Bank Holiday Baking

As the soothsayer predicted, it is another grey and rainy Bank Holiday, is there any other kind?  Perfect day for baking.

Today's bake is: Banana Loaf with Dark Chocolate Chips

This recipe is perfect if you have just a little over ripe bananas sitting around in your fruit bowl.  In fact an under ripe banana wouldn't suit this recipe.  You get an extra bananary flavour from slightly speckley, over ripe ones.

You can make it without the chocolate chips; in fact, most folk do.  But I like it!  And don't be mean get the good dark chocolate.  Actually, just thought, walnuts might be a nice addition too, (there is always next time).

The Main Protagonists:

113g butter
170g caster sugar
226g self raising flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs (I use free range)
2 bananas
40g dark chocolate
1lb loaf tin

1. Grease and flour a 1lb loaf tin, so the loaf won't prove difficult when it comes to removing it

2. Peel your bananas, you can see mine are just a little over ripe, but inside they are good, no bad bits.  We don't want bad bits.

3. Pop them in a bowl and mash them up good, with a fork.

4.  Now for the chocolate.

 5. Cut it up into chips with a sharp knife; not too small, the chocolate not the knife.

6.  I didn't mix this cake by hand the 'Dude' helped me.  Pop the sugar and butter into the mixing bowl.

7. Like so.

8. Then mix, ACTION SHOT.

7. Mix until well combined and soft, you may need to bring the mixture down from the sides of the bowl.

8.  Then add the eggs, 1 at a time.  Beat each one into the mixture until combined, before adding the next.

9.  The mixture will look like this, quite soft and pale.

10.  Next add the flour and a pinch of salt.  By the way, that is not my gnarly hand in shot.  Muse helped me out today.

 11. Do not use an electric mixer for the next part, instead use a wooden spoon or a spatula (as I did). Add the banana.

12. And the chocolate, and mix all the ingredients together

12. No licking the spoon (yet).  Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf tin

13. Shake gently from side to side so the mixture settles evenly in the tin

14. Pop in a preheated oven at 180C (I use a fan oven).  My Mother always said that as soon as you could smell a cake baking then it is cooked.  For the most part I have found this to be true.  But if you don't trust mine, my Mother's or your own sense of smell,  it takes around 40 - 45 mins to cook in the middle of the oven. 

15.  Now the lick the spoon.   No photographic evidence of this.

16.  Turn out of tin and leave to cool.

17.  Enjoy with a cuppa.

Camping Trip to Three Cliffs

We've talked about going on a camping trip alot, muse and I.   We've each been dozens of times individually but never together, so we bought a tent and picked a campsite, packed up our gear and Holly and went, here are a few photos of our trip.

This is the view that greeted us as we were shown our pitch, probably the best view from a tent I have had!

View of the campsite itself.

Time to set up.

Holly stood guard (although, how much defence she would put up, if someone took a fancy to any of our gear is debatable).

Once set up and and all our gear installed inside the tent, time to make a cuppa.

And have a Welshcake or three, these  fuelled our camping trip, good job I made plenty because they are moorish.

Here's one of Holly, just because she looks cute.  It was her first time camping she was brilliant!

We had an unexpected visitor, he also turned up early in the morning - very noisy too! 

Lots of flora and fauna too.

And something I have never seen before, cows on the beach!  They were quite a distance from where I stood to take this picture, but they really are cows - grazing.

Evening fell.

The trip to Rhosilli started off quite grey and damp. 

We didn't walk all the way out to the worm's head as the wind was blowing and it really was quite cold.  

As we walked back into the village, the weather brightened up and the sun came out. Either way the weather would not have stopped us from having a Joe's ice cream. (Too busy eating ice cream to take pictures.)

Sidebar: Here is the link to the site we stayed at Three Cliffs Bay Holiday Park.

Saturday Walk

Muse and I are attempting to make a good long walk a regular thing, Saturdays are by far the best day, for obvious reasons.  Yesterday, we (Holly too) walked nearly 4 and 1/2 miles.  We took the lanes from the Village to Pentwynmawr.  The day was gloomy but the rain stayed away whilst we were out.

Of course, the upside of so much rain is the lush greenery we saw everywhere, the hedgerows are full of wild roses this year and look so pretty illuminating the dark green foliage of the hedges.

Things That Made Me Go Oooooo

So ... I made my ritual virtual trip to the Graham & Green site today, mainly to drool and mentally plop objects from this site into my home, here is a random selection of things that made me go Oooo ...

The Walk