Last Autumn I made loads of and loads of blackberry jam from frozen blackberries I picked at the end of the summer.

I still had a random amount of leftover blackberries that I've been steadily using up in pies and crumbles throughout the winter. Now that it's getting warmer though I don't really fancy heavy, stodgy puddings and want something lighter and fresher. 

So I've been trying to think of something to make that would use up the rest of the frozen blackberries and clear some much needed space in my freezer. 

Blackberry frozen yoghurt seemed like the perfect solution. Not too much making involved and relatively kind on the waistline. 

I've never made something like this before and all the recipes seemed to need an ice cream maker (which I don't have).

I eventually found this recipe but I didn't like the idea of whole pieces of fruit and lots of seeds in the mixture. So I've adapted it to suit myself and what I happened to have to hand.I think the result turned out brilliantly!

Ingredients

350g blackberries (can be fresh or frozen)

100g caster sugar

300g full fat greek yoghurt

100ml semi skimmed milk 

50g runny honey

Method

1. If you are using frozen blackberries remove them from the freezer to defrost for an hour or two.

2. Once defrosted mix with the caster sugar and leave for about 20-30 min to macerate. 

3. When the fruit has begun to break down mash up with a fork to release the juices.

4. Combine the milk, honey and yoghurt and mix gently with a whisk to remove any lumps.

5. Pour the sugar and berry mixture into a sieve suspended over the yoghurt mixture. Use the back of a spoon to press as much juice as you can from the fruit. 

6. Combine the fruit juice and the yoghurt mixture using the whisk and discard the blackberry pulp.Taste the mixture and add a little more honey if it is too tart for you.

7. Pour into a freezable container and place in the freezer.

8. After two hours remove from the freezer and stir. Return to the freezer and leave overnight. 

9. Remove from the freezer ten minutes before serving to allow it to soften slightly. 

10. Serve in waffle ice cream cones with a little extra drizzle of honey. 

This is honestly one of the easiest things I've ever made and it tastes amazingly fresh and light. 

Snow day

Today the Beast from the East returns! Jared has been telling me all week that it was going to snow this weekend. I was listening but I was just like 'yeah that's nice, it's not really going to snow again'. 

Even when it started snowing yesterday and we had a small dusting I didn't think we were going to get anymore than that. So when I woke up this morning to a good couple of inches of snow I was pretty surprised!

When it snowed a few weeks ago, it was so cold and the wind so strong that it was a battle just to walk up to my parents house (through waist high drifts), look after the horses and wade back through the drifts home again. I didn't have the energy for enjoying the snow other than a brief snowball fight. 

So today we have actually had fun with it. I've been up to my parents house and we have done something we haven't done since we were kids. We went what we like to call Bonneting. Sounds mad? That's cos it is. 

We have the bonnet off of one of our old cars that we hitch up with a long piece of rope to whatever vehicle we have capable of towing it, take it out into the field and it makes an excellent sled. 

Then you basically go donuting in the 4x4 and swing the bonnet at high speed. It sounds crazy but its incredibly fun. The more you do it, the more you flatten the snow like an ice rink and the faster you go. 

So that's what we like to do when it snows, regular sledding is too dull. Gotta make the most of that farm life ;)

When we finally came back inside to warm up my sister made us hot chocolate (have I mentioned her hot chocolate is the stuff of legend?) and cookies to warm up with. Mmmmmnnn.

Now I plan to spend the rest of my Sunday relaxing while I get over the illness that has bugged me for the past few days ready to start the rest of the week. 

Hope you're also enjoying the snow! 

Thanks to my Mum and Tiggy for the pictures :)

Projects for our Garden in 2018

1. Expand our bird feeders

When we first moved into our house in late Autumn we put a bird feeder in the tree in our garden. It has taken a while for the birds to be brave enough to use it but they are now feeding from it regularly.

I'd really like to get some more feeders such as ones for sunflower seeds or fat balls to encourage more birds to visit our garden.

2. Create a mini pond

Our garden is far too small to have a decent size pond but a water source is really important for encouraging wildlife to live in your garden.

I saw this project for creating a mini pond and thought it looked like fun, as well as being small enough for our space.

It also looks super easy, which is always good for gardening novices like myself.

3. Get a bug hotel

As part of providing a home for wildlife in our garden I'd like to get a bug hotel. You can make these yourself but some of the ones you can buy are really cute.

They cost hardly any money either and it would be nice to start adding some character to our garden as it's currently pretty sparse.

4. Get a fruit tree

Our garden already has a large cherry tree (which sadly doesn't seem to fruit) and some crab apple trees but I'd really like to get some sort of potted fruit tree.

Most likely an apple tree.

We don't have space for a whole orchard but one that is compact enough for a pot would be perfect.

