Dust and Gold...Rachel Taylor-Beales...

We have just had Rachel and her husband to stay and loved their company...check out her music...we love it and hope that she will return to play in under the trees at some stage in the future....

www.racheltaylor-beales.com

A wee snapshot of Gay Paris in Summertime!

As a break from the routine of daily life Oscar and jumped on the opportunity to head to Paris to drop Amelia off to the Eurostar where she was heading to visit a friend in London.

 No time for anything but a bit of 'drive by shooting' en route to and from home via Gare de Nord but enough of a city fix to amuse and enlighten us as we sat in hideous traffic trying to exit the city...Sad but true that it sometimes nice to immerse yourself into the madness of city life after spending many idyllic weeks in the country...

 

We were to return again to Paris the following week to greet Amelia after her wee city fix...we stayed longer and wondered the streets of Paris with our dear friends Gerard and Helen on a gorgeous summer afternoon eating delicious food and ice cream and whiling away the hours in Luxemburg Gardens people watching furiously...very amusing....

Muffins....same in French!!

I have a very special friend...you know the sort that kinda knows you better than you know yourself! She lives on the opposite side of the world so we do not see each other hardly at all BUT that is just somehow irrelevant...she is always there when I need her and when we do get the chance to hang out together it is just so easy...we have been through a lot together and I do not doubt that we will continue to do so over the course of our lives...

On her last trip Karen came armed with a bunch of her person perfect pressies....she is one of the best present buyers I know and my house [and my childrens bedrooms!] are adorned with her quirky arty treasures that are so very personally selected with the recipient in mind.....one always feels so lucky to have such a friend and be able to unwrap the handmade paper and read the carefully crafted card and discover the treasure inside...she is such a generous special lady who is so mad busy with her family but always takes the 'time' for others....

So off the plane she gets footloose and fancy free into Paris and out pops this gorgeous book 'Marvellous Muffins' by New Zealand cook Alison Holst...inscribed with a hand written personal note 'a must have muffin book'.....so I make these muffins for my guests fresh in the morning served on the lovely pansy cake stand that my mother sent for my birthday....just gorgeous!! Always greeted with lots of Ohhhs and Ahhhs and devoured warm from the oven with only a sprinkle of icing sugar to dress them up!

I promised this recipe to Patti who stayed with us recently with her husband, daughter and son and in law to celebrate her lovely daughters 30th birthday....as summer is here it has been mad busy at the house BUT at long last Patti here it is!!

Funky Fruit muffins...original recipe by Alison Holst...
2 cups flour
4 tsp Baking powder
a sprinkling of cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup caster sugar

100 gms butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 - 1 1/2 cups of chopped fruit...use what you have and take Karen's advice and double the amount of fruit or berries...no harm done! I use all sorts of berry fruit and sliced peaches and nectarine is also a summer favourite!

Preheat oven to 200 deg
1. Mix the first 5 ingredients into a large bowl
2. Heat the butter in a pot and then add the milk and gently whisk in the egg
3. Chop and prepare the fruit and add to the bowl with the dried ingredients mixing gently to coat fruit in flour
4. Add the egg mixture and very very gently mix to combine....the odd lump is fine...smooth is not the aim...and do not smash up the delicate berries!
5. Line a patty tin with muffin cases [makes around 24] and carefully spoon mixture into cases...
6. You can top the muffins with a little caster sugar mixed with cinnamon before baking if you like
7. Bake in oven for 12 - 15 mins...muffins made with frozen berries with take 5 mins longer...
8. Place onto a lovely plate and sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm or cold...with a fresh flower to the side...

Enjoy for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea or just for a treat anytime you fancy...