Kenwood love

I am in love with a machine. After several years of hankering, I came across this beauty at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago. The man wanted £30 for it... a fair price. I, as is typical, came to the boot sale unprepared for large purchases. Just before heading home B and I scrabbled together our pennies and I was able to offer him £17. I think he could see the desperation in my eyes.

Mil and I made cakes. I think we might be making cakes more often.

my mate for life

Happy Valentine's everyone. We don't really celebrate Valentine's day in this house with any seriousness. Occasionally, if the other is lucky we might present a card. Like a lot of the world we try to celebrate our love and togetherness in small ways every day, and rather rebel at being told to show love.


However, I did feel compelled to make my love a small lavender pillow to keep his smalls scented. With a heart on one side and a swallow on the other. As well as some rather dubious homo erotic and criminal meanings, swallows also symbolise love and loyalty as they choose a mate for life.

And B? He made bagels... what more could a girl ask for?

Pretty Cookie Mix

I am going to be carrying on with the Christmas theme for a bit, as I get my gifts sorted. Next is these great Cookie Mix jars from Bakerella. I haven't tested the mix so I really hope they bake up alright. The jars were a bargain 99p from our local hardware store. I have been buying them like mad as the lady there says she can't get any more and once they are gone, they are gone...

And, the Advent Calendar is working a treat. I had a long day at work and left the bowl as per the previous post with envelopes and pegs and ribbon with B and asked him to put it up somewhere and look what he did! I would never have thought of doing it this way! Brilliant.

No Peeping!

The blog has slipped down the list of priorities, hence the lack of posts. It is crazy in our house at the moment and we are all suffering from stress related ailments. But, we are making progress of the painting/ decorating kind with much help from one particular family member, and carpet has been going down, and the like. The end of all this building cannot come too soon. There hasn't been much going on in the way of crafting but here goes...

It was my birthday a week or so ago, and Brendan (that's the one I'm going to marry) made me a cake. I came home from a work trip to this:



It was very hard to follow the rules, but I did and the next day he produced this:


Yum! a polenta/ orange/ almond/ honey cake. Just as well I'm marrying him, huh?

And here is a little bit of knitting... I did these try-outs a while back, and now feel ready to tackle some sort of jumper for the boy, just need to find a pattern suitable for such a beginner.

Moss stitch: *K1, P1* K1

Tracks: Row 1: *K4, P6* Row 2 and alt rows: purl, Rows 3 and 7: Knit, Row 5: *P5, K4, P1*

Chevron Moss: Row 1: *P1, K3*, Row 2: *K1, P5, K1, P1*, Row 3: *K2, P1, K3, P1, K1* Row 4: *P2, K1, P1, K1, P3*

Ridge Stitch: Row 1: Knit, Row 2: *K2 tog all across the row*, Row 3: K into front and back of each stitch, Row 4: Purl.

And I got some lovely yarn for my birthday too, so ought to find a pattern... any suggestions?

Two

Our little boy, Mil, was two today. A whole two years old!


We had a little party in the morning with 7 of his buddies over for some playing and some party food. Sadly, Mil wasn't on top form and was feeling a bit out of sorts, but muddled his way through. That's him amongst the balloons waiting for his guests to arrive.


I decided to make bags for give-aways. I hate all the tat that can come with the idea of a party bag, and the tat ends up costing a fortune! So all his buddies got a bag, a packet of pens and a bag of chocolate buttons. And, of course, a balloon on a ribbon.


Then after his nap, Mil was sick and spent the rest of the day in front of the fire in his pyjamas doing jigsaws.

Two years. Gosh.

Brittle Elastic

So, I haven't posted in quite a while.

It feels like we are sinking in this house at the moment... too many big, time consuming and disruptive tasks all on at the same time. There has been no crafting, unless you count taking up a new pair of jeans?! The builders have gone, which is a relief, but we are left with a stack of DIY and it seems no time in which to complete it. We have to keep remembering that it will be finished soon and it will be worth it!

