It has been a very busy and manic time of late and I have somewhat neglected my blog. The Easter holidays are about to commence and we are still enjoying the spring sunshine...love, love, love it!!!
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Thursday 29 March 2012
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Sunny Spring Days
It's been lovely waking up to sunny days, this time of year is my favourite. Each day something else is sprouting in the garden and new colours are appearing in the fields and hedgerows. The children are playing in the garden and the evenings are lighter for longer. Happy days!!
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Tuesday 20 March 2012
Vintage Tin Toy Aeroplanes
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I bought this vintage styled tin toy for my son as a keepsake. It is a mechanical automotor and spins round making the aeroplanes appear to fly, I love the detail and the colours, well worth the £8 I spent on it!!!
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Saturday 17 March 2012
Nautical Anchor Flip Flop - Summer Bargain
Look what I found in my local Marks and Spencers, these lovely nautical flip flops complete with anchor motifs. The nautical, anchor theme is still on trend for this summer and flip flops are pretty versatile as far as summer footwear goes. They are only £5, so grab a bargain before they all go!!
Cheeseburger Cupcake Recipe - Fasntastic Idea!!
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| I saw these cheeseburger cupcakes whilst surfing the internet for inspiration. They are quirky and look pretty easy to do. Click on the link below for instructions. http://www.flickr.com/photos/katedw/sets/72157617528706606/ |
Thursday 15 March 2012
Crochet Easter Eggs
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I have started to make some crochet eggs for an Easter garland. I
didn't follow a pattern for these, I made them up as I went along. I will post the finished product when complete. For a great crochet egg pattern click on the link below, it will take you to a lovely blog 'Easy Makes Me Happy'.
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Musical Bird in Cage
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| My children love this automaton musical bird in his little wooden cage. I've seen them on various websites for between £10-£15, a bargain for such a lovely toy. |
Book Review - The Liberty Book of Home Sewing
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Published by Quadrille Publishing RRP £20.00 (price varies depending on website purchasing from)
This book comes in A4 hardback covered in gorgeous Liberty fabric.
There are a range of sewing projects from simple cushions and curtains to aprons and throws. I especially like the lampshade project using strips of material. The photography and illustrations are of fantastic quality and most projects have a ‘Taking it further’ option for those who are feeling up to more of a challenge. The instructions are laid out in a step-by-step fashion and are easy to follow. The book also includes images of various Liberty fabrics both vintage and modern prints, all are included in a directory in the back of the book and are available to purchase. A great book that will be useful time and time again.
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Monday 12 March 2012
New(ish) Camera Action - Spring Cherry Blossom
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| I have been trying out my camera today and have been happy with the results so far. Our cherry tree is starting to look beautiful as each blossom opens. I love spring time, it makes me feel optimistic and happy. |
Current Crafting Project - Crochet Baby Blanket
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A family member is expecting a baby, what better excuse for starting another crochet project, it's been a while since I finished the last one!! I'm using an Aran wool blend yarn (one of those giant balls) and using a 8mm crochet hook as I want to create a chunky waffle type blanket. I am keeping it very simple with row upon row of half trebles (htr) and will finish it off with a boarder of some kind. I will keep posting my progress.
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Sunday 11 March 2012
Retro Toy - Mickey Mouse musical toy radio
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This is such a great toy, it used to be my partners when he was little but now both our children play with it, once its been wound up music plays and Mickeys eyes move.
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Ceramic Owl Candle Holders -Berry Red
Saturday 10 March 2012
Hooray, I have a new (second hand but very good) camera.
I am new to this blogging lark and am still struggling with the logistics of it all. However one area I know I need to improve upon is my photography. My little point and push camera and iPhone camera just weren't up to the job. Luckily my Dad (who happens to be a photographer) has given me his old Canon. I cant wait to start snapping away.
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Jewish Chicken Soup Recipe
When I was a designer I used to work for a Jewish company. One lunchtime a colleague of mine opened a flask of chicken soup and offered me some. Having never tried Jewish chicken soup before I didn't know what to expect. It was wonderful, really tasty and hearty. My colleague kindly gave me her families chicken soup recipe and I have now been making it for over 10 years. My children love it and whenever I'm not feeling 100% I tend to make chicken soup. Whats so great about the recipe is that its easy and cheap to make, the ingredients are easily obtained and its flexible in terms of adding other ingredients. My colleague didn't pass on the recipe for Jewish dumplings so have never made the soup with them, however I have used pearly barley, rice, lentils and potatoes. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Mama's Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1/2 a chicken
4 large carrots peeled and chunkily chopped
1/2 swede
1 large onion
3 sticks of celery
4 chicken stock cubes (Telma or Knorr)
1 spoonful of white sugar (or to taste)
3 pints of water
Flat leaf parsley
Seasoning
Method
- Clean the chicken and place in a very large saucepan with all the other ingredients except the parsley, sugar and stock cubes.
- Bring to just below boiling point - very importantly at this stage be sure to skim the soup, there will be white fat appearing which should be spooned off.
