Tarte au Citron

Dear Cathy

You have been a busy bee haven't you? Not too busy to watch the final of 'The Great British Bake Off' I hope? I was very pleased for Jo, the winner, although I must confess that Janet was my favourite. I thought she was fabulous, even though Sue Perkins said her croissants looked like neck-braces! We all make mistakes Sue, and Janet's Tarte au Citron was a masterpiece compared to mine.

The pastry was sticky and difficult to handle, but I managed to patch it up in the flan tin quite adequately and the filling was easy-peasy. So 'what went wrong' I hear you ask. Quite simply, I couldn't get the blooming thing out of the tin. My filling had leaked and stuck the whole thing down like super-glue. In the end my only option was to turn the tart upside down and give it a bash. It might look like a pile of sick but it tasted divine.

Speaking of glue, I must tell you what happened to me last week. I was bagging up damsons for freezing (bugger the jam), and putting the required number in little plastic bags. I then needed to suck out the air. Normally, I do this with a drinking straw but I had none to hand, so I just put the bag to my mouth and sucked as hard as I could. When my lungs were at full capacity I happened to glance up to see one of the neighbours staring at me through my kitchen window. I am the talk of the village once again as everyone now thinks I have been glue-sniffing! I am helping with the village lunches on Wednesday and I don't know how I'm going to face everyone. Still, you know me dear, I shall just brazen it out. If nothing else, I shall look fabuous. I am now on a liquid diet (porridge, soup and skinny lattes), but it seems to be doing the trick. I have done lots of swimming and hill-walking (I bought some very expensive, state-of-the-art new walking shoes which I'm very pleased with, although they do give me blisters), and I have lost a stone in weight. TA DA! I expect it will all go to pot on Saturday when I'm off to a halloween party where there will be food and drink a plenty. I have a magnificent costume though, and may even send you a photo after the event. Watch this space!

Lots of love, Lucy.

PS By the way my deara - I think you mis-spelled Madeira!

Madiera cake

Hello, dear! How are you?

I'm all over the place at present and can't seem to get much of a grip! I think I'm just ready for the half-term hols so I can catch my breath. I've a pile of ironing the size of a small family car; the dog keeps chewing various items of clothing; I won't even mention the state of my bathroom (suffice it to say that I'll have to give it a good seeing to before I open the front door to any visitors...) But much of my disorganisation is down to having a healthy social life and having little time to dedicate to being a domestic godess as a result. On Saturday last, not only did I meet a friend for lunch in Leeds, but Mr Chino and myself went out to dinner with friends; on Sunday I catered for the little Chinos' fifth birthday party - they went as Darth Vader - baking two cakes in the morning; Monday was the boys' parents' evening and Tuesday saw me travelling to Leeds (again) to watch "Madam Butterfly"! I can't believe what I packed into the last few days... Needless to say, I'm pooped!

Thank goodness I had to bake birthday cakes, else I'd never have got round to baking at all. The boys are so different and, just like last year, wanted different cakes to one another. I ended up making a chocolate and a Madiera cake. Both were delicious! The Madiera cake was so simple to make, good job too, as I had burnt one chocolate cake on Saturday and had run out of eggs. I had visions of a mercy dash to the Co-op to purchase a Caterpillar cake (cover your ears, Margo; I bet your children have never suffered such abuse at your hands...), but was saved that fate. As you can see from the photo, my cake decoration skills are limited, but the boys were delighted.

I must say that the Brownies never appealed to me either, all that calling grown women by owl names seemed a little strange; come to think of it, I never joined the RSPB for that matter.

I'm sure you'll manage the November bake very well, although Margo's suggestion was a little obvious; what about Parkin - very 'Bonfire Night', or Treacle Toffee? Have a look through the Great British Book of Baking, I'm sure you'll get an idea.

Well, that's all for now; I'm off to get into my pyjamas and curl up in front of the tv with a nice cup of tea.

Night night; Cathy x