A sprint towards the finish line

Warm Cakes and Cold days

Jam doughnut muffins, the recipe is courtesy of Nigella Lawson who says she has to stop herself from making these. I can quite see why, they are excellent and one could almost be satisfied by the smell alone (almost I said, but not quite).

Finally we are having some lovely cold weather, sharp morning frosts and brilliant winter sunshine, no rain, hurrah. The weekend was beautiful and we all spent lots of time outside (wrapped up). I made a tour of the garden, it is looking sorely neglected but I did find some burried treasure in the vegetable patch. I had forgotten all about these, planted so long ago when the days were long and warm.

Jerusalem Artichokes. I adore them but can never find them in the shops around here, they have a reputation for causing wind which may account for their lack of popularity but they really are tasty and I couldn't possibly comment on any side affects. We had them with Sunday lunch, baked in cream, parmesan and lemon, very good indeed.

My investigations in the garden also uncovered some rhubarb unfurling, I am so looking forward to tasting that, luckily all the family love rhubarb crumble.

Since Sunday the beautiful crisp, cold days have continued and heavy snow is apparently on the way. I shopped early this week in preparation, the cupboards are full so bring on the snow..... I do love a snow day and living in the sticks means that a decent snowfall should see us cut off from the roads for a day or two. There is something so magical about being blanketed in snow and housebound for a short while, obviously by day 3 the novelty has rather worn off and we are eager to escape but the weather usually turns by then in any case.