Dizzy's Bake-Off

Dizzy empties the larder on to the kitchen table

Saturday morning started with an Autumn chill, which sent Dizzy straight into the kitchen to look for something warm and comforting to fill the day with.
Creative was out refilling the store cupboard (again), so Dizzy had no restraint on the larder shelves, and started rummaging through ingredients. There was plenty of flour, and she found a few apples and some other likely bits and pieces, so brought them all to the kitchen table and reached for the recipe book.

By the time she heard Creative coming home, Dizzy was extremely pleased with herself for producing a loaf of bread worthy of Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood's approval, and she positioned herself with the loaf, where she could present Creative with the results of her labours.
Creative let herself in to a house redolent with the glorious smell of fresh bread. Once the initial 'Yummy' factor had passed, and before she reached the kitchen door, a sense of dead had taken over

Eat your heart out, British Bake Off!

."Surprise!" Dizzy greeted her, proudly displaying a beautiful fresh loaf, still warm from the oven.

Creative managed to cling on to the shopping bags, as she took in the chaos left behind after Dizzy's busy morning. Putting the shopping away and pulling on a new pair of rubber gloves, she resignedly began the task of (yet again) cleaning the kitchen. She only hoped eating the bread would be worth the hard work of cleaning up!

"Oh, no, not again!"

Later, with a fire blazing in the grate, she congratulated Dizzy on a successful bake-off, but implored her once more, to try and clean up after herself, when trying out her cookery skills! 
As they shared a sandwich they caught up Creatives news:  

Bronwen Wells
Ink and Clay
www.InkandClay.co.uk

" I called in to see Bronwen Wells at her studio whilst I was out, and stopped to look at her new work, which is lovely, all nature inspired, using the colours and shapes we both like so much". 

Dizzy (unabashed about the kitchen mess) also had some news - " We've been invited to go to the private view of a new exhibition Botanical Art - a Personal Journey, by Nita Sculthorp. I've RSVP'd, saying we'd love to go"

"How lovely! That'll be a real treat, we can always go again during it's public opening, at The Works   http://www.artattheworks.co.uk/  in Tavistock, Devon, from 26th - 30th October.

"That's not all the exciting news, either. Remember our photo shoot for 'the pattern'? Well, some of the photos have come back, and I think we came out quite well in them"
"Considering I was having a particularly bad hair day, and you kept looking the other way,

Dizzy and Creative Doll pattern on sale soon
Photography by Stuart Bailey Media
http://stuartbaileymedia.co.uk/ 

that's great news. I'm really excited about the Dizzy and Creative Doll Pattern that Pontia Rose and  Orchard Learning Studios have produced, based on us truly!"
"They've asked us to stand by for the official launch when they'll want us to pose for some more pics."
"I'll have to practice my smouldering pout"
"Down, girl. Photographers don't usually wear a uniform, you do realise that?"
"Well, no harm in practicing!"

Quote of the month:  "All sorrows are less with bread"  Miguel de Centares Saavedra

Next Public Appearance: Miss Ivy Events Heritage Craft and Gift Fayre, Tavistock Pannier Market Sunday 1st November 

©Jay Hooper and Carol Kennedy July 2013 all rights reserved.

Morning surprise

A Chilli moment!

Text message from Dizzy to Creative;

Morning Creative,

Where are you, are you at the shops?  As you know, I love your delicious Rhubarb and ginger jam. I like it so much there is nothing like a good thick dollop spread onto my toast.

I nearly choked and wheezed as my breath was taken away, it was the batch of your very spicy chilli and tomato chutney!

My mouth is still burning and I can't find the yogurt and mint dressing in the fridge, to help sooth the discomfort. I now see that you have had another one of your blitz and clean out the fridge episodes, with yet another re organise  of the shelves!

Thanks for putting jars into the fridge without labels attached, not to mention contents with the same colour!

I suppose you are shopping again, please buy me some sorbet.

See you when you dare to return home.

Dizzy x

A Chilling soother -
Raspberry or Lemon?

