Tag Archives: Kim

Week Thirty Nine – Mary Berry’s Easy Lemon Cheesecake

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This week , a pudding was needed for after dinner with my other mum and dad so I happily sat and browsed through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found this easy yet delicious sounding cheesecake. The base of the cheesecake was crushed digestive biscuits with melted butter, pressed into a flan tin and left to set. No problem there.

Mary Berry's Easy Lemon Cheesecake

The filling was the grated rind and juice of three lemons, not an issue but you soon know if you have a cut on your finger- or like me, manage to grate your finger with the rind!, to this, Mary asks for some single cream and condensed milk, well as Mary is very fond of the full fat varieties, I substituted the single cream for Elmlea lighter single cream and the condensed milk for the lighter condensed milk, it just cuts down on the amount of calories a little. You put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until slightly thickened and then pour it onto the base and allow to set for at least four hours or overnight if possible.

I left mine overnight and then looked at what Mary suggests to finish the cheesecake- double cream whipped, and strawberries…….well I made a Kim executive decision and took out the double cream. I then decided that strawberries were not the best company for a lemon cheesecake so I simply decorated mine with some clementine segments.

Kim's Easy Lemon Cheesecake

We all seemed to enjoy the cheesecake after dinner, and as usual, dad had a second helping. There was about a third of the cheesecake left and we divided that in half so that each household had a little more for supper….or so we thought….our half slipped off the plate…and as you can see, the dogs had a cheesecake feast!

The Hairy Hoolies Cheesecake Feast

Week Twenty One – Mary Berry’s Millionaire’s Shortbread

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Although this blog is a little late in being published, I made Mary Berry’s Millionaire’s Shortbread on Sunday. This brings back lots of childhood memories, my mother used to make this a lot but it was known as Wellington Squares in our house. As my dad loved these so much I have dedicated this recipe to his memory and renamed it to Billionaire’s Shortbread as his name was Bill………..

Anyhow,  the recipe was very familiar to me and I made it in one of the infamous Lakeland tray bake disposable tins which come in very handy. I have been aware of not taking so many pictures of various stages recently to have taken a few more this week as there are three distinct stages to this scrummy cake.

Mary Berry's Millionaire's Shortbread

The shortbread base is first and fairly easy to do, it’s just getting the balance of golden rather than burnt!

 Kim's Billionaire's Shortbread base

Then there is the caramel middle, Mary Berry is not wrong when she says stir ALL the time, if you don’t, it will catch and burn and you end up with burnt bits in it. This didn’t catch but it has done for me in the past so be careful.

Kim's Billionaire's Shortbread caramel middle

The topping is then the melted chocolate. Mary recommends just a plain top or a mix of plain, milk and white chocolate in a marble pattern. Traditionally in our house, it’s a milk chocolate topping with white lines and then swirled so that’s what I did and love the look of it. So here you have, Kim‘s Billionaire’s Shortbread in memory of my lovely Dad who was taken too soon by illness.

Kim's Dad Bill Kim's Billionaire's Shortbread

Oh and don’t forget to support the Comic Relief Bake Off and make a donation here:

http://http://www.rednoseday.com/whats-going-on/whats-on-tv/bake-off

 

Tis the Season to be Jolly !!!!

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So where do we start about the last 12 months?

It’s certainly been an interesting time.  Lewis had every intention of posting far more blogs about photography, but since completing his photography qualification he hasn’t actually taken that many photographs.  This MUST change for 2013!!!

Kim sat and watched The Great British Bake Off, oh god what a mistake that was!!!  After watching a few episodes, Kim thought it would be an excellent idea to buy Mary Berry’s baking bible and then choose one recipie a week.  Well what’s the point in setting yourself a challenge if nobody knows about it? This is where Lewis came up with the idea that Kim should blog about her baking experiences and share it with those who were interested and wished to read or follow the blog.  Hence Kim’s account on WordPress was created…….

Has it been a success?  Well we certainly think so and we would both like to thank our new followers, not forgetting our existing ones, this year and hope that this blog has bought some interesting reading as well as enjoyment.

So what about Lewis?  Well in January he required surgery on his right shoulder and even now it’s still not fully resolved.  It was such a re-assurance when the Consultant said to him “oh it can take up to 18 months for a shoulder to fully heal….”   Oh cheers, thanks for telling me after the surgery!!!! :0)

Due to having a lack of function in his arm, Lewis hasn’t really done much, but hopes to be far more active in 2013.  Lewis hopes without a doubt that not only will he be able to take plenty of beauitful images, but that people may even wish to purchase the images created by Lullingstone Photography, better known as Lewis & Kim….

So what else has happened?  Oh yes, we nearly forgot.  Lewis’ parents decided to downsize from what had been his childhood home and so where do they move to?  Well of course it has to be next door to us!!!!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “You can’t choose your parents….”,  well guess what, you can’t choose where they live either !!!!   LOL  :0)

Joking apart after a 16 week re-development project, we both hope they have many happy years in their new home, although we’re still waiting for them to actually move in……

Then of course we have the Olympics and Paralympics!!!  WOW is basically all one can say about that.  Whether you like sport or not, no one can deny that we have had the most incredible year of sport.  The achievements of our various sports men and women in their respective disciplines has been absolutely incredible.  The Olympics seemed to be over in a heartbeat which is something we can’t say about the build up to it.  How many years did we have the media bombarding us with Olympic gems?  Far too long would have been the answer.

