As I move into my second year I am going to try and update more frequently and expand the blog to cover makes I do with Isaac as I have some great things planned for him for Christmas and he seems to enjoy a bit of crafting (and he has two cupboards of the stuff to get going on - in addition to my three cupboards - think we will be ok if we get snowed in this year!! lol! ) so I thought it would be nice to keep a record of his makes as well.
I'm also baking and cooking like crazy following our extension and being a proud owner of a new mahoosive kitchen!!! I LOVE IT!! And it's so lovely to be able to use all my equipment and ingredients without having to play the krypton factor to get everything out!
So what have I been up to....here goes!
This was the last meal in my old kitchen - a lovely homecooked lasagne that was enjoyed by all before our old plates were chucked in the skip and all hell broke loose in the kitchen!!!
And as you can see it was definitely worth the wait!! :) Love love love my new kitchen and 'new' house!!! It's made such a difference to our lives and we all feel we have a bit more space to breathe and be. Also we have a new dining room which seems to be doubling up as my craft room - yipee!!!!! Ooo and we also have a new camera which means I can have the old one to take pics of things to put on here with no problems.
This is an old make that I made a very long time ago whilst I was still living at home with mum and when I was into cross stitch in a big way - I can't seem to find the energy or the inclination for it now which is a shame as I have quite a few lovely patterns to do plus I'm in the middle of a big tiger picture. Maybe the urge will take me again someday. Anyway little did I know when I made this cushion that I would eventually have a little boy to give it to for his chair....although he doesn't like sitting on it!
This is a patchwork cushion I made for my auntie for her 60th birthday. It uses the same pattern as the one I made for my mother in law for her birthday in May. This was quite a feat to complete as I left it till the last minute - as usual - and ended up having to do it by lamplight as the electrician had turned all the lights off in our existing living room and the new dining room was still unplastered!! aw well I got there in the end.
My auntie had a busy September with her birthday at the start of the month and then at the end of the month it was her and my uncles 40th wedding anniversary. I bought some plain white crockery and personalised it with some red porcelain paint. I tried to trace the letters on there from a pattern booklet but it was much easier to do it free hand. I then gave the crockery in a bag with some lovely tea and biscuits as I figured they would get enough champagne and I'm told that sometimes only a cuppa will do.
This is bunnykins number 4! She was a birthday present for my niece at the start of October - it's the first time I've made a dress for her but might not be the last!!
My biggest project recently has been this pushchair cover. I designed it myself and used the colours of the pushchair as my inspiration. OMG I love patchwork and have so many ideas that I want to make!! Really enjoy cutting out the pieces and it's amazing how quickly the little bits all come together.
So as well as crafting I've been baking and cooking up a storm in our new kitchen - I am going to try and log more of what I cook and hopefully if I get the time add the recipes too.
My mum has been supplying me with lots of windfall apples and the above left is the BEST apple cake you can make so much so that they generally don't last much longer than three days if that in this house and are especially nice still warm from the oven. The pies on the left were made with my new piemaker from lakeland which I'm not 100% sure about. I thought it would be great for making little pies to put in the freezer but I'm worried about heating up meat more than twice and it's also a bit of a faff. I've put in the back of the cupboard for the moment and I'm hoping that's not where it will stay.
Here is a slightly more successful pie that we had on Wednesday night - ham (leftovers from a big piece of gammon done in the slow cooker), leek and mushroom pie. It was gorgeous and served up with potato wedges from leftover jacket spuds and beans. Perfect for an autumnal night. Isaac really enjoyed this!
I also made some spiced apple chutney - again from windfall apples. This is a Nigella recipe and it smelled lovely but I've not tried it yet as have put it away in the cupboard as I think they get better over time. I was hoping that it would make more than two jars though!! Might make a bit more as I have the spices now.
And I've been baking bread again!!!!! Having been inspired by the sexy Paul Hollywood off Great British Bake off - (not just to make bread but to bake full stop - it's really not good for the waistline!!) and I've fallen out with my breadmaker which kept producing housebricks rather than loaves of bread!!!!! The top one is a Nigella white loaf (gotta love How to be Domestic Goddess - everytime I get it out I find something new to cook from it - and I forgot how amazing her carrot cupcakes are - think I ate them too quickly to have taken a pic!!! oops!!) Anyway I digress! I made the Split Tin loaf twice and although a bit more of a faff than the Nigella loaf I think I preferred it to taste as the Nigella loaf was a bit drier but I will give it another go cos it might just be I made it wrong!! The plait I was quite chuffed with as it's an enriched dough with egg in it and it tasted lovely. It's very satisfying making such amazing things from such basic ingredients. In the bottom pic along with the loaf is a chocolate sponge cake - already started!! hehe!! and some rock buns - mmm lovely!
And here is my budding baker!!! Start them young and hopefully they will make you cake when you cba!!! These are some banana muffins he made - he enjoyed mashing the banana - although a big chunk went missing into his mouth!! He also enjoyed giving it a stir, putting the muffin cases in the tin and as you can see getting covered in flour!
We've been working on a few other bits and pieces but as they are gifts and surprises I can't show you them all now but give me time.....and I will try to update more often - promise! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment