Home Made

I've had a sudden burst of making things recently - much more than recently and it's definintely food for the soul. Baking, crafting, being creative and using my hands is really helping me at the moment. And I'm even trying to branch out from crochet!!

When in Wales I bought a felt sewing kit to try my hand at something new - quite pleased with the result, although I think I'd like to try making some things from scratch! I've gifted it to my Mum and it's sitting on my parents' dresser

I've started knitting! I've found a lady who does beginners' classes and have paid for a course of three lessons - after one lesson I can cast on, cast off and knit and purl. I hate purl. It's slow and slightly tedious, and crochet is definitely quicker, but am determined to persevere.

Another granny square blanket... I'm using up some stash here so it's not as neat and planned as usual, but I'm quite enjoying it - mindless crochet and no thinking, right up my street.

Finally baking again! This is a yummy yummy carrot cake recipe - see here. I would heartily recommend it - quite easy and scrumptious.

The Best Scones

After my last post several people asked for the recipe for my scones, I'm pleased to share them with you here. This recipe originates in a tiny Devonshire tearoom, and came to me via the mother of a school friend. They are by far the best scones I have ever made, but the declaration that they are the best is some what subjective ;) I have converted the measurements into grams as well just in case.

You will need:

1lb (500g) Self Raising Flour

4oz (120g) Margarine

2oz (60g) Caster Sugar

½ pint Milk

1tsp Baking Powder

Flavouring if required: this recipe works well with sultanas or cherries or cheese in my experience, I usually add the amount by sight J

A greased Baking Tray or 2, depending on how big you make your scones.

A very good blend of tea and teapot at the ready.

1.       Heat oven to 200 degrees/180 fan assisted

2.       Rub the fat into the flour using your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs

3.       Stir in the sugar gradually, and add the flavour if using

4.       Mix in the milk gradually until the mixture holds together – it shouldn’t be too wet

5.       For a very handmade look break off sections of the dough and roll into balls, place on baking tray and flatten slightly. For a more polished look roll out the mixture gently (about 6/7cm thick) and use a glass to cut out

6.       Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes

7.       When they are done allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, put the kettle on in anticipation 

      For a very authentic afternoon tea serve with jam and clotted cream :) I normally just have jam unless it's a super special occasion...

Circumventing the Doily Ban of 2014 and Some Bran Loaf

Life is still busy and a bit all over the place, back and forth from Nottingham and now I'm job searching as well! I've got a bit of lee-way but I thought that if I started sooner it would be less pressure :)

I've mentioned before that C doesn't like doilies very much. That's absolutely fine with me, the only snag is I like making them! I made one a month ago and it is allowed underneath the whiskey decanter, I think it looks lovely! So to avoid the doily problem I hatched a plan... and made a mandala ;) My first one :) (I am notoriously late for everything, I know these have been around for a long time...) I used this wonderful pattern and am so pleased how it worked out! I love the way the dark pink looks a bit like hearts

Here is my doily, looking lovely of course. I need to decide where to put the mandala now!

That's one of our lovely wedding pics - you can just about make out my wellies - I am always one for elegance ;)

I threw together a Bran Loaf yesterday, a really quick bake and great for lunch boxes and snacking. It's also relatively healthy as there is no fat in the recipe. It involves no weighing as you use the same mug to measure all of the ingredients to ensure consistency. I use a large mug to get as much bran loaf as possible ;) You need:

- A mug of Bran Flakes
- A mug of Milk
- A mug of S. R. Flour
- 1/2 mug of sugar (any kind is fine!)
- A selection of dried fruit: I use sultanas and sometimes dried apricots, sometimes glace cherries.

1. Put the Bran Flakes, Milk and Sugar into a mixing bowl. Leave for about 45 mins
2. Heat oven to 180, grease a loaf tin
3. Add Flour to the mixture once it has sat for a while and stir, add the sultanas/fruit
4. Bake in oven for approx 45 mins. My oven is super fierce so it doesn't take too long...
5. Remove and leave to cool.

Our lovely rose is flowering yet again keeping me cheerful, I do love our little home and garden.

Until next time my friends :)

Yet Another Cowl, A Spot of Baking and a Plea for Help (!)

