Can you believe...

...two posts in one week!!  :P

I've had a good creative week and the suns been out and I've been outside without a coat, gloves and scarf on!!  Spring has finally sprung - wahoo!

There has been much cooking this week - as usual - you know how I like my food!

We had home made pizza's with pineapple, bacon and mushrooms (bacon as the ham I thought I had to make Hawian pizza's had all been eaten!  Again I am so grateful to have a well stocked freezer)

I used my cast iron pot for the first time to make a lovely sausage and new potato casserole and I must say I preferred this to anything I've made in the slow cooker lately so this may be the way forward.

 And it got another airing today - Beef in Stout with dumplings - OMG this was amazing! And very easy - fry some beef to seal and then put to oneside whilst you fry off some onions and carrots.  Add a tablespoon of flour, 330ml of stout, 750ml stock and 4 tablespoons of blackcurrant jam.  Put in the oven for 2 to 2 and a half hours.  Whilst that's cooking make the dumplings - 75g breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1tsp mustard and some herbs.  Leave in the fridge to cool for an hour and then make into dumplings and pop in the dish half an hour before the end of cooking and then continue to cook without the lid on.  Will definitely be making this again :)

And for pudding Chocolate crunch and homemade custard 

I made foccacia in the week which wasn't a Sexy Paul's recipe!! Shock Horror!! This was a Gino D'acampo but was still very lovely and went down very well with curried butternut squash soup. 

I did receive some very exciting deliveries this week - a baguette tray, a scraper and Paul Hollywood's new book - Bread which I have to say looks even better than How to Bake.  After watching his show on Monday night all on Sourdough I was inspired and Cecil my starter was born :) 

He's doing really - but no one mentions how badly these things reek!!  Turned my stomach the first time I opened the jar. No sourdough to show you so far as the first attempt was a disaster but watch this space - I will not be beaten!!!!

 I have resolved to finish some longstanding projects (yes play house I'm coming to you!!!!!) First off last week was the new kitchen curtain which for reasons best known to me I decided to make out of patchwork!?!? :S  Anyway it's done now (almost I need to attach the tracking tape on the back).  This was made entirely of fabric I already had - lots of left overs from the bunting from my wedding, an old top and the old kitchen curtain.  It's been lined with an old white sheet - make do and mend indeed!!

My resolve not to start anything else or even think about anything else till I'd done my outstanding projects didn't last long.  I bought this book at the local jumble sale - like I need another type of craft to try?!

And I've started crocheting a throw for our living room to match our curtains.  I am ordering more wool later!! 

As well as cooking and crafting we've been in the garden and planting lots of seeds which hopefully we will be able to eat if they grow!!  Here's my little man watering the carrots nicely....before he realised he would get more water out of the can if he turned it upside down!!!!! 

So this week I'm resolved to start on refashioning some clothes I've had lying about for a while (I'm also challenging myself to sort out my summer wardrobe for just £50 - more on that next time) and if these don't take too long I will be making a start on finishing the play house. :) 

Oh and just to say I do love receiving comments so if you have read this post do please say hello :)