Text message back from Creative:

What are you like!!!!
The reason why none of the open jars in the 'fridge have labels on them any more, is that I had to wash them to get rid of the horrible sticky goo you let dribble down the sides, every time you use them!

I also had to throw out the yoghurt and mint dressing as it seemed to have sprouted some great furry warts. It may have had antibiotic qualities, but I didn't want to put that to the test!

Am in the freezer section right now - do you want lemon or raspberry sorbet? I got some more rubber gloves and degreaser, by the way - just in case you're planning on some cookery this weekend.

See you in an hour or so,
Creative



P.S. I got raspberry, as I thought it might sting less than lemon!

After the little jam/sorbet thing, we are so excited to get some awesome news in this morning's post!  Our friends Jay and Carol at Orchard Learning Studios (http://www.orchardlearningstudios.co.uk/) and Pontia Rose  (www.pontiarose.co.uk) asked us some time ago if we would mind modelling for their latest product. Always game for a laugh we naturally said Yes of course, and now we hear that all will be launched at the Moorforeshore craft and gift fair (http://www.moorforeshore.com/) in Tavistock Town Hall this coming Saturday 17th October - just when we had planned to go along, how good is that?  (http://www.tavistock-devon.co.uk/)

Apparently, Jay and Carol have developed a doll pattern based on us! The only thing is, what do we wear?  We obviously want it to look as though we have just casually popped in for a look around and to see if we can pick up any interesting early Christmas gifts or decorations. On the other hand, we would want to look our best if we've been the inspiration for a brand new product - and what if the Press are there??

Casual Chic

At last, we decided on casual chic, and both wearing our new berets. Do come along and say hello, we would love to see you.

Recipe of the month: Creative's Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

Ingredients: 2lb (1kg) rhubarb; 2lb (1kg) jam sugar; Juice and zest 1 lemon; 2 oz (50g) crystallised ginger, finely chopped; 2” (4cm) piece stem ginger, peeled.

Method: Slice rhubarb into medium size chunks, add sugar, lemon juice and zest and stem ginger. Finely grate the peeled ginger over the top. Cover and leave for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Place all in a pan over a medium heat, stirring until all sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook on a rolling boil for 15 – 20 minutes until a set is reached. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour into prepared jars, seal and label when cold.

Creative's note: Don't dribble the contents over the sides of the jar, as the label will wash off when you clean up! 

©Jay Hooper and Carol Kennedy July 2013 all rights reserved.

Pebbles in France discovers an Oyster Opener, a Living Art Village and a Scarecrow in a hidden garden!

Hello Girls, me again!  As promised, here are more of the highlights of my trip to Brittany.

On Tuesday we went up to Locmariaquer http://morbihan-way.fr/en/ which is famous for oyster production, and 

Hunky Davide

visited friends who own an oyster fishery. I met the cutest chap called Davide who told extremely rude jokes and smelt rather of fish. He had lovely broad shoulders though, and he certainly helped the day to pass by very pleasantly indeed! I thought how much Creative would have enjoyed his accent, although not too sure whether oilskins pass as a uniform.

Lake-bound house guarding the oyster beds

We strolled around the area and I was very taken with the beauty and tranquility of the place, despite the numbers of (French) tourists milling around. 
Can you believe, this house was built in the centre of a lake in the 19th century, in order to guard the oyster beds. It's now a listed building and very lovely in it's setting, although probably impractical and doubtless very damp.

Delicious fresh oysters

We ate fresh oysters in the evening. I must admit I had been dreading this, as I have never ever managed to master the opening of these little beggars, and it does rather take away the enjoyment when you're skewering your hand and flicking bits of shell and oyster flesh around the dining room. However, never fear - Michel is a practical and enterprising chap and he has invented a brilliant oyster-opening tool. This simple gadget is so easy to use, it's astonishing and even I could do it! Michel has put his invention into production and it sells worldwide, particularly to restaurants. How cool to be able to design and produce something so practical, makes me feel a bit small.  

       www.louvhuitre.com

The fresh sea air means I slept extremely well (possibly helped by the wine imbibed 

Old wash house,
with Tourists

with the evening meals, which stretch from around 6pm until bedtime). 

