Brownie Bake Off

No sewing this weekend.  We have a hammock!  At least we did but it has now been taken down as the summer seems to have disappeared again.

After some much needed domestic activity on Saturday morning I rewarded myself with a very lazy afternoon reading my book.

With that title it is probably more suited to the pile of blankets indoors but it is a great read by one of my favourite authors.

At the risk of sounding like I spend all my time mooching around in charity shops, I found this little gem for £1 last week and inspired by the Great British Bake Off I decided to bake brownies on Sunday morning.

I went for the Black Russian version  These are chocolate and walnut brownies with the addition of black pepper, Kahlua and vodka!  We served them for pudding with raspberries and creme fraiche enhanced with more Kahlua.  Really good!  It’s not my recipe so I’m not reproducing it here but a quick search online will turn up several versions if you are tempted to try it.

My mother always has doilies.

The big mistake was indulging in a little more of the vodka itself on Saturday evening than was entirely sensible.  Especially when you have to get out of a hammock afterwards!

Whilst not sewing or baking related I just had to include some of these photographs.  My parents’ garden is a riot of colour at the moment.  Their hydrangeas are glorious.