10 :: Revealed...

This is what I was up to on Thursday! Making some Christmas decorations from Scandinavian Stitches.

They are very addictive and perfect for making use of offcuts and scraps of fabric.  I also love the excuse to rifle through my button tin, so it's win-win project for me.

Useful and beautiful…

As William Morris said:

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

Years ago, when I was living in what felt like a bit of a nightmare, I actually painted this quote onto my bathroom wall so that I could read it and hold on to what it meant at frequent intervals throughout the day. I had to live in a flat that was totally hideous but as a temporary measure, which made it slightly more bearable. The bathroom in particular freaked me out.  I say bathroom, it didn’t actually have a bath and if it wasn’t so grotty, today it would have been fashionably called a wet room. The very worst thing about it for me was that there was a black seat on the toilet and every time I looked in there, it reminded me of a public convenience! Oh, and sliding door! 
Moving on.
After my little sewing session last week, I decided that it was high time indeed to actually make something else from one of my many sewing books.  I’m terrible at getting carried away adding books to my Amazon wishlist.  Then on a whim, buying a couple now and then, only to have them sitting pretty on my bookshelf.
The reason I bought this book was for the wonderful pin cushion caddy.  This often happens. I buy a whole book for the sake of one project.



I’m more than happy with the way it turned out and, going with the flow, I thought I would use more of my precious FMF.



But, and there is a very big BUT.  It actually turned out to be a nightmare.  I happily started cutting out the pattern and then the fabrics, taking extra care at double-checking the instructions as I went.  It all seemed to going smoothly until I reached the crucial stage of actually bringing the whole thing together.



Was it me or was there something seriously going wrong here?  The outer cushion seemed to be two whole segments too big for the inner tube.  Having unpicked it a couple of times and altered my seam allowances, I made the wise decision to calmly put it down and eat.
With a clearer head, I went in search of answers on the internet and eventually found myself here.  So, it wasn’t just me!  There was a very detailed response from Anna Maria herself.  In the end, I took out the two surplus segments and started making progress again.


I’m trying not to get too disheartened over this frustrating episode, but I find it extremely annoying that it almost the done thing to check out the errata on books these days before you actually start something.
Moan over because despite it all, I am loving this useful and beautiful little item to pieces.

Sew happy…

Aside from cooking, I also found time for some sewing this weekend. This is my favourite sewing book and I have made several things from it since I got it last year. I decided it was high time I used some of my most precious fabric and what better use than where I can see it every day when I go to my sewing room?

 

Having struggled first thing on Saturday morning to find any energy, the afternoon flew by with the gentle whirr of my sewing machine and the satisfying pop of my eyelet maker.

 

Now I have, what I consider, a very well-dressed sewing machine! With a cheery inside too.

 

 

Can you see that new bit of kit in there?

 

My confidence is growing and after waiting for ages for this book to come, I am determined to learn how to do free-motion stitching on the machine and this darning foot is, apparently, the key.

 

Using a bit of scrap from a cushion that I'd finished last week, I had a little play. It is amazingly addictive and I can't wait to incorporate it in one of the many lovely projects in the book.

 

Forever Summer...

...is one of my favourite cookery books.  There are now plenty of recipes I use that summer just doesn't seem complete without now. 

Today we had the best Greek Salad, although I left out the fennel because I was trying to feed us all economically and just use what I had in the fridge.  It was a shame really, because the fennel adds a nice freshness to the salad.  I didn't have a Romaine lettuce either but the one that came in my veg box was nice and crispy anyway.  I also had 2 bags of baby spinach so I made Jamie Oliver's Italian spinach and ham flan from this book and I can report that it was absolutely delicious.  Add to that a potato salad, a raw courgette salad and some freshly cooked beetroot and it was a wonderful al fresco lunch.

Oh, and there was bread.  Freshly baked this morning from the Ottolenghi Cookbook.  Cut up into chunky wedges and dipped in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it was good.  Very good.  It requires you to start it the day before you want to bake it, but is so worth the wait and all being done in my KitchenAid, there is no arm-aching kneading.

For pudding it was Vanilla Shortbread with strawberries and some thick Jersey cream.  As a treat for the children, I also made Sophie Dahl's Clover's Carnation Milk Jelly but the truth is, the adults didn't really let them get a look in!  It was dead easy, just melt a jelly (I used strawberry flavour) with some hot water then when it has cooled add a large tin of Carnation evaporated milk and allow to set.  I absolutely love evaporated milk!

 I love leisurely summer lunches outside...

Squeal...

That's the noise I made when I opened up my Amazon box on delivery this afternoon!  It was followed by some more... and some more...

