* Pussy Cat Bleu's Feature *

Yes, Pussy Cat Bleu will be presenting all baking posts from now on, as well as featuring in a little children's magazine project I have started!

Her bakery / patisserie still needs some decorating - she's sourcing all the right fabrics and flowers to make her space look 'just so'!

Keep your eyes peeled for her next yummy offering...

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

* The Good Life *

This Friday, let's get snug with a glass of Pea-pod Burgundy under a blanket and watch one of the best examples why its great to grow your own, wear dungarees and generally not let the whirl of city life get you down! Presenting:

The Good Life - The Wind-break War

Enjoy!

x*x*

* Friday Treat Time: Fairtrade Chocolate & Blackberry Cupcakes *

So, here's a Hummingbird cupcake recipe for you with a little autumn, ethical twist - just add some wild blackberries and Fairtrade cocoa powder!

Bert and Berta gathered some blackberries for me last Saturday, and I made these cakes for them (and other friends)!

Chocolate Cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Book with added blackberry twist!

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 20g Fairtrade cocoa powder
• 140g Fairtrade caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 40g unsalted butter
• 120ml milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Hand picked blackberries (8-10)

Frosting:

• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 100g unsalted butter
• 40g Fairtrade cocoa powder
• 40ml milk
• Handpicked blackberries (12)
  

Pre-heat oven to 170/gas 3.

Put flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together until you have a sandy consistency.

Roughly cut your hand full of blackberries in half and add to the mixture, stirring so the blackberries break up into very small pieces.

Whisk the egg, milk, vanilla in a jug, then slowly pour into the bowl with the flour etc, stirring all the time. Mix until the cake mixture is smooth to get rid of any lumps.

Spoon the mixture into cake cases until two-thirds full and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

When ready, leave cupcakes to cool on a wire cooling rack and make the chocolate frosting.

Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a electric mixer (or just mix with a wooden spoon like me!) until the mixture is well mixed together.

Add the milk a couple of tablespoons at a time, whilst mixing. Once all the milk has been added, continue mixing/beating until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Add the frosting to your cooled cupcakes, with a blackberry on top of each one to finish.


Yummy autumn goodness!

x*x*

*Bert&Berta: A story for Autumn*

To celebrate autumn (and make up for serious blog neglect) I have an autumn feast of goodies lined up - the first being a little story with Bert&Berta:

(To evoke the sounds of autumn whilst looking and reading the story, please click on the leaves for a special Autumn Spotify Playlist I've pulled together).

So, what did Bert and Berta do today?

(A story told via scrabble tablets and poor grammar as they can't actually speak)

So what else is to come for autumn-ness fun? Well, a new(ish) recipe from me: Chocolate & Blackberry Cupcakes, Hobbes-in-a-Basket and Autumn Counting, to name but a few...

Stay sunny but crisp (its the new autumn vibe)!

x*x*

*An important message about the Arts!*

Thought this was a great (and fun) animation by artist David Shrigley about saving the arts from government cuts:



If you want to save the Arts, check out the blogspot and sign the petition.

Hurrah for the Arts!

x*x*

*Sneak preview: Hobbes' Cardboard Box Adventure*

Here's a sneak preview of a story that I'm working on about Hobbes and the adventures he has in his cardboard box - which is no ordinary cardboard box...


His box takes him to all sorts of places, on all sorts of adventures...
This is the start of just one of them...

Come back soon to see the full story!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

Hurrah! Finally I'm posting a Friday Treat Time on a Friday!

Check out a special playlist I've made on Spotify for those of you who grew up/were teens/adults in the 80's!

Click on the image below to listen...

Enjoy - happy bank holiday weekend!

x*x*

Wednesday Treat Time: Calvin & Hobbes

Ok, so this is a pretty late Friday Treat Time, I grant you, but I hope this treat is worth the wait (we were away on a short break)!

In celebration of our new kitty, Hobbes, here are some classic Calvin & Hobbes strips - double click on them to enlarge. Enjoy!








x*x*

Meet Hobbes the Kitten!

Today was a momentous day in the Bilbrough household - we welcomed our new kitten, Hobbes!

We travelled all the way into London, past Liverpool St Station, over London Bridge, past Elephant&Castle and over to Clapham Common to pick him up - he is a true London cat!

Heather, who has been looking after him fantastically well since he was very small, sent us off in style with a toy and some lovely food.
He didn't like the journey back much, but once he got to ours, he frisked, sniffed, poked and jumped his way around our home purring and chirruping at us.

We've had a few cuddles already - I received lots of licks and kisses - he loves burrowing into your neck for a nap, climbing on your shoulder and he cuddled Jon's leg for a while too!


Here are a few more pictures of him - he loves posing for the camera (and Jon takes great photos)!



Right now, he's snuggling up to me as I'm type, dozing about all the adventures he'll get up to.

But, have no doubt, you'll be hearing all about his adventures very soon!

x*x*

Bert-ie in the Sky with Diamonds

Just catching you up on one of my characters many adventures - today, as it was sunny, breezy, but not too hot, they decided to go on a flying carpet ride!

Buttercup Bunny was the bravest - she flies on carpets all the time.
Pussy Cat Bleu found Bert's ears handy to hold on to when they had to swerve around pigeons who flew at them (not out of malice, but doziness).

Bert and Berta enjoyed seeing the different clouds that drifted past them - they saw turtle shapes, elephant shapes - and even one that looked like a giant standing in a cloudy meadow...

More adventures to come!

x*x*