5. Train some climbers up our trellis

We have a trellis that separates our oil tank from the rest of the garden and I would love to grow some climbers up it to hide this eyesore from view.

My mum has a honeysuckle growing in her garden that she took as a cutting from our old house.

But the original plant was a cutting from my Grandma's garden and I really like the idea of taking a bit of it with us to our new house (particularly as honeysuckle is quite easy to grow from a cutting).

6. Grow some fruit in our hanging baskets (probably strawberries and cherry tomatoes)

I always enjoy growing tomatoes and I'd like to make the most of the small space in our garden and grow something in hanging baskets.

The added advantage is they would have the heat from the wall of the house and from the fact it faces south. Plus they're right next to our water butt for easy watering. 

7. Attempt to help our lawn recover

We have a small lawn that is currently looking a little bit sad.

My cousin (who owned the house before us) has two small children and they had a trampoline and various toys in the garden. As a result our lawn has a lot of bare patches and it quite sparse and weedy in places.

My parents bought us a lawnmower for Christmas so hopefully come Spring we can fertilise and reseed it. After that we should now be able to mow it regularly.

Fingers crossed with a bit of TLC it will recover a bit. I'm not bothered about it not being a 100% perfect ornamental lawn. It would just be nice if it was a little better.

8. Challenge myself to grow something new

I tend to grow similar things each year and I'd like to branch out this and try to grow something I haven't attempted before. Perhaps runner beans or courgettes. Something simple and that can be grown in a pot.

9. Start a compost heap

Every garden needs one, even if it's just somewhere to get rid of your lawn clippings.

Again, this is another super easy project and hopefully one that will reward me further down the line when I've got ready made compost on hand.

10. Trim our cherry tree

This is something that needs doing fairly soon while the tree is still dormant during the winter but it needs cutting back a bit. Some of the branches are quite low and it's starting to take over the garden. 

11. Get a coldframe

This would help a low with lots of different plants and I've asked my very DIY orientated sister is she could build me one. Hopefully she'll feel the urge to build something new at some point!

12. Get some patio furniture

There's not much point having a garden if you can't enjoy it! We're in need of a table and chairs so we can sit outside and use the space. 

Our budget is tight so I'll probably be on the look out for some second hand items.

13. Host a BBQ

Hopefully by the summer our garden will be a little more welcoming and it would be great to invite some family and friends over for some laid back food and drink!

Bonfire Night Party

So last Sunday was Bonfire Night, which is personally one of my favourite things about the nights drawing in.

My family live on the outskirts of our village so we don’t have close neighbours so we had our own Bonfire Party.

My Dad built the bonfire and one of my sisters made our Guy Fawkes (complete with very historical curly wig and baseball cap).

One of my other sisters made us homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate flakes and hot salted caramel. This was quite possibly one of the best things I’ve ever had and it doesn’t matter what Costa or Starbucks have got on their Christmas menu, they won’t be able to make something as good as that.

Standing around in the freezing cold, wrapped up in warm hats and gloves while sipping a cup of this magical hot chocolate is what Bonfire Night is all about.

We lit the bonfire at 6pm and watched our Guy Fawkes go up in flames before having some fireworks.

Mum, Jared and I had been hard at work preparing Bonfire Party food to warm us up. We had baked potatoes with mango chutney curry, butternut squash and chorizo pizza, vegetable crisps, honey mustard sausage rolls and cheese straws. We made mulled cider to drink along with plenty of wine and beer. For pudding we made toffee apple crumble with salted caramel sauce and chocolate and marshmallow roasted bananas. 

I sadly didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the food as everyone was too busy scoffing it, but I'm sure you can imagine it.  

Some of the recipes we just made up, such as the crumble which I never use a recipe for and just do it by eye (and taste). However I've linked any recipes that I did use, or was inspired by in case you fancy making some of them yourself.

Everything was quick, easy and filling and crucially we prepped almost all of it the day before to make life easier.

It was a great evening spent with family, enjoying each others company and tasty food.

Did you celebrate Bonfire Night? Or make yourself some seasonal treats? Let me know!

Exploring Wiltshire - Visiting Old Sarum

The August bank holiday weekend already feels like it was years ago rather than just a few weekends back. The Friday before the bank holiday was such a great day. First off, it was payday, which is always a great start to any Friday. The forecast for the weekend was fab and it was already sunny on Friday. My work treated us to bacon sandwiches and let us go home at 4pm! To top it all I had the whole following week off work. I was practically skipping by the end of the day.

We spent the Sunday of the bank holiday visiting Old Sarum to watch the medieval joust. For those who aren't familiar with Wiltshire, Old Sarum is the earliest settlement in Salisbury and lies about 2 miles north of the current city. The site itself has been settled since prehistoric times and the fort dates from the Iron Age. 

