Halloween Again!

Strange, eerie fog again.  One almost expects Sherlock Holmes to come round the corner.  And the clip-clop of hooves drawing their carriages for two and six!

Local Pea Soup!

Another atmospheric day with dense fog. It feels like the edge of the world is just up the road, and then it's a freefall into space!

Pea Soup in Regent's Park!

After several days of high winds and it raining cats and dogs, it was a welcome relief to find it bitterly cold and foggy!

A leisurely stroll through Regent's Park saw hardened dog owners and runners trying to get fit before the onslaught of Christmas mince pies and chocolates.

Tis the season for Salt Dough!

2 cups cheapest all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup cold water

Mix salt and flour together in a bowl.  Gradually add 1/2 cup of water and mix to a dough.  Knead the dough on a flat surface, add water as needed.

If you want holes, pierce the dough with a matchstick after cutting shapes.

Shapes will dry in a couple of days.  Paint with acrylic paints and varnish all sides.

Rat @ Kenwood House Lake

A lovely bright day to go squelching in the woods at Kenwood House.  Remember never to wear shoes with holes in, in deep mud!  By the lake we saw a rat.  It was inquisitive and tame.  Ratty came right up to feed from our offerings of cranberries and unsalted nuts!  And then, it squirrelled them away one-by-one for the winter.

Princess of Wales Conservatory, Kew Gardens

A lovely time exploring the conservatory, sniffing out the Titan Arum, searching for the remaining butterflies (two) and watching the steam come down onto the lily pads of the Victoria Amazonica (giant waterlily).

 

 

 

Honey and peanut butter booster bars

This is a 'Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage' receipe.  It's a great snack bar.  However, it can't go in packed lunch boxes as it has nuts, but it's super for an after-school snack and as a pick-them-up at the weekend. 

If you don't have any oranges and lemons, it's ok to use a tablespoon of mixed peel.  Same with the dried fruit and mixed seeds, I finished as many bits and pieces as I could find.  A great larder clearer-outer!  Same with the peanut butter, it doesn't matter if it's smooth.
 
Ingredients
125g mild olive oil or unsalted butter
150g brown sugar
125g no-sugar-added crunchy peanut butter
75g honey, plus a little more to finish
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
200g porridge oats (if jumbo, blend a bit to break down)
150g dried fruit, such as raisins, chopped apricots and prunes or dates
150g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed, hemp and sesame

Grease and line a baking tin, about 20cm square. Put the oil, sugar, peanut butter, honey and grated citrus zests in a deep saucepan over a very low heat.  Leave until melted, stirring from time to time.

Stir the oats, dried fruit and three-quarters of the seeds into the oil mixture until thoroughly combined.  Spread the mixture out evenly in the baking tin, pressing down and smoothing the top as you go.

Scatter the remaining seeds over the surface and trickle with a little more honey.  Place in an oven preheated to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden in the centre and golden brown at the edges.

Leave to cool completely in the tin, cut into 16 squares.  These bars will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight tin.

Variation: Banana booster bars
Replace the peanut butter with 1 medium ripe banana (about 175g), mashed.  Stir it in after all the other ingredients have been combined.