I ordered these books two weeks ago and have found Amazon to be unusually slow in delivering them for some reason.  Especially considering they were all in stock.

I've had such a busy day today I've only been able to glance through Amigurumi Two! briefly, but I liked what I saw. 

How impossibly cute are these peas nestled in a pod?  Knowing where to start is going to be a tough one.  I want to make one of everything.

And look at this amazing mobile.  I have a christening to go to in a couple of weeks - do you think it would make a good gift?

And, DottyCookie, look at these!  They definitely need  to be made.  Like now.  Like more than one!

I think I need to get this week done and dusted before I start on these books.  I wonder if I have the will-power to let them be until the weekend...

A birthday...

Today my niece, Rio, is 10 years old.  Double figures are always a bit of a milestone, I think.

Birthdays in our family are fairly typical.  The girls want pink icing...

...with marshmallows and maltesers... 

...perhaps some Dolly Mixtures.

The boys just want sweets and lots of them!

Rio has a cake with a heart on it.  Just for a change!

I use Hugh F-W's recipe from this book for my Victoria sponges now.  He says to weigh the eggs (I have balance scales, so I just put them in as the weights) and then use the same amount of sugar, butter and SR flour.  I usually add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a level teaspoon of baking powder.  I whizz the whole lot together in my food processor - no fussy creaming and folding and therefore no curdling.  Divide it between 2 sandwich tins and bake for about 25-30 on 180°C.  If I use 3 eggs, I use my 18cm tins and if I use 4 eggs, I use my 20cm tins.

For the frosting, I'm sticking with the one from The Hummingbird Bakery book.  Sweeties available from all good supermarkets!

Off out now for a birthday dinner here!

Fat-free cupcakes...

My love of cupcakes doesn't end in the kitchen.  My crochet gifts that were given out at Christmas started some crochet envy amongst certain members of my family, and it seemed that one item of crochet cuteness wasn't enough.  Before I could clear away the remains of our dinner, my pattern books were being sorted through, yarn selected from my stash and lists being made of more things to make.

This little cupcake came from this book. The great thing about them is that you can have as many as you like and you won't put on a pound!

Not crackers...

I've so enjoyed having time at home this year to get stuck into making loads of hand-made gifts for Christmas. Perhaps this is my vocation. It seems the more I make, the more I want to make and my brain is fit to burst.

One thing I find a complete waste of money is Christmas crackers. Every year we seem to spend a fortune on nice ones, only for me to be left with a little pile of stuff that came out of them to oohs and aahhs but actually, stuff no-one really wanted! Nobody likes to wear the hat - in fact my one never fits me! I've even had a 2 pint jug of gravy being spilt all over the table (and my poor Mum) in a display of strength needed to pull the cracker apart!

SO, this year I thought I would do little table gifts for everyone instead. I'm a glutton for punishment, see.

I have to say, I was inspired by this irresistible book.

The boys in my family WILL have my crochet! No2 gave his seal of approval and said I should surprise him with one. I made them into key rings so they could hang them on their school bags! And all the materials came from my stash, so no cost to me other than my time.

Then there came the girls. I could have gone mad and made every single item in this book (maybe one day I will) but I was also dying to make these hearts from Owlishly.


Again, I added a keyring and decorated them with some buttons from my jar. Crochet fascinates me still; it seems there is no end to the things you can create.
Then onto the adults...


Way back in the summer I grabbed some skeins of gorgeous Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in the John Lewis sale. Rather than buy several of one colour, I bought just one skein of several colours. I wish you could put your hand in and feel how wonderfully soft this yarn is.

Then, I saw this little beauty and I knew just what to use it for.

That's the ladies sorted. I have to confess to being stumped as to what to get for the menfolk and have resorted to a scratch card. Of course, if any of them win, I will have half!
Come back tomorrow to see the boxes I've made to put them all in!

Cupcakes...

I've been making cupcakes for... oh, years, certainly with a passion since Nigella brought out Domestic Goddess. Over the past couple of years though, they have become more and more popular and so I have been searching for the ultimate cupcake recipe.

I think I may have the right combination at last. My cookery book shelf is groaning under the weight of books - a lot of which I have bought just for the cupcake recipe.

I used Nigella's recipe for many years but always hated that little bump in the middle that they always made (why? The bump, not my dislike of it!). I used to cut it off in the days when I used royal icing so as to get a nice flat top.

Earlier this year I bought the Hummingbird Bakery book and made their cupcakes several times with mixed results. Sometimes, they would spill out of their cases and no matter how carefully I tried to put the same amount in each case, they would vary enormously. Although to be fair this could easily be disguised by the frosting, using more or less to get a uniform plateful of cakes.

