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\nHello Everyone.<\/p>\n
I hope you are all keeping well and looking after yourselves. I\u2019m still staying at home except for a walk each day and felt very strange not spending Easter with my family for the first time ever. I\u2019ve actually been looking back to this time last year, as Lawrence and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on 6th April. What a difference a year makes, eh?<\/p>\n
Firstly, in March last year, Mum and Dad\u2019s lovely dog Pearl had puppies and we had many happy weeks with them. They really were incredibly cute. Here\u2019s a couple of them at a few weeks old. I THINK but am not sure that the one sitting down might be Ruger, the one they ended up keeping.<\/p>\n\n\n
Also, the photo at the top is (obviously) on our wedding day, where my bridesmaids and I decided to ditch the bouquets for a mo and hold a puppy each. Now I know for a fact that the one I have there IS Ruger which is really lovely, seeing as he is part of the family now.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another one of Lawrence and I from the wedding day that I\u2019m not sure I have shared before (there are so many). We had such a wonderful day and smiled and laughed all the way through it. I still love looking through the photos and remembering what an amazing time we had. We have actually only printed and framed a very small number of photos for a set of frames in our bedroom and I am thinking I will use some of this time at home to go back through and order some prints of them.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Photo-3.png\")
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Then, of course, we went on honeymoon! We went to Lake Como and then later onto Lake Garda and had a wonderful time eating amazing Italian food. Very surreal when you consider the situation we are all in now! Here is a photo of me, which is at a viewing platform very high up on the Italian Swiss border. Everywhere we went there was a phenomenal view and my goodness I ate a lot of pasta \u2013 food of the Gods!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Photo-4.png\")
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As I say \u2013 what a difference a year makes! Lawrence and I are planning on having a proper anniversary meal out when it\u2019s possible again but he did cook me a very nice steak dinner on the day and we had a nice time nonetheless. Have you been celebrating anything in lockdown? How have you made it special? I\u2019d love to know.<\/p>\n
I want to say thanks to all of you who tried making the fruit cake from last week\u2019s blog and let me know \u2013 so glad it was enjoyed by so many of you! I have another easy recipe to share but before I do, I just want to let you know of something else I\u2019m doing on Instagram along the same lines. Every Thursday I am posting an IGTV Cook-Along with me. Last week I did some really simple biscuits that you can add lots of different flavours to \u2013 I did them in Easter shapes, but you could do whatever you wanted.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/photo-5.png\")
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This week I\u2019m planning on doing a super simple savoury meal. They will stay up so you can go and watch them at any time if you\u2019re interested. So make sure you\u2019re following me on Instagram if you want some more inspiration food-wise.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s recipe on here is again, not overly glam, but yummy, keeps well if there\u2019s only a couple of you at home and is perfect with an afternoon cuppa. I actually invented the recipe a couple of years ago, based on a cake bar from the supermarket that my husband really enjoyed at the time and I\u2019m hoping you should have most of the ingredients available as they are the sort you\u2019d have in the cupboard anyway. So, here we go, I\u2019ll call them \u201cOaty Cake Bars!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ingredients:
\n100g Oats (plus a little extra for the top)
\n250ml Water
\n150g Plain Flour
\n150g Margarine (butter would be fine)
\nHalf teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
\nHalf Teaspoon of Baking Powder
\nHalf Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
\n100g Sultanas (or raisins if you prefer)
\n100g Light Brown Muscavado Sugar
\n75g Caster Sugar
\n2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten<\/p>\n
Method:
\nPre-heat the oven to 180C.
\nPut the oats in a bowl, cover them with the water and leave to soak.
\nMix the baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and flour together.
\nAdd the sultanas into this and mix them to coat in the flour \u2013 this helps stop all the fruit just sinking.
\nIn another bowl, beat all the sugar with the Margarine until you have a smooth and creamy mixture.
\nAdd the eggs a little at a time whilst continuously beating and scraping the sides down from time to time.
\nOnce this has combined nicely, use a sieve to drain any excess water from the oats.
\nAdd the oats into the wet mix and beat in well (it looks pretty horrible now but I promise it\u2019ll turn out alright!)
\nAdd the dry ingredient mix to the wet mix and beat until all combined.
\nPop the mix into a greased and\/or lined 20cm Square tin or similar (if you only have a round cake tin that\u2019ll be fine). Spread it out evenly in the tin.
\nSprinkle a handful of dry oats on the top of this.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/photo-6.png\")
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Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until you can insert a skewer (or the end of a sharp knife) and it comes out clean. (It won\u2019t rise as much as, say, a Victoria Sponge cake, it\u2019s supposed to be a little denser and more cake-bar than just cake).
\nLeave it in the tin for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely
\nCut into rectangles and enjoy!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/photo-7.png\")
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Again, let me know if you try it at all, I\u2019d love to know your thoughts and remember, Thursday lunchtimes on Instagram I\u2019ll be sharing some more cooking and baking too.<\/p>\n