In My Kitchen | December 2015

In my kitchen are peaches from our own tree! Last year our little tree produced three perfect peaches, about the size of a peach from the shop. This year, however, the tree's branches are covered with fruit. The peaches aren't as big this year, but they are sweet and juicy and just perfect straight from the tree.

Another loaf of sourdough. I was particularly happy with this one. I've been baking lots of loaves lately, trying to improve the appearance of my bread. I'm perfectly happy with the taste and texture, which is the most important thing, but I do like a loaf to be pretty too.

Update: Recipe used can now be found in Spelt Sourdough Made Simple!

The warm weather means a constant flow of eggs from the laying flock, and even the bantams are contributing regularly. The hens had ideas about hiding their eggs, and after a few days of no eggs and no luck discovering their hidden nests, they have been restricted to afternoon free-ranging only.

Some tomatoes from the garden. It's hit and miss with the tomatoes at the moment, as the grubs seem to have taken a fancy to them. I've never actually had a grub problem before, but this year I'm being forced to share about half of the crop with them. Hopefully when the other tomato plants start fruiting I'll have less problems, as the other plants are in a more established part of the garden, so hopefully the biodiversity will confuse the bad bugs.

My favourite kind of cake to bake and eat are classic tea cakes, like this Sultana Cake. As usual this is made on spelt and rapadura. I flavoured this one with brandy instead of rum, which gave it a lovely aroma and made it feel a little bit festive. I'll be sharing the recipe here later in this week.


Are you starting festive baking yet or is it too early for you?
I'm joining Celia once again, make sure you check out the happenings in everyone else's kitchens!

Sarah x