunch. Or maybe our ability to recognise that people are more important than things?

‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

Matthew 6:21 

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