I wish to lodge a formal complaint on behalf of my poor hens. Our philandering rooster has packed his bags and moved next door. My poor hens just seem so sad. The reason behind the move is that my neighbour Pam has just got some new hens so the naughty rooster obviously decided he wanted a change of scene. Honestly! I am so cross with him. How could he leave my poor lovely girls (not to mention my home cooked porridge!!!) I imagine that he might come home in a few days or weeks - I have to say I hope so as I miss his quirky crow waking me up every morning.

Having done 8 cookery demos in the last 7 days, I am understandably feeling a little frazzled and am so glad it is Friday! Just Birmingham NEC next Wednesday (do come say Hi if you are at the Good Food Show) and then I will be able to relax! The third part of my gluten free book has had to take a back seat for the last week or so but baking resumed again before work this morning. I am now feeling all festive as there is a yummy warm spiced stollen loaf cooling in the kitchen. It gave me the perfect excuse to use the present my Mum gave me earlier in the week - a stollen pan - did you even know such things existed? I didn't! You fill the pan with dough and then invert it onto a baking sheet so that as the dough rises and bakes, the pan rises on top of the loaf giving the stolen its traditional shape. I wasn't expecting it to work too well with the gluten free dough (as it is very sticky and unkneadable) so imagine my delight when I took it out of the oven and it looked like a proper loaf. Thanks Mum for the lovely present and hurrah for being back on track with the book - only 17 more recipes to go - the end is in sight!

If you need a gift for a foodie who has everything, you may want to look at the delightful pinnies at http://www.poshpinnies.com/ - completely lovely with velvet bows on a variety of thick cotton prints. I bought the grey stripy one below with bright pink velvet trim at Olympia and love it (although within 30 minutes of the purchase I had managed to cover it in chocolate ganache during one of my demos - luckily it has washed out well). They have kids and mens aprons too!

Well I am just back from Masterchef Goes Live at Olympia. It has been the most exhausting but amazing two days! So lovely to see all the Masterchef peeps (especially Tim, Alex and Dhruv from this years series, John and Gregg and of course the lovely Andi Peters - pictured below with Alex, Andy and Chris eating one of my cupcakes from my cake decorating demonstration) and a big thank you to all from Haymarket and Shine for looking after us all so well. My "Talent" badge got us access to the VIP lounge which made us feel very special! My Mum and Aunt entered the pairs Live Invention Test cook off and beat 15 other pairs to take first prize. I was so proud of them and John and Gregg had nothing but praise for their trio of desserts. All in all a wonderful weekend and roll on the Good Food Show at Birmingham next week. I am there on the Wednesday so do pop and say Hi if you are there! (With many thanks to http://www.meemalee.com/ and @mastercheflive (twitter) for the borrowed pics as I didn't have a chance to take any)

My latest Hannah's kitchen article is out today - cute little gingerbread birdhouses to decorate your tree with. I am feeling all Christmassy already - only a few weeks until I can get the decorations down from the loft and plan buying our tree. I know it is only early November but you can't blame a girl who loves Christmas for getting a little excited (although of course I haven't even started to think about Christmas shopping yet - that will have to wait until my book is finished!)

Country and Town House - December 2010
I love Christmas with a passion and enjoy every minute of the run up to the big day, shopping for presents, wrapping, decorating the house, carol singing and enjoying warming mugs of mulled wine. Most of all I love all the Christmas baking - mince pies, stollen, indulgent champagne truffles and Christmas cake. There is no other time of the year when so much culinary indulgence can be justified and the scent of cinnamon and spices in the kitchen warms the heart. To get us in the Christmas spirit as early as possible, we always put up our Christmas tree on the first weekend of December. It is the perfect excuse to get baking and these spiced gingerbread cookies make delightful decorations with snowy icicles and a sprinkle of edible glitter. If you do not have a birdhouse cutter, make a template from cardboard, then cut out the cook dough using a sharp knife. I am sure these pretty cookies will delight any children you have visiting this Christmas, particularly if you make them together – I don’t know a single child who doesn’t love icing cookies!

