Martha's Marvellous Munchies

This is a real organisation. I am not kidding.

The horseshoe of seats in the auditorium was already three-quarters filled and humming with anticipation. As we slid into vacant chairs, the band struck up a spirited rendition of "Amazing Grace". To the tune of " Ghost Riders in the Sky ". Yippee-ai-ay! The last guitar chords settled into silence. The guitarist, a man with a stiff grey moustache, said, "Let us pray." There was an instant flurry of movement as dozens of cowboy hats were removed and held respectfully in laps. Once the prayer was over they were resumed, although a few were later used as collection baskets for the offering. After a few more country 'n' worship songs, the preacher stood up to speak. For 22 years, he said, the Shepherds Valley Church had been praying that there would be a Christian service at the Fort Worth Stock Show, yet the organisers had been against it. All that time they had been making friends, cultivating connections, and finally somebody recommended

The customer gave me a free rein on this one; as I recall they wanted the "Happy Birthday" and the four names in the corners, and then said, "make it look pretty". So I went for a vaguely mediaeval look. It would have been nice to been able to plan it out on paper first, but I like the general effect. Nothing super-spectacular here, but I had to get a photo because it came out so perfect! When the icing consistency isn't just right you get airbubbles, lumps or squiggles, but for once all the lines were beautifully smooth. This design was adapted from one in the book we had at work, but the champagne bottle was all my own work. Adds a touch of sophistication to what would otherwise be a little girl's cake. This was a big cake - a full sheet, which is something like 13" x 21". Hannah Montana had been a popular design for a while but this lady wanted something different to our regular design. As I recall we had about five separa

One sunny Saturday afternoon we cruised along Highway 67 into Cleburne, Texas, a town and county seat about 26 miles south of Fort Worth. As we approached we were assailed on both sides by large plastic signs advertising the usual mix of chain stores, fast food restaurants and car repair places. We reached downtown, parked, got out of the car and looked around. It was dead. Apart from a few people painting a Christmas mural on their church window, there were no people around, no cars parked, and very few shops open. This, you will recall, was a Saturday afternoon, in near-perfect autumn weather. Where was everyone? Travelling around Texas, you soon learn that nearly every community will try and lure you in with the promise of a "historic downtown". As far as I can gather, this merely means that some of the buildings have been there for more than fifty years. A few, notably Granbury and Jefferson, are actually attractive and contain some functioning businesses. Many others

With a little judicious (dis)organisation, we somehow managed to see most of the people we wanted to in our two-week UK visit. Being Christmas, we concentrated on spending time with family, but fitted in a few friends as well. So, Mom and Dad hosted us for Christmas. The chief photographer was obviously neglecting his duties in favour of opening presents, as I don't seem to have any photos of the happy occasion. On Boxing Day, though, he really went to town. Or should that be Town? The four of us paid a visit to London, and I was constantly afraid of losing Graham amongst the thronging crowds on the South Bank, as he paused to capture yet another view on camera. It has to be said he got some nice shots, though. We went with the intention of riding the London Eye, which unfortunately was closed for repairs. So we got our birds-eye view - and some exercise - by climbing the dome at St Paul's. They charge you a fair whack to get in, but it's worth it. Really. St

January 10th 2010 was International Home-made Hobnob Day, as designated by my friend Steph and warmly embraced by at least 200 other people, according to the Facebook page . Of course I had to do my bit and introduce the good people of Fort Worth to hobnobs. So I made a batch to take to church on Saturday evening. They vanished remarkably quickly and cemented my reputation as church baker (acquired after attending only four services). In fact it's a ridiculously easy recipe and I heartily encourage you all to make your own. Here's the recipe: Recipe (makes 30 - 45 depending on size - I usually aim for 35ish): Ingredients: 8oz/225g self raising flour 8oz/225g sugar 8oz/225g porridge oats 8oz/225g margarine/butter 1tbsp golden syrup 1tbsp hot water 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda Method: - Mix flour, oats and sugar in a bowl - In a pan, melt margarine, syrup and water - When melted, stir in bic soda and then add to dry mix - Mix well, then mak

The defining feature of our trip to the UK this Christmas was snow. Lots of snow. A few days before Christmas, snowstorms hit both the east coast of America, where some of my family live, and the south-east of England, my parents' residence. My grandparents had to cancel their 60th wedding anniversary party and my mom slipped on ice and almost got snowed in at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Meanwhile in Texas, all this seemed far away and we flew out of D/FW airport on the 23rd in temperatures of about 22C/75F. While warm for this time of year, we didn't expect it to drop too far as we departed for icier climes. However, a couple of days later I checked a friend's blog and saw this . It was hard to believe, but had we tried to fly a scant 24 hours later, we would have celebrated Christmas at the airport. If celebrated is the word. Instead, we had safely reached my parents' house and were happily engaged in building our first snowman in many years. Mee