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Pickle Post
So we’ve ridden the chutney wave and come out the other side. This year we are on a chutney break as we still have some of our own creations left and a few from family members and friends to work through. But late in the season we ended up with a couple of mini gluts. […]
Sweet Coconut Milk Risotto
October 20, 2011
The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. It makes me want to hibernate. Failing that I want to light the fire, curl up under a blanket and eat something like this. This is the creamiest of puddings. It’s made with coconut milk, nothing desiccated in here, that would jar with the texture. […]
Inside our kitchen
October 15, 2011
I read Sally’s post on My Custard Pie this morning and it reminded me of one by Katherine and Greg on Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide. They both show a little glimpse into someone else’s kitchen and it made me want to show you inside ours too. BUT…this is going to be little vignettes of ‘things […]
Appletini
October 12, 2011
So this is how it went. Our neighbours came up trumps again by donating a big basket of beautiful little Discovery apples from their tree. I must send George round to fetch his ball back more often. The colour of the apples is so vibrant even the flesh has streaks of red running through it. George […]
Cocobolo’s last stand
October 8, 2011
Working with tools is great, but making tools themselves takes the craft and the resulting satisfaction to another level. Over the years I’ve made a variety of hand tools; it’s something I allow myself as a little treat in between the projects that really need doing. On this occasion the tool is a flush plane, […]
Child Free Pumpkin
October 2, 2011
Every year we get a pumpkin or two and have great plans of what we are going to carve into it. Every year George get’s bored after about 10 minutes of seed scooping and goes off to do something else. I end up standing in the kitchen with pumpkin goo up my sleeves wondering why I […]
Apple Pie
September 28, 2011
My Grandma’s apple pie was always my favourite. The crust was almost like shortbread. Soft, but not soggy. The pastry was sprinkled with sugar, yet not too sweet. In the last 20 odd years I have tried to find something to compare, but the pastry has always been too heavy, the apples too hard or […]
Pretty Pear Jelly
September 20, 2011
Last week I found myself with a surfeit of pears. The one and only William pear from my own little tree, plus a whole basket of mixed pears from my friendly neighbours. I used the soft William pears in another Pear and Almond Cake but still had lots of conference pears left. I knew that […]
Damson in Distress
September 18, 2011
I was disappointed, to say the least, when the damson jam and damson cheese that I made turned out to be very tasty, but slightly grainy damson toffee. I scoured the internet for a solution and found people with the same problem were given only vague suggestions of how to solve it. It’s a common […]
Random Bake of Kindness
September 7, 2011
Vanessa Kimbell’s post suggesting we take part in random acts (bakes) of kindness was compelling. She suggested we think about who deserved a spontaneous thank you, a kind word or some recognition…and that we bake an extra batch of something just for them. I love a bit of random kindness. My mum always taught me […]
How to make a Cajón
September 6, 2011
I know, enough with the Cajóns already. OK, but just one more thing, then I really will shut up. Several people have asked about me making a Cajón for them, but a combination of time pressure and the difficulty of actually doing it for less than the commercially available models mean its not really viable. What I […]
Cajón!
September 4, 2011
Two weeks ago I’d never even heard of a Cajón. Since then I’ve researched them, made one and watched it played in a live gig; it’s been quite the fortnight. Cajón is the Spanish word for ‘box’, which I’ll grant you seems exactly the right name for it, as at first glance it is indeed […]
Plum Frangipane Tart
September 1, 2011
Today I made a tart. OK, so I can’t deny it looks like a tomato quiche. George picked the plums from Louise Housley’s tree. The pastry was a packet of ready made all-butter puff. The frangipane was made out of ground almonds leftover from the failed macarons. I rolled out the puff pastry, lined a […]
Tayberry’s last chance
August 29, 2011
Me and the Tayberry are going to fall out. It promises fragrant purple berries, but at the moment the rewards are outweighed by the strife. In spring 2010 I planted a raspberry, a loganberry and a tayberry against the brick wall that runs alongside our vegetable beds. I wrote about the reasons for choosing the […]
Macarons: Fail
August 23, 2011
Cooking fashions come and go, but french macarons seem to be in for the long haul. I avoided them for a long while, but the regular MacTweets from Twitter friends like Sarah at Maison Cupcake led me to have a go early last year. I prepared by reading lots of blogposts, recipes and online tutorials and filled […]
Friendship Cake
August 21, 2011
Way back in my teenage years a neighbour passed me a strange bubbling bowl of goo. I was to stir it daily and 'don't forget to feed it.'
Baby Shower
August 10, 2011
As Deb’s baby is only a few weeks away, yesterday we had an impromptu baby shower type gathering at Housley & Co headquarters. As you can imagine…we weren’t short of a cake or two. The most impressive being the towering pastel confection made by Louise. I love the little flags and ‘shower clouds’ that she made […]
Alcove Unit
August 6, 2011
Keen eyed readers may recall this post from a while back, which marked the beginning of a project to provide an alcove unit in our hybrid study/back sitting room. Now I’ve looked at the dates and realised its taken nearly 5 months to finish, I’ll add that to the pile of reasons why I don’t […]
London Trip 2011
August 3, 2011
We have just returned from a Weekend in London. The first time the boy child has visited the capital. After arriving at the beautiful St Pancras we went South of the river to get on the Duck Bus. The Duck Bus is an amphibious vehicle used for the D Day landings in WWII. It took […]
Posted in: Claire, The Suttons
utility shelves
antipasti plank
whisky cupboard
a case for books
favourite brownies
how to make a cajón!
funnel cakes
laab moo
reuben sandwich
Ed on the decks
massive meatballs
apple pie
sweetcorn fritters
all day pork
rillettes
just chilli
macaroons
Things we make 
October 25, 2011
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