Birthday and a new obsession

I really do mean to write more frequently but life just seems to get in the way!!

So what have I been up to?  More baking and the bread making is going very well but there are limited photos as I've been doing the same basic loaves in Sexy Pauls book...

....a gratuitous pic of the man himself just because it's my blog and I can :P

This is a cob loaf I made for my family over Easter.  I also made another one using beer - IPA - instead of water which I stupidly forgot to take a picture of but it looked very much like this one!! lol!!  It tasted it ok but not sure I'd be in a hurry to make it again.  

I have this morning ordered Sexy Paul's new Bread book and a baguette tray  after my baguettes ended up like crispy pancakes!!  I also desperately need a mixer if my family or kind generous strangers are reading!!! Am so in love with the Kitchen Aids but it's probably just as well that I can't afford one as I really don't know what colour I would pick?!??

I'm feeling very inspired on the bread front with my new purchases and Paul's Bread programme last night was all about sourdough which looked amazing so that's my next project....although I've also got Gino DiCampo's Italian Baking Book and the GBBO book out of the library and there are some amazing loaves in there so I'm overwhelmed with ideas!!  The biggest problem is that I'm trying to lose weight - incredibly badly (who put that chocolate finger in my mouth?!?!) - so I am trying to limit my baking somewhat.

I have made these healthy low fat meals in the past few weeks - Healthy Ham, Egg and Chips which is lovely.  Just cubed potatoes cooked in a small amount of oil, then add mushrooms and when nearly done add in some tomatoes and crack some eggs in the pan.  Serve with Ham and some beans - lovely :)

Homemade pizza - I can't eat dairy so really should be thin as a rake!  But I'm not but my pizza's are much healthier than if they were covered in cheese - and I much prefer them to Dominoes although my husband doesn't - maybe he's the reason I'm not as thin as a rake!

Other random bakes - Hot Cross Buns - Paul Hollywood's of course!! 

Cheese and Spinach Muffins - BLW cookbook - My little man helped with these ...although his help mostly involved putting the flour on the floor :s

And Mother's Day makes - chocolate cupcakes....

And from the little man - decorated biscuits.

As well as having Easter we've had a very big celebration in our house - my little man's 2nd Birthday and as it coincided with the Easter Holidays I thought I would do an Easter themed cake based on one I had seen on pinterest.

I started by sculpting a rabbits bum from fondant icing - there's a sentence you don't say everyday!!  I don't know how anyone works with this stuff as it's horrible and I really don't have the patience for it but managed the bum! 

I then sandwiched four sponge cakes together with chocolate buttercream icing - two chocolate and two plain. 

I cut a little rabbit warren out of the base for the rabbit to disappear into 

And then covered it all in chocolate buttercream icing 

I then covered the outside of the cake in chocolate fingers and set the rabbits bum in the warren and covered the top with chocolate eggs, chicks and a number 2 candle.

The finished cake 

The inside of the cake

My little nephew was totally amused by the rabbit and the chocolate on the cake and here is the birthday boy blowing out the candle (excuse the mess - two toddlers inside on a birthday weekend can only end one way!!)

And talking of my little man - he's been busy too.....

Lots of drawing 

 And some painting too 

This is our Easter bunny 

And here is my very precious handmade Mothers Day Card <3

And what about my new obsession (seriously I can not get addicted to anything else!!) ....well that would be crochet :) 

Had a go at making granny squares and turns out they are quite fun to make and they grow so much quicker than knitting 

This is my dream make but I've had a go and its quite a bit more advanced than basic squares so have had a change of plan and will put this on the back burner whilst I hone my technique and finish some other projects too.

And talking of unfinished projects (see what I did there!) I have actually done some work on the play house - this is starting to be a mill stone around my neck but I will get there!!!  As I joked with someone it will probably be done by the time he's 18 and he will want to be on his X Box and I will be forcing him to play under the table!! hehe!!  No it will be done way by then ....progress so far.....

