wordless wednesday

raw chocolate pie

OMG, go straight to the kitchen and whip this up. You'll be skipping and hopping, smiling with glee and trying to stop your kids from eating it all (it might be better to make it in the dead of night and consume it then too if like me you have this problem). I am straight here from the kitchen to write this down before I forget what went into this (it's amazing how often that happens to me - or not, since my brain is such a sieve). I just know this is going to be a regular dessert around here. I would be ecstatic if this was my birthday cake. I could skip the main course. Maybe I will. I *could* that's the thing, since this is super nutritious too.

Don't worry too much about the exact quantities, I never measure this sort of thing, how can anyone when they are experimenting? So this is just a guide.

Base:

Into the magimix/food processor add:

3/4 - 1 cup of raw or soaked and dehydrated almonds (I used the later)
1/2 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup desiccated/dried coconut
1 heaped tablespoon of raw cacao powder
1 heaped tablespoon of raw carob powder

Blitz to a crumb and then with the motor running add a good ole squeeze of agave nectar and then a drizzle of the purest water available to you. You'll see when enough is enough, because it will start binding.

Plop and smooth this in a cling film lined pie dish and pop in the fridge.

Topping:

Melt very very gently together:
3/4 cup of virgin coconut oil
1/3 of a 200g block of coconut cream
good squeeze of agave nectar
dash of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (or more, just taste and see if it is rich and chocolate-y enough)

Pour over the base and spread if needed so it's all even, it should be pourable enough so you don't need to smooth it with anything.

Refrigerate until set (30 mins +) and turn out of the cling film onto a plate.



Don't think even for a moment that she is anymore restrained than I am around chocolate....

Book Sharing Monday

Owen stays with his Grandad and reluctantly Grandad agrees they will walk up the mountain close by the following day. The day begins and the hard walk too, but little by little the warmth begins to flow between the two, shared triumph over the hard climb has the two riding piggy back, sharing jumpers and sitting squished together in the one chair at the end of the day. What I like is how a simple walk can bring tow distant people together. This book shows that so well.

Liking today:

When she tells me 'more' with her hands (bike riding!)



seeing her play with the boy's toys





hammock time, while we still can (bike helmets and sunglasses and cats are all purely optional)









seeing the change in season



babies who eat their rice pudding outdoors




things I am looking forward to this season:

- new young chickens coming our way (more eggs yippee!)
- a new wood burning stove in our sitting room, so soon, soon! I am so excited, esp since this will require a new rug too, which makes me get into the sewing mode (cushions, curtains?) to spruce up the whole room ready for a winter of use. Pictures as and when to follow :)
- a business venture starting up in our house, very yummy, but secretive still...
- an educational home ed project which I am in the process of setting up, consuming and exciting and a bit like a 'school' only not really.... or rather in the way that Forest School is a school (which is to say that it isn't - clear enough?). Anyway, these things are all for future posts but I am excited by it all so wanted to share even a tiny bit here.

wordless wednesday

a day, like any other

flowers, from the garden



green juice (and what happens when you loose the lid from the blender)











a new/old butter dish



boys who love baking and devouring the world's biggest cookies









It helps to call it 'art'

Book Sharing Monday :: Jam

This is not the first book about jam we have shared, mysteriously we have quite a few jam related stories. I never considered us to be massive jam eaters but my children seem to like jammy books.



This is about a town plagued by wasps. Together the town decide to trap the wasps by making the biggest jam sandwich ever. It works of course and they do. Simple story, ridiculous but one I am asked to read again and again; the book is proving to be as addictive as sugar-y jam itself :)



On that note. Guess what I did the day we returned home? Out to see what I could rescue from the dwindling blackberry bushes. We have so many on the property but were away at the peak of the season. I had the most lovely body stretching hour (blissfully alone) picking the rich tangy fermenting fruit just when I needed it most (funny how that happens). Then I made Blackberry jelly. As I did last year. Isaac has the memory of a.... I don't know, an amazing memory person because he asked me if the recipe was from the man who ate squirrel sandwiches.... I was all urghhhhh what!!!???? Then I remembered that last year I did indeed use a recipe from the web page of a man who ate ALL of his food rather on the wild side. I am all for foraging and free bounty but can't say I've ever crossed the line into road kill.

I can't eat this of course. But it was enough to sniff and sniff and stir, watching the dark juice drip through the muslin. Lovely. Maybe I am a jam addict after all....



One blackberry stained muslin square to brighten the baby's neck at tea time (jam sandwiches, of course).

Indoor :: Holiday

Being in a house by the sea meant the light and lines were so much clearer to the eye. Everything had a clarity that I don't notice inland.











I found a typewriter for £5 in the Oxfam charity shop and gleefully an old lady showed me how to work it, going right back 50 or so years to when it was what she did every day; insert that paper and get clicking. I think she would have bought it for the trip down memory lane had I not snagged it first. We both had a sweet exchange with Esmé hanging off my arm for a closer look, so it was a lovely purchase (with a free demo!).



My dh rolled his eyes when he saw what I lumbered him with to carry for me, but he has eaten his words and eye rolling tenfold over the pleasure Isaac is getting from it. He adores using it, it really is pretty cool, slip in your paper and instant gratification is had as the keys slam home. It suits him to a tee.



Little brother prefers the even more basic means of marking paper.

My hand, your hand.





A little girl who'd rather have his attention, or maybe be the drawing, or get inside the paper (who knows really...) is quick to get right in there and be the paper, the ink and the vey essence of life before it's pinned down.

Actually she just wanted to steal his attention I think - she even snatched the pencil... (be with me and not the paper! is her constant messge to Felix)



After we had walked a million miles and been windswept enough for a thousand days we were glad to be home doing house-y things, but in that way you are not compelled to on holiday. Say, it's ok to enjoy hanging the washing out (as opposed to it being a chore) and cook because you are in a whole different kitchen using different equipment - the window has a different view when you stand and wash dishes, the birds calling are of a different hue. Even food shopping is interesting because it's all done in other shops. Yeah, I enjoy the simple things. And am glad. Imagine if I didn't?





Can you see the bag around his neck? I'd never hang out clothes like that ( I am a sucker for bending I guess) but find it hilarious that he is so efficient in doing so.

What ever the kitchen the dubious help of a one year old is at hand:





Boo and Boys, Indoor :: PLAY