Lovely extra nutty granola (Valentine's edition).

There must be something about blue skies that inspires granola making for me, my last granola post was a sunny one. This is a variation. It's easy, therapeutic in the sense of using up oddments of nuts and slowly mixing it all up, packed with good energy and the perfect gift for family, friends and Valentine's. 
This batch was extra nutty. It works well as a light breakfast with yoghurt and fruit, simply in handfuls as a pick me up snack or made into flapjacks for a sweet treat.

You will need:

500g porridge oats (I keep the amounts of oats and seeds equal but vary it if you fancy)

500g nuts and seeds (here I used cashews, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, poppy seeds, hazelnuts, coconut, pecans, pine kernals, sesame seeds)

5 tbsp sunflower oil (1 for every hundred grams)

5 tbsp set honey (1 for every hundred grams - using a heather or floral honey adds a new dimension)

200g dark brown sugar

100g light brown sugar (it's not essential to use two types of sugar it's just what I had)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Liberally oil a baking tray (I used a brownie tray or roasting dish) otherwise it's impossible to remove. Mix together the oats and seeds, add the oil, honey and sugar. Stir happily or bash if the mood takes you, until the mixture is a sticky, glossy, coated one. Arrange on a baking tray (or two). Toast in the oven for around 20 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it and stir every ten or so minutes as some nuts burn easily. Remove the soft mix from the oven. Do an obligatory taste test.  It will harden as it cools. Leave it to cool and then break into small pieces and store in an airtight jar or jars if you're planning on giving some away.

Going nuts with nuts. 

Stocked up.

Gifts for my Valentine...

 ... and friends.

Intentions

When we first contemplated December and all things festive, we knew we wanted some time with family and friends. We did not think that it would all be quite so overwhelming and had many good intentions. Ideas were scrawled on scraps of paper and in notebooks, about blog posts to be written and hopefully interesting snippets to share with our readers.

But, before long, December was here. We were both working at day jobs, snow fell, temperatures dropped, friends and families gathered, food was prepared, menus planned, presents were made, and wrapped, cards written, our bags and car packed, brimful of goodies and travels were made. Christmas was here and now is gone.

We are still enjoying our holidays but wanted to say we will be back, to fulfil our good intentions (and some new ones besides) by the end of January. There will be news and dates for suppers, and, at last the announcement of our competition winner.

Wishing you happiness, good memory making, and of course delicious food, made with love.

One year

One of the wonderful things about keeping this blog is being able to look back on memories made and milestones past. I have always wanted to keep a written diary and usually failed after writing just a couple of sentences over a few weeks. But, we have actually kept this blog going, fairly regularly, for over one year. And, if you need proof, you can click here to see our very first post.

So, snowy Saturday was our birthday of sorts and, to celebrate, we hosted our final, supper of 2010 and welcomed more beautiful strangers to our home. We also want to celebrate with you, our readers and supporters.

The lovely Sally and Dave at To Dry For, are stepping in to help us mark our birthday and the end of mountains of washing up (we reckon at least 500 plates over 25 suppers) with a special giveaway (subject to stock availability).

For your chance to win, please visit the To Dry For website, select your favourite tea towel, and leave us a comment on our blog which includes:

1. The name of the tea towel you'd like to win (we can't enter but if we could, Chris has chosen this one and I've chosen this one, or this snowy one, or this one).

2. Your least favourite thing to wash and dry up (our award for worst item to wash and dry goes to the sieve).

3. Your email address.

Winners will be randomly selected. Competition closes at midnight on Sunday 12 December.

*Perfect frost captured here

Christmas Wish List

Advent is here and to show our excitement for the festive countdown, we've put together this wish (big) list, which is really more of a gift guide to share some of the top gift picks we've discovered (and currently covet). We'd love to know any of your inspirational gift discoveries too, so please do tell...

We're a bit late to put this together for 2010 but we're full of good intentions for next year. Imagine filling your own jars or boxes with home baked goodies finished off with these pretty tags and dotted around your home.

