Saturday 27 June 2009

Feasts and festivals

Well it's been a very busy couple of months working on and at the Taste Festivals. With two down and one still to go (Birmingham coming up soon), things are crazy as always but going very well. Head on over to Meemalee's Kitchen for two lovely write ups of her experiences as a visitor and a worker.

Today I went to Cockermouth in Cumbria with Andrea, Diane and Laurence, to enjoy a festival of another kind. We had a very early start and were there waiting excitedly in the queue before the show opened, ready to do some serious yarny shopping at Woolfest 2009. There was certainly no shortage of beautiful yarn and fibre to spend our cash on, as well as a generous selection of interesting breeds... and some alpacas leading the way in summer hairstyling whether they liked it or not!


The Twist Fibre Craft Studio stand looked absolutely stunning, especially with all the hand dyed pre-felt that Laura has been working hard to create over recent weeks.


So now I guess it's confession time. I don't think I was the first of our merry little group to crack open my wallet, but I certainly didn't hold back once I got started. Ok, I'm going to just do this quickly so it doesn't hurt! Here it is...



Here's my recipe for oaty date bars - serious sustenance for serious yarn hunters:


225g chopped dates
3 tbsp water, 2 tbsp lemon juice

125g butter
160g golden caster sugar
1 egg
1tbsp golden syrup
1tsp vanilla essence
145g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
105g rolled oats
100g dessicated coconut

Gently heat the dates with the water and lemon juice until all the liquid has been absorbed and the dates have softened. Set aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg and golden syrup. Add the other ingredients and combine.

Press half of the dough into a greased 20x30cm, spread the dates on top, and then cover them with the remaining dough mixture. Bake at 180 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

This one is also great with other dried fruit fillings like apricot or cranberry.

4 comments:

Manoute said...

That was fast!
Thanks for the recipe :o)
It was a great day, in very good company. I didn't take pictures of our picnic, it was impressive too! I hope Diane did.

laura said...

oaty date bars,looks mjummy!Iam gonna try to bake it( gluten free)
like your recipes.Thanks for sharing

Di said...

Hi Louise! Hmm, it certainly sounds like we had a good day and thank you for sharing the oaty bar recipe! I can confirm that they are absolutely delicious!

Thanks for the company!

meemalee said...

Murky buckets for the plug, Lou!

The date bars look oatily delicious :)