Not that I've really been away! I can't believe I haven't posted since the end of Feb. March wasn't the best of months with illness for everybody and then the little man's birthday at the end of it and then some more illness after that - oh dear :( But we all seem ok for now - well hubby has the startings of man flu but I'm hoping it will pass quickly and not spread.
I've not done an awful lot of crafting - I feel I've slightly lost my mojo and despite having a million and one ideas at the start of the year I have lost my inspiration. I've got a few ideas in the pipe line but need to find some time to get on with them. I have been cooking a bit here and there when I've had the energy but my Sunday morning baking sessions have suffered hugely from the start of the F1 season!! hehe Anyway here are a few bits I've been up to:
So first things first this was the little mans birthday cake which I have to say I was very pleased with. I made two plain sponges in a rectangular tin and then sandwiched together and cut them into the shape of a one (may have to think of a different plan next year - 2's look difficult!!!). I sandwiched them together with jam and buttercream - well actually I cheated because I had some Betty Crocker's buttercream left over from mothers day when I cheated some more *blush* and used this. I used this again for the piping but mixed it with some green food colouring and then piped little stars all over the cake. I think this gave a better effect than I would have achieved with roll out icing. I then added white chocolate stars and the little figures and candle.
This is the result of a Sunday morning baking session in March. Homemade bread, chocolate chip rock buns - which are amazing!!! And cheese and marmite scones which I understand from the boys were also very good. I also made some sweet potato soup which is lovely and comforting and some stodgy rice pudding - again for the boys!! They really are spoilt!
Hot cross buns whipped up in the breadmaker on Good Friday
This is the result of last Saturdays baking session and is a combination of 1940's food for my mother in laws 1940's themed 70th birthday party - the red, white and blue cupcakes, the carrot cookies and the tea loaf - the two latter ones both being authentic 1940's style recipes. And baby led weaning cooking - the carrot muffins - which I made in tiny muffin cases as my little man can never eat a whole muffin but could manage two of these little bites - and cheese straws which also went down very well.
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This is the patchwork cushion that I made my mother in law for her birthday which I have to say again I was quite pleased with having never done patchwork before and not following a pattern and making it up as I went along!! It is something I will definitely have another go at and I have a few ideas of what I want to make next.
I've been wanting to make these for a while and have had empty plastic bottles kicking around for ages!!! They are DIY skittles for my little man. I filled each bottle with water and glitter/sequins and then added food colouring to three of them and a few drops of glycerine to them all to help the sequins/glitter move about in the water. I wasn't organised enough as I would like to have had a bottle each of the three primary colours and secondary colours but didn't have any blue food colouring. I thought this would be a good way for Isaac to learn his colours but he's still at the throwing them about stage and laughing at them when the fall over stage so I've got time to add a blue and purple one in and teach him colours!!! I will probably in time also write the colours on the bottles for him. I set them out like this in the living room while he was in the other room and he got upset as he wasn't allowed upstairs and then all of a sudden saw these and the tears stopped immediately and he went to investigate!! A hit!! They will be good for outside too if it ever stops raining!!!!!!
Today's baking session - no GP today so the boys were in luck!! Today I did a Spanish Apple Cake from the BLW book which is lovely but not such a hit with Isaac who spat the apple lumps out!! Maybe next time they could do with being a bit smaller so the little monkey doesn't realise they are there. I wonder if its the texture of cooked apple he doesn't find appealing. I also made cheese and lentil wedges from the BLW cook book - I'm not sure if it was the lack of cheese or I didn't cook them long enough but they were horrid and went in the bin - you can't win them all!! Then I made my infamous sausage rolls which have already taken a hit!! I also made a bread pudding for hubby - can't stand the stuff myself and the making of it involves soaking bread in milk - yuk I really can't stand wet bread but he seems to like it and as he's paying the bills I guess I have to try and keep him happy!! hehe!! The last thing I made was chocolate crunch - which is my mums recipe and something we had at least once a week as children and something she still cooks now when we all get together for a dinner. I also made homemade custard for the first time ever. I don't eat the stuff myself (I'm dairy intolerant and on a diet plus was made to sit in one lunch hour at school trying to eat a spoonful of banana custard by Mrs Lennon and it put me off for life!!!!!!) but hubby said it was much lighter and nicer than the bought stuff and was very easy so I will be making it again.
Off to bed for me now and I will try not to leave it so long this time!!