So I kinda made another cowl.....

It's the same cowl in all the pictures, the light must be weird in my house! It's using the wool I bought on honeymoon in Austria it's a beautiful soft mix with a lovely sheen to it. I can't wait to wear it in the Autumn :) It's just treble crochet, with a 5mm hook, quite a tight stitch. 

I've also been baking, I found this wonderful recipe on Regina's lovely blog 'My Simple Life' (here). It's for a Zwetschgenkuchen, which is a cake with fresh fruit. Really scrummy, I ate a lot of it during my time in Germany (cake is a major part of my love of Germany!) I was so pleased with how it turned out, it was so easy and so tasty. C liked it too, there's not a lot left. I used peaches this time, but will definitely use plums next time... 

Otherwise I haven't been terribly productive, I'm still ploughing away with the blanket, more photos soon :)

I have a question to ask all you wonderful experienced crocheters who pop in here - a bit of a plea for help! Does anyone have an easy, quick shawl pattern that they would recommend? I'm off to a wedding in two weeks and need something to pop over my shoulders. I was thinking maybe a simple V Stitch or granny type pattern, but wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations :) I bought some lovely soft DK yarn, an acrylic/nylon mix all ready and will try and start crocheting before too long. any suggestions?!

Home Sweet Home

It's so nice being home, and settled again. Having not being able to bake for a few weeks I quickly seized the opportunity and made chewy chocolate cookies, so easy and very tasty - they didn't last long! (recipe here)

We bought these lovely ceramic plant markers at a Berlin market: chive, parsley and thyme. My favourite plant in the garden is also out in full bloom, I do love hydrangeas :)

I stayed with a good friend in Nottingham on Friday, we had some drinks and dancing and then the next day we went into town. After lunch at Jamie's Italian (YUM) we did a spot of shopping, and picked up some tarts from Patisserie Valerie for afternoon tea. Isn't her tea service wonderful! It's vintage 70s, I love the vivid colours.

I've now joined two rows of my blanket for Bonnie - slow progress but worth it! C and I have a bet going as to when I will finish, watch this space!!

Cherry Cake and Sneaky Crochet

I realised the other day that the 'tag line' or whatever it's called for my blog is 'crafting, cooking, camping' and I have clearly been very biased towards the former!! Yesterday I decided to make my favourite cherry cake recipe, so thought I would share it here. I cannot for the life of me remember where I got it, but it's written down on one of those scraggy old bits of paper and in my recipe book. It's very easy (as most of my cooking tends to be!) and C loves it.

You will need:

200g Margarine (the recipe says butter, but I use flora to feel a bit more virtuous, it works fine but you probably won't need to add much milk at the end because of the higher water content)
150g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
225g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
100g Glace Cherries (I ignore this and do it by sight: I love cherries!!)
Milk

1. First of all the oven needs to be heated to 180 degrees (mine's a fan oven, so 160 for me). Cream together the marg and the sugar until it's fluffy and smooth. (The other benefit of the marg is it makes this stage SO much easier than butter... I don't even cheat and use the food processor!)

2. Next of all add the eggs separately and beat well to incorporate (mix looks gooey but this will soon be rectified :)

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and mix gently.

4. Favourite Bit! Add the cherries :) I coat mine in flour to try and stop them sinking, but this works to varying effect.

5. Fold cherries in gently and then add milk if required. Pour mixture into cake tin (I use an 18" silicone one from Lakeland). Bake in the oven for approx 55 mins. (Now this is the bit I find the hardest as my oven seems so unpredictable, I tend to set the timer for 45 mins and check every 10 mins thereafter. The original recipe says 1 hour 15 but mine would be burnt to a crisp by then!)

6. And Ta Dah! forgot to take a picture of the cake cooling so here it is all nestled up in its stylish (!) Roses tin.

Yum yum yum.

And in other news I neglected my firm promise to focus on more wedding crochet and started a new project. It's using this cowl pattern from the Fiber Flux blog, and I am going to use up some of the wool I bought that wasn't right for the blanket I'm working on... Here it is so far,

It crochets up really quickly so hopefully I will get it done soon!

Have a lovely week everyone!