Here & Now

Loving...all the beautiful flowers around at the moment and all the honey bees they are attracting. And the beautiful, peaceful sunrises of Spring.

Eating...strawberries, sometimes plain and sometimes with cream

Drinking...a delicious new tea blend from a local tea stall called Stockholm. Among it's delicious ingredients are apricot, rose and orange.

Wearing...this sweet necklace from Strangely Yours. It was a gift from my sister, she had the name Chantille Clicks engraved on it, the name I use for my photography online. The top comes off and is capable of storing a memory card, and the "focal ring" spins on it too. I absolutely love it! 

Feeling...happy

Wanting...Spud to grow up a little faster...the puppy 'teenage' stage is not something I missed.

Thinking...about how we can continue to grow salad greens through the heat of summer when it comes.

Dreaming...of summer picnics and swims 

............................

Finally I have not written 'dreaming of sheep!' or something like it. Because they are coming. Sooner than we'll be ready for them, I do believe. Of course we'll have food, shelter and fencing for them. I've read books and I'll have Spud to help me manage and handle them.
When it comes down to it, I don't think anyone is ever truly ready for anything, but we're as ready as we need to be.

Spring is such a beautiful time of year! I've been trying to squeeze in some practice with the Macro lens whilst there are so many bees and flowers around at the moment. I haven't much practice with it, but I am pretty happy with the bee photos above. I will say one thing about macro photography - I didn't realise there was even a breeze outside until I was looking through the viewfinder trying to focus on a tiny, speedy bee!

I hope you're weekend is lovely,

Sarah x

Chocolate Viola Cupcakes

A little while ago I decided to do a bit of research on edible flowers. I was pleased to discover that violas are among the edible group, as they are one of the few flowers I have growing at the moment
So I was so happy the other day when I noticed that my three little Viola plants were covered in blooms. I knew I just had to bake something so that I could use the flowers to decorate!
Whilst I was waiting for the flour to grind I decided on some simple chocolate cupcakes.

I bake with a lot of organic and natural ingredients. White sugar and it's processed relations are banned in my kitchen, so it can be tricky finding ways to make my sweets look pretty. Using fresh flowers are the perfect solution and add a touch of novelty too!

I'm now planning on expanding my Viola plants into a bed, and perhaps I will add some other varieties too.

Here are a few tips for using fresh flowers to decorate your baked goods:

• Pick your flowers once you're ready to serve, otherwise they might wilt if you decorate ahead of time.
• Don't wash your flowers if using something as delicate as a Viola, as you could damage the leaves. Simple carefully look them over for any spots of dirt or tiny bugs.
• Only use flowers that you have organically grown yourself. Don't use the flowers off plants you purchased at a nursery as they could have been sprayed or fertilised with artificial chemicals.
• Flowers are beautiful and you want them to be the centrepiece of your deocrating! Use simple methods of decorating to allow your flowers to shine. For my cupcakes I simply whipped some pure cream, dolloped it onto the cupcakes and then placed two or three Violas in the centre of the cream.
• Different flowers have different flavours. I found Violas perfect for sweet cooking with their vanilla-like flavour. Something a bit spicy like a Nasturtium is more suited to savoury food. 

If you have any tips for working with fresh flowers in either sweet or savoury cooking, I'd love it if you'd share them in the comments below!

Sarah x