House biscuits

I got this lovely french biscuit stamp a while ago, and decided to share my ultimate simple biscuit recipe. The thing I like best about this recipe is you can alter pretty much all the aspects of it and still get some pretty tasty biscuits!

 

You will need:

100g sugar (caster, granulated, demerera, dark brown, doesn't matter)

100g butter (or margerine, I used stork for these)

1 egg

200-220g of flour (it changes from time to time)

Anything extra you'd like to put in! This can include:

• Spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, allspice)
• lemon zest 
• vanilla essence
• peanut butter
• cocoa powder

I try not to put things like chocolate chips or fruit in, because then the stamp doesn't work as well.

• Preheat the oven to 180/gas mark 4
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Beat the egg, then mix in - add any extras at this point. 
• Sift in the flour bit by bit until you have a good consistency - not too floury because the biscuits will be dry, but not too sticky or the stamp will stick
• Form the dough into a ball and put in the fridge for 30 minutes - DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. It makes the dough much easier to handle
• Form the mixture into 9 or 10 little balls on a greased baking sheet, then stamp each ball down into a flat cookie shape

  

 

• Bake for 8-12 minutes, until they are golden-brown. Enjoy!

 The stamp I have says "Biscuits Maison" which means "Biscuits of the house" or "house biscuits", which is a nice concept I think! I like to have some about the house :)

The biscuit will keep in a tin for about 5 days, but mine never last that long! You can also freeze the dough for 1 month and whip up a batch any time you feel like it! Let the dough defrost thoroughly before stamping and baking it.

Manchester escapades

Will and I went on a little trip to Manchester recently, as his folks had gotten us some vouchers to stay in a fancy hotel for 2 nights as a birthday present (Thanks, Sue and Ken!) and it had been a while since we went for a little holiday.

 We did the full-on tourist bit and went to the museum to see the dinosaur bones and lizard house before accidentally getting lost in an industrial estate - damn you google maps!

Then we went to this amazing patisserie for some treats...

Wowza.

I was sad that we didn't get a chance to visit Duke's 92, which is apparently this amazing bar/restauranty type place that has all this amazing cheese and pate, served with freshly-baked bread. Sadly, this was the point when google maps decided to take us on a wild goose chase and we ran out of time. However, we did manage to get to Affleck's, which was this Vintage emporium - an amazing big building that was at least five stories of little individual shops. We got Will this amazing buttery leather jacket, it looks like something James Taylor would've worn in the 70s!

We also went along to the John Rylands library - a beautiful old building which had an exhibition on "50 years of A Clockwork Orange" - fascinating and bizarre. They had props from the films, letters which Anthony Burgess and Stanley Kubrick wrote to each other, the typewriter that Burgess wrote it on...

And his thoughts concerning typewriters...

 I really want a typewriter now. I got a copy of the book on the way out, as I've never read it before - wow. It's even more unintelligible than the film! In the exhibition, they talked about the fact that by reading the book, you are being brainwashed into getting an understanding of Russian slang, which sort of sets you up for the concept of brainwashing later in the story.

On our way to get the megabus home (classy), we spotted this interesting bit of artwork on the side of a multi-storey car park - I wonder if someone had been contracted to put it there, or was it the work of some kind of yarn-bombing graffiti artist?

Lately...

I'm so glad that I'm back at Uni, I can finally feel productive again! Self-motivation is clearly more of an issue for me than I realised... summer was not productive in terms of personal projects. However, I did go to many festivals (to gig), I started home-brewing, wrote 1 tune and 2 songs and learned some French, so not all was lost! 

As usual, I have too many plans for the autumn, as I have considerably less time now (but more money) than in the summer. I have decided to make this year a lot more frugal than the last, as having to spend all my savings and birthday money on rent this summer was a sobering experience. The ways in which I intend to save money are:

• Shop (for food) more mindfully - as in shop around for the best deals, budget, only get food that I know I'll eat
• Stop eating out so much casually. Only for special occasions.
• Learn to sew better and fix clothes rather than buying new ones
• Get better at making food stretch - use up leftovers in creative ways
• Walk everywhere - don't get the bus
• Make more things (this really needs it's own sub-category as it's the thing I'm most excited about!)

On the subject of making things, I have recently forayed into home-brewing cider, making yoghurt, ginger beer and bread. I am hoping to have a crack at cheese, soap and laundry liquid soon, all courtesy of the wonderful Rhonda over at Down to Earth. She is all kinds of self-sufficient awesome.

Other stuff I'm planning to do/doing at the moment:

• Keep running - I've lost 8lb so far and I intend to keep a steady stream of weight-loss going!
• Create a youtube channel with Will in order to play funny/silly music in addition to all the serious music we do...
• Study like the dickens and get good marks this year
• Do lots more gigs

    

 Yes, it's a pineapple on Heaton park gates. No, I'm not sure what it wants either.
That's about it for today! Peace out xxx