Lemon Ice Cream

This is tart, sweet and very lemony

DELICIOUS

First you need to make the Lemon curd

(you could use bought Lemon Curd, if you had too)

LEMON CURD
75g butter

150g sugar

zest and juice of 3 lemons

1 egg

2 egg yolks

place butter, sugar, zest and juice into saucepan and heat gently until sugar is dissolved

Place eggs and egg yolk into bowl and beat well

pour egg mixture in a slow steady stream into butter mixture stirring constantly 

keep heat very low

continue stirring until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon

leave to cool

When the curd is cool
whip 75 ml double cream

add your cream to the lemon curd and fold in until combined

Pour into your ice cream maker

If you do not have an ice cream maker
buy one!
(great deals on ebay)
I know it seems like one of those purchases that will gather dust
but really making your own Ice cream is incredibly easy
and you can really have fun with flavours
The results will be much appreciated by all around you I promise
and it really is pretty fool proof

OR
Place in a container freeze and remove every 30 mins to stir out ice crystals
for about 2 hrs (4 times)

But
you will not get the same creamy consistency as you would with an ice cream maker

 

Pattern at home

Now that Summer is here
Even if it has rained incessantly for the last 2 weeks
I am in the mood to add some colour and pattern in to the house
Shake off the deep hues of winter
with some bright happy prints
Here are some of the pieces on my wish list

This Chair from
Soane
looks very comfy and would make a perfect addition to my living room
I currently have a vintage 3 seater brown leather sofa
which I do love and is very practical with 3 boys and a dog in the house
but sometimes I do lust after something a little more whimsical

While for me it is not practical I do love the idea of switching your Sofa cover for summer
As this is usually the largest piece of furniture in your room
changing the covers can really transform the atmosphere
so from Dark brown I would shake it up with this

 Expensive sofa from here
This is a covered sofa but you could easily get a slip cover made in a similar fabric

To throw on to this I would add

this Anthropologie cushion

and some from
John Robshaw

and we may need a throw
because, well, you know Ireland isn't exactly the warmest place in June
I would head back to John Robshaw for that also
and curl up in one of his vintage quilts

Then I would dot some of these around the room
as coasters
or catch-alls for the bits and bobs one needs to hand

plates from

High street market 

and finally the floor.....
I am being bold here but I do think this yellow rug would really make everything else sing

vintage morrocan rug 

As the walls are charcoal grey I think this would all be rather splendid

Do you change your decor or accessories for summer ?

Flowers and Cake

What could be nicer than Flowers and Cake?

So when a friend called me recently and asked if I would provide both 

for her daughters upcoming christening 

of course I said 

YES

A large bouquet of Peonies, sweet william, laurel, cow parsley, mint, foxgloves

and honeysuckle

All the flowers were sourced either from my own garden, a local grower or the side of the road

My respect for Florists increased 

This is physical work!

I think this Posey of Roses with Lupin and Jasmine was my favourite 

The theme of this was scent

There were cakes  as well

The icing station

 Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting 

Chocolate cupcakes 

and Vanilla cupcakes below 

for which I individually made each rose

but 

in retrospect I think the above petals/flowers look just as good and were so much easier

Things have been a bit all over the place recently

lots of coming and going and reflecting and decisions

Change is something I fear

but attempt to embrace

It often makes me want to retreat like a Tortoise into my shell

I feel quite protective even if I know that the change is a positive thing

I am a big believer in

"feel the fear and do it anyway"

But

that doesn't mean you don't feel it 

So here's to change and the future

x

Ellsworth Kelly Plant drawings

Love the simplicity of line of the 

Ellsworth Kelly plant drawings

exhibition currently at The Metropolitan Musuem NY

They remind me of some prints I did a few years ago 

Being incedibly bad at archiving my work I do not have a reference to show you

I will see if i can rummage something out...

Rose Petal and Lemon shortbread

 This is a light buttery delicate cookie

The sweeter smelling your Rose the more rose imbued your cookie will be

RECIPE

4 ozs butter

2 ozs sugar

4 ozs plain flour

2 ozs corn flour (corn starch)

Petals from 4 roses (washed and chopped)

Zest of half a lemon

METHOD
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until a dough comes together
give it a few minutes
You may need to add another tspn of butter
-If you do not have a food processor simply rub the dry ingredients in to the butter
until it becomes sandy and nubbly
then add rose petals and zest and bring together to form a dough

Do Not Over Work The Dough

Tip out dough onto cling film (seran wrap)
and bring together to form a cylinder
you can squish it with your hands through the cling film to get a nice tight firm tube
refrigerate for 30 mins
preheat oven to 155c
line cookie tray with baking parchment
cut your cookies into 1-2cm thick discs
lay on tray and bake for 20 mins
After 20 mins turn oven off but leave cookies in the oven for further 10 mins
open oven door and leave to cool in the oven
These last 2 steps are important and  give you a really light and crisp cookie

 You can make these cookies all Lemon by simply omitting the Rose petals
and upping the lemon to use all the zest of 1 lemon

Either way delicious
enjoy
x

Flowers

Flowers, flowers, flowers

How I love them

I missed my garden so much whilst in NYC

The first Roses are blooming

and I am waiting in anticipation for the Climber at the back
of the border that is a wall of tiny pale pink double roses

with the most beautiful delicate scent

For now I must content myself with

Deep red Astrantia, Pink and Purple Aquilega, Geranium, Chive and the beautiful "Veilchenblau" rose, the first to bloom this year

and the garden is bursting with greens, so lush after the recent heat and wet,

all of the above flowers have beautiful greens that can be used
and there is also 

Mint, honeysuckle, Lady's mantle, Narcissus, Fennel

I like a lot of greens in my bouquets

I think that is a mistake many make

not enough greens

It doesn't have to be in a fancy vase either

a jam jar tied with a piece of twine

you can also see above some frost damage on a rose leaf

I don't mind that

I like my flowers naturalistic, 

I like to mix textures

but keep my palette tight 

The bouquet can be simple, just a few buds with greens

Often if I am having people over 

I will do many small poseys

group them together for the table

and then afterwards, sprinkle them around the house 

This also has the affect of covering the containers and gives a very abundant feel to the table
and gives you flowers for many rooms
every room should have flowers or failing that, a living plant

We are well on our way to High summer and I cannot wait, blossoms, blooms and bouquets
all summer long....

Do you put flowers in your rooms?