Our adventure is called....

Hello everyone is so lovely to be back, 

I have been away from here for much longer than I had anticipated or planned.
A move like the one we have just done is not just stressful, it is at times a little overwhelming 

and I have been on a emotional roller-coaster with 

extreme lows.... a few highs.... twists & turns and plenty of my tears over the past two months.    

 Amazingly both the Paperdolls & Mr Mc have coped much better with all the changes.  

Me.... I just haven’t been feeling myself.

Our adventure is called BERLIN.... 

for the moment.
We are doing the “multi generational living” for a few months.  

Sharing a house with my parents whilst they are waiting for there new home to be finished.  

It’s going surprisingly smooth keeping in mind they have had their house all to themselves 

for the last fourteen years.  

Peace & quiet.... now there is a teen and a wannabe teen rattling through the rooms, 

that is a big change, especially when your last time living with teens 

and the tantrums that come with them is twenty years ago. 

 My Dad escapes to the Golf Course most days. 

To put it in my Dads words “any wise man is always at the Golf Course at times like these”. 
We are all now living in a semi state of packed & unpacked 

my parents are semi packed, we are semi unpacked. 

And like a family from a time long gone by, we enjoyed our meals together, 

played boardgames and even watched the same TV programs together. 
It has been a great experience & exercise for us all in being understanding, 

tolerant and respectful of the others need.  I’m kinda enjoying it.
So you may wonder why I said for the “moment”, simply because I don't know 

if I ever feel settled enough in this City to want to stay for good.  

Berlin is fast pace, people are always rushing and it’s a very anonymous place.  

Coming from where I have just came from, it's an extreme contrast, one I need time to adapt too.  

I guess in many ways I have turned into a real country bumpkin or maybe it is my age not sure, 

but I like a slower pace of living, knowing my neighbors, having my friends near by 

and being part of a community.  

Hopefully with the Paperdolls starting to settle into Schools and most of the 

mind-boggling German bureaucracy out of the way, 

we can now start to enjoy this City and appreciate it for what it is & has to offer.

 We have only been here a short time and 

I have to give Berlin a chance, as Mr Mc reminds me most days!!!

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend from a autumn coloured BERLIN! 

XXXX

New adventures....

Mr Mc is leaving the army after 24 years this week,
 time for me to say goodbye to my life as I have known it for the past 20 years….

Gosh….
I find it hard to put into words how I feel….
I have so very mixed emotions about it all….
nervous & excited
scared and yet ever hopeful
happiness and tremendous sadness!
Sadness…. overwhelming sadness when I think of the friends I leave behind.
Army life is a rollercoaster of extremes,
Oh boy…. huge extremes no day is like the next
one of the things you need to get you through it all, are good friends.
Friends that share that rollercoster ride with you.
I have been very lucky that I have had some amazingly beautiful friends to share
my highs & lows with….
Friends that I could confide in
Friends that embraced my little quirks and not judge me for them
Friends that I could always call on ….night or day
Friends that would travel for miles to be by my side when I needed them
Friends that would make me laugh till my belly hurt
Friends I shared endless cups of coffee with talking about god & the world
Friends that helped me in making my crazy little ideas come true (vintage tearoom)
Friends that I have shared homemade yummys with
Friends who encouraged and pushed me to believe in myself
Friends that wiped away the tears and gave me a hug when I needed it
Friends that even when they are a million miles away, are always right beside me

THANK YOU
 to you all
you have made my last 20 years a ride to remember!  

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

                  With all the focus on our move I have completely missed the 

                self pick Strawberry season, no homemade strawberry jam or cakes for us this year.  

       

           

I’m making up for it with the plum season, plum crumble has been a weekly treat.

 

I have baked a lot over the last couple of weeks,

   

  I have baked a lot over the last couple of weeks

 I love sharing homemade yummys with my friends near by, 

I will miss not being able to do that.

In between baking, 

packing for the move has been a daily chore of mine for the last couple of weeks.

 

 I don't mind packing the pretties and I leave the boring stuff for Mr Mc. 

 It’s a little crazy really, that we pack most of the house up as 

we get a full packing service but Mr Mc likes it that way.  

Every time we have moved over the last 20 years he gets us started packing 8 weeks before we move something I will not miss about Army life.  

When I have not been packing I have tried to enjoy every spare minute in our garden.  

