Pumpkin time

So Friday night was pumpkin date night, there had been many obstacles leading up to this day, but it finally arrived, the pumpkins were purchased, the tools were wealded and the carving was able to take place!

As you can see, this prestigious event is taken very seriously in our household, here we see the contestants warming up ready for the competition.

And here we see the end results - guess which is which :)

Josh wasn't particularly happy with his in the end, even though I quite enjoyed the 'jail' look it had going on, but he has been filled with an even greater sense of competition for next year as a result.

Mine was perhaps a bit too fiddly. It was based vaguely on my design from last year, just on a smaller and more regimented scale, but it has become clear to me that the reason not many people carve intricate pumpkin designs is because it is actually very difficult, which I found out for myself. Several times glue was involved to fix a diamond that had lost a side, and this even resulted in a super glue explosion, in which my entire trouser leg (and indeed actual leg) was covered. Both trouser and leg still bare the scars of this mishap.

Nevertheless it was definitely enjoyable, and will definitely be becoming a Kennard tradition :) And in the meantime they just look nice sat in the corner of our lounge, before they go mouldy and gross!

Hope you enjoyed this, and as for the winner, I'll let you be the judge.

Amy x

Orange Loaf Cake

Ooh a recipe, haven't had one of those in a while!

One day while we were on our honeymoon, Josh and I stopped at a little bakery and bought an orange loaf cake for lunch, and it was divine. So I decided to try and recreate it, by doing the following:

Ingredients:
125g butter
250ml caster sugar (don't ask why this recipe used ml, just use a measuring jug and accept it!)
3 eggs
Zest and juice of 1 orange
250ml plain flour
1tsp baking powder

Method:
Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one by one and mix.
Pop in the flour and continue to stir until it's all mixed in, then add the baking powder.
Then add the zest, juice and baking powder and pour into a lined loaf tin (I used baking paper to line mine).
Finally put it in the bottom of a preheated oven at 175 degrees and bake for 50 minutes until golden brown.

It's that easy, and really delicious as well, goes down well with a mug of Earl Grey as demonstrated below. In fact you could probably even put some Lady Grey in the cake for added citrussy/tea-ey yummyness, now that's an idea!

You've probably noticed the pumpkins loitering in the background too, I carved a pumpkin last year which was actually the reason for starting this blog, and Josh & I intend to carve them tonight. I had a bit of a fiasco last week, in that by the time I went to buy the pumpkins they were all gone! Luckily Josh managed to find these beauties in Portobello Market, so we're having a competition to see who's carving is best, and hopefully will make a tradition out of it too :) The tools have been imported to the flat, the designs have been pondered & I'll make sure I pop them on here for your viewing pleasure.

Happy cake eating and belated Halloween,

Amy x