The Hungry Caterpillar Side with fruit counting pieces 

The caterpillar has ended up being too big to go on the play house so is now just a toy for Isaac to play with 

The season side with relevant season pieces 

The toadstools for.....

The front door! 

Now just to sew it all together.....Which I'm sure won't be as hard as I imagine and I need to just get on with it!!! lol!! Watch this space! 

How to bake continued....

Yep totally hooked on this bead making malarkey!!  Loving it.  Am still working my way through the basic bread section of Sexy Paul's book (aka Paul Hollywood) see here in pride of place on my work top!! ;)

So we've had another white tin loaf (which I nearly killed as it stuck itself to the plastic bag on the second rising :S) and some barm cakes - which are soft rolls apparently!  And a little bit flat!!

A cottage loaf :) 

Some chapatis - which were a doddle to make and tasted amazing

And this is my attempt at an 8 stranded plait which went a bit tits up!!  Not sure I'll bother again as it was a bit of a faff and wasn't a great shape for sandwiches or toast!

And this week we've had a malted loaf which was amazing!!  Made with Waitrose malted and seeded flour - it really tasted lovely.  We had it with smoky tomato and bacon soup for dinner one night although there has been much discussion over whether soup and bread constitutes a proper meal.  I think it does if it's homemade and proper soup and bread.

Very disappointed that Sexy Paul doesn't have a naan bread in his book (although I have hopes for his new book  - which is already on my wish list!!!) so I made these Peshwari Naan's from this recipe last night and they were very lovely.  I think next time though I might make them into slightly larger breads.  

In case you were of the opinion that soup and bread isn't a proper meal - here are some other meals we've had recently. 

 

Ham and Mushroom Pie in my new pie dish complete with blackbird!! (not the best rolled out pastry but it tasted nice!) 

Pea and Potato Curry - one of my absolute faves 

Pork, Chirizo and Pea Hotpot - which was nicer than I thought it was going to be when I looked at it in the slow cooker

And some sweet treats - Orange and Carrot Muffins which are less than 200 cals and my treat of the moment whilst I work off the excesses of Christmas (still!!!) and Nigella's banana cake which I had to make after finding a bag of brown bananas in the shop for 30-odd p!

And in exciting other news....progress has been made on the playhouse!!!  As you can see my sewing box has been out and the first 'side' is almost complete.  Really want to get this done for the little mans birthday at the end of March but not sure it's going to happen....I might get the basic shape up and then add to it as and when I have the time.

And speaking of the little man we've been making a post box this week and here he is writing his letters to go in it <3  He just needs a bag, a hat and a black and white hat.

How to Bake - part 1

I got given Paul Hollywood's How to Bake book for Christmas and am going to try and work my way through it.  I am totally astounded how following the recipes to the letter that I've done so far has given me such totally amazing bread!!

First up was a white tin loaf.

Next up a wholemeal tin loaf - this was the lightest wholemeal loaf I've ever eaten :) 

And then this amazing cob loaf



















Next up - an 8 stranded plait!!! :O

An epic catch up!!

WOW!  How have two months nearly gone by since my last post and how are we nearly at the end of January already?!  As you will see in this post I was very busy in the run up to Christmas with makes and bakes and since Christmas we have all been poorly with a really horrible bug and today is the first day I've felt like doing anything other than making a big dent in the sofa with my bottom!! lol!!

So where to start - well not with the playhouse as nothing has happened on that front due to Christmas and poor health.  Really want to get back to that this week as well finishing the kitchen curtain which is really needed at the moment as we are under a good foot or so of snow and it's freezing! I also have big plans for Isaac's second birthday party at the end of March so I really need to get my foot into gear!  Oh and I was also given a lovely craft book at Christmas by my brother and sister in law which I was studying last night and now have even more ideas of makes (as well as my ever growing pinterest addiction!) and my brother and sister gave me a gorgeous new knitting bag, knitting book and some lovely wool that I also need to start using :)   As is always the case too much craft - not enough time!!

