Here at Chez beSottied, it’s the end of another lovely sunny day, after a weekend of lovely sunny days. Hopefully it’s been the same where you are.
I’ve had a nice relaxing Monday off work today, following a weekend away in Northumberland with Neil. It was great to get away to one of our favourite places, and the warm weather was the icing on the cake.
Did someone mention cake??
To help celebrate the occasion I channeled my inner Women’s Institute member and, with the help of Helen’s Kitchen Aid mixer, whipped up a lemon meringue cake to take with us. It wasn’t too shabby! (And don’t panic, I sliced it in two and left half at home: no two people should eat that much cake in a weekend.) It’s a basic sponge recipe, with meringue on top of each layer of cake. The filling is a mix of lemon curd, mascarpone cheese and a little bit of icing sugar. It was pretty good, but I think if I make it again I will use smaller tins, and make more meringue!
We spent a few days in the Northumbrian village of Embleton, walking, lazing, and eating very nice food. We’d booked up at The Ship Inn in Low Newton by the Sea weeks ago at the end of March: we wanted to be sure we got a seat!
The pub is very small (I’d say 15 tables at the most) and only serves evening meals between 7 and 8 pm. It’s within throwing distance of the North Sea and a glorious beach. Definitely stop by if you’re ever in the area - I heartily recommend the crab, and Neil seemed very happy with his scallops!
It was nice to leave little Muriel parked outside the cottage for a few days and enjoy walking everywhere. Coming back from the Ship Inn meant a late-night walk along the beach armed with torches, and going for lunch in Craster involved meandering along the coast, past the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle (which some of you may recognise from last year), the cliffs… and the sheep, of course.
Back home - after a stop-off at Kielder Water and a very solid night’s sleep - I finally set to work on the Swing Bag. It’s a reversible bag, made more sturdy with a layer of canvas between the interior and exterior panels. That means a lot of cutting! Anyway, I’ve cut out all of my fabric and have machine-basted the canvas to the reverse of the exterior straps and panels. Fingers crossed, I’ll get to do a lot of tricky wizardry and finish the bag this weekend (Bank Holidaaay!).
Tomorrow is Tuesday, back to work and back to uni. It all seems a bit inconvenient, really, doesn’t it? I think I’ll comfort myself with a little bowl of Frosted Shreddies! Happy Monday everyone.
wow - that cake looks fab - you should let your inner women’s institute member out to play more often! Sounds like you had a lovely weekend away - hope the return to routine today wasn’t too much of a shock to the system!
Going back to the routine hasn’t been too bad, but I could really fancy some more of that cake. I suppose I should stop looking at the photo!