Banana Muffins

The first day of the Easter Holidays and I have exhausted all my time filler ideas already!

Send help, or a nanny!

Today we washed the shed, travelled back in time and baked banana muffins.

Glossary:
'washed shed' - cleaned outside toys which, it was decided by those wiser than me, should include the shed.
'travelled back in time' - visited the newly installed and hugely condensed Stamford Museum exhibit at the library. They have a cool tapestry if you are passing.
'baked banana muffins' - err, baked banana muffins.

Taking a recipe from Allrecipies.co.uk we tackled the 'too-ripe-to-be-eaten' bunch of bananas.

Mashing and smashing them with a fork, adding sugar and an egg, and a dash of honey (not in the recipe but we were feeling all daring).
Folding in plain flour with a half teaspoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
Adding raisins which was the Princess's idea.
Baking for 20 minutes.
Eating.

The Gallery - The Kitchen

I have a dream... that one day I will have a huge kitchen, big enough for a table that fits us all, room enough for a sofa where I can read/blog/snooze and listen to the radio, stable doors to the garden so I can nip out to pick fresh herbs, oh, and is self cleaning.

Until then, I'll make do with my small, dated kitchen/office.

There is just about room for a small person to sit on the counter and assist in the culinary creativity, or just lick a spoon when required. I love that they want to join in but in doing so I have to suspend my 'control freak' nature and try to not panic that the butter hasn't creamed perfectly or that there are still lumps of flour. I don't know how Katie does it on I Can Cook. I would want to leap in and 'help' the little ones. I always wonder whether, if left totally unaided, their food would be edible.

This set of pictures was taken on one of the first occasions I let The Big One loose with the spoon. He loved it. Particularly the tasting parts.

Mummy, can I have a go?

I think we need a smaller bowl.

Taa daa!

Oops. Caught!

Another one. Just to be sure.

I am joining in with Tara at Sticky Fingers who set the theme of Kitchen for this weeks Gallery.

Cosy Club Opens in Stamford

I love the concept of the Cosy Club, a small chain of restaurants that describe themselves as a "gentleman's club meets village hall meets cricket pavilion". So I was somewhat surprised to find that The Big One's class at school had been invited to a baking session at The Cosy Club as one of their opening events in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

In fact I am slightly narked that The Big One had been before I had the opportunity to! Says something about my social life doesn't it. *skulks off back to the kitchen*

Anyway, after minor sulking, I thought what a brilliant marketing event to have arranged. Get the kids in, give them a great afternoon, get the parents talking about The Cosy Club and get them to come too. I understand that the local press were invited to capture the event and I look forward to seeing the kids in their chefs hats and aprons on the front page (or possibly slightly further back in the paper).

Not wanting to be outdone, I popped in today to find a really warm, comfortable atmosphere in amongst the chesterfield sofas and quirky table lamps. The builders and designers had certainly gone to town converting the old delivery office of Stamford's Post Office There was a distinct hint of retro British in the interior design with dashes of Cath Kidston. The locals were getting stuck in to their lunches and the morning coffee crowd were still gossiping so I doubt whether it will be very long before I am amongst the diners or drinkers. The menu looks very tempting with everything from brunch to tapas to a broad selection of main dishes, and a dedicated children's menu to keep the smalls happy.

In the meantime we thoroughly enjoyed the Cosy Club Confectionery Cookie baked and brought home by the Big One. The sugar rush only lasted an hour! And he will be donning his complimentary chefs hat and apron next time any baking is to be done!

Rosemary Loaf Cake by Princess

Princess has been baking.

She likes nothing more than to don her apron over her pyjamas and get mixing, squishing, licking and dolloping with her wooden spoon. As was evidenced this morning.

A friend had told me about a recipe for Rosemary Loaf Cake by Nigella Lawson so we decided to give it a go.


"Roll up your sleeves, give your hands a wash
With slippy dippy soap, Splish Splash Splosh.
Have you done your hands? Washed and dried.
Sleeves rolled up. Apron tied. 
What can you do? I can cook!"

Thank you Katy!

You will need:
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
200 castor sugar
250g unsalted butter, softened
1tsp vanilla extract
2tsp finely chopped rosemary needles
approx 4 tbsp milk
1-2 tbsp Rosemary sugar or castor sugar for sprinkling on top

And a loaf tin 23cm x 13cm x 7cm greased and lined.

Preheat over to 170c
Grease and line your loaf tin.
Cream butter until very soft (or until a little girl can stir it easily) then add the castor sugar and continue to cream together until pale and fluffy.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a separate bowl. (More washing up but sadly necessary for the light fluffy cake. Also great for creating a flour cloud in your kitchen thus causing much hilarity for some and grrr factor for others).
Beat in 1 egg at a time adding a tbsp of flour mix with each egg. (Little girls are very good at this bit).
Add the vanilla and mix. (And lick the spoon).
Fold in the rest of the flour. (A little girl may not have the best technique for folding. She may create another flour cloud and beat the cake to death. Possibly).

Add the chopped rosemary and fold together. (Pinching fingers are great for adding the rosemary).
Add enough of the milk to get a soft dropping consistency. (Mixing milk in makes a great plopping sound and can splash milk up your arm, we have found).
Pour into the loaf tin and sprinkle with the additional sugar. (Pinching fingers again).
Cook for about an hour. Test to see if it ready by inserting a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean it is cooked.

Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack for as long as you can resist. (Not very long in our house. In fact not time enough for me to get a picture of the whole cake turned out).

And there you have it. Delicious.

Now then Katy, what was that song about washing up?