BUT….. then the Paralympics Opening ceremony began and slowly people were amazed at how a legless man could run, or how someone with one leg could actually ride a bicycle and STILL whip the butts of your average able bodied person!!!  Sure there were plenty of jokes going around; Some were tasteless and some were just down right hilarious…    On that note, we really have to praise the Australian Adam Hills who presented the programme “The Last Leg” which was incredibly funny.  One can only applaud Channel 4 for allowing such a programme that really did break down barriers between disabled and abled body.  We would urge anyone who missed it to try and download it.  It must be on the Internet somewhere :0)

So the whole of the UK were in awe of the competitors and for very good reason.  They were ALL truly inspirational, whether they were winners or losers…  In our eyes, they were ALL WINNERS !!!!

Generally speaking it has actually been a rather quiet year, until we got to December.  Kim had been having some pain and so goes to see the GP. After some investigations, she finds herself with a rapid referral to the hospital and told that surgery is needed…..

So we’re waiting for a date for surgery on the NHS….  Well that’s likely to be a few months then right?  WRONG !!!!

A letter came through from the hospital a few days ago and the date is…….  Yep, it’s New Year’s Eve!!!!  We certainly won’t forget this year in a hurry.

This obviously means that Kim’s baking blog is going to suffer a hiatus for a few weeks whilst she fully recovers.  We both hope that 2013 brings a better year for the both of us in many different ways……

Bailey & Michka - Christmas 2012There are two things that keep us relaxed and relieve any stress and those of course are our two hairy hooligans Bailey and Michka.  It’s wonderful to say that they have both managed to stay in good health.  Without a doubt they will provide Kim with plenty of comfort and love when she comes out of hospital in the New Year…. :0)

We wish you all a very joyous and Happy Christmas and hope that you have a prosperous New Year.  We hope that 2013 is good to you all and is even better than 2012.

Lewis, Kim, Bailey & Michka  :0)

Week One – The Coffee Victoria Sandwich Cake

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Ok, here we go, week one and the challenge is on.

I made sure I got all the ingredients in and sat and read through the recipe. Mary Berry’s instructions are clear  and concise but with no fancy terms, she inspires confidence that i can do it…..

After a confidence bolstering cup of tea, I ventured into the kitchen and got out all the equipment I needed and all the ingredients.

Putting this cake mix together didn’t take long and to be honest, it felt like I was back at school in my home economics class. At the moment it didn’t feel so much of a challenge but a revision on what I already knew but I ploughed on regardless.

The mix done, I carefully divided it into the prepared tins,  put them in the pre-warmed oven, set the timer and it was time for that ever-so-english tradition of another cup of tea again.

“PING” went the timer and I approached the oven with trepidation.  How would they look?  Was it too soon?…..or too late to take them out? Had I been a bit too blasé in setting the timer and not checking every so often?

Phew- I wiped by brow with relief, they looked risen, brown and didn’t immediately subside when I looked at them, I removed them and set them aside to cool and then removed them faily easily from the tins onto the cooling rack.

I then set to making the coffee buttercream – I love making buttercream icing but the initial mixing always creates clouds of icing sugar which seem to settle on every surface nearby!

The final step, putting it all together, would it resemble in any way the picture on Mary Berry’s book? Well, not so pretty or precise but not bad for a first effort…..

Well,, I will leave that up to you, but week one’s challenge is under my belt, i will now spend the week browsing the challenge bible and deciding what week two will bring……

Kim

Tis the Festive Season!!! :0)

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Not long to go till we will be sitting down with my parents stuffing ourselves with Christmas dinner, courtesy of Mr Marks and Mr Spencer!!!

I’m sure it was only yesterday that we were doing the same thing. Maybe it’s only me, but this year seems to have flown by and 2012 is looming just around the corner… Dare I mention the London Olympics?

So what have we been upto this year? Dare I say not much really, or just the usual daily life, although there was one BIG difference this year…. Canada!!!

We’d been talking about this trip for at least 5 years and finally the time had arrived where we’d dare stick me on a plane and pray to god that I didn’t go splat and have some allergic reaction……

Before we come to Canada, there was one other little event… Yes I turned 40!!! Do I feel any different? Hummmm I can honestly say NO and still have the same pains I had at the beginning of the year.

So now to Canada…. Yippeeee!!!! Yes, I know the majority, if not all, of our blog site is about our Canadian adventure and my god what a holiday it was… What a country!!! The hardest thing must have been putting the dogs into kennels and obviously the best bit was landing and going straight to the airport to collect them, but it’s the 15 days that happened in between…

We are just hoping to win big on the lottery now so that we can pack up and permanently leave UK Plc for some remaining, beautiful Wilderness… Yep, we’d probably give anything to up sticks and settle in Canada. Let’s be honest, who can blame us?

Hopefully it won’t be another 5 years, but only time will tell….

We both hope that you have had a fantastic year and made some exciting memories.

Raising our imaginary glasses we would like to make a toast to you all and your families at this festive time of year and wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you have a peaceful and prosperous 2012!!!

Lewis & Kim Brown

P.S. and not a single mention of a camera or any photography for that matter…. Just watch this space as we’ll try and change that for 2012 :0)