Mrs Birks Blogs

So, it's Summer again. Readers of this blog will know that the summer fills me with joy! It doesn't matter about the weather or what we get up to, just the feeling of having free time and being able to cuddle the children when I like is enough...although the odd bonus nap is always appreciated too! We have been lucky this year in that family members have treated us to several weekends away - Centre Parcs (my goodness, I was excited!) and a lovely stable conversion in Ross-on-Wye - so I don't really feel like we're missing out by not going away for weeks on end, despite all the hotdog leg pictures on Facebook! (Ok, maybe I am a bit jealous).  What we are doing is spending a very exciting week in London being total tourists.   We are staying in Greenwich, house sitting for my Sister-in-Law whilst she is away (not that she really needs us to!).  From such a fantastic location we should be able to get out and about without having to make sure we get back in time to ...

Afternoon tea is now a thing.  In fact, I think it has been a thing for a long time but, as usual, I've been late to the party.  But what a wonderful thing it is!  At the risk of becoming a 40th birthday bore, I wanted to tell you about my visit in March to Selfridges for a afternoon picnic tea. Afternoon tea is such a perfect thing.  Not lunch or dinner but an extra meal in between and it has a little bit of everything - cakes, savouries and of course tea.  With ours we also opted for a couple of glasses of champagne (did I mention it was a special occasion?) which made it extra decadent for a Tuesday afternoon.   We 'took' our tea at The Balcony, a restaurant at the top of Selfridges in the Bullring but we had done a significant amount of research beforehand and I also liked the look of the Gentleman's Afternoon Tea at Hotel La Tour which also threw a scotch egg and pork pie with mustard into the mix.  We found ...

It took me a long time to warm to Game of Thrones. And I mean a long time...like the first 3 seasons.  I just couldn't see what the fuss was about - too much sex and nudity, naive women with their futures decided by men and an incestuous relationship between brother and sister - I really thought it wasn't for me, in fact I only persevered because my mum had leant me the box set and I knew she'd ask what I thought.  So I sceptically persevered and eventually I was hooked - I can't tell you specifically which moment changed my thinking about the show - there are so many glorious moments in GOT, mostly involving gruesome deaths - but along the way I got caught up in the storylines and now I am completely obsessed. What I like about GOT is that it is like watching lots of little episodes of a great fantasy/action film. I'm thinking Lord of the Rings without the Hobbits.   I know this comparison will make LOTR fans and GOT fans sigh in equal measure but just t...

What's so bad about being forty? Aside from a huge increase in grey hair and the need to apply neck firming cream, it doesn't seem so awful to me.  But then I am only a week or so into my fortieth year. One of the best things about turning 40 is that people shower you with gifts.  40 being a significant number means that the pressies are fantastic!  One beautiful gift that I will treasure always was a plum coloured Ted Baker bag with copper coloured accents.  I don't really have the lifestyle to go with such a beautiful bag but there's still time!  They say life begins and all that. To prove I'm still youngish I also got a Brits CD full of young people music.  I have already irritated the family by over-playing Justin Bieber.  I also got a beautiful silver honey pot, an equally beautiful 3 tier cake plate, some books and a Happy Valley DVD (we missed it first time around and everyone has been raving about it).  All in all, a v...

On a trip to our local library recently, I got a copy of the Making Cupcakes with Lola cookbook.  Before I talk about the many joys of the book, I just want to mention our local library.  We love it! The staff are so helpful, even when my 7 year old asks slightly obscure questions about Pokémon.  They run loads of special events - we've been to an indoor picnic, junk modelling and a record breaking attempt and there is a genuinely welcoming atmosphere.  When we first moved here, joining the library was one of the first things we did and the following weekend for an added bonus, they had a DVD and CD sale where we managed to pick up lots of bargains,  With cuts to all libraries over the last few years, I am so grateful for the service provided by ours - well done Downham Market library, we salute you! Anyway, back to Cupcakes with Lola.  I hadn't really thought of myself as a cupcake baker before or a cupcake buyer for that matter - I don't k...

So, I  missed blogging in the last four months of 2015 and now we're already two months into a brand new year.  Like many, I have found the start of 2016 pretty tough not just because of the lovely people we have lost in the celebrity world but also the lovely people we have lost closer to home.  Before half term we said goodbye to my father in law, one of the kindest and wisest men I have ever met and we are all much sadder without him.  So with 2016 being pretty grim so far, I thought this post would be about some highlights from the end of 2015 Cake and Bake Show Ok, so not completely 'the end' of 2015 but at some point before Christmas (I can't remember exactly when), my Mum and I went to the Cake and Bake show at ExCel in London.  Knowing that we wouldn't be the earliest of risers, I bought the afternoon only tickets and used the money I saved on tickets for a class - in our case with Rosie Drummer aka Rosie Cake Diva.  Rosie has produced amaz...

Just before going back to work in September, I had a final baking weekend where I decided to have another go at my nemesis - macarons.  On the recent series of Bake Off, everyone seemed to be knocking up macarons all over the place and not even as an actual challenge - often just for the decoration on other things!  I have tried them 3 times now and not once have I achieved the perfect macaron.  How do those bakers in the tent do it??? So back at the start of September I had a go at making them for what was the second time using Edd Kimber's recipe for Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons .  I followed his recipe carefully, although I don't have a sugar thermometer, so that bit was guess work.  The result was better than my previous attempt but the mixture was a little bit runny and I think this was due to my folding in technique.  I have never been good at folding in - I think I'm not really delicate enough generally - not just in baking but in general life....