I just love and will miss this garden we have created.

I only hope that the people who move into this house after us, 

will appreciate it and look after it. 

The hydrangea’s have been especially beautiful this summer 

almost as a little farewell to us they put on an extra full bloom.

On the days that the weather has just been to wet & cold 

I just ran outside to cut a fresh posy to bring the garden inside.

I have to say the posies got bigger and bigger as the weeks went on.

 

Once the furniture is all packed up the real fun begins 

….cleaning to march out standard,

something else I will most definitely not miss about Army life.

For today it’s time for me to sign off as the removal men are packing all around me
and I better make sure they are not packing our overnight suitcases.

So Mr Mc, the Paperdolls and I are now off to new adventures!!

 I will hopefully see you back on here very soon!

 Have a beautiful week. 

XXXX

My take on a classic....

I have said it on here before I LOVVVVVVE baking…. 

well not just the baking, I love just as much the eating of the baked makes 

but that is a whole different subject for another day. 
New York Cheese Cake is one of my favourites at the moment.    
This cake is so super delicious!!!
A great simple rustic looking cake nothing fancy or complicated….  just what I like to bake. 
The only downside to this cake is you need to have a little patience with the cooling/setting time,
a minimum of 8 hours to be precise. 
I leave my cake always overnight before cutting in to it.
A big plus for this cake on the other hand is…. it is easy to adapt to what ingredients 

you have in the house.  Baking is not an exact science for me, 

I am definitely not a precise measurements kinda baker….

I'm more of a looks good.... tastes yummy.... smells great kinda baker.   

Using what is my cupboard and making it work, I don't rush out to buy ingredients.  

Fresh out of vanilla sugar  I just use brown sugar it changes the flavour of the cake a little but it’s just as scrumptious, lemon juice instead of vanilla extract,
double chocolate digestives instead of plain digestives,  a extra egg for more fluffiness…. 

you get the picture 

…long story short no two cheese cakes of mine taste the same.
There are a million and one recipes for  New York Cheese Cake out there 
for my take of this classic I used

125g soft butter I only have salted butter in the house

300g double chocolate digestives

900g cream cheese

220g fine vanilla sugar 

 I put a vanilla pod into a sugar jar, leaving it in there 

adding more sugar to the jar once it starts to run a little low 

2 table spoons flour (plain)
2 tea spoons vanilla extract

3 to 4 eggs depending on there size
2 egg yolks
I always use free range

300 ml double cream

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Preheating the fan oven on 180C

Crush the biscuits for the base then add most of the soft butter,

(leaving a little for greasing the baking tin) 

mix the crushed biscuits & butter through thoroughly. 
The base mixture is tightly pressed into a well greased 25 cm spring-form cake tin

Bake it for about 10 minutes on 180C

After 10 minutes remove the tin from the oven and let it cool down on a cake rack
at the same time turn the oven up to 200C.

For the filling mix (preferably with a electric mixer) the cream cheese, 

the vanilla sugar, flour and vanilla extract into a smooth mixture. 

Then add the eggs and egg yolks one at the time.  

Whisking the mixture on a high speed until smooth & fluffy, finally the double cream is added.  

The finished mixture has a smooth, light fluffy consistency.

 

 Pour it over the cooled down base mixture.  

Smoothing over the top.

Now the patience bit begins, first place the cheese cake mix in the oven 

 bake for 15 minutes on 200C then reduce the temperature to 110C 

and bake for a further 45 minutes.  

After 45 minutes turn off the oven leave the oven door closed 

and the cake inside for about 2 hours to cool.

  

Then remove the cake from the oven, it now needs at least another 6 hours to fully set.

 I always cover the cake with a fresh tea towel to let it set over night. 

I know that is not easy…. 

it smells yummy and if your family is anything like mine it will attract them into the kitchen.

 My clan loves hovering over the cake for the rest of the day 

trying to convince me the cake is ready to be eaten.

Funny how quickly they disappear again when I mention the words "cleaning up".

Trust me though the wait is well worth it.

This cake is super yummy topped with fresh fruit like 

strawberries, raspberries or blueberries.
But if there is none in the house, try drizzle some melted chocolate over the top or like me

just opt for a generous dusting of icing sugar which makes it equally scrummy!

Give it a go it’s the perfect weekend bake!
I hope you enjoy my take on this classic.

XXXX