A busy week in November ...

Whaow! Where is the time going? I can't believe how close we're getting to the end of another year.

We had a lovely day here in London for Remembrance Sunday: quiet and still with a clear blue sky. We took ourselves off to Chiswick House in the afternoon for a wander through some autumn glory.

The Ionic Temple, Chiswick House, London

Chiswick House is one of our all-time favourite haunts. I've written about it in the springtime here. I've written about its wonderful camellia festival here, and about its kitchen garden here. It really is a very special place. They say that this garden is where the English Landscape Movement started. They say that it was the inspiration for New York's Central Park. At the risk of being a bore: it's a very special garden, and, as they welcome little folk on wheels and any kind of well-behaved canine, it ticks all the boxes for us.

The Lake, Chiswick House, London

They've even got a terrific coffee shop where Mr B and I enjoyed some cappuccinos outside on a sun-drenched terrace whilst the little person abandoned his wheels and rushed off to play on the nearby swings with lots of other little people.

The Lake, Chiswick House, London

There's been lots of stuff in the papers and on the news this week about the poppies at the Tower of London. Maxi, Emi and I went to see them back in August when we went for a walk around the Tower of London. The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation has truly gripped the popular imagination. I'm so glad we were able to see it when there weren't quite so many people around. 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, Tower of London, August 2014

Emi has been thinking a lot about the Wars and about my great uncles, his great great uncles who fought in the Second World War. In his own little homage to the D-Day Landings he built some Lego tanks, of which he is very proud. Lovely colours: perfect camouflage for ... the toy box.

A little boy's homage to the D-Day Landings

I've been busy making things too on those rainy days when I didn't feel up to going out or doing anything else. Sometimes when the weather's cold and grey it's nice to stay inside and do a spot of nesting. This week I made some Epsom Salts Bath Bombs to combine the restorative properties of Epsom Salts with the relaxing, indulgent smell of Lavender. They were a great success. I'd left them to dry out in the dining room with a T-towel over the top. Mr B happened to go in there for something and emerged with a question: why did the room smell so sensational? There was such a lovely smell of cinnamon! Cinnamon?? I think we need to send Mr B off to have his nose re-calibrated. It's clearly not working properly.

Home made Epsom Salts bath bombs infused with Lavender essential oil

And then when we'd got the bath bombs all sorted we turned our attention to making some lovely stick-on labels to wrap them up with, and some more stick-on labels for last week's Cardamon & Clementine Marmalade.

We've got some great plans for making festive hampers of home-made goodies for friends and family, so our labelling has to be up to scratch to get the look just right.

The beginnings of a festive hamper

And then on Armistice Day itself we observed the silence. Emi was on a school trip to the local synagogue. His school is a bit like the United Nations. The little folk there are from all corners of God's good earth, and, as part of their religious education programme, they are taken to each other's places of worship. It just so happened that this week was the turn of the Jewish faith. So, wearing yamakas, Emi and his class-mates,  Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jainists, Jews and Sikhs stood shoulder to shoulder and observed the silence together in the synagogue. In such acts of unity I sometimes glimpse a future that's full of better tomorrows for all our children.

When he came home I asked him how it was, and he replied that they got orange juice and some very nice biscuits, which were good, but not quite so good as the yummy food at the Sikh Gurdwara. Apparently the food there was epic. It's a nice take on comparative religion, isn't it?


All the best for a super weekend,

Bonny x

As shared on Friday Finds, Our World Tuesday and image-in-ing

Label-tastic: how to make your own sticky labels ...

Maxi the Wonder Dog and I are confined to barracks this morning waiting ... waiting ... and then waiting some more for the delivery man. Of course he's guaranteed to show up five minutes after we set off on the school run.

We've been whiling away the time playing with a couple of lovely new gizmos that the slow-footed delivery man dropped off with us a couple of days' ago.

You see this label-making fixation of mine all started when I couldn't find any ready-made labels for my Cardamon & Clementine Marmalade. I looked in all the shops but couldn't score anything better than a plain rectangular number with a few cheesy, but unidentifiable, flowers and just enough space to write Clem M'lade. I was very underwhelmed.