Beautiful birthday flags, or anything really, from this fabulous seller, we know it's almost Christmas but before that, we'll be celebrating one year of Charlie and Evelyn's Table. More on that soon.

A festive tea towel of course, from this charming husband and wife team who have a truck load of beautiful tea towels here.

We're lucky enough to already own several amazing pieces by this lady, but of you're looking for a unique and stunning wooden gift, large or small, you really must get in touch.

It's probably no surprise but we think recipe books make a great gift and being big fans of the Good Food Guide, we're keen to see the selection its editors have selected to celebrate 60 years of the UK's best chefs and restaurants.

Sophie Dahl may be The delicious Miss Dahl but we're tempted by the contents of Felicity and Roald's cookbook.

Avid readers will know that we like to create a different look for our table with every supper and we think this collection of tiny vases could work well throughout the year.

I saw this treasure months ago but it's still on my mind.

And, even without the box, these recipe cards are both practical and beautiful.

As this is a wish list, there's no harm in hoping for a lottery win to justify a long shop for art at Sarah Dallas' Gallery. The window display alone always stops us in our tracks. How sweet are these ceramic doves?

And now we're really dreaming, why stop? An apple tree and this apple rack would be perfect for our dream garden. And, a few chickens too.

Finally, to finish all the gifts, this bright raffia would come in useful.

And this giant stamp please. Ideal for cards and gift bags.

Oh, and maybe this twine, with some brown paper packages...

Looking to next year, surely something as stunning as this would help us to keep track of our journey, ideas and recipes.

And, last but not least, as 2011 is the Chinese year of the rabbit, this adorable spork and spoon set, to celebrate precious new arrivals.

Holidays are coming...

Starbucks has red cups, The Dome has decorations and here at Charlie and Evelyn's Table, we have easy canape and gift ideas:



Homemade buttery oat biscuits and simple hot smoked salmon mousse.

Pea and pecorino topping on homemade oat biscuits with crispy bacon.

Last week, we introduced these ideas with our first live demo for the Women at Greenbank (WAGS). Email the WAGs Commitee for details. They're organising a Christmas craft fair for next month where you can sell your wares or simply shop.

Buttery oat biscuits, packaged for festive giving.

It was great fun presenting our double act and sharing our story and ideas for easy and enjoyable entertaining and gifts. And we now have some charming, printable pdf recipe cards to share by email (you can print or view at home). We'll be sending them with our next newsletter but, if you're not on our mailing list or really can't wait, email us and we'll send them out right away.

Celebration brownies, for tasting.

The canape ideas we decided to share were those above, which have been successfully tried and tested at our suppers and those which work well as pre prepared options namely, buttery oat biscuits, simple hot smoked salmon mousse, pea and pecorino topping (which can be finished with crispy bacon) and indulgent celebration brownies (with gin soaked berries). We also offered a taster of and recipes for tried and tested courgette chutney and sweet plum jam if the idea delicious homemade goodies appeals.

Pretty jar of courgette chutney with sparking snowflake and gold raffia.

Given my love of packaging, ribbons and gift giving, we also wanted to share some tips on how the oatcakes, brownies and preserves might be presented as presents. Afterall, if you are going to go to the effort of making oat biscuits, brownies or chutney why not share the love and make some cost effective gifts at the same time?

Butterfly packaging and natural raffia.

The jam keeps for up to a year, so is perfect for birthday, thank you or house warming gifts before and after Christmas.

And, back to festive thoughts, jar decked with berried holly.

I also promised I'd share links to suppliers that I've found and used in the past. So here it is:

For holly, take a walk here, let's hope the red berries last a few more weeks yet.

For speedy delivery and useable quanities of jam jars in all sizes (be warned, they also sell hampers, bottles, labels and other jam making equipment).

For simple twine and other divine gifts.

For natural raffia, I got mine from this delightful lady but your local florist is probably a good start or perhaps fellow WAG and florist Carol Walker could help?

For Gold (and red) raffia.

For pretty butterflies for anytime of year.

For luggage labels, you'll also find small labels and brown paper.

For presentation bags and all manner of bakeware and equipment should your collection need a boost.

