Year of the Sheep

Happy Chinese New Year!!! 新年快乐 🐑

This lunar year is in honor of the Ram (or sheep, or goat, depending upon your preferred English translation). Arriving with the monkey and rooster at the Jade Emperor's palace,  he was given the eighth position of the Chinese zodiac.

Those born under this sign are said to be peace loving,  trusting,  kind and popular folk. Yet their very nature also makes them clingy and resistant to change. Perhaps this is where the phrase "stubborn as a goat" comes from. Again, another description,  "flock of sheep" comes to mind; this one far from complimentary, preying upon the characteristics which make sheep people easy targets - their kind and trusting nature. For woolen locks may hide a wolf among men.

The lunar new year is a time of celebration, of plenty, the welcoming of new beginnings,  shedding the old and starting anew. It is a time to eat, to rest and be merry. In many ways, more meaningful than the first day of the calendar year, where most individuals are sleeping in, recovering from hangovers and dreading the return to work.

And for fiber artists the world round, sheep are one of the mainstays of our creations, merino, BFL, the breeds could go on. Sheep may be seen as peace loving but what is created from their offerings seems to me the true representation of kindness, and belief in the human race.

Hats for the homeless, blankets for babies, scarves for soldiers. With every stitch we create, we bind the world together. Knitting hearts, crocheting chains and weaving together the words we cannot say with our mouths but feel with our heart.

May this year bring happiness and prosperity,  fulfilling all your dreams. 喜气羊羊!

A New Year, A New Place

Another Chinese New Year has passed and again, I wasn't at home to celebrate. But I did spend the weekend with two people I really love - ate, cooked, went gallivanting around Camden Town and even watched a musical in the West End.

The UK really is dreary and wet - at least according to the weather.com app on my phone. :) So what else is there to do the week after Chinese New Year and the night before Valentine's Day? Bake a couple of cakes. Seriously, is there anything else I would do?

As a little consolation for not having posted since I left the island and was at home studying my brains out, here are two absolutely completely simple one bowl cake recipes you can whip up on any school night, after work, or in the middle of the night when you have insomnia and don't know what else to do. And the best part? I've made both of these with no measuring whatsoever. And they still turned out amazing. For the measuring inclined, I've included cups and such. ;)

Fresh out of the oven

Chocolate Loaf Cake
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (Green & Blacks)
3/4 cup sugar (I used granulated)
1 cup sour cream (leftover from burrito night - perfect use without waste)
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips, a few spoonfuls of nutella, anything chocolate that floats your boat

The initial cut

For the chocolate cake, preheat the oven to 350 F (176 C).

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, use a fork to sift together. Add all the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Don't overmix. (Yes, it's seriously that easy.)

Line a 9x5 loaf pan. Here's where things can be changed up. The first loaf I made was with chocolate chips so I stirred those into the batter and then poured into the pan. The second loaf had a swirl of Nutella running through it so I poured half the batter into the pan, then dolloped Nutella along the surface and filled the pan with the rest of the batter.

Bake for 60-70 minutes depending on your oven. 

If you have a rubbish oven because you're in hospital accommodations then bake for an extra 20 minutes and place a sheet of foil over the top of the cake to prevent burning. Yes. I know. Ridiculous but true. Still turned out yummy though. :)

Ravaged by two boys, a grown man and two women

And the second recipe of the day. A cinnamon swirl cake that looks quite lovely as an 8 inch round coffee cake as well.

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf Cake
 













2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt

Cinnamon sugar almond topping

Cinnamon swirl
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix until combined. (I added a dash of cinnamon into the batter because I could).

Line a 9x5 loaf pan and pour in half the batter. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, sift half evenly over the batter. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and top with the remaining sugar mixture. Bake in a 350 F oven for 45-50 minutes. (As always, account for rubbish ovens by checking often.)

If you want to make this in an 8 inch round pan, my variation was to add chopped almonds into the batter and into the cinnamon sugar topping. Instead of layering like the loaf, I poured all the batter into the pan and topped with the sugar mixture, swirling slightly before baking for approx. the same amount of time.