COOKBOOKS GALORE

Sorting out my new food cupboard this morning, I found a packet of dates which needed using. My Mum used to make a very moist date cake, so I hunted in her notebook for the recipe. Eureka! 175g dates, chopped 210ml boiling water 3/4 tspn bicarb. of soda 175g light [or dark brown] sugar 50g soft margarine [or butter] 1 egg, beaten 225g plain flour 3/4 tspn baking powder 40g walnuts, chopped 1 tspn cinnamon preheat oven gas4/180C/350F Grease and line a 20cm [8"] square cake tin Put the dates in a bowl with the boiling water and bicarb and leave for about 10 mins. Beat the sugar and margarine together [I used butter and light brown sugar, but my Mum used margarine and dark brown sugar] then add the beaten egg, dates and water. Stir in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon [my addition!] and then the walnuts. Put the mixture into the tin and bake for about an hour. Mine took 50 mins in a gas oven. I decided to ice it with some glace icing.     ...

Here I am, now back living in Northamptonshire. It's been a rollercoaster of a ride getting back here, but I won't dwell on that. Sufficient to say that we've made it, and are busily unpacking boxes and arranging furniture. We've downsized considerably, so are trying to fit a quart into a pint pot! Here's the van and trailer that arrived with all our worldly possessions - well not quite all, as there's all Bob's tools at one friend's house in France, his motor bike with another friend and my pot plants with a third friend! All these will come back in a hired van in January! I want to get back to baking, but now have a gas cooker, so think I will take a little while to get used to having a gas oven again. It's nice to be back, and I'll try and keep the blog up-to-date.