It’s been a full and busy February, the time seems to have flown by. We’ve had crazy weather in the UK with gloriously sunny days, biting winds and now a little snow with more predicted.
Days have been filled with beautiful beach walks, even on the windiest of days…everything looks so much more dramatic and exciting.
I took delivery of a wonderful new book, Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, written by a fellow blogger, Emilie Rafa who blogs over at The Clever Carrot. I’ve loved reading it and beginning to experiment with her wonderful recipes, starting with a brioche loaf which we loved and a fabulous sourdough focaccia .
I’ve also been making my regular sourdough loaf which is our “daily bread”. For my mum I bake a rye and caraway loaf which she enjoys and Big Man is in charge of thinly slicing it for her once it has cooled.
Food has been comforting and warming with old favourites making regular appearances with a few new dishes being tried too. I made a sweet potato and kale curry…it was ok, but rather too sweet and not quite spicy enough for us. More work needed on that one!
One particularly spectacular day Big Man and I hopped on a train heading West along the coast for an hour and spent the day in Brighton. We went on the i360, an enormous pod which holds about 200 people which rises up a 162m tower to give incredible views at a height of 138m across the channel, the city of Brighton and across the South Downs…and of course the panorama is a 360° one. Absolutely fantastic and we had a cheeky glass of champagne to make the experience extra special.
Today the cold weather is moving in, people are panic buying (ridiculous) in the supermarkets and I’m getting ready for Big Man to come back from a couple of weeks in Spain. In our house, this means making food…warming chicken and chickpea soup, pork and beans and maybe even a fish pie. Well…he says he’s missed my cooking!
Despite the cold, there are little signs that spring is on its way with the bravest of bulbs pushing up through the ground, defying the cold and reminding us that after the dark days of winter there is always sunshine and new life to look forward to.
Chica Andaluza 
That looks like fantastic bread! I used to bake, but sourdough goes a bit sleepy if you only use the “mother” once a week and I’m close to the St. John and their sourdough is fantastic.
I’m having pork and beans tonight – it’s definitely the weather for it!
I don’t bake in Spain…Bread Man delivers daily so I freeze my starter until I get back. It is indeed a day for pork and beans!
The weather over this way is showing no signs of spring. The forecast is for -10 tonight, with snow forecast for the next two weeks. A loaf of warm bread and a hot bowl of spicy soups sounds just perfect right now. I love bread making and used to host an old rye sourdough mother, but I put her to bed in the freeze for now. Like MD, we’ve got a great baker a 100 meters away, so why bake.
Ooh that’s cold! We have a great baker in Spain, but not so great in England. And on cold days like this the oven warms things up!
The rye version sounds very nice indeed, but it all looks so appetising. We’ve finally hit a rainy week here, so I’ve been trying to catch up on the blog and doing a few jobs. Hoping it will be dry enough for our walk tomorrow and Jerez on Wednesday, but we’ll take whatever we get because it’s been lovely so far. When will you get back to Spain, Tanya? 🙂 🙂
We’re hoping to spend April and May there…fingers crossed and will keep them crossed for good weather for you too!
Bless you, hon! Thanks a lot 🙂 🙂
You’ll be glad to have him home, I think. Keep warm in the weather.
I’ve missed him! You stay warm too…
I have the same bread book! One day we should bake from the same page just for fun!!
That’s a brilliant idea! Love it 😀
How I have been visiting blogs for so many years without following ‘The Clever Carrot’ I do not know: all ‘fixed’ now! Love your photos – the sun obviously shines in England on other days than the prescribed one day in August 🙂 ! And, am jealous looking at your fabulous breads, but with my schedule . . . .and my closest baker is 40 kms away . . . oh well . . . !
Oh yes, the sun shines…but it’s sooo cold!
Wonderful photos and I’m lucky enough to get to taste your bread – always delicious! xxx Stay warm everyone!
Thank you bestie…Big warm hug xx
Gorgeous bread. As to the snow, I’m amazed how everything is coming to a standstill. Though this does seem to be an unusual weather event. Hopefully it passes quickly.
I’ve got to head to the airport this afternoon. Will have to leave plenty of time!
Good idea! We’ll have all weather tyres when we move back. It’s what we have here. Just makes sense.
Great photos! Your breads are stunning.
Thank you so much!
Scrumptious!
Do you have a recipe for Albondigas con salsa de almendra? I had a look through your archived recipes but couldn’t see one. Could you make some pleeeeease.
No I don’t. .but ow I’ll have to make some for you! Watch this space 😀
Yeay!
My dear friend, you have been in my thoughts so much the last few weeks. Lovely to see your great post and I hope you and I are able to sneak in a cheeky glass of champers some time too.
Have a beautiful and happy day.
🙂 Mandy xoxo
Now wouldn’t that be lovely…a glass of bubbles together!
Emilies book is fabulous. The filled focaccia is amazing 😘.
Loving your photos!
Thanks Kim…I need to try that focaccia. Trouble is I need to share it otherwise Big Man and I would scoff the lot in one sitting 😉
Celia said it freezes – I’m afraid mine didn’t last that long…..
😉😉
I must say that even with the snow we had glorious weather in The Lakes. Hope it has not been too bad this week!
The Lakes are stunning whatever the weather! We’re lucky on the South coast, we always seem to have slightly warmer weather than the rest of the country.
Wonderful bread! Comfort food is what gets us through the winter. On the up now!
You and me both. I am SO ready for winter to be over!
As a foodie, I love the photos of your freshly baked bread. As a traveler, I love the photos of the views from the pod of Brighton.
Ah, thank you Karen!
good, is verry good
i like it