So firstly some random food makes:

Chocolate buns and a small chocolate loaf in my new chocolate loaf tins.  So cute!! 

Homemade pizza which is soooooooo much better than Dominoes although my hubby doesn't agree.  Very easy to make the dough - mix 500g strong white flour with 5tbsp of olive oil, 300ml of warm water and 1tbsp of yeast.  Knead until smooth and then leave to double in size and then roll out into pizza shapes - I tend to get two big ones and two small ones out of this dough.  Whilst that is rising again (I'm very laid about how long this takes as it usually fits around Isaac's bath time!) I fry some onion and then add some passata (oh I love passata!) and let it bubble away until its thick.  This weekend I also added some frozen spinach which was nice and of course some worcester sauce.  Then spread that on the bases and top with whatever you fancy - I use cheese, pepperoni, sweetcorn, mushrooms, bbq sauce....the list is endless.  LUSH! 

This was a sweet potato, spinach and bacon tart made from the intolerant gourmet book - was very very nice and easy to make.

And a few jam tarts with the left over pastry! 

Homemade rolls which were lovely and some little cakes that Isaac made - these were from a box (shock horror) but as he had put them in the shopping basket himself how could I refuse!!  And they were very easy for him to make.  We made buns today but to get them mixed properly involves some equipment and I don't really like him to close to the beaters and he cried at the food processor!! He's a bit sensitive when it comes to loud noises! 

A victoria sandwich - a treat for the hubster! 

An epic Toad in the Hole - Nigella's yorkshire pudding recipe is ace!! 

 Pork meatballs pasta bake - this is amazing and I always forget how lovely it is 

Christmas makes:

 My little man painting the place mats for Christmas day - we added sparkles and colours with felt tips 

This years Christmas cards were green felt Christmas trees that I cut out and and stuck onto cards and then left Isaac to his own devices to decorate them with seasonal foam stickers 

This was the grandparents Christmas present - Isaac's handprint and a lovely poem which made one Nanny cry!!!   I then framed them in white wooden frames. 

My decoupatched Ho Ho Ho - I was so happy with this.  I got the supplies from Crafty Crocodiles - papers, brushes and cardboard letters.  Then I mixed PVA glue with water and Isaac helped me wet the cardboard letters with this glue mix and then we stuck torn up bits of paper over the letters.  Once they were dry I varnished them and added glitter.  They will be fab to get out each year and I've got plans for family initials for the living room wall...another thing to add to the list! 

I made a double batch of Nigella's suet free mince meat which is amazing - full of apples and cider.  As you can see it made a good few jars - some of which I gave away - but the others were used to make these lovely mince pies - mmmmmmm!!

Candy cane anyone?

I made my last minute Christmas puddings - these went down very well as usual - very boozy! 

After my initial problem with making my Christmas ham in that the ham was bigger than my slower cooker, I managed to get it in and cooked it all day in water and some apple juice.  Once it was cooked through I put it in the oven covered in a whisky and marmalade glade. Unfortunately everyone was too full on Christmas day for this at tea time but it made lots of lovely lunches cold, a batch of pea and ham soup and there's three bags full in my freezer for ham and mushroom pies- good times and very good value as it was from Aldi for £6!  I do love a bargain. 

Cakes for Christmas day tea - I made a selection of loaf cakes - lemon, vanilla, coffee and walnut and sultana and cherry.   Plus chocolate buns - which Isaac loved - and biscuits which were  gifts for family members. 

Biscuits bagged up and covered in squirls of chocolate  

Not more sausage rolls and mince pies surely?!?!

Not everything went to plan - these chelsea buns for breakfast on Christmas day were horrible, stodgy and not at all cooked properly!!  Something to try again another day.  

The big meal!  The picture really doesn't do it justice but look at those yorkshires!!  Will be making them in muffin tins again I think!!  Was a lovely meal and worth the effort. 

Hope everyone had a good day although it seems ages away already.....and I've already started thinking about the next one!!!