Reclaimed land at
it's best

Wednesday took us a little way down the peninsular to a suburb where the community have been given a piece of land about 10 hectares in total. It's a long narrow valley squeezed between a railway line, industrial and housing estates and six years ago was just a patch of gorse and bramble. It's called le lavoir du Ragout, as it was at one time the site of a village and they have retained the ancient wash house which is now a sunken garden feature.

Very slowly, a group of volunteers have started to enjoy the land by planting a wonderful garden. A stream patters down the centre of the valley, where every year, more land is reclaimed and planted out. Every single plant and tree is named, and the group foster the inclusion of anyone interested in being involved, at any level.

Bird Tree House -
made for climbing!

Scarecrow - also
made for climbing!

 I loved the bird's house tree, and Mr Scarecrow was a delight - and only gardening clothes, so even Creative can visit here without others being embarrassed! 

There were butterflies everywhere which was a real treat, but I couldn't identify any with certainty - Dizzy, you would have recognized a Pontia Rose straight away, I'm sure.

Pontia Rose?

Selfie at the Semaphore Tower

Another kilometre away from the hidden garden is a Semaphore Tower - you can see I tried a selfie here! From the very top you have a full 360 degree view of the peninsular with both coasts and you can imagine the signals flying to and from ships sitting on different sides of the land, relayed through the tower and passed on up towards the greater mass of Brittany.  

 And so my lovely holiday passed by, with interesting things to see and learn about, including the vibrant, massive Saturday market in Quiberon where we bought the local delicacy Kouign-amann (butter pastry tart) for Sunday - along with everyone else as this is a traditional Sunday staple. I've brought the recipe back for Dizzy to have a go at making some, as it's absolutely scrummy.
By contrast, the Sunday market on the quayside at Portivy comprised just eight or ten stalls selling fish, fruit, household goods and some local art and craft.

Every wall is an exhibition

Every garden a sculptor's delight

Our final excursion was up into Brittany, to the most surprising, enterprising and exquisitely pretty village of La Gacilly, Its traditional stone cottages are bedecked with flowers, and heritage features such as old bread ovens, fountains and menhirs abound                

 It is a town of arts and crafts - you would simply love it. Potters, painters, metal workers, glass blowers, leather craftsmen, book binders... all manner of crafts are represented here with ateliers (workshops) to visit and goods offered for sale. 

Gardens grow more than plants

Every Street a feast for the soul

The majority of residents are artists or artisans of some kind, and the entire village is a permanent exhibition of work and open studio.

It is also the home of the Yves Rocher beauty empire, and the luxury spa hotel he had built there to showcase his products has a fabulous restaurant, if you feel like a real treat!  http://www.lagreedeslandes.com/uk/yves-rocher-la-gacilly.php

Huge representations of artworks - more than 600 in total - are mounted on boards absolutely everywhere. It's a feast of colour and inspiration, and I'm afraid my little camera and meagre description just can't do justice to this enterprise. You would both adore this place, and I urge you to visit the next time you visit France, it's truly something you have to experience. You can get a better sense of the place by looking at the images: la gacilly photo  

You're probably relieved to hear that that's about all I have to relate. It was such a lovely break and one which I know you'd have adored - do say you'll come with me next year, and let's get booked up straight away!
For anyone wanting to book a holiday - www.homelidays.com       Then follow the pathway of clicks - Monde Entier - Europe - France - Bretagne - Morbihan - Pays d'Auray, Location vacances - Saint-Pierre Quiberon - Location 6098650 (6 people) / Location 6098640 (4 people).   It's worth the effort!   

Look forward to seeing you both soon,
Lots of Love,
Pebbles xxxx

© Jay Hooper and Carol Kennedy July 2013 all rights reserved.