The weather has been so changeable this weekend but we have made the most of it and spent many a happy hour outside.

After working in our house in Ramsgate all morning, Harvey and I set off in to town for lunch. We had a pizza and then set off to walk along the beach to Broadstairs. It was a sunny but not particularly warm day so perfect for walking in as not too hot and not too cold. When the tide is out, as it was on Saturday afternoon, we could walk along the beach which is so enjoyable.
There are so many places to stop and look at and as we were not in a rush, we took our time. There is Broadstairs in the distance. Love this little driftwood sculpture. We had tea and cake sitting outside The Old Curiosity shop; these charming buildings were our view.We walked through the alleyway opposite as I had never been through there before.
Time to head back to Ramsgate and we hoped the rain would hold off until we were back. Is this a dog fish?  Does anyone know?  It looks a bit like a shark. 2 of these were on the beach. The clouds did become blacker but then rolled away so we were safe from a drenching. By the time we got back to Ramsgate the sun was shining and the sky was blue again.   It was a beautiful walk.  I always enjoy a stroll along the beach and this was a good length walk with plenty to look at along the way.  The company was tip top too, Today we did some baking.  Our near neighbours, David and Annette, were opening their gardens for charity – Heart of Kent Hospice – which you can find more about here

I offered to bake a contribution for the cake stall.  I had seen a yummy sounding/looking concoction on eatgood4life.com

She made ‘Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blondies’ which looked amazing.  Look at the original recipe http://www.eatgood4life.com/peanut-butter-and-chocolate-blondies/ Banana and Peanut Butter Oaties

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups oats
6 ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce (I used a tub of pureed apple and prune baby food)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup chocolate chips + 2 tbsp (I used very dark chocolate to keep the recipe vegan)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

the original recipe also called for 14 vegan peanut butter cups but I didn’t have any so went without them or any alternative.

Method

Preheat oven to 180 °C and line a 9 x 13 baking tray with baking parchment paper
In a food processor, add the rolled oats and pulse until they are pulverised
Place in a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.
Add the bananas, apple sauce, peanut butter and maple syrup to the food processor and pulse until it is liquefied.
Add this mixture to the oat mixture and combine.
Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips (and the peanut butter cups if you are using them).
Spread the batter in to the prepared baking tin – the mixture will be thick and put the 2 tbsp chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 30 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool

My oven doesn’t cook very evenly!  The recipe on the blog I linked to above made a chocolate sauce to drizzle over the top.  Mine didn’t turn out too well so we went with what we had. They were quite dense so only small pieces were required. They may not be sweet enough for people used to eating conventional sweet cakes and biscuits but if you are used to a healthier, low sugar diet, they are sweet enough and very enjoyable. They all sold!  I had a wonderful day, helping out at the tea stall for a couple of hours and then chatting to people who visited the garden.  I enjoyed seeing everyone and in particular, Rebecca and Beryl who I hadn’t seen for many months and who are both missed very much.

Well done to Annette and David who both worked very hard, working their beautiful garden and preparing for the day.  And well done to everyone who volunteered to help run the event and to all the visitors who braved the inclement weather and turned up.  Over £1,000 was raised from Little Nut Hall alone which was a great result.