December is upon us!

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
― Charles Dickens

Christmas is upon us! Or rather, it’s almost here. The Christmas feeling is just starting to creep in having done a few festive related bits this weekend and with just five days left of work, there is a definite feeling of the year coming to an end. Those who have been following the blog since it’s creation will have noticed that there was a distinct drop in activity this year. I can’t even explain why. I can only reason that I’ve picked up my phone to take a snap, more than I’ve picked up my actual camera. It’s not a bad thing, as at times I try and plan my shots a bit better, but I have missed the D-SLR. Lots has been going on however, so here here are a few previews…

Chocolate Oreo Balls – The Recipe

I’ve started having a bit more of a presence on Instagram lately and my photos of the classic Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake Balls appeared to be well received. I first found the recipe on Southern Living.

I’ve tweaked it a little bit, just a few short-cuts to make it easier. Firstly, chill the blended Oreo/cream cheese mixture before you roll the balls out otherwise there will just be a huge oreo coloured mess. Secondly, melt less chocolate! You honestly don’t need as much as they are suggesting. The end result seems to go down well with those who love sweet treats…

The Dog…

She’s had her twice yearly groom at the pooch parlour, and boy was she grumpy. But she came home a changed woman, having lost lost of her fluffy bits (elbows and trousers) and with less hairy ears. That’s the dog we’re talking about…

She has been very receptive towards wearing her festive bits and pieces and hasn’t moaned once (yet.)

The Decorations…

The tree is up, the festive bits are planted, the house is well and truly on its way to being full of festive cheer (hah!) and so is my parents, where we also worked hard to get everything ready for the season. Here are some snapshots…and that’s it for now, bring on annual leave and more time for photography!

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River Cottage Baking Day

“Bake with love..”
― Manuela Kjeilen

My sister and I were treated to a day with our Mum at River Cottage today (you know, the place where the River Cottage cooking series is filmed) learning how to bake cakes and desserts! So we began an early morning trek down to Devon enjoying the absolutely breath-taking scenery on the way there…

Once there the views got even better. I’ve never been to Devon before and it’s only a couple of hours down the road… so I’ll be revisiting sometime very soon with my ‘proper’ camera.

Everything about the day from start to finish was perfectly organised and amazing. Photographs were encouraged, wandering around and looking at things was encouraged and we even got to glimpse inside the cottage where they usually do the filming…

We were plied with home-made goods in between tasting our own, drinking cordial, tea and coffee. We made muffins, loaf cake, profiteroles and chocolate tart (from scratch!)

At lunchtime we were served delicious home-made steak pie, mashed potatoe and carrots. And if that wasn’t enough we had tasters afterwards of some of the things we’d been baking.

The best bit was the view. What an inspiring view.. all day we had this gorgeous landscape to look out onto as we baked…

 

 

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