Simple Autumnal Pleasures {multitudes on monday}

simple Autumnal pleasures...

apples baking
their lingering sweet musk steeping
the house in hearth warmth
and memories
that wrap a soul in cotton dishcloth
place it close to it's kin
in thin wicker baskets brimming
anticipation...

to make:
core some whole apples. place them in a baking pan filled to about a centimeter with water. Put half a teaspoon of honey and half a teaspoon of butter inside the cored centers then sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Place in a hot oven till the skins have burst and the fruit is soft.
Perfect served on it's own as a warming Autumn tea time treat or with a scoop of ice-cream for pudding.







Even the fading blooms bring their own fragrance, their own beauty, their own wisdom.



Some others speak memories of summer.



The little garden spiders, each one named and known by my little girls, just keep spinning, spinning, spinning. A silent world of life within a world of life.



and the leaves from the sycamore just keep falling.
one
by
one.
faint
mute
swelling with a secret
spring,
glowing gold within
their fragile skin.



..and speaking of autumn... here is a lovely little autumnal poem by one of this years national trust competition winners...

enjoy :)

Untitled
By Emma Lister

“It’s really something” -
standing out of the sunroof,
we are not dead yet.
In November, we’ve valleys,
houses leaning, nestled
among those fields
outlined in hedgerows -
and the trees are wet under
miserable sky.
Grow tall, leaves. Unfold.
Bring a cowlick of summer -
with meadows, poppies -
When you lie back down,
the grass curls over your face
and there’s a heavy
bee; autumn is kind
to him. The water in springs
tastes like last winter.

Easy No knead dough! Irish Soda Bread... A Simple Sunday Supper

We love making bread, but often find that the process is difficult to fit into our day.
Irish Soda Bread is a wonderful healthy "no knead" alternative that tastes really homely and warming. It is quick and easy to make and we often enjoy it for lunch with soup or salad, at teatime with butter and jam or as a simple Sunday supper.

My favourite version is the "teatime version" spread thickly *right to the edges" with golden butter and homemade plum jam.

But it also goes wonderfully well with soup...
To make a perfectly simple lunch or Sunday evening supper.

To make one loaf:

Mix 400 grams of plain flour with 100 grams of wholewheat flour.
Stir in 100 grams of porridge oats, 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda and a couple of pinches of salt.
When the dry ingredients have been mixed through rub in 25 grams of soft butter.
Make a little "pond" in the middle of the mix and pour in 500 ml of buttermilk (when I've run out of buttermilk I use the same amount of ordinary milk with a couple of teaspoons of a sweet vinegar whisked in and it has always worked ;)
Stir the mix together VERY quickly with a table knife before bringing it together into a loaf shape (the mixture will be very "wet" at this point)
Place the dough onto a floured baking sheet and shape it so that it is around 8 inches in diameter.
Score it three times across with a bread knife to ensure it cooks right through.
Sprinkle some more porridge oats and seeds on the top before placing it in a preheated oven of 180C or gas mark 6 for around 35 minutes (or until the bottom sounds hollow when you tap it.)

Memory moments from yesterday...

Bujana and the white butterfly (most likely searching for broccoli, to munch on like last year but not having much luck poor fellow, guess courgettes just aren't his cup of tea)

Jam tarts (made by Tilly and Boo, with no help! )

Homemade, scrambled together, wild gooseberry peach and apple pie.

Boo's Music sheets for this week...