Christmas Tree Birdhouse Cookies
Preparation time 30 minutes Cooking time 12 - 15 minutes
Makes 8 cookies
115g/4oz butter, softened plus extra for greasing
55g/2oz dark brown sugar
1 tbsp treacle
200g/7oz plain flour, sifted plus extra for dusting
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
300g royal icing sugar
Approx 50ml water
silver balls and edible glitter to decorate
white ribbon for hanging

Whisk together the butter, brown sugar and treacle. Mix in the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon to form a soft dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F and grease and line two baking trays. Roll out the dough to 1/2 cm thickness on a floured surface and cut out 8 birdhouse shapes using a birdhouse cutter or cardboard template. Using a 1 inch round cutter, cut out a hole in the centre of each birdhouse. Carefully transfer to the baking trays using a spatula. Bake for about 12 – 15 minutes until the cookies are firm. Allow the cookies to cool completely. Cut 30cm lengths of ribbon and tie into a loop. Poke one end of the loop through the hole in the centre of the cookie and secure by passing the other end of the loop through the first loop ensuring that the ribbons lie flat. Mix the royal icing sugar with the water and whisk for about 2 - 3 minute until the icing is stiff. Put the icing in a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle and pipe icing along the top of the roof of the bird house so that it looks like icicles. Pipe a ring of icing stars around the hole of each bird house and allow the icing to set before hanging on your tree.

These are my latest take on fairy cakes. Dainty cupcakes topped with whipped buttercream and decorated with edible paper wings. Simply cut out a pair of wings from two sheets rice paper and pipe thin icing lines around the edge in wing shapes to decorate. Top with a few sugar stars and hearts and lots of edible glitter and, once the icing has set and you are ready to serve (if the wings are left too long on the buttercream they will start to soften so it is best to assemble just before serving), press the wings gently into the buttercream. All very simple to prepare but effective looking and I have no doubt that these would delight any fairy princesses!

It is a while since I found any time to write on my blog. I have been very upagainst it with deadlines for the last few weeks. The good news is that "Mini Cakes and other sweet treats" has been submitted and I have almost finished 2/3rd of the gluten free baking book. I look forward to the day when it is finished and I can relax a little like peapod in this picture. Have you ever seen a more contented cat - lying upside down legs in the air and fast asleep. I now have to prepare for a cookery demonstration on Thursday and then the Good Food Show on Saturday and Sunday - trying not to get nervous.... I am going to be demonstrating pastry and cake decorating and also whoopie pies - hope I can remember how to make whoopie pies - it has been a while! Do come and say hello if you are at the show!

This chocolate sandcastle, spade and bucket were from a lovely chocolate shop in Little Walsingham in Norfolk which we visited on Saturday. If you are ever in the area I definitely recommend a visit as the chocolate was really yummy! I love the fact that the chocolate flag is even blowing in the breeze

My first bit of Masterchef news that I am finally able to share with you is that there is now a new Masterchef Academy Application launched for the iphone, featuring quite a few winners and finalists - including yours truly making ice cream, custard, strawberry scones and pastry! It was great fun going back to the studio for filming and Tim Kinnaird (finalist 2010 and excellent dessert maker - seen here making gnocci and tasting my strawberry scones) was there on the same day as me. So you can now have us to help you in the kitchen - "cook-a-long Masterchef". I have to confess I haven't dared to watch the footage back and remember cringing at the time with lines like "Delicious custard - perfect with hot apple pie or cold in trifles" but it was a super fun day and really nice to meet Tim. The other Masterchef news will have to wait until next year sadly!!! If you have an iphone and want the app the link is at http://www.masterchef.com/

I am very proud to be able to show you the cover of my new book - the blad arrived last night and I was very excited! Still a while to wait for the book yet as it is not out until March next year although is available to pre order on amazon - click here for a link. As they say "good things come to those who wait"! I hope you all approve! Steve Painter has done such a fab job of styling the book and there are some real gems on the inside pages - little oyster pies on their own "sand" beach complete with cocktail umbrellas and bright pink flamingo pies with pink feathers! Have a good weekend everyone xxx

I wondered why the postman gave me a wry smile this morning as he handed over our post. I think he had noticed the ER frank and the Buckingham Palace Postmark on one of my letters! How cool is that! Inside was a thank you letter for my appearance at the Clarence House Garden Party. It will join my letter from 10 Downing Street after cooking supper for Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern in 2007 - quite a collection and I feel very honoured! The Whitehouse next perhaps??!

