Relaxing, cooking, cleaning, crafting.

Two weeks into the holidays, and I am starting to relax. I am still dreaming about work, but definitely thinking about it less when I am awake. We have mostly been at home over the last fortnight, with a quick trip up to Durham and a few days out. The weather has been pretty awful, lots of wind and rain and days of heavy cloud. 

I have been on a mission to regain some kind of order over the domestic situation in the house. I have moved through rooms, washing, wiping, vacuuming, mopping and sorting out piles of clutter. 

 It has been very therapeutic.

The kitchen got a very thorough clean, the sort in which parts of the fridge, freezer and oven saw a cloth and disinfectant for the first time in months. Cupboards were wiped and organised, drawers emptied and tidied. 

This prompted a lot of cooking. I love cooking in the school holidays. There is more time for thinking about what needs using up and planning interesting meals around the contents of the fridge or cupboards. Nothing is wasted because I forgot about it sitting in the back of the fridge.

There is time for French toast for breakfast.

Or lunches made up of leftover mashed potatoes and greens, re-heated and mixed together topped with poached eggs and lots of hot sauce.

An audit of the spices and the discovery of lots of opened packets of red lentils, prompted this delicious dinner of dahl topped with roasted sweet potatoes and coconut chutney, recipe here.

For me, holiday cooking is less about what we need to cook (dinner) and more about slow, store cupboard cooking, investment cooking. Like this granola.

And, my much-anticipated summer favourite, blackcurrant and liquorice ice cream. The recipe is from Simply Nigella but I cannot find a version of it online.

It's a no-churn recipe, so you just whip the blackcurrants, cream and condensed milk together then pour into a tub, drizzling with liquorice syrup which you swirl through.

It's only me who eats it so I always add more than the recipe suggests. 

Me friend Abbie gave me some cherries from her tree, a huge bag of them. I stoned and halved them, then tossed them into a pan to simmer with a little sugar to make compote. 

I've been eating it with my granola and some plain yogurt, but it would also be delicious with pancakes or waffles. 

I bought some really nice nectarines so made this marzipan and nectarine cake by Claire Thomson, who I follow on Instagram under @5oclockapron. Her reels of her cooking are so good. 

It went down very well. It is the kind of cake best served warm although it is lovely cold. You need to eat it up quickly though or it goes soggy.

And finally ginger slices, which have a flapjack base with zingy ginger icing on top they are so good and keep for ages which is just as well as the recipe makes a lot. They are from the book One Tin Bakes Easy by Edd Kimber which I am loving at the moment. 

And finally, the thing I am most proud of, is this sourdough. I managed to kill my old starter so at Easter made a new one. I have been trying hard to remember to feed it frequently and finally had the time and head space to make a loaf a couple of days ago. Sourdough is not hard, but you have to think about the timings: when to feed, when to stretch and fold, when to overnight prove etc. This rose really well and I was happy. 

I have been making good progress on my Iceland embroidery. I have added a volcano, snowflake, geysur and whale.

 The whale is my favourite so far. 

I have also whipped up (and it was very quick and easy) a summery bag.

I chose remnants of Drops Paris Arran weight cotton and used a 5mm hook to make these large squares, which I folded in half and sewed together, like this.

Then I added a strap and a button, and hey presto.

Below is proof that I have left the house. There were end of term drinks.

Coffee dates with John.

Lunch out and bookshop time on the wettest and greyest of days.

New nails.

Muddy dog walks in wet woods.

And a few days in Durham.

Finally, a few photos of Bella ready to go to her school prom. It rained so heavily we could not take any nice photos outside so made do with the living room.

I love that she felt comfortable and confident, and very much like herself. She did her own hair and make-up and wore her trainers. She had a great time.