Tea Stains and Daisy Chains: lblogger

blogger

I went to a fireworks display earlier this month, during which the man with the loud-speaker told us to "look up". As we all turned our heads to the sky in anticipation, he added that he's found this a pretty good motto to live by. For some reason, this lighthearted comment has really stuck with me, so much so that I decided to include it in this blog post!

Don't worry, I'm not going to go all philosophical on you and start analysing the meaning of life or anything. No, instead I'm just going to share a bit about what's going on in my world at the moment. (This is definitely totally relevant and related because things are looking up, okay?). I get that this might not be particularly interesting for you as a reader, but I do like to include a variety of posts on my blog, with some offering practical tips and others being a bit more diary-like.

Two weeks ago, it was the first time in probably about two years that I was out every single night of the week. For lots of people my age (and any other age, come to think of it), doing something other than watching TV every evening is no big deal. But considering that pretty much all of my friends are at uni and I've spent most of this 'second' gap year sitting at home with the parents, this was a fairly momentous event.

I started the week by going along to the fifth or sixth session of the Alpha Course. For those of you who aren't sure whether this is a new language or some sort of fitness regime (when I told someone the other week, they replied by letting me know that their friend was doing Tough Mudder...), the Alpha Course is basically a series of talks and discussions about the fundamentals of the Christian faith . You may have seen posters outside churches asking 'What's the point?'; these would have been advertising the course. It's essentially a place where anyone, regardless of their beliefs (or lack of), can find out more and ask questions in a safe environment about God and the church. Having grown up in a Christian family, I've found it really useful being around non-Christians who are staring from square one, as well as those who have a really solid faith. It's been encouraging to hear other people raising the same questions and doubts that I've always had floating around in the back of my mind. Plus, it's free and we get food, so everyone's happy.

During the week, I had training for my new job at a bar in the centre of town. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to choose an insanely popular and busy bar for my pint-pulling debut, but I'm telling myself that we need a challenge every now and then. I witnessed the throng of 21+'s a couple of Fridays ago, as I had my first weekend shift behind the bar. Beforehand, I was absolutely terrified and was shaking as though I was about to sit an oral language exam (my worst nightmare: why I thought I wanted to do French at uni I'll never know). But when I actually arrived and got going, it was no way near as bad as I'd imagined. Having to remember all the cocktails and being able to serve the different drinks at about one thousand miles per hour has definitely forced me onto a very steep learning curb, but I'm hoping that things will start to be a bit more enjoyable once I feel like I sort of know what I'm doing!

Now that I've got two jobs (and one of them involves ridiculous hours!), I've decided that I want to spend some of my money on getting myself insured on my mum's little KA. For me, being able to drive is literally the best thing ever, so I'm a very happy bunny. It's also great to feel as though I'm a bit more independent and don't have to cycle to the gym in the pouring rain or rely on my parents to come and collect me from work at 2am!

So that's pretty much my life at the moment. Although things seem to have suddenly picked up a bit, I'm still trying to fit in reading, art and writing into my week (not always successfully). But I'm not complaining, because about half a year ago I was doing literally nothing and definitely wasn't happy about it!

Life's good when it's full.

Harriet x

bake

Best Ever Lemon Loaf

18:02

I hope you've all had a lovely week! Today I've had a day off, so decided to make a couple of cakes in preparation for the weekend. (Let's be honest though, cake isn't just for the weekend). Seeing as the Honey, Sultana and Pecan Tea Bread was so moreish, I couldn't resist baking that again (this time I remembered to put the sultanas in to soak the night before), and I also thought I'd make a lemon-syrup loaf. There are so many recipes for lemon cake out there, but once you've tried this one I doubt you'll ever bother with any others! The cake is so moist because it involves pouring a lemony syrup over the top once it's baked, which then soaks into the sponge and is just delicious. It's from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess recipe book.

Ingredients for the cake-

125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
175g self-raising flour, sifted
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk

Ingredients for the syrup-

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
100g icing sugar

To make the cake-

1) Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 180C and butter and line a 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin. If you have those loaf tin cases, then this step is very quick and easy.

2) Next, cream together the butter and the sugar. If your butter is really hard, then you might want to stick it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to make it easier to work with. When I made this, I creamed the butter on its own first before adding the sugar, which somehow felt easier!

3) Add the eggs and the lemon zest, beating well. I just grated the zest straight into the bowl to save on washing up another bowl/plate.

4) Then carefully fold in the flour and salt, making sure it's mixed thoroughly, before adding the milk.

5) That's the cake done! Spoon the mixture into your tin and pop into the oven. Now you can make the syrup, which is unbelievably simple.

6) Heat the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved.

7) The cake should be done after about 45 minutes, although ovens do vary, so you may want to check on it after 40 minutes or so. You'll know it's ready when a skewer stuck into it comes out clean.

8) Using the skewer, puncture the entire cake all over and then pour the lemon syrup over the top. It might pool around the edge, so just poke extra holes wherever needed.