I raved about this book in this post and now tried out the cupcake recipe. It is a winner! It is a generous recipe and the mixture does exactly what you'd hope - rise nicely and evenly. The cakes are just the right density (I think) and come out of their cases in one piece. First I tried the lemon cupcakes with the lemon buttercream. They were delicious but the buttercream was a little thick for my liking and difficult to spread.

I love the frosting from the Hummingbird book. It is light and frothy, not too sickly, and with the addition of a little milk and 5 minutes (I set my timer) of beating, easy to spread or pipe on.

So, for my second attempt, I used the coffee cupcake recipe from the Primrose book but with a coffee frosting from the Hummingbird book. I believe I may have cracked it! They were absolutely scrummy!

As a finishing flourish, I grated on some coffee chocolate but have my eye on some chocolate coffee beans. I think they'd look great in the dark brown cases too.

I think I will make some Christmas cupcakes - how about orange and cranberry?

Seriously good cake...

If you've got a couple of sad looking apples in the fruit bowl that nobody wants to eat, here's just the cake.

It is Seriously Good Cake.

From this book. My copy is now well used, particularly in the loaf chapter.

The recipe suggests making it the night before you want to bake it, just leaving it in the fridge, but I'm not really sure why this is! Any suggestions? It is delicious eaten when still warm with a big mug of tea or coffee and stays nice and moist for a good week. I used a mixture of flaked almonds and chopped hazelnuts - it's great to use up any bits and pieces in the baking cupboard and the last bits of jam that seem to always seem to be lurking in the back of the fridge in spite of new jars being opened.

I didn't really need any more baking books, but I was powerless to resist this:

Check out the malted cupcakes for Fathers Day - YUM!

I'm loving it...

Back in July I took Ali up on her offer of a free recipe book if I signed up with Abel & Cole for a weekly vegetable box delivery. It was something I'd been meaning to do for months as I regularly had a flier dropped through my letter box.


So every Friday I am in raptures about a mixed organic fruit and veg box being delivered by a big yellow van. It is the perfect size for us and I am loving the variety of vegetables I now eat on a weekly basis instead of being stuck in the carrot rut I found myself in before. I'm hoping it will slowly encourage No2 to become more adventurous with his diet!

The great thing about it for me is having to think of ways that I wouldn't usually cook or use the fruit or vegetables. For example, we are not big orange eaters so I have been juicing them and using them in smoothies instead.



As the produce is always seasonal we have had several varieties of squash and pumpkin. I had some friends over for lunch earlier in the week and made a squash soup from the recipe that came with last week's box. I always use my melon baller for getting all the flesh out of squashes and pumpkins - I don't think I've ever used it on a melon! It's so easy, just cut the pumpkin (or squash) in half, remove the seeds and scoop out all that lovely orange flesh.

To go with the soup I made some soda bread from my new favourite recipe book. It is the easiest recipe EVER!!! Ridiculously easy.

And look - it looks like soda bread!

Abel & Cole are doing another promotion and so if you'd like the recipe book do leave a comment and I'll tell you the secret! Oh, I get £10 to spend there too, so no pressure...!

What's on mine...

I have thoroughly enjoyed nosing about this week at the bedside tables around Blogland, so I thought I'd join in.

Mine seems to be dominated by my iLuv, which plays my iPod when I get the chance to have a lie-in or go to bed just to listen to some music. Both are quite rare occurrences at the moment. I have to tell you though, that for a digital clock it keeps appalling time and I can't bear the alarm noise. I'm bored of keep changing it, so keep my mobile beside me for both the time and my alarm now. But I do like the fact that you can dim the display right down so the light doesn't disturb you.

Tucked on the back corner is a little collection of 'stuff'. The camper van (I think it's Karrymore from Cars) was bought for me by my friend's little boys for my birthday last year. They know I want a real camper van and thought this one would tide me over. There is a piece of crystal, the name of which I've forgotten, but was given to me by a friend of a friend to help healing. The rose quartz heart is one of a pair. The other one is hidden underground here. The sea glass and shells were collected by No2 last summer in Wales and put next to my bed when I wasn't looking.

Bookwise, there is Dear Fatty by Dawn French - hilarious! And Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling - children's literature log reading. Then there is a basket of assorted creams for hands and feet of which I always say I will use religiously everynight to combat dry skin, but fail to miserably. Even leaving one out of the basket doesn't remind me - this one is Origins Reinventing the Heel.

On the shelf underneath are more books, both read and to be read. The drawer is a motley assortment of homeopathic remedies and notepads and pens pilfered from various hotels. Always handy for writing a shopping list at 3 in the morning...