WE'VE GONE ALL ROSY!

Well, with one day to go we are going Valentine's mad here at UV...Love is definitely in the air!! 
Hope you like the new wallpaper! X

A QUICK POST!

Just thought you would like to see this... 
It's our new icon picture for Facebook & Twitter X

VALENTINE'S CUPCAKES

Welcome to our first 'SWEET THING' post!

I would like to start by introducing you to my friend 'The Cake Bomber'.
I love this name! To me it conjures up an image of cup cakes being hurled from behind a bush like hand grenades...fantastic!!


The Cake Bomber is in fact not a 'cake bomber' but a clothing designer who decided one day to turn her amazing design talents into designing and making cakes! Lucky for me I was working with her at the time and me and the rest of the team became guinea pigs! :-)


So, after the last two years 'The Cake Bomber' has gained quite a following and needless to say is one of the more popular girls in the class!...Unfortunately for me I have moved on and 'cake' hasn't been such a regular feature in my life...until now!!


You can have a look at some more of this talented ladies work 
at Cake-Bomb and keep watching this space for more lovely cakey treats!


As love is in the air we are starting off with a romantic Valentine's Day 'cake in a jar'... here goes...

* TIP : click on the picture to enlarge!

THE CAKE:

1. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter to a bowl you can use either an electric mixer like the one in the picture  or a hand mixer works just as well.

Beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and continue to beat.

2. Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl, then pour into the flour mixture and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth. Do not over mix.

3. Add the mixture into the jars be careful not to over fill, a good tip is to use an ice cream scoop as a measure.

 

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 25–30 minutes, or until light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.

Leave to stand until completely cold, while they are cooling you can now start making your sweet meringue butter cream.

SWEET MERINGUE BUTTER CREAM

5. Add the egg whites and brown sugar into a clean bowl and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot, about 5 minutes if you used room temperature egg whites. 

6. Begin to whip until the meringue is thick and glossy (this can take up to 10 minutes or so). With clean attachments on your mixer and on a low speed, add softened butter in chunks and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if it curdles, keep mixing on medium-low and it will come back to smooth). IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO ADD THE BUTTER TO THE WARM MERINGUE).

7. Now add in the vanilla extract and colouring if you choose.

 
8. You can now start to decorate your cakes... Start by piping on the butter cream.

 

(..... INSIDE A CAKE BOMBER'S KITCHEN!!!.....)

 

(.....DAMAGE COULD BE DONE WITH THOSE THINGS!.....) :-)

9. And then for the sprinkles...

10. And Finally you can decorate the jars...here's what we did...

The perfect Valentine gift!

Don't forget to check out Cake-Bomb !

We hope you have enjoyed this post and let us know how you get on! X

Our recipe has been adapted and taken from...

This cake recipe is taken from : The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf.

The Hummingbird Bakery

The sweet meringue butter cream is taken from : Sweetapolita

HENS AND THEIR JUMPERS!

A few days ago I popped over to see Nigella Harris on Facebook... I just wanted to check out what she had been up to!!!

Look what I found on one of her posts...

Oooh how lovely!

The people at Little Hen Rescue have been so busy!! They work really hard and are a 'not-for-profit' company, all the money raised goes back into the pot to fund the caring for, rescuing and rehoming of battery hens....a very worthy cause!!


Take a look!

LAST OF THE ROSES!

We just wanted to show you this...

In our post (PRETTY AS A ROSE!) we showed you how to create a lovely Valentine floral center piece. Many of our posts have to be done in advanced and our lovely roses have started to dry out, its been nearly two weeks so they did really well!
As they started to dry their colours have become more dusky and muted but still look really beautiful!

We dismantled all the pots apart from one, removed the ivy leaves completely and added as many of the roses as we could fit into the one pot.

These would sit perfectly on your dressing table!

Beautiful !!!

IT'S GOOD TO HAVE FRIENDS!

You can now make friends with Nicole Harris on Facebook...go on...you know you want to!! 

Find out about her daily trials and tribulations!!

HENNY HARRIS REPORTS...

I met Henny about 7 years ago when I first moved into the village where I still live.

I remember it well it was 10th February 2005 a cold but quite sunny day, funny really because we don't really get much sun here even in summer! Henny, who lives just over the road with her husband Dave was kind enough to bring over a tray of tea and biscuits a lovely gesture and one that was very welcome as the farm house we were moving into was built in 1774 and had been unoccupied for about 3 years, needless to say it was freezing!

Getting settled into country life has been very interesting, I am now the proud owner of one black Labrador called Nellie or Nellie-Noo to her friends (she came on holiday for 2 weeks and never left) one cat called Chester a Scottish Fold and Ragdoll cross (he was bought to catch mice but never leaves the house and is also the BOSS of us all), 11 apricot Call ducks (some with names but not all), 2 Aylesbury ducks called George and Mildred and finally 5 hens, Lucy a Bluebell, 2 Buff Sussex called Winnie and Girlfriend and then 2 Buff Orpingtons with no names as they look like push-me-pull-me's from Dr Dolittle and you simply can't tell the difference between them!

So where do you go when you have problems with hens around here... simple...Henny Harris!

We hope you will like these postings, over the next few months Henny will enlighten you on all you need to know about our feathery friends we will fill you with information on eggy products, there will be a hen pin up of the month and we will give you ideas on how to do a vintage hen hut make-over!

And now I'll hand you over to the very lady herself...

HENNY HARRIS... REPORTS....

New Hampshire Red

This lovely breed originated in the New England area of the USA, during the early 1900’s.  Farmers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire selectively bred the local Rhode Island Red chickens, in order to improve their vigour. They ended up going a little further than just producing an improved Rhodey, because in 1935 the New Hampshire Red was registered as a separate and distinct breed.  

Many breeds with the Rhodey in their genes have a classic ‘Little Red Hen’ look to them, and the New Hampshire Red is no exception.  She has orange-brown plumage, which can vary from a light sandy colour, to glossy auburn. The tips of her tail feathers are often black. She is a neat hen, with a nice rounded breast and a narrow tail end - none of that big-bottomed look that some of her sister chickens have. Her comb is described as ‘single’, and is usually quite big. In fact, some hens have the comb flopping to one side, which gives them a slightly comical look.  They are pretty good layers, and lay well during the winter months, which not all varieties will do. The eggs are nice and large, and their colour is described as brown. Brown usually means a rather uninteresting buff colour, although some strains can produce a dark brown egg.  

New Hampshire Reds go broody very easily. This is nice if you have a cockerel and want chicks. If not, make sure not to leave too many eggs in the nest, as, in warm weather, the sight will trigger broodiness. My New Hampshire Red, Nicole, is a naughty one for making secret nests in the bushes during the summer.  I have to find them before she has laid twelve eggs, because at that point she will ‘sit’ and stay out all night, completely unprotected from foxes. 

The New Hampshire Red was bred for hardiness, making it very suitable for a life as a free-range chicken, even in quite cold areas. In addition, they have a bravery that borders on cheekiness. This means that they make great pets for children, as they will eat gently from your hand, and don’t mind being picked up.  It also means that they are quite likely to be the chicken that finds its way into the house when the kitchen door has been left open, and you will never again eat your lunch in the garden in peace.

Henny Harris x