Now, I normally take pictures specifically to blog, but as it appears I am not blogging I thought I might just bung up some randoms...

If you are still reading, then thanks, and I shall endeavour to share a bit more often.

Some biscuits for a Christmas thank you card.

Our landing as it looks at the moment... up those stairs is where we will be sleeping, and through that door is where we will have our office and sewing room... Hang on in there!

Dads, sons, uncles and cousins out walking at the weekend.

Head above water

It has been busy around here. One thing after another. Firstly, I've been trickling along with the Christmas crafting: some napkins for gifts...

with applique vegetables.

And than we had a bit of chicken pox

which meant that M wasn't allowed to come to B's brothers wedding and wear this...

and for which I had been tearing my hair out making this...

The result was passable (although the pictures barely are),

And, we still have scaffolding all over the house, and builders tramping in and out,

But yesterday after driving back from the London wedding, we got our tree, and now the place feels much jollier!

Treacle Tart

So, Kyoko tells me that treacle tart is her favorite and wonders if it is easy to make.

It is so, so easy, so Kyoko, this is for you... and any other sweet toothed bloggers.

Treacle Tart - recipe courtesy of Nigel Slater

Ingredients:
250g Shortcrust Pastry - you could make your own, but why not save the trouble and buy it from the supermarket?
225g Fresh white bread (you can leave the crusts on too)
600g Golden syrup - warning, this is a shocking amount of sugar!
Juice of half a lemon

Method:
Grease a 22 cm Tart tin/ Pie dish.

Roll out your pastry on a floured surface to fit the tin. Lift it into the tin and press into edges. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, cover and leave to rest in fridge for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200c/ gas mark 6.

Take tart case from the fridge, cover with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and return the pastry case to the oven for 5 minutes until the pastry feels dry. Remove and set aside.

Lower the oven to 180c/ gas mark 4. Whizz the bread in a food processor till you have fine, soft white crumbs. Mix them with the golden syrup, stirring until they are all fully coated and then stir in the lemon juice. Pour the crumb mixture into the warm pastry case and return to the oven for 25-35 minutes. Leave the tart to cool for 10 minutes or so before cutting. Serve with cream or ice cream.

If you have left over pastry you can also add a pastry lattice top or pattern with pastry leaves/ hearts/ stars after pouring the mixture into the case and before putting it in the oven for the last time. I have a star cutter and did stars for B's birthday and it looked really fun.

Let me know if you try it!

Birds for Hens

Cognac was lovely, we had great pool weather, I got flip-flop tan lines, and ate baguette and cheese for breakfast every day... what more could a girl want? But, phew, that first week back from holiday is always manic. You have to hit the ground running. I did, however, sneak some crafting in.

Look at these little birds. How cute are they? The pattern from spool sewing is dead simple to follow, and I really enjoyed having a hand sewing project. Much calmer than working on the machine. I could make more and more of these, and I might have to seeing as I've just given them all away. I gave them away in mis-matching pairs. One pair for a very special birthday girl, and one pair to my good friend who is getting married in September. It was her hen party on Saturday and I got myself on a train to the big smoke and met up with lots of lovely ladies for a picnic on Hamstead Heath.

And hen picnics deserve some homebaked items, so it was just as well that on that rainy Friday I had two willing helpers in the shape of my sisters. We hit Nigella's How to be a domestic goddess... first blueberry muffins:

We doubled the receipes so that both hens and cooks alike would be satisfied. I couldn't resist popping into shot those birdie parcels all wrapped and ribboned and ready to go.

And then banana bread: one packaged for the picnic and the other for pudding served with ice cream... delicious! You might also spot my brand new stove top kettle in the background there. I have to admit, it does take rather longer than the electric kettle (now banished to the cupboard) but look how jolly it is!

Hmm, okay, what project next?