Productive Monday

It was cold and dull today - perfect kitchen weather. I got SO much done... firstly a new batch of marmalade - I tried to make it less chunky and more orange-y, I haven't tasted it yet, but I think it's gonna be good....

I also tried another fruit loaf recipe:


It's a date and walnut loaf, and is definitely closer to what we're after than yesterday's effort (sorry about bad photo again - I'm having a bad photo week). My main concern (shared also by Matt) is that it won't be any good 48 hours after it's come out of the oven, which is essential as we have to camp for the two nights prior to the event so I have to bake it prior to our departure. I think a denser, darker cake is in order, possibly involving some sort of alcohol, kind of like a Christmas cake.... I have just the recipe. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Fruit Loaf Project.

Oh, and I also made a yummy potato gratin with spuds from the garden (which are SO fun to dig - just stick fork into soil and up pop several large, smooth tatties)...it had cream and bacon and chives and parsley and ground pepper and was so delicious I didn't have time to take a photo before Matt had eaten most of it.