It was later controlled by the Romans and the Saxons where it was used as a stronghold against the Vikings. The Normans built the Motte and Bailey castle and the cathedral, the remains of which can still be seen today.

When construction began for the new (and current) cathedral in Salisbury during the 13th century Old Sarum began to decline and many of the buildings were used to provide stone for the newer buildings. 

If you have any interest in history this is well worth a visit and isn't as packed as some of Wiltshire's more popular sites (and by that I mean Stonehenge). It's really cool to walk around it and imagine what it must have been like to live there. 

My parents used to take me to visit when I was little as it's a great day out for small children, plenty of room to run around safely and history that is actually tangible enough for even little kids to understand.

Jared has never been and what better day to go then when the fort is playing host to a medieval joust? The sunshine was glorious, we packed a picnic and spent a day enjoying the sunshine.

There was plenty to watch with the falconry display and the knights displaying their skill at arms.

Finally at the end of the day there was the joust itself, which was action packed and great to watch!

If you're ever in Wiltshire and you're looking for things to do that showcase the history of the area, then Old Sarum is a must see.

We have so much history right on our doorstep here in the UK, that sometimes I think we don't make enough of an effort to get out there and actually see it. 

Plus the view from the top, overlooking the modern city is pretty cool as well.

Have you ever visited? Or do you have something awesome near your home town worth seeing? Let me know! I'm always looking for new things to see and do!

Weekend away in Devon and visiting Beer

So a few weekends ago things were just getting a bit hectic and life was feeling a little full on so Jared and I booked Friday off work and we headed to Devon for the weekend to escape from everything for a bit.

It felt good to be just the two of us, even if it was only for a few days and to not have any sort of schedule or to do list to get through. As much as I love my family and I am grateful for my parents allowing us to share their home with them, sometimes we just need a break where we can be alone without interruptions. 

When we go away to Devon we tend to do nothing but relax, watch films and drink lots of tea as we're only there for a few days and we just love to soak up the peace and quiet. We're lucky enough to be able to stay in my Nan's holiday caravan so we don't feel pressured to do things as we're not paying for the accommodation.

This time though we made an effort to get our butts out of the door and explore a little better. We headed off to Beer which is about an hours drive from where we were staying. 

Jared and I have actually been here before during a weekend visit for a friends 21st. However we didn't really get time to look around and it was November so the weather was a bit grim. 

This time though the weather was glorious and we had a lovely time.

We ate lunch in a pub garden on the cliff top overlooking the beach before going for a walk down by the sea. As we're at the seaside we both had an icecream to finish and ate them walking along the beach looking at all the different beach huts.

We took a walk along the cliff path which we didn't notice on our first visit here and the view from the top is pretty awesome. Apparently it goes all the way to the next village but we were too short on time to walk that far. 

The best thing about Beer though it the cute little shops which line the road and these are well worth looking into as they sell a whole range of things including lots of locally made produce.

If you're ever in the area, definitely give Beer a visit!

A Weekend of Sunshine

Since I moved back home from uni I’ve been so focused on saving money that doing things at the weekend hasn’t really been possible. Days out and trips all add up and I’m trying hard to watch all of my spending.

As you can imagine it has lead to life feeling quite repetitive and dull. Go to work all week, chill out at home at the weekend, repeat. 

I was starting to feel if I spent another weekend at home I would go crazy. 

Last weekend we had such utterly fabulous weather, the clocks went forward and it really felt like Spring had finally arrived.

As we’re watching our budget Jared and I went for a drive. I know, we sound about 74 but we are really lucky to have fabulous countryside on our doorstep that Jared hasn’t seen before. The drive itself was lovely in the sunshine, with some tunes playing and chatting away about our week. 

We headed for the tiny village of Compton Chamberlayne which is where my Nan grew up and my Dad was born. The whole village is one street so I showed Jared the house they used to live in. It really is the cutest little place and has a real old charm to it, with its daffodil lined verges.

After having a quick look around we headed out of the village towards Fovant in order to see the Fovant Badges. These are military badges of regiments that fought in the First World War which have been carved by soldiers waiting to head over to France. The oldest was created in 1916 and they are carved into the chalk hillside. You can see them from the road and there’s a viewing layby which has a guide to the badges. Well worth a look if you are interested in local history.

We then drove back through Barford St Martin and stopped for lunch at The Barford Arms. Two enormous plates of food and drinks cost us around £25 so we were really pleased with the value for money. The food was hearty and tasty and the cosy interior of the coaching inn topped off a really fun afternoon. 

Overall we had a really lovely time and it was so nice to actually get out and explore our local area a bit more. I'm going to try and think of some more fun things to do that are close by and still inexpensive. If you have any ideas, let me know!