Just a wee bit drizzly here in Ayr today - I hope the sun is shining wherever you are. Before I reveal this week's 'mess on the desk', here's a grovelling apology to all you lovely people. I started out well enough last Wednesday, got down the first row of links - see Julia, Head Desk Monitor, at Stamping Ground for this week's trip round the work desks of the world - and then life got in the way - you know, major toothache, visit to dentist, trip to garden centre, trip to Glasgow, etc., etc. - and the craft room has been seriously neglected too. However, this week should be better, though there is another trip to the dentist scheduled for tomorrow :(
Grovelling over, back to the desk - here it is in all it's glory.
Actually, it doesn't look so bad in the photograph. Two attempts at Barbara Grey's 'Out of Africa' scene, finished late last night, together with the stamps, gilding flakes, mica powders, ink pad that go into the making of them - they need to be put away. To the right is the Penny Black stamp I would take to a desert island - Aspire, just love it - and a wee pile of stampboard. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, but I've had it ages so time to give it a try out. Centre stage is the makings of a scrap page I've started putting together - from this photo I see I still need letters for the title, a journalling something and maybe a stamp and some ink pads.
Last week banana cake got mentioned and I remembered that I had this recipe for Banana and Coconut Tea Loaf tucked away in an old notebook. My late mother, who was an incredibly good baker, had a home bakery shop in Edinburgh when I was a child. I inherited many of her recipes and this old jotter is full of them. Unfortunately, amongst my many ailments, I have impaired glucose tolerance, a pre-diabetic condition, and have to keep to a low sugar/low carbohydrate eating regime which means I don't bake cakes, biscuits, etc., anymore :( Since diagnosis I have lost 2 stone so the diet is paying off :) However, it does seem a shame to keep Mum's recipes hidden and forgotten so here for Jules, who thought it sounded tasty, and anyone else who's interested here is the recipe.
Banana & Coconut Tea Bread
Ingredients:
(sorry, all Mum's measurements are in the old imperial)
6 oz soft margarine
6 oz caster sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp lemon juice
2 eggs, size 3, beaten
6 oz self-raising brown farmhouse flour
2 oz dessicated coconut
2 lb loaf tin, base lined and greased, or 7” square cake tin
Method:
Set the oven to moderate, Gas Mark 4, or 350°F/180°C
Beat the margarine, sugar, bananas and lemon juice together then add the eggs and continue beating to form a batter. Then fold in the flour and coconut until the mix is smooth. Pour the mixture into the tin. The mixture will not be wet.
Bake towards the top of the oven for 1 hour 10 mins (this rather depends on your oven, for example, baking will be faster in a fan-assisted oven).
If you use a loaf tin, the cake will usually crack down the centre.
Leave to cool in the tin, then serve sliced and buttered – will keep 3-4 days. It is also nice sliced and served as a dessert with custard, cream or ice cream.
If you want a lower sugar version, substitute 25 percent of the sugar with a powdered sweetener - as you can see this worked perfectly well yesterday when I baked the loaf.
I'd be happy to post more of my Mum's recipes over time if you would like them - just let me know.
Now, I must get on and clear stuff of my desk before I can make any headway of my scrap layout. I'll be back later to nosy around your desks but in the meantime have a wonderful week everyone and happy crafting.