- Leave to cook on a very low light for 3 hours (this is the secret, 'the lower the light the richer the taste', just enough heat to have a very smooth simmer.
- The next stage is to add the stock cubes and season with salt and pepper, I use stock cubes and seasoning to taste, if it tastes watery add more stock cubes and seasoning until you are satisfied with the flavour (add the stock cubes one by one, don't worry if you don't add all four, add them to your own preferred taste).
- Add the sugar and parsley and bring to the boil.
- Remove the onion as this is now no longer needed and if left in will make the soup go cloudy (I sometimes leave the onion in as it breaks up nicely and adds more texture, again this is up to you).
- Searve piping hot.
Thursday 8 March 2012
Emily Peacock, KISS Cross Stitch.
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I am a real fan of art and craft, I like to be working on something most of the time. I am going to blog some of the projects I am working on and would love to see what other people are up to too.
This was brought for me by my partner for Christmas, it was purchased from the Emily Peacock website and cost £59 for the 69cm x 24cm, there is a larger one costing £75. This is the first time I have tried cross stitch and I have to admit I am a little bit addicted. This particular piece is intended to be a cushion, however I intend to frame mine and then purchase its partner called HUG, both will end up on my bedroom wall.
I will photograph my progress, next time when there is more light and using a better camera!!
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Book Review - Queen of Crafts by Jazz Domino Holly
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Published by Penguin/Fig Tree RRP £16.99 (price varies depending on website purchasing from)
THE MODERN GIRLS’ GUIDE TO Knitting, Sewing, Quilting, Baking, Preserving and Kitchen Gardening
This is a great book, very user friendly with easy to follow instructions and good quality illustrations and images. There is something for everyone regardless of ability or taste. The book introduces the reader to a variety of craft and cooking projects from making a pom pom wreath to making your own beauty products. It comes in A5(ish) size so will fit easily in to most handbags and manbags!!
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Granny Square Blanket
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I made this blanket for my daughter, it sits on her bed and is well loved. I got the pattern from a blog called Attic24, a friend and fellow crochet fan recommended the blog. If you have the inclination and the time, take a look, its very user friendly. http://attic24.typepad.com/
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Ice Cream Cone Cup Cakes Recipe
I made these ice cream cone cup cakes for my sons birthday, they are fun, quick and easy to do.
See below for the recipe:
ICE CREAM CONE CUP CAKES
Makes 12
Cooking time 25 mins
Oven temp 190 degrees/gas mark 5
Equipment needed
12 hole muffin tray
piping bag
large star nozzle
flake bars to decorate (approx 4)
hundreds and thousands or any other decoration to your own design/taste
Ingredients for cakes
12 flat bottomed wafer cornets
175g (6oz) self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
125g (4oz) caster sugar
125g (4oz) unsalted butter room temp cut into small chunks
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients for butter cream
60g (2oz) unsalted butter room temp cut into small chunks
125g (4oz) icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
drop of water if mixture too stiff
Method
- Pre heat oven 190 degrees or gas mark 5
- Place 12 wafer ice cream cones into the 12 hole muffin tray
- Sift the flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl
- Add the sugar butter, eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth, if the mixture is stiff or taking too long to mix add a tsp of hot water to help loosen the mix up a little bit
- Spoon the mixture into the ice cream cones carefully until they are about two thirds full
- Place carefully in the middle of the oven for approx 25 mins (keep an eye on them, you don't want the cones to scorch)
- Once they are golden and have risen, pierce with a skewer to make sure they are cooked, if the skewer comes out clean they are done. If not place back in the oven for a couple of mins.
- Leave to cool for 5 mins then place on a wire rack
Whilst waiting for the cakes to cool make up the buttercream as follows:
- Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until creamy
- Slowly, a couple of spoonfuls at a time, mix in the icing sugar ensuring each batch of icing sugar is well mixed in before adding the next
- When all the sugar is added the buttercream should be light, fluffy and pale in colour
- Now mix in the vanilla extract
Icing and decorating the cakes
- Only ice the cakes once they are completely cooled, otherwise your buttercream will melt
- Place nozzle in the piping bag before adding the buttercream
- Once the buttercream is placed in the piping bag begin to ice the cakes. Starting from the outside edge pipe the buttercream onto the cakes working in a spiral towards the middle ending with a gentle push and a flick to create the shape required
- Once all the cupcakes are iced cut the flakes up so you end up with 12 pieces, place on the cakes are required
- Decorate to your own taste or design
Hints and tips
- The ice cream cup cakes are best eaten fresh on the day of baking
- There are lots of videos on the internet demonstrating various cup cake icing techniques, have a look, they are very helpful
- If your cake mixture doesn't rise enough, add extra height by adding marshmallows, smarties, M & M's etc between the sponge and buttercream, this will add height and an extra surprise when eaten
- The quantities above are for Askeys wafer cones, if using different wafer cones you may need to amend the mixture
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