Anyway here are my new toys:

The white gizmo is a label punch by Martha Stewart. You just push a piece of paper in, pull down the lever and - bingo - you've got a lovely label shape. The X-shaped purple number is a Xyron Sticker Maker, a wonderful bit of kit that puts the sticky backing on your label once you've punched it and written it and made it as pretty as you possibly can. And together this dynamic duo have blitzed a way through my cheesy-boring-labels issue.

Ok, Ok, I'll admit that I haven't found a way to bring peace to the Middle East, or a cure for cancer, but I'm very happy with what we've done with our crayons and gizmos during this morning's play session. 

We made some more labels for the Epsom Salts Bath Bombs that we knocked out earlier in the week.

We found a snazzy white gel pen, which produced a lovely chalk-on-a-blackboard type of effect when we used it on coloured paper. I tried rubbing a bit of chalk over one or two of the labels to add even more chalky authenticity.

And then we had a go at parcelling up the bath bombs in plastic cake bags, tying on some ribbon and finally adding our lovely labels. Now who wouldn't be delighted to get a little pressie of lavender-scented loveliness like this?

I parcelled each bath bomb up like a boiled sweet with some baking parchment to keep all that wonderful smelliness intact and to help protect them from chipping as they're carried.

And then we moved the focus of our campaign back to the marmalade.

What do you think? Have I got the label crooked? 

The grand master plan is to make up a few hampers of home-made goodies for some friends and family, who like that kind of thing, so the labels are a big plus in the presentation stakes.

And, finally, here's Maxi the Wonder Dog doing quality control. He's all hunched over, squinting to see that I've spelt Marmalade correctly. He's a very clever little chap, the Wonder Dog.

Hope you're having fun too!

All the best,

Bonny x

Epsom Salts bath bombs ...

Have you tried Epsom Salts?

Your granny probably swore by them. And she wasn't wrong, your wise old gran.

The thing is they're packed full of magnesium and sulfate, which are minerals that most of us seem to be deficient in these days. If you suffer from any sort of skin problems, such as psoriasis or eczema or any arthritic conditions Epsom Salts can help ease your symptoms. I know a couple of people with arthritis who swear by a hot bath in Epsom Salts on those cold, damp days when they're feeling a bit creaky. I sometimes suffer from super-dry skin on my elbows and knees, and I find that a good soak in the Epsom Salts helps keep things under control.

You can read all about the miracle that is Epsom Salts here on their website: Epsom Salt Council.

Now the only little niggle that I have with them is that they're just a tiny, little bit ... well ... boring. I mean they don't smell, and they don't explode into a fizzing bath-bomb type jacuzzi or give you any other bath-time special effects. They may be very, very good for you, but so is Cod Liver Oil and how many of us rush for a spoonful of that in the mornings?

What they need is a makeover ... big time! And this is exactly what I've given them.

Ta-dah!

I  give you my Epsom Salts and Lavender Bath Bombs, which not only smell divine, but are also really good for your skin. I had a fun morning a couple of days' ago knocking out a load of bath-time munitions as I listened to my favourite programmes on the radio. Have I ever mentioned what a big Radio 4 fan I am?

Normally I boast about how lovely my kitchen smells when I get cooking, but this is one recipe that will leave both the kitchen and the cook smelling wonderful!

Anyway if you'd like to make some for yourself they're very easy and rather fun to make. Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients

130 g Citric Acid
250 g Baking Soda
120 g Corn flour (or corn starch if you're in the US)
120 g Epsom Salts
3 teaspoonfuls of water
6 teaspoonfuls of Lavender Essential Oil
3 tablespoonfuls of Argan Oil or almond oil
a couple of drops of red and blue food colouring mixed to make purple

a few handfuls of dried lavender flowers

Method

Fold up a hand towel and place it on a tray. Lay out a piece of baking parchment on top. This is going to be the platform on which your bath bombs rest as they dry out. If you placed them on a hard surface they'd form with a flattened end on one side.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl

Shake all the wet ingredients in a jam jar as though you're making salad dressing.

Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well. You should get a little bit of fizzing when you add them.

Now for the fun part. It's play time ... . Using your hands mush the mixture into balls. It's kind of like making snow balls out of beach sand. Your mixture will have the same consistency as the perfect sand-castle-making sand: not too wet and not too dry.

Place the bath bombs on your towel/ baking parchment and leave them to dry for a couple of days. When you come back to them they'll be hard to touch and perfect for fizzing in the bath. And as I have small hands, and am a bit decadent, I'm going to drop these little mamas in my tub two at a time. They'll give me the perfect home spa experience for a fraction of the High Street price.

Enjoy!


Bonny x

Cardamon and Clementine Marmalade

Today my kitchen smells of clementines. Their sweet aroma, mixed with some upper notes of green cardamon is so good that if I could figure out a way of bottling it I'd wear it behind my ears for special occasions!

I've played around with the flavours to produce a light fragrant, not-too-sweet marmalade. Cardamon is one of my favourite flavours, and these green cardamons marry beautifully with the floral, citrus taste of the clementines, which I've ramped up further with the Cointreu. I'd say it's a flavour match made in heaven!

Would you like to make some for yourself? Well, no worries, here's my recipe :

Ingredients

1200g clementines - about 8 clementines
2 medium sized lemons
2 kg jam-making sugar
2.5 litres of water
1 tablespoonful of green cardamon pods split lengthways
8 tablespoonfuls (120 ml) of Cointreau
Certo apple pectin for emergency use if you can't get the mixture to set as you may not have enough pips in the clementines to give you all the pectin you need.

Method

A: Day 1

1. You really need to start this recipe the day before. The first thing to do is wash the fruit in some fresh, clean water. Then juice the clementines and lemons, finely slice them and let them soak overnight in their juice to soften up the skins a bit and release some of their natural pectin. I half them and extract all the precious pips, which I place on a saucer for safe keeping. These are full of pectin, and will help your marmalade to set.

2. Take all the pips and tie them in a little square of muslin. Draw the four corners together, and tie them with a piece of kitchen string to make a parcel like this:

3. Place the skins in a large ceramic bowl, pour the juice over the top, and pop your parcel of pips into the mix. 

Cover with cling film and leave overnight to allow the juice to work its magic on the skins.

Day 2

4.Take an old saucer and put it in the freezer to get it really cold. You will use this to test the consistency of your marmalade later in the process.

5. Put your citrus skins/juice/pips mixture in a large saucepan. Add 2.5 litres of fresh water and bring to the boil. Once it reaches the boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer gently for about two and a half hours until the skins are soft and slightly translucent.

6. While you’re waiting for the skins to cook you should sterilise your jam jars. Wash both the jars and their lids in hot soapy water. Rinse well with warm clean water. Dry the outsides but not the insides. Place them on a baking tray (open top ends up) with the lids (top sides up) on a separate tray in an oven pre-heated to 150 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes to half an hour.

7.You should also warm your sugar. With about half an hour to go before the lemons are ready, weigh it out and put it in the oven at about 150 degrees Celsius in a large flat dish.

8. When the citrus skins in the saucepan have been boiled to the point where they are soft and translucent, add the sugar, cardamon pods (split in half length-ways) and a knob of butter (this helps to stop it burning, according to my mum) and bring to a rolling boil, which is a gentle boil that isn’t too violent – think of gently churning rapids downstream from a large waterfall. Stir occasionally and let everything boil for another fifteen minutes or so until it starts to set. You could use a thermometer for this stage to check the temperature. The marmalade should start to set somewhere around 104 degrees Celsius.

9. When it reaches this stage, and you see it starting to thicken, you need to do the frozen saucer test. Take your saucer from the freezer and drip a little drop of the marmalade onto it. Leave it for a few seconds and then gently push it with your fingertip. If the marmalade is ready it should have formed a thin skin on top and you should be getting wrinkles when you apply pressure. It may still seem to be too liquid for spreading on your toast, but if there is a very thin skin with wrinkles you are good to go. The mixture will thicken/ solidify a bit more once it cools, and sometimes it will carry on setting for a few days after. This is the trickiest stage of the process, so do keep your eyes peeled.

