A Simnel Tale

Homely Matters

"I’ll to thee a simnell bring

'Gainst thou go'st a mothering

So that when she blesseth thee

Half that blessing thou’lt give to me."

Robert Hendrick 1648

             On Sunday it's Mother's Day in the UK. I decided in the spirit of my emerging homemaker, to bake a Simnel cake so I too could go a'mothering. So I have been reading up a little about Simnel Cakes which are now mostly a symbol of Easter but were originally given for Mothering Sunday. There are many different accounts about how the Simnel cake came into being but it would seem to have been around since the middle ages originally as a cake which was given to the church on the 3rd Sunday of Lent. In the 1600's this Sunday became a rare day off for servant girls and they would be allowed to take flowers and maybe a simnel cake to their mother. There are myths regarding where the name Simnel came from and you can read about that on Wikipedia if you are particularly interested.
            Never having made a fruit cake or marzipan I thought it would be fun to try and might be a welcome change from the usual gifts I give my mum, who incidentally is the best mum in the whole wide world! So here are the results of my efforts.

It was actually quite easy except the marzipan (made with ground almonds, sugar, eggs and almond essence) was really sticky and I had to add lots more ground almond so that I could roll it out. The recipe said to divide the marzipan into three, cut out two rounds and make 11 or 12 balls. The balls represent Jesus' disciples (not including Judas as he betrayed Jesus) and a 12th larger one can be added in the middle to represent Jesus himself.

Next you cream the butter and brown sugar and add the other ingredients - flour, eggs, mixed spice, mixed fruit, mixed peel and lemon rind.

Then you put half the mixture in a cake tin and one of the marzipan rounds on top.

 In goes the rest of the mixture and it's baked in the oven for about 1 hr 50 mins. Once cooled apricot jam is spread on the top, the marzipan round is placed on top and it's decorated with the marzipan balls around the edge.

If you want to make one there are many different versions of the recipe on the internet. Hope you enjoy Mothers Day however you decide to celebrate. xx

My First Try at Pie

I did it. I made pie.

Wednesday again and I'm talking 'homely matters'. I have only made pastry once to my knowledge and that was over 20 yrs ago at school when I apparently made a quiche. I've always been a little daunted by the science of pastry - keeping it all cool and not touching it too much etc. Why make pastry when you can so easily buy the ready roll? Well, just because it's on my list of things to master and it's so much cheaper.

If you want evidence of my efforts, read on. If you are an expert pastry maker forgive me for being so basic. Hopefully I will progress to more exciting things.

So, the pastry making - I took a few hints from the interweb and put my ingredients in the fridge first to cool them. In retrospect, I probably should have kept out the butter as it was so cold that it took a long time to rub in to the flour.

Once rubbed in, I added the water. It looked really soggy and I thought it was a disaster but when I used the knife to draw it into a ball it seemed better. I wrapped it in clingfilm and bobbed it into the fridge for 30 mins.
Next came the apple cooking – that bit I could manage as I make apple sauce often. In went the cinammon and the sugar and then came the scary part, the rolling out. I made sure there was plenty of flour on the counter top and rolling pin and then I rolled. Miraculously – it was ok. I think the pie dish was a little big for the amount of pastry but I rolled it quite thinly so there was plenty of overlap.

Now the tricky part – transferring the pastry to the dish. When I’ve seen other people do it, it always looks so easy – just roll it gently round the rolling pin and unroll over the dish. Mmmm … not so easy but I did manage it after a couple of tries.

The filling went in along with some berries (Mr K doesn’t like plain food so it needed a little extra something to go with the apple) and then the lid went on. It was a relief to get to that stage but the fun wasn’t over yet.  Let's just say that pinching the edges is an art that I need to practice some more!

I popped the pie into the oven feeling very pleased with myself and my brother rang to tell me he had an interview this afternoon with St John’s Ambulance. Now my brother doesn’t ring very often so I gave him my full attention and I was on the phone for a while. The pie was in the oven slightly longer than it should have been and when I took it out of the oven it quite dark on top. Still, it looked like a pie (not a dainty girlie apple pie – more like a manly meat and potato pie but a pie nevertheless)

So pie number one was made and my fear of pastry conquered but as they say, the proof of the pudding ….

Unfortunately I can’t have dairy or gluten so it was up to Mr K to assess my efforts. The verdict was very positive. Apparently the pastry on top was lovely and light but I think the bottom pastry sort of disappeared into the filling.  Mr K liked it that way but I would have prefered it to be a little thicker. Anyway a second piece was called for so I was happy. In order not to be left out, I made a little batch of gluten/dairy free pastry and a little pie of my own! The pastry was far more crumbly but I managed in a fashion to get it rolled out and into the dish. It tasted deeelicious! It's literally years since I last had apple pie. How could I have gone so long without it? There's some left for tomorrow too and I think that custard is on the cards. Hope you're having something tasty today. x

Homemaking Skills Required

Homely Matters

To some, the words 'homemaking skills' sound terribly outdated and boring and they conjure up an image of a women with no career or outside interests chained to the kitchen sink. To me the words evoke two very different emotions. Firstly they remind me of my childhood, my dedicated, thoroughly wonderful mum and the comfort that comes from being the recipient of such homemaking. The other emotion I experience is less  positive. It relates to my personal lacking in these skills. I get by, but sometimes wonder how I got to the ripe old age of 39 without knowing how to make a good shortcrust pastry, make marmalade or sew a piece of clothing. I know that growing up my mum tried to teach me some of these things but at the time I had no interest.  I'm not sure when this desire began to emerge but it would be a comfort  to me, to know I am capable of such things.
So this year I am making a significant effort to learn, experience and hopefully enjoy these elusive homemaking skills. I will be blogging about my progress as I do so and any advice would be welcome.
Below is a list of some of the skills I would like to try to obtain.

• Learn to make different types of pastry
• Make chutney
• Make pasta from scratch
• Make marmalade and jam
• Sew a piece of wearable clothing
• Learn to darn
• Make my own soap
• Reduce waste in our home
• Go fruit picking
• Buy local produce
• Knit a pair of socks
• Learn to spin properly
• Make icecream
• Poach a perfect egg
• Eliminate processed foods from our diet
• Find a community of people who share the same passions
• Grow more vegetables/herbs on my windowsill (no garden)
• Bake  our own bread
• Learn to embroider
• Dye yarns and fabric with natural dyes
• Crochet a granny square to make a cushion/blanket
• Sew in zips
• Learn how to make my own cleaning products

As part of my quest I'm going to try and find some experts to help me out. Next week I will be attending the Women's Institute for the first time and no, before you ask, I will not be signing up for any calendars. I will let you know how I get on.
As for now, I can no longer put off the jolly job of cleaning my oven as it is beginning to rebel by pouring smoke out at me every time I cook and making my freshly washed laundry smell like a chip shop. Oh joy xx