four and twenty

We've been having a lot of fun observing the blackbird family in the garden.  Both mum and dad are bold feeders - to the extent that male blackbird came up and tapped N on the leg while we had all our painting paraphernalia spread out across the garden, as if to say - where's the food then?

Consequently I have enjoyed putting out strawberry tops and the odd rotten strawberry/raspberry for them.  Both ma & pa blackbird feed themselves, then they cram what they can in their beaks and go off looking for junior.  It's quite funny to watch when junior is sitting on the wall and both parents speed off in another direction all calling for each other.

So last night I baked this dessert in honour of the blackbird... and guess who got all the leftover fruit?

I neatly put the scraps into a little dish and within minutes they were like kids in a toybox - apple and strawberry tops strewn all over the garden!

N thought this picture looked like I'd put chips on the top.  Mm,... it was meant to look like the sun!

Gluten & Dairy Free Firtree Blackbird Pie

(as usual you can substitute dairy and wheat flour where I have alternatives)

3oz (75g) of dairy free margarine 

2oz (50g) of caster sugar

5oz (150g) gluten free plain flour (Doves) & 1 teaspoon of baking powder

extra pinch baking powder

2 eggs

1 tablespoon dairy free milk (rice/soya)

sprinkle of demarara (brown) sugar for top - optional

couple handfuls of strawberries

1-2 eating apples

The bit I love best.. throw all of the cake ingredients (minus the fruit) into a bowl, and mix until the shade lightens and the mix is slack and sloppy.

In a baking dish (smallish) plop half the mix and gently spread out with a spatula (do not squish).

Slice the strawberries into slices (so they look like hearts) and spread out across the mix.

Spoon the rest of the mix on top, and again spread gently so all is covered.

Slice peeled apple into thin slices and make merry on top with a pattern.  Add strawbs if you like.

I very feebly spread a little marg onto the apple, with a squish of lemon juice and a sprinkle of brown sugar to keep the fattening bit down - but add as you feel appropriate.

Bake in preheated oven 180C/350F/gas4 for approx 40-45mins.

Eat warm, or chill in fridge for next day with coffee.

This recipe has been loosely adapted from Evelyn Rose's fail-safe cooking/baking masterpiece.

Comments

[ginny]

rod has referred to an apple pie i once made in the same way.. 'chip pie' he said!
yours looks delicious...
we listened to a blackbird the other evening sing through it's evening repertoire
: )

[Bella Bheag]

Yum, what a masterpiece - just desserts for your painting exploits! Can see what N means by the chip comment! I was fascinated by the antics of a very determined scampering squirrel in our garden recently. Will blog about it sometime.x

[frances]

Ah, that recipe is a winner, with wonderful early summer ingredients and ease of assembly. The picture makes me want to make one immediately.

I also love all those quilts in your previous posts. They are so subtle in their colors, textile patterning, and the shapes of the piecings. Brilliant.

Your comments about recycling also intrigue me and echo many of my own questions as a shop manager. I sell beautiful clothes, with a new collection each month. I am granted the equivalent of new free clothing each month (to be worn in the shop as a selling tool,) and find myself regularly donating these slightly worn clothes to a neighborhood thrift shop.

Is this recycling or some sort of strange manipulation of supply and demand? When as an artist or crafts maker, I buy new materials, rather than re-using something I already have, is this the reverse of recycling?

I have no answers!

Best wishes. xo

[Gigibird]

Please don't forget about birds loving left over raw pastry.....it's a kind of bird super food!

[quiteahandful]

That strawberry dessert looked so good, and your blackbird friends will be so appreciative. I think that blackbirds are my favourites in the bird family.
Thank you for you email today C...I AM loving having the family home again..blissed out !