Anyway if you haven’t reached this point let the mixture boil on for another three or four minutes and test again. Keep going until you get that skin-and-wrinkle-thing happening on your saucer, but be really careful as it can easily burn if it overheats (and, believe me, cleaning the bottom of the saucepan when it does is a nightmare job).

If you can't seem to get the stuff to set you can always add a spoonful or two of pectin and watch for it to do its magic. I keep a bottle of Certo apple pectin for these occasions.

10. Once the marmalade has started to set remove the saucepan from the heat, and add the Cointreau. Be careful as the hot mixture may spit a little when you introduce the cold liquid. Stir thoroughly and leave for about 15 minutes to cool. Skim the cardamon pods out of the mixture with a slatted spoon while you're waiting for the mixture to cool down.  This cooling will also allow the mixture to set a little more. Stir it again before you ladle it into the sterilised jam jars. By stirring it once it has thickened like this you will ensure an even distribution of peel throughout the mixture.

11. Top the jars of marmalade with waxed disks and put the lids on.

12. When everything has cooled down a bit you can add some stick-on labels.

Enjoy with hot buttered toast and a good cup of Rosie Lee!

All the best,

Bonny x

and if you've got the marmalade bug you might also like to try my lemon and lavender recipe, which you can find:  here.

Autumn at last ... Where have you been?

Autumn has finally arrived! We've gone from balmy Halloween, celebrated in T-shirts and flip-flops, to Jack Frost nipping at our noses in less than a week. Congratulations to our barmy British climate. It's all a bit bonkers, really.

I'm so glad that I managed to squeeze in some time last weekend to walk in the woods with Emi and Maxi, and admire the wonderful colours of the leaves against the most perfect blue sky.

There were lots of other people out, taking the air as well. Several parents came up and asked if their little ones could stroke Maxi. He's everyone's friend, and he especially loves children, although his exuberance can sometimes startle them.

We collected leaves. I'm a compulsive leaf collector at this time of the year, and it's rubbing off. Emi also returns clutching a bunch of foliage as though it were a bouquet of fine flowers.

Aren't those maple leaves exquisite? I was so inspired by their brilliant colours that I dusted off my old flower press and we spent a happy hour placing some of our better-looking trophies between pages of blotting paper and card for pressing. We went out in our garden to see what else we could find.

There were some heroic geraniums and nasturtiums still going strong, so we harvested a few of those to go in the press as well. I'm not sure what we'll do with them all when they're done, but they seemed to give the most perfect spectrum of my favourite fire colours. I hope they don't fade too much as they dry.

We've had a busy time of it recently. Emi has finally got his project on the Romans done and dusted. We had a lovely day at the Roman Baths just before his half-term holidays finished, which gave him loads of material to write about.

And I've been busy baking  Boozy Bejeweled Christmas Cakes, which have left my kitchen smelling like a cosy little corner of heaven.

My favourite Turkish grocer has started to stock the new season's clementines, which are positively divine: juicy and sweet and aromatic. Yesterday a bunch of them called out to me and positively begged me to make them into some marmalade. How could a girl resist? I mean just look how inviting they were:

I used my tried-and-tested method and had a lot of fun playing around with the flavours. I chose to enhance the zesty, almost floral flavour of the fruit with some green cardamons and a decent glug of Cointreau to max out the orangeness. I had a hunch that the flavours would marry well, and they did - with bells on!  If you're interested in my recipe I'll try and write it up soon before I forget. I still like to play with my food and a lot of my cooking is done on the hoof, improvising as I go along, which is fine, but sometimes makes it difficult to get the same result twice. 

Anyway I hope you're enjoying the autumn too, and all the best for a splendid weekend,

Bonny x

As shared on Friday Finds, image-in-ing and Our World Tuesday

PS I've just written up my recipe and you can find it here: Clementine and cardamon marmalade