Granny Squares

What a difference a week makes, I think I blinked and Summer was over. I sure sign colder weather is on the way is when I finally relented and switch the heating on. I've also had to dig out some fluffy socks to keep my feet warm and the slow cooker has even made a few appearances in this last couple of weeks!

One thing I did think was fast disappearing was night feeds, but it would appear that after sleeping through from about 9 weeks, my daughter has suddenly decided that she wants to wake for a feed not once but twice in the night.  I am quite literally feeling like I could fall asleep standing up. I suppose my smug smile needed wiping off my face for all the times I happily told anyone and everyone that I was getting a full nights sleep and what an easy baby I have. Now, don't get me wrong, an easy, wonderful and happy baby she is and she's probably just going through a growth spurt and hopefully (with fingers crossed) she will soon start sleeping through again!

A result of feeling a little dozy these last few nights has meant that hook and yarn have rarely seen the light of day.  My stack of granny squares has not been greatly increased and they sit there looking hopeful at me from the bureau. 

In a bid to try and cast out the 'dead on my feet' feeling, I have been donning the baby papoose and setting out with baby and dog for some lovely long walks. The sky is looking a lot more grey and gloomy these days and rain showers can be seen in small pockets moving across the hills, it's often a race to get back indoors before being soaked to the skin with these passing downpours!

I have found a little energy to try and continue with my own challenge of making something from 'The Great British Bake Off" programme. I am such a huge fan of this series and admire the contestants for putting themselves through the pressure of baking such amazing cakes, breads and biscuits etc all the time being filmed while also being under the intense scrutiny of Paul and Mary. I love to bake, I spend a huge amount of time in the kitchen looking for things I can make. I love to read food blogs and enjoy looking at a recipe book as much as I do reading a good novel. However, I could never imagine having the amount of bravery it must take to appear on that show, quite simply, I would break under the pressure, especially with Paul Hollywood's steely blue eyes staring critically at anything I managed to cook!!

So, in moderately less pressurised surrounding, (my own kitchen) I set about making something from this weeks show and tried my hands at Macron's!! I searched the Internet and found this recipe which didn't look too tricky to follow. I must admit that I tried unsuccessfully on 2 occasions before I made a batch I was happy with. They were lovely, if maybe a little on the big side, more Grande Four then Petit Four! My hubby and eldest daughter demolished them in no time. I imagine they would make a lovely present all boxed up and tied with ribbon, must make a note of that for Christmas maybe (oh, how even more depressing thinking of the C word already!!!)

My baby girl is getting a little older now (a whole 14 weeks now) and she enjoys spending short periods of time sat in her bouncy chair playing with her toys. At this stage she loves looking at black and white objects and can literally shake with excitement at her Lamaze toy. It's amazing how something so small can have so many things. Our front room is fast looking like an aisle of Toys R Us. As much as tripping over brightly coloured toys all day fights with my urge to have it all tidied away, I do love to watch her giddy with pleasure over all these things, it's worth all the sleepless night and messy house - honest xx

Wishing you all a hooky full, sunshiny warm, relaxingly chilled week. 

Great Escape!

Never have I looked more forward to a holiday then I did this time, as my family and I boarded a plane heading to a much needed week of sunshine in Belek, Turkey. I don't think we anticipated the appallingly cold and wet weather conditions we have experienced this winter and spring and what complete lack of sun or warmth we were likely to see when we booked this holiday all those months ago! This holiday was so greatly needed and boy, did Turkey not disappoint.

We stayed at the Susesi Luxury Resort, where our every need was catered for. Our daughter, being the friendly, confident little girl that she is, met and made friends with another little girl on our first morning and they were like two pea's in a pod from that moment on and completely inseparable. They spent their week enjoying each others company and all that they required was a daily trip to the beach to collect more shells for their collection.

It was lovely to watch them in their play and know that they were completely and utterly contented in what they were doing, it also meant us parents could indulge in some much needed relaxation on a sun lounger by the pool.

The gardens at the resort were incredible, so green, so full of colour and flowers, so amazingly maintained and lush. 

I loved the many beds of Bird Of Paradise flowers, they looked stunning don't you agree?

They were absolutely beautiful and everyday after breakfast we would take a walk around the gardens and enjoy the early morning warmth and look forward to the day ahead.

I love the sea and the Mediterranean is especially lovely as it is not tidal and always so beautifully turquoise in colour. In May, sea turtles come to this part of the coast and lay their eggs, now that is something I would love to experience.

Now, previously when I have traveled to a new part of the world, I do like to try and experience parts of their culture and visit landmarks and sites of interest, but honestly, on this occasion, I moved little further then from the side of the pool to the beach and back. I confess that I just laid and read my book. The only time I made any effort to move was when I was hungry and the food was out of this world, and the cakes!!! WOW!!

They were works of art and looked too lovely to eat, not that that stopped us. Each afternoon at 4 o'clock, they served an eye wateringly huge assortment of patisseries, pastries and cakes.

And each evening at dinner, there was a different featured dessert, this one was a vanilla cheesecake with an apricot glaze. The macaroons were so divine and the presentation was breath taking!!

Even the main courses were beautifully crafted, this dish for example was Salmon Gravlax. 

This is one of the many carvings, this one was Neptune and was part of the seafood themed evening

This was also part of the seafood display!!

Oh, and back to the cakes!!!

It's mouth watering just to look at them!!!

And if we didn't have enough cake while we were there, it was also our daughters 6th birthday, so to celebrate, they made her a special Torte, complete with candles and sparklers. A truly tremendous way to mark the end of our holiday.

So back home and back to reality I suppose. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to return soon with more talk of all things I love to indulge in. The weather these last 2 days have shown signs of improvement so I hope to take a gander down to our much neglected allotment plot and start a few tentative steps towards regaining order - wish me luck!!

Spring is here!!

!!!!

Hey guess what, I'm expecting a baby, but then, you knew that right!! Well the realisation of this hits me every now & then and inbetween these moments I am almost unaware of this monumentous news. Crazy I know, but with my first pregnancy, everything was new & I wanted to know everything right then, right now, but this time, 6 years on and feeling more confident in myself, I know I'm capable of carrying this baby & when the time comes, I'll be ready. I suppose the term 'one in the oven' has a good feel for me, as you know, I love to bake, and once that cake is in and baking, I don't think about it again till nearer the time it's ready to come out. Well, in some ways, thats how I like to think of this pregnancy, only the final product will be better than any cake I've ever tasted. 

This week though has been one of those 'hit me' times and a need to be organised has briefly kicked in, but as is typical for me, this was not in a purchasing the all essential baby equipment style organised, no my thoughts were towards the kitchen and stocking the cupboards, frigde and freezer for the months when I