A Boxing Day lunch...

♥ Ceri makes...  and so Christmas day has come and gone!  After a relaxing day at home in the countryside with lots of good food,  drink and rather a lot of lovely presents we ventured out to a nearby village for a Boxing day lunch.  MummyB had chosen The Long Arms at South Wraxall  and a good choice it was indeed!

Despite having eaten far too much on Christmas day I managed to find room for even more today!  For starter I had the smoked salmon blinis with pickled cucumber (the salmon is smoked on site at the pub's smokehouse),  roast lamb breast for main accompanied by some Indian Pale Ale as recommended on the beer kitchen menu,  followed by homemade pistachio ice cream for desert.  I will be having a go at making some pickled cucumber with the River Cottage Preserves book that AuntyC & co got me for Christmas,  so much more scrumptious than it may sound.

After such a lovely lunch I've whiled away the afternoon on the sofa with the cat reading my bookclub book The Help in preparation for our January meet!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Christmas Adam...

♥ Ceri makes...  tradition has become that myself and the girls from school get together every year on Christmas Adam (Christmas Eve Eve!).  In honour of the occasion I whipped up a Festive Yule Log or Buche de Noel.

It may be a bit late in the festivities now but save this recipe for next year to wow your friends and family!

♥ CAKE - 70g plain flour, 10g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, 4 eggs separated, 170g caster sugar, a dash of vanilla extract, 2 tbsp icing sugar
♥ CREAM - 300ml double cream, 4 tbsp icing sugar, cocoa powder and tia maria to taste

♥ Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5
♥ Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add a little sugar.  Beat the egg yolks,  add the sugar,  gradually mix into the flour,  baking powder and salt.  Then fold in the egg whites.
♥ Spread the mixture onto the tin evenly and bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden and remove from the oven to cool,  removing the greaseproof paper
♥ Whip the cream and mix in the icing sugar,  sieve in the cocoa powder both to suit your taste and to achieve the colour you desire,  then add a few generous splashes of Tia Maria to suit your taste
♥ Spread half the cream evenly on the cake and carefully roll.  Cut about a third of one of the ends of the cake off at an angle and using some of the cream rejoin it to the main cake to achieve a log like look!  Then cover the cake with the remaining cream mix,  finish by making grooves in the cream to complete the log look,  a sprinkle of icing sugar for some freshly fallen snow...

A sprinkle of edible glitter adds that magical Christmas touch  ...although not perhaps the most photogenic makes of late!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Christmas Cupcakes...

♥ Ceri makes...  just thought I would share a few snaps of the Christmas cupcakes I made for my team at work instead of giving out Christmas cards.  Some cake boxes and a bit of red ribbon add a gifting touch to these simple vanilla cupcakes using my trusty Hummingbird Bakery recipe...

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Sunday sushi making...

♥ Ceri makes...  spent the afternoon at a sushi making class at Suzu in West London,  a birthday treat from RWF.  Despite having a copy of the Yo Sushi cookbook I hadn't been brave enough to ever attempt making any!  So I was pleased to give it a go under the careful guidance of our teacher Makiko.  Her tops tips included wrapping your bamboo rolling matt in clingfilm and making sure that your hands are a little greasy,  we used grapeseed oil for this in the class.  Another essential is a super sharp knife as the nori can be quite tricky to cut through,  but this is also made easier by using a sawing like motion when cutting.  After making a selection of maki,  nigiri and inside out rolls we enjoyed the results with some yummy plum wine. 

It really did taste as good as it looks!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

Christmas Crafts...

♥ Ceri makes...  led my very own mini craft lesson at RWF's abode in Fulham yesterday.  I created mini craft kits for RWF, Grace and Sophie to create their own handmade Christmas decorations.  Sophie and Grace busy crafting...

Sophie's creation proudly displayed here... http://twitter.com/#!/SophCJ/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2F7dXTEPus

After some festive food we wrapped up and headed out to Carols by Candlelight at the Royal Albert Hall.

A perfect pre-Christmas weekend!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Afternoon tea anyone...?

♥ Ceri makes...  as you may know afternoon tea is definitely high up in my list of favourite weekend things to do!  While in Cardiff with the girls at the weekend Rachel booked (a very popular spot, so booking recommended!) us in for a spot of afternoon tea at the Waterloo Gardens Teahouse. 

A delicious selection of sandwiches,  scones,  a slice of cake from the rather impressive selection and of course tea were served.  An absolute bargain for £11.50 per person!

Ten out of ten to Waterloo Gardens Teahouse.

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Betty's Tea Rooms Rock...

♥ Ceri makes... made my annual December trip to York for a weekend of Christmas themed family festivities with mummyB, my aunties and cousins. One activity that has securely sealed it's place on our weekend to do list is the Saturday brunch trip to Betty's tea rooms. Delicious...

A must do if you are ever in York, but do be prepared to queue!

♥ Ceri makes... xx