Sweet dreams are made of this...

Raspberry and Almond Bakewell Cake

In-som-ni-a (Noun) - Habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep.

Oh is that all. I expected a more textbook definition or hoping for something more insightful. Lately I have become quite the insomniac. For the past two weeks I haven't been able to differentiate whether my non-sleep is attributed to jetlag or well, insomnia. 

The alarms goes off, I hit snooze. It buzzes again. I trudge to the bathroom and declare "I slept so badly last night". My flatmate responds that for as long as she has lived with me she has never known me to sleep well. Hmm. That is over 18months. It never occurred to me my degree of restless and sleeplessness - for not getting my forty winks has really become the norm. It is easier the measure the number of hours I think I slept. If I think I slept 7 hours, then surely my brain would fool my body into believing it had?

Lack of light in my room means I have no inkling what time it is for the most part without hearing or seeing my alarm. I could leave my window pane slightly ajar but I would then have further problems of falling asleep. I like darkness. I get distracted too easily by any sound or light, external to myself. Although, for anyone who knows me, they will say that my lack of sleep is internal to me, to my restless and analytical mind. In university days, I would have said this was true. Now, still true, but too a lesser degree. I value my sleep alot more now... I crave it. On the few mornings I wake up feeling rested, I have energy and look forward to the day ahead. Today was one of them.

Caffeine really affects me. I love the smell and taste of coffee - it is just synonymous to walking, cup in hand on a chilled weekend and so I look forward to it daily. It perks me up. Give me two and I will feel guilty. Three, and I will be bouncing off walls. Caffeine past about 3pm is the death of me - an exhausted body with an alert mind are not the perfect match. Yet stubbornness, cravings and false pretences makes me cave in to my desires at times. I was supposed to give up caffeine for Lent. I am not religious but we at work all decided to give up something so I chose caffeine. It's a vicious cycle and it didn't last but if at first you don't succeed...so I am starting again tomorrow.

A friend sent me an article on foods for better sleep -  foods that help in the creation of melatonin in your body which apparently controls your internal clock - correcting the mismatch between this and your daily routine. In order these are:

Raspberries
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Cherries
Flaxseeds
Strawberries

I guess it is not as effective if these are coupled with lashings of sugar in the form of a raspberry and almond bakewell cake, washed down with a fresh mug of coffee. Perhaps that was where I was going wrong. More reading to be done. Recipe below anyway.

Ingredients
1. 140g ground almonds
2. 140g butter , softened
3. 140g golden caster sugar
4. 140g self-raising flour
5. 2 eggs
6. 1 tsp vanilla extract
7. 250g raspberries
8. 2 tbsp flaked almonds
9. icing sugar , to serve

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and base-line and grease a deep 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Blitz the ground almonds, butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract in a food processor until well combined.

2. Spread half the mix over the cake tin and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over, then spread the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread - you might find this easier to do with your fingers. Scatter with flaked almonds and bake for 50 mins until golden. Cool, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve. ƒ

I served it with a dollop of clotted cream to satisfy the scone craving I had been having. Vanilla ice cream would also work.

Lunch is just around the corner..

Cake display in the Teahouse

My flatmate wanted me to do the Oxfam 100km Trailwalkers walk with her. Teams of four have 30 hours to walk 100km across the South Downs. It sounded like a challenge, slightly intriguing, would be a great accomplishment but also tedious. Walking through the night with the unpredictably of weather that is the UK put a dampener on the walk for me. None the less, we thought we would do a trial walk..not 100km but a more reasonable distance we could manage on a Saturday morning. Where could we walk to?

I believe in reward for effort. Whilst I do love walking, I am more akin to strolls, walks in the park on sunny days, through quaint cafe-lined streets and in and out of shops. If I am going to do a long walk and these do not fit the bill, at the least I would expect a nice lunch at the end.

Petersham Nurseries is a place I had been wanting to try for awhile and served as a perfect destination for our walk. Walk-It mapped it as approximately 19km which sounded long enough to test us a little but not too long that we would collapse in exhaustion and not be able to enjoy lunch. The nursery has a cafe, which is the fancier restaurant, which was awarded a michelin star (Head Chef is Australian Skye Gyngell) alongside a shop selling shabby chic like dining and gardening accessories. The nursery also is home to a cute little teahouse, dirt floors, plants, rustic garden furniture in a conservatory. Just my cup of tea. So, destination sorted.

The walk took us three hours through the beautiful streets of West and South London, fresh pollution and roaring traffic of the Great West Road with wild winds and the light pitter patter of rain on our non water or wind-proof clothing. Are we there yet? However, we hit Chiswick and the scenery changed - runners everywhere enjoying the scenery and the waterfront properties along Chiswick Mall which reminded me of going down the coast from Sydney for a weekend. This wasn't so bad. We were doing good time too, but we hastened our pace for fear the rain would change to more than a pitter or a patter.

Walking down Star and Garter Hill and finally seeing the sign for the nursery was welcoming. It wasn't that we were tired or didn't enjoy the walk - I must admit overall it was a very enjoyable way to start the morning. It was more the fact that with lack of interesting scenery coupled with looming grey clouds, it was good to know that the end was near and attainable. 

The teahouse and nursery itself? We picked up our trays and got our beef stew, vegetable lasagne, chicken salad, cake and coffee from the little rustic teahouse and rested our cold bodies and enjoyed. It was just what we needed...simple, hearty and warming.

As for the 100km walk...let's save that for another rainy day..

Petersham Nurseries
Church Lane
Off Petersham Road
Richmond
Surrey
TW10 7AG

Vegetable Lasagne

Chicken Salad - tasty!

Beef Stew

The Teahouse - no bookings

Carrot and Coconut Cake - a little dry

The 'Cafe' - more formal dining, must book

The shop with beautiful plates