Addison Embroidery
at the
Vicarage

Altar frontal for Ipsden Ch. Oxon: Chinese lantern (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

It has been a difficult week so getting down to embroidery has been particularly important. Not only is the act of sewing soothing in itself but the designing, stitching and completing of even just 2 little flowers has felt like a major achievement.

Altar frontal for Ipsden Ch. Oxon: Chinese lantern (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Honesty and Chinese lanterns are 2 plants we know better as skeletons than in full flower. In fact, I only recently realised that the flowering honesty has delicate racemes of white or purple flowers – rather like night-scented stocks, albeit without the scent. Both are tough plants,  greedy of space and capable of bullying other plants out of existence. Ominously, from Carol Klein (one of BBC’s gardening presenters, for non UK readers),  “This gregarious plant is a wonderful addition to a bleak garden”. Not so great then if your garden is a notch up from an unwelcoming  moor and is actually rather nice (and I’m not so sure gregarious means friendly with plants other than itself).

Altar frontal for Ipsden Ch. Oxon: honesty (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

The Chinese lantern has a similar habit, also invasive and capable of strangling other plants given half a chance – once again it’s ideal for poor soil where not much else will grow. But be warned, planting it in a manicured pocket handkerchief garden is tempting fate to far – most gardeners advise you to think twice and then think twice again and only if you still find them irresistible make sure you plant them in a bottomless bucket to limit  root spread. After these great recommendations I’m surprised to find their colonisation of the vicarage garden has been so limited – over-hyped after all or perhaps we’ve just been lucky.

Altar frontal for Ipsden Ch. Oxon: honesty (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

But what is certain is that these two plants are definitely to be found locally and as such they merit their place on the altar frontal. Their sculptural form has also made embroidering them fun – the flat honesty seed cases catching the light like hammered silver, while the caged Chinese lantern seed looks like a jewel in a cage of gold filigree. Not many living things look better dead – a strange compliment but that’s as charitable as I feel I can go after the stresses of this week.

(Apologies for the photographs – will try to take better ones. Any advice as to how to avoid the watered silk effect on the plain yellow diamonds, would be very gratefully received.)

Late posting this week after the hiatus caused by too full cup of long abandoned tea being poured over lap top keyboard while cup en route to the kitchen. Death of lap top instant; bullet bitten and new one purchased, set up … and adored … (Mac Book Air 13″ instead of my former 11″, twice as much memory as the last one and not much heavier). Now for extra vigilance with coffee cups – perhaps not so easy…

The church biscuit: 57. Fresh cherry and chocolate brownie

Last week daughter No 3 baked some brownies using fresh cherries for church on Sunday. I wasn’t sure whether the very moist nature of cherries would work in a brownie and whether the cherry taste would make itself apparent, but its always worth trying as using fresh fruit feels so much the right thing to be doing at this time of year. And this year the cherries just seem to keep on coming – the trees in the churchyard, those lining the road by the farm at the cross roads  and wild cherries in hedgerows are all still full of fruit. I’ve also just been given a punnet full of locally picked cherries in thanks for a monogram. Everybody is picking and picking, yet still they hang invitingly from the tree.  I’m still worried by how few birds there are to strip this largesse from the trees and just hope it’s because all other hedgerow trees have been so fruitful … I have yet to convince myself – there even seem to be fewer pigeons.

The church biscuit: 57. Fresh cherry and dark chocolate brownie

Ingredients

100 g smooth dark chocolate, chopped

100 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

200 g light soft brown sugar

2 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten

50 g SR flour

50 g wholemeal flour

150 g fresh cherries, pitted and halved

(10-12 glacé cherries chopped small – not at all necessary in the event as the real things were sufficiently luscious)

The church biscuit: 57. Fresh cherry and dark chocolate brownie

Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.

Grease and line an 18cm square cake tin with baking paper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease and line a 20 cm square cake tin with baking paper.

Put the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, until melted. Remove and let it cool slightly.

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and pale. Gradually add the eggs, then the flour and the melted chocolate. Mix until smooth. 

Fold in the cherries and pour the mixture into the tin. Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into squares.

We left this in the tin overnight and were able to cut it in 25 pieces the next day.

Cherries and chocolate are a fantastic combination and unite to make a moist yet not too sweet brownie. Excellent. (Forget the glacé cherries).