Have you noticed, oranges are everywhere right now! I read a lot of cookery bloggers and they are busy boiling up marmalade and making all sorts of Blood Orange confections. I even saw a recipe for Blood Orange Panna Cotta.
Now, I don't usually go in for anything that exotic. Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever eaten a blood orange in my life but I do keep tangerines, clementines, and old fashioned oranges in my fruit bowl.
So with a surfeit of oranges, I decided to jump on the orange band waggon and make Orange Drizzle Muffins.
It's a bit of a cheat really, because all you have to do is replace the lemon in my LEMON DRIZZLE MUFFIN RECIPE with the zest and juice of an orange to make this recipe.
I suppose you could even use one of those trendy Blood Oranges to make these muffins but if it's round and orange any variety will work.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE RECIPE, just remember to replace the lemon with a juicy ORANGE! Like they say, it's easy, peasy orange squeezy.
I know this isn't the most economical way to purchase tulips, three bulbs for £1.99, but I saw them at the garden centre and had to have them.
They were three little White Marvel tulips planted in a small pot, just tight buds when I bought them.
After a week or so on the kitchen window ledge they started to stretch up and open.
Now they are on the chest in the sitting room, looking gorgeous! At first sight they seem to be pure white but if you look closely you will see a faint touch of mauve veining.
When they've finished blooming in the house, I'll transplant them into the garden. £1.99 isn't bad for a perpetual tulip posy!
I am informed by several sources (Twitter and Google to name two) that today is World Book Day. Books are prized possessions at our house. We treat them with respect and great care. I think you can safely say, we love books!
A book that is signed by the author is even more special, so you can imagine my delight when I received a copy of this very beautiful book, signed by Louise Curley. And as if that wasn't exciting enough, I had the book WEEKS before it was available to the public!
I won't go into how or why I had this insider's privilege but it was nearly impossible for me to keep it all a secret. The Cut Flower Patch has been officially released just in time for World Book Day! Click HERE to have a peek inside the pages and order a copy for yourself.
If you love gardens, flowers, and beautiful photos this could be your choice for World Book Day, too!
In honour of Almost Wordless Wednesday, I bring you this morning's sunshine. We are enjoying another bright start and the first home grown bouquet of the season!
Something unusual happened this morning, we have sunshine! Coming through the bay window, it is dazzlingly bright and warm and irresistible to a certain little black cat.
He's trying to settle for a snooze in a sunbeam. It won't last long, with all that dark, thick fur he gets hot very quickly.
He also gets very cross with me and the camera. There is a name for that look he's giving me and it's not very polite.
It's not fair to ruin his nap so I'll leave him to soak up the sun. As I said, this sunbeam won't last long.
Andy isn't big on fluffy, frosted cakes. I am. He likes simple, traditional cakes like Victoria Sponge and things with apples baked in them. It's a sad fact that those who do the baking usually pick what gets baked.
So, in the interest of fairness, I thought I bake Andy's All-Time FAVOURITE apple cake. So I crawled back to the furthest reaches of the kitchen cupboard to dig out the seldom used bundt pan. We all have them; pots, pans, kitchen implements that spend most of the time unloved and under utilised.
But I digress, back to baking this cake. I found this recipe at Martha Stewart's website. I am a BIG Martha fan and after this cake I hope you will be too!
Just CLICK HERE to find Martha's Apple Spice Cake Recipe and you will soon be baking the cake that is practically EVERY man's dream.
I think I can sacrifice the fluffy frosting, just for today.