For snowflake decorations ( I bought mine as a garland a couple of years ago but, this year, it was so tangled, I thought I'd cut it and use differently.) You can still get similar decorations. These reindeer are cute or this charming and cheap collection of hearts, stars and angels would work well.

And, last but not least, go here for beautiful ribbons, they will arrive beautifully packaged for sure.

Happy preparations, happy eating and of course, happy giving!

If you have any questions, please ask. We'd also love you to leave your comments and, if you do try our ideas, please let us know how they work for you.

Wanted: one orchard

We haven’t won the lottery (sigh) and we don’t have garden space for a coppice but that doesn’t stop me dreaming about blossom and fruit. And, this desire for a handful of trees has only been made worse by Nigel Slater and his recently published Tender: Volume II. With its detailed, fruit by fruit sections and many ideas, it’s especially handy when you find yourself with a glut of something; a situation I had recently with plums (and apples). Let’s face it, love crumble as I do, there’s only so much you can take.

I found this book as I was browsing for another plum recipe (more specifically for plum chutney) and this immediately caught my eye, with its simple ingredients list and ability to complement pork, beef, game or cheese. Sold. Well, not quite. I hurriedly snapped the ingredients list on my phone (below) and dashed home to make the delicious, mellow recipe (it's a heavy book, I didn't want to carry it all the way!).




Feeling smug but guilty, and convinced that this recipe would not be the only success story on the pages I bought a copy online. And I’m still captured by the introduction, I mean, how idyllic does this sound?

“The leaves are turning from green to gold, amber and rust, the last fruits hang crimson and smoky blue on the trees, the pumpkin-coloured dahlias and Michaelmas daisies have collapsed like drunks across the gravel path. The garden darkens to the colour of ginger cake, here and there a shot of saffron, brilliant ochre or deepest crimson…”

OK, dreams aside, in reality, the plum chutney was the perfect addition to our house chutney trio for Sunday’s individual cheese boards which shaped up like this:

With cheeses selected from this fine list in Herbies:


And completed with our buttery oat biscuits (recipe coming soon) and this homemade trio of chutneys (courgette, onion jam and sweet Perthshire plum), presented on this fabulous handmade board:

For now I’ll have to be content with delicious flavours, even if I didn’t grow my own!

Birthdays: Part I

Blue skies, breakfast with family, delightful presents, homemade macaroons (check out C's amazing work: lemon, vanilla and peppermint)

Rounded off with a delicious supper with friends and family at The Saint (go there to drink and eat) and completed with a five star show from Camille. Delicious.

A bowl that is too beautiful for nuts

The latest in our treasured collection from this painfully talented and generous lady. If you are looking for unusual furniture, fabulous gifts or something unique to celebrate a wedding, you know where to go.

Snowflakes and Schnapps

The excesses and over indulgence of the season provided lots of inspiration for the forthcoming menu.

From our homemade offerings in the form of Orange, Fig and Pistachio Cantuccini and Figgy Apricot Mostardo to a flavour rich NYE with combinations including Roasted Butternut Squash Raviolli with Sage Butter followed by Pheasant glazed with Balsamic and Juniper Berries. We amused our taste buds and occupied our minds (with food, family, friends and Scrabble).

We are grateful for many thoughtful and tasty gifts too:

• A kitsch canape shaper



• Homemade Blackford Sloe Gin



• Sel gris de Guerande aux truffes blanches http://www.paqgubbio.it/



• Sur les Quais Moutarde au Jus de Truffe



• Canape spoons (you'll have to wait and see)



• A cupcake stand and dotty cupcake cases



• A charming collection of authentic flavours, lovely images and warming recipes in Jane Lawson's Snowflakes and Schnapps. Photo above by Luke Bellamore.



• Christmas Inspirations by Rose Hammick and Charlotte Packer - practical ideas that will not be waiting around for next Christmas.



• And, to finish, a set of nostalgic M and S tea towels so we can celebrate its 125 year anniversary with some washing up!

The number of guests for our first supper club is up and word is rippling through our friendship circles and beyond. Please continue the ripples and pass it on.