The Homemade Heart

I chose to go and see the Kelpies.

I find roadside sculptures fascinating. Huge, silent; set apart from, yet daily witnessing the scurryings and scuttlings of overwrought motorists and commuters on the road below with cathedral calm and a dignity that can only have been put there by the sculptor, but seem to eminate from the sculptures themselves.

So when Derek asked what I would like to do for my birthday earlier this month, I chose to go and see the Kelpies, at the newly created Helix Urban Park, outside Falkirk.

 

 The Kelpies dominate the skyline for miles around, and are set to become as synonymous with Central Scotland as the breathtaking Angel of the North is to Tyneside. Not everyone loves them, finding them  simplistic and kitscht (see this piece for a bit of art snobbery) but I love them (and I hate snobbery, in art as in all other things).

They are the work of Scottish sculptor Andy Scott who also created the lovely Arria, and the Heavy Horse and many other works.

Kelpies are creatures of Scottish folkore; shape shifters, water spirits that supposedly took delight in enchanting, ensnaring, and ultimately drowning unwary travellers. Andy Scott's towering interpretation  is realised in hundreds of tons of steel, which gleams and shimmers during the day, reflecting the light, and at night the Kelpies are lit from within, beguiling passing travellers, but hopefully without the fatal consequences of legend. 

They are part of a bigger development , The Helix, set in previously underused land between Falkirk and Grangemouth,which will link canals, communities, walkways, cycle paths and eco parks within the Falkirk/Grangemouth area of central Scotland. Very much a work in progress, the visitor centre is still under construction, as is the play area, cafe and other familiar components of  the much loved Great British Family Day Out.

Visiting the Helix so early in its life was an endearing experience; it has the optimistic feel of a friend who has just moved house, ushering you in with a half embarrassed laugh; packing boxes overflowing, paintings stacked against the wall, but the kettle and radio on, the sound of children racketing about in empty rooms upstairs, everyone knowing that great things will happen here.

Derek and I loved it. Here we are, reading Jim Carruth's poem, which is carved in stone just beside the water. Next time we'll take the boys too.

 

 

 

nicely chocolatey.

There are lots of chocolate cakes in the world; each with its own characteristics. This particular example is not perfect for every occasion in life; it is not hugely rich, or sophisticated, or unusual...but it is easy to make, nicely chocolatey, economical, keeps well, and is suitable as a weekday cake, or even, as Isaac proved recently, as a birthday cake. 

 

When made into cupcakes it bakes helpfully to a flat finish, making it easy to ice. It's safe to say this cake currently makes a regular appearance in our house justnow.

 

The original recipe came from the much maligned 'Celebrate' by Pippa Middleton. I have switched the margarine for butter, considerably reduced the amount of water (yes, water), increased the oven temp, and changed the method. I leave you to decide if it's still Pippa's recipe.

I also always double the quantities, so I end up with either a large double layer cake (made in 2 deep 8" tins) or several loaf-tins worth/ cupcakes and a big cake, and permutations thereof. Once fully cold, the cake/s freeze well, wrapped well, uniced, so I always like to make a big batch. Quantities given below are those that I use. Of course half them if you wish.

Ingredients

170g butter at room temp. 

570g caster sugar 

4 L. eggs 

110g cocoa powder 

340g self-raising flour

300ml cold water 

 

Method 

Preheat oven to Gas 4/180c. Grease and line 2x 20cm round cake tins.

Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs one by one, ensuring they are thoroughly blended.

Sift the self-raising flour and cocoa together.

Add the sifted ingredients and the water alternately until all fully incorporated, and the mixture is smooth and creamy. (If using stand mixer, take a spatula round the bottom of the bowl to ensure all is fully mixed.)

Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 50-60 minutes, checking at 45 minutes, until nicely risen, and a cocktail stick insterted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before covering with the icing of your choice, or dusting with a mixture of cocoa and icing  sugar. Or plain.

 

 

 

in Spring they are beautiful.

We have three apple blossom trees at the side of our house, planted long ago. They spend much of the year largely ignored, used only as somewhere to hang the bird feeders. But in late Spring they are suddenly, fleetingly, beautiful, and standing under the branches on a clear, bright day looking through the delicate papery blossoms to a china blue sky above confirms that longer, lighter, warmer days are here. 

Beside the apple trees grows a plump and blowsy Rhododendron. Unlike the fragile apple blossoms, which will shortly be drifting on the breeze like confetti at a Spring wedding, the flowers of the hardy 'Rhoddy' last well into the Summer. 

Rhododendrons have grown everywhere I have lived in Scotland, except the Western Isles (too windy I suspect) and I have a lasting affection for them. They are a non-native shrub, and as such are unblushingly tenacious, but I don't mind that atall. Along the damp west coast, in sheltered areas where our Scottish climate is influenced by the Gulf Stream, they form a spectacular element of many woodland gardens.

As children, we used their tight, unopened buds as boiled sweets in our games of outdoor 'shop'.Truth be known, I had no idea what boiled sweets actually were, but my Aunt, at a mere 7 years older than me, was a font of all knowledge, horticultural and otherwise, and she did.

Now too old for games of shops, I prefer to pick a sprig or two and put them in a jug to brighten up the kitchen table.