Another little teacosy has joined my Mum and my's joint teacosy collection. I gave this to my Mum recently and it looks so cute in her kitchen. I love the little red ladybird buttons on it.

Last weekend, Sacha ran the Leicester Marathon - in 4 hours 10 minutes which was a brilliant time and his 4 marathon so he was rightly proud of himself! The weekend was only slightly marred by the slightly overzealous conduct of the Marriot hotel in locking our mini bar. Sacha had bought himself a treat of his favourite Indian dessert Ras Malai to have after the marathon which we stored in the mini bar overnight. To be organised so that we could get to the marathon on time, I paid the bills before breakfast. Sadly, as soon as you pay the bill the hotel lock your mini bar and the poor tub of Ras Malai got locked in! The hotel said they would send someone up to unlock it but they didn't arrive in time and we had to leave the poor tub of ras malai behind. Luckily the wonderful "Cook in a Curry" site came to the rescue with a delicious recipe and I managed to make Ras Malai at home to make up for the lost tub. If you haven't had this dessert before it is curd cheese, cooked in a fragrant sugar syrup and soaked in a thick milk syrup flavoured with cardamom and saffron. I think Sacha was in shock that I had actually managed to make his favourite dessert myself and I feel I have gone someway to compensating him for all the washing up he has been doing during the recipe testing for the book. If you want to try this recipe for yourself the link is here - the only change I made was to add a tablespoon of rose syrup to the sugar syrup and another to the milk mixture as I really love the flavour of rose and cardamon together. Thanks Cook in a Curry for saving the day!

My lovely publishers have said that I am allowed to share with you a few of the snap test shots from the two books I am working on at the moment. These are just the photos I take whilst testing the recipes here at home that are then sent to the food stylist and the book designer so they can plan how to style the photos and make my little creations look elegant! I have absolutely no doubt that the real pictures in the book will look 100 times better than these but thought you would like a quick sneak peak - mini carrot and pistachio muffins, mini summer tarts, mini rocky road cupcakes, mini profiteroles and mini tiramisu roulades (all from the mini patisserie book) and walnut and cinnamon macaroons (from the gluten free baking book). The name for the mini patisserie book is still undecided so any suggestions gratefully received! 42 recipes done, only 43 to go! I am half way - hurrah!

If you are ever looking for somewhere for a special meal in central England then I heartily recommend the Olive Branch at Clipsham near Stamford. I have been wanting to go here for a long time and this weekend with Maren visiting from Germany and my cousin Charlie over from Australia, we had the perfect excuse for a celebration lunch. The food was all delicious - anywhere that serves homemade pork pie as a starter has got to be a very special place. The nibbles board we had whilst we ordered our food was devine with giant green round olives the likes of which I have never tasted before. If any of you know what type of olives are in the picture I would be very pleased to know! Rabbit terrine (with pickled carrots and parsnip crisps - heaven) and beetroot cured salmon, pork casserole, crispy plaice (that resembled schnitzel) and silky mash. The puddings were delicious too (although the blackcurrant treacle tart was an acquired taste). With the set lunch menu at £19.95 for three courses of such yummy food, we thought the Olive Branch was good value and definitely recommend a visit. I am already planning my next trip!

I am happy to say that I have been invited to appear at the Good Food Show again this year so will be at London on 13th and 14th November on the Masterchef stage and also on the hot tips stage demonstrating custard, ice cream and pastry (lumpy custard here we come!) and at Birmingham on 24th November where I will be demonstrating Whoopie Pies on the British stage, some Christmas recipes on the Magimix stage and also hosting some Masterchef masterclasses - pear frangipane tarts and calvados creme anglais - more custard (I must have a death wish for stressful demonstrations this year). Do come and say hello if you are there as it is always lovely to meet fellow bloggers!

Last night was our village harvest supper - casserole and jacket potatoes and apple pie and cream for 80. The good thing is that everyone helped out and it was a real village affair. After supper, the lights were turned off and I wandered through the darkness with Lucy's cake, candles twinkling, whilst everyone sang Happy Birthday (the fact that I didnt trip over a chair or dinner guest in the process was nothing short of a miracle). Next was the auction of produce. I don't know whether it is the recession or an increased interest in gardening but the level of home grown produce was up on last year and also included some very interesting vegetables - red sweetcorn, jerusalem artichokes and a selection of squashes and pumpkins, all from the allotments in our village. Lucy won the largest pumpkin of the night for a princely sum of £10 and I know she is looking forward to carving it for Halloween.

Today is my friend Lucy's birthday so I have baked her a cake to have at our village harvest supper this evening. I am working on the assumption that she will not pop and look at my blog this afternoon so ruining the suprise. The cake is actually one of the recipes from the gluten free book - pecan and apple (I am secretly hoping that they will decorate it like this in the book but I think the odds of that are about 0% as it doesn't really fit in with a rustic, wholesome gluten free image). If you are ever baking cakes for someone with a wheat allergy you need to be very careful when it comes to icing sugar. Regular icing sugar usually contains anti caking agent which can contain wheat. I use fondant icing sugar powder as this doesn't contain anti caking agent and gives a nice glossy finish. Now just the casseroles for the harvest supper and jacket potatoes to cook - it is a busy day!

Cook book writing is progressing (I dread to think how many kilos of sugar I have used in the last few weeks!) 25 recipes done now and 67 to go (although put like that it sounds like a huge number of recipes still to cook...). As much as I was enjoying the gluten free baking, I have to confess that I am LOVING making teeny tiny cakes and puddings for the other book. The only problem is that they are too cute to eat! My brother, who is visiting from the US (yippee!) described them as "Just a little bit naughty" and I kind of like that. Eating cake without the guilt factor!

Saturday was Joshua's birthday party - enter blue food colouring, blue lustre spray and Sonic the Hedgehog! The Sonic figure was the most bendy and jointed one ever and therefore had to sit on the edge of the cake so that he wouldn't fall over. Technically speaking I am not sure that someone with super lightening speed like Sonic would ever sit down, but noone at the party seemed to mind/notice. The sugar stars on wires and foil streamer wands gave the cake quite a cartoon effect I think and the sugar toadstools were super cute. Happy Birthday Josh!

Work starts this evening on my next new book. Thought you might like to see my new equipment - mini bundt pans, mini madeleines and teany tiny loaf moulds, mini muffin cases and moulds, mini ring pans.....anyone spotting a theme? My lovely editor Julia sent me the final recipe list last night - very pleased with the selection - and can't wait to get cooking!

Lovely Marny of the RPS New York office did an interview with me a few weeks ago and it is now on the RPS blog if you would like to read it. There are some other lovely articles on there too and beautiful pictures to look at from their design books - pop on over if you have a minute - link here

I thought I would share with you my latest sewing project. Even though it is far from finished, I am so pleased with how it is coming on. It is a reproduction of a sampler stitched by a young girl called Mary Busby whilst at Ackworth School in 1804. There is something enchanting about making the same stitches with my hand that Mary made over two hundred years ago. I know she must have loved doing it as almost every inch of the fabric is to be filled with motif after motif. It feels as if she never wanted to stop stitching it. Below is the picture of how the sampler will look when it is finished so I know it will be a long while yet until I am done (it is stitched on miniscule 36 count and in silks so v slow going) but I can't wait for it to be framed and hung up in our cottage.

I need some assistance from any readers with bird knowledge! There was a chirping outside my window which sounded like a baby chick. I looked out of the window expecting to see something quite small (although it is not the time of year for chicks of course) and this is what I spied. I imagine that perhaps this is a pheasant chick? Can anyone tell me if I am right? Either way it was very cute and spent a long time pottering in the grass and stones outside our back door. Recipe testing is going well and I have now completed 18 recipes which have all been given the thumbs up by Lucy (and David, Sacha, Jess, Josh and Rosie - but as Lucy is the only one with wheat intolerance she gets the final say)! Yesterdays treats were some walnut brownies made with very finely ground walnut instead of flour (I liked these a lot) and a lovely summery loaf of bread with herbs and tomatos. Only 70 more recipes to go......