We've moved, and the internet has finally been connected up. I'm back online! I have really only missed the internet because I work online... but it's nice to have that information-at-your-fingertips superpower on call again.

A carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Date and caramel scones.

&Stitches is a fabulous quarterly e-zine and blog dedicated to the art of hand-sewing and hand-embroidering. Run by Carina and Nicole, two crafty bloggers extraordinaire, &Stitches is regularly updated with patterns, information and eye-candy related to stitchery inspiration and instructions.

And look who was featured this weekend:

We've moved. We haven't unpacked, we haven't bought all of our furniture. But, we have bread. My sourdough starter was transported by hand in the move, and it made it safe and sound. The new house is a lot warmer, and it very quickly matured to just the right amount of sour, ready for baking. I couldn't ignore it. Unpacking could (and can) wait.

And finally, after all that baking and fiddling with the new oven, there was bread. Four round loaves slightly too-dark on top, that are perfect for dunking in balsamic vinegar, or layering with chutney and cheese. I have no idea which box these ingredients might be in. For now, it's buttered and enjoyed with tea. I'm rather proud of myself.

I made two small Irish Tea Cakes last weekend, and they're still as good as new. This cake is amazingly moist, and is perfect for tea time (or late breakfasts!). I'm not the biggest fan of raisins, but soaking them in tea overnight really does them the world of good.

I have been thinking about sourdough for an awfully long time. I get cravings for it on a Saturday morning, and then quickly regret not having any sourdough yeast around to quickly whip up a delicious floury loaf for breakfast. I occasionally treat myself to a loaf of sourdough, but I know better. I should be making it myself.

But of course, to have sourdough bread, you need a sourdough yeast or sponge. To have a sourdough sponge, you need a starter.

And that's a lot of hard work and patience.


It's only really hard work because you have to wait a whole 7 - 10 days before you can use your magic sourdough starter to actually produce bread. That's a whole lot of holding back and being patient. You have to love it and feed it every day, at 24-hour intervals. You have to whisk it and monitor it. You have to be patient.


It really does grow and take on a life of its own. How very clever. I've been peeking in from time to time, lifting up the clingwrap and taking a whiff to smell whether it is fermenting well. It is.


I'm using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for the sourdough starter, which is 100g of wholemeal flour mixed with enough water to get the texture of thick paint. You need to scoop out half of it every day and feed it anew, which initially really put me off (all that waste!) but now, as I watch it ferment, it really makes sense. You need to let it grow.

You can find Hugh's sourdough starter recipe here.

So, in 7 - 10 days it will be ready to bake. In 7 - 10 days we will be in a new kitchen. A small little kitchen nook in our lovely new home. T-minus 4 sleeps.

Packing is dreary work. Making home-made ice cream from an easy peasy no-churn recipe is an infinitely better use of time. Vanilla ice cream with swirled maple caramel and chopped pecans, by the by.

We've just returned from a little camping trip in the lovely Lake District. It was raining and pouring, as it does in the Lake District (so we hear) so we went on a driving tour of the lakes and museums, but it soon cleared up.