October Daughters

Two of my daughters were born in October, a few days short of eighteen years apart.

Up at the top of the garden where Middle Daughter sat caring for the fire, we watched the darkening sky while food for a joint birthday celebration was being prepared in the house, tasty layers of minced lamb with chopped onion, tomato and aubergine, all wrapped in foil to be cooked on the fire.

By the time the food was cooked and we were eating these lamb burgers inside rolls it was quite dark. I enjoyed my roll and shall try the same mixture again but maybe cooked in the house. We don't do enough cooking on open fires to be expert at it. Perhaps we should practise more!

Pear and chocolate pudding cake followed. This was a roaring success. I shall make it again with some tweaks to the topping. The chocolate I used this time was dairy free for the sake of Middle Daughter's partner and, even with  dollop of vegetable fat spread in place of the butter I usually use and a good squirt of golden syrup, the high concentration of cocoa solids still made it set quite hard. The cake itself was perfect in its variety of textures from gooey centre to just crisp edges, with the pears giving an interesting–and delicious–taste and texture contrast.

We tried to light cake candles but a wind had sprung up and blew them out straight away.

When the older generation (Toad and me) took ourselves to bed the October daughters and their friends spent another hour or so first by the bonfire and then in the warm kitchen.

 Pear and apple pudding without its topping (which can be cream, ice-cream or custard rather than (or as well as!) chocolate if you like) and then, below, with eyes!

pear eyes

I found the recipe on the website baldhiker.com. It is by someone called Sally Laker.