this week I've...

...not had much time for blogging!  So here are a few photos of what we've been getting up to over the last 7 days...

sending parcels (here's one just opened by Hazel)...

 

a magical woodland picnic in the heart of the city ...

 

kissing tigers...

cutting squares for a quilt (totally failing to fight the urge for rainbow order!)...

 

 eating dinner outside...

 

 receiving exciting Finnish birthday gifts...

 

baking cookies...

It's been a wonderful but busy week - I have also enjoyed our local open house arts trail (which deserves a post all of its own), danced and drank cocktails to celebrate a friend's 40th, spent time with friends, sat in the sun at the park, got the paddling pool out, sourced vintage loveliness for one friend's home and another's wedding...and of course that's just the good stuff, there was plenty if day-to-day tedium and tantrums to fill up any spare moments!

After all that I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend.  Hope you've had a lovely week and that you have a happy sunny weekend! 

Rachel x

Muffin Recipe!

As requested by the lovely Tanya of Pomme De Jour, here is the recipe for the muffins I made yesterday - I originally found the recipe on a lovely blog called Heart of Light , but I've adapted it a fair bit so I suppose it's mine now!  Because Frank's borrowed my camera I can't share a photo of mine, so here's one I borrowed from Heart of Light...

It's such an easy recipe, because it's in cups so there's no faffing about with scales:

1 &1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup bran (I use oat bran but wheat bran's fine too)
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (I used sunflower a few times but they turned green in the muffins!)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
3 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
2 medium or 1 large carrots, peeled and grated
2 apples peeled, cored and grated

Mix all the above together, the apple tends to form soggy clumps so a fork can be useful for making sure it's mixed thoroughly, 

then mix together:

1 egg, beaten 
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 & 1/4 cups of milk (you can use a dairy free alternative such as soya or rice milk)

and add slowly to the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly.

You'll end up with a pretty sludgy mixture, bake it at 180* (Gas mark 4ish?) for 20-25 mins, it should make 10-12 medium muffins - if you use a silicone muffin tray rather than paper cases,  oil it first to avoid sticking.  Test the muffins with a skewer to check they're cooked through.

Enjoy!

Have a lovely weekend, Rachel x