Marie's Sunday Six

Here it is, my Sunday Six Smile Makers post again! Can it already be Sunday??? My goodness but the weeks turn around very quickly. It is hard to believe that we also are about halfway through the month of February. Time is flying ever so quickly. Next month we will see the official beginning of spring! Yipee!



Larkrise to Candleford makes me smile. This has to be my favourite series ever put in these recent years. It is hard to believe that the last episode is tonight and that the BBC has axed the series, meaning they will not be making anymore! It is an exceptional program, and very popular, both here in the UK and abroad. It is hard for me to believe that they would not be continuing the series, but apparently it is so. (That doesn't make me smile.) Let's hope that they replace it with something equally as nice and as entertaining. I think people long for old fashioned values and sentiments, and this lovely little program certainly had it in aces!



I hobbled into Chester on Friday with Todd, and I had a good sniff around the shops on the Rows. I found a lovely one called Beau Perry on the Bridge Street Row. What a lovely shop it was, just filled to overflowing with beautiful things. I fell in love with this teapot. It surely made me smile in a very big way. When I was a little girl that was my very favourite verse that I loved to sing. I thought this teapot was adorable, but it was also very pricey. There was no way that I could afford to get it, but I did linger overly long admiring it. Perhaps one day . . . just the thought of that makes me smile! I think it's just beautiful!



Being able to go to Angie's funeral on Wednesday made me smile. Oh, it was a very tearful occasion to be sure . . . I did cry bucket loads. I still can't believe that she has left us . . . but I was so very grateful to be able to go and celebrate her life with a chapel full of other people who loved her as well. At first Todd was not sure he wanted to make the long journey there and back in one day, as well as leave Mitzie on her own for that long, but in the end, he realized just how much it meant to me and so he agreed to go and I think he was very glad that he had. Mitzie was just fine with us being away and we made it all the way to Scunthorpe in a little over 2 hours, which was very good indeed. The way back took a lot longer, probably because it was dark by then and also rush hour. Driving past Leeds and Bradford during rush hour, in the rain, is not very much fun! Traffic was at a crawl. But we did it and I was very glad that we did. Angie always made me smile, and I was so very grateful for this priveledge.



Working on my Doll's House makes me smile. It is the realization of a fifty year dream for me. In my later years I an all about making my dreams come true if at all possible, so this is great! I have begun a new blog to chronicle the journey. If you click on the above picture you can go and see it. I would love it if you signed up as a follower! I will not be posting every day of course, only about once or maybe twice a week . . . as I have things to share. I am very excited about this doll's house you know . . . I feel like a little girl all over again. That makes me smile too! I am almost ready now to show you it all together in just a few more days!



Although we did have a bit of rain this week, we also had quite a few sunny days. I love sunny days! They always make me smile. Sunshine in England is a beautiful thing. You cannot beat a sunny day in the UK. They are the loveliest things. Your heart sings and dances . . . the town comes alive . . . everyone just seems more cheerful. When it is dry and sunny, I love to watch Mitzie running around the garden. She just gallops here and there. She is coming by leaps and bounds. I am so grateful that we found her and were able to bring her home with us. She is a real treasure and she makes me smile even more than sunny days!



This week I got to make Valentines to share with some of the children in our church Primary classes. As the Primary Presidency (leadership) we divided the children up amongst us and each took charge of creating a valentine for our share of the children. I so enjoyed this exercise. It has been years since I made Valentines. As I cut and pasted, etc., I thought about each of the children that I was doing this for, and how special and unique each one was. I said prayers for each of them and felt of the love that the Saviour has for each of them as well. That made me smile. Thoughts of the Saviour always make me smile. I am so very grateful for the Gospel and the knowledge that it brings to me in my life. It is a special and most cherished gift. That, too, makes me smile!

And so there you have it, my six smilemakers for the second week of February, 2011. Of course there were many, many more than six smiles this past week, but it is good to dwell on some of the more special ones. Oh, there I go again . . . that thought makes me smile as well!!

Here's another smilemaker . . . a delicious lemon drizzle cake that you can make in the food processor, lickety split! Just be careful not to over process it as it can turn out a bit rubbery if you do. No worries if you don't have a food processor though . . . you can also make it by hand! Oh my, but this was some scrummy!



*Food Processor Lemon Drizzle Cake*
Makes 8 - 10 servings
Printable Recipe

Now, I love lemons in any way shape or form. I even like to suck on slices of fresh lemon. This cake is deliciously moist with a lovely sweet/tart lemon glaze that soaks into the cake filling it with wonderful lemon flavour.

2 large free range eggs
6 ounces caster sugar (3/4 cup)
5 ounces soft butter (5/8th cup)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
6 ounces sifted self raising flour (about 1 1/3 cup)
4 fluid ounces milk (1/2 cup)
Pinch salt

LEMON SYRUP:
5 ounces icing sugar (a generous 1/2 cup)
2 ounces fresh lemon juice (about 1 ½ large lemons)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Grease a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Here is where it gets really easy. Break the two eggs into the bowl of a food processor and add the sugar. Process for 2 minutes, scraping the sides down once with a rubber spatula. Remove the lid and drop the softened butter on, as well as the lemon zest and pulse a few times to mix together. The butter should be well mixed in and the mixture should resemble thick mayonnaise.

Add the sifted flour, salt and milk and process again, only pulsing a few times until the mixture is smooth in texture. Don’t over process as to do so will make the cake rubbery.

Scrape into the prepared pan and level off. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let stand on a cooling rack. Don’t remove it from the tin just yet.

To make the syrup combine the sifted icing sugar withthe lemon juice and just heat until the sugar melts and the mixture turns clear, stirring the whole time. Don’t allow it to boil.

Prick the cake all over with a fork and pour the syrup over, the warm cake, a little at a time allowing the cake to completely absorb the syrup, pricking the cake again if need be. Leave until cool.

Carefully remove from the tin and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. You can sift some more icing sugar on top before serving if you like.

To make without a food processor: Cream together the lemon zest, butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir the flour and salt together and fold into the creamed mixture, alternately with the milk, stirring until you have a lovely smooth batter, Scrape into the prepared pan and proceed as above.



Over in The English Kitchen today, delicious Slice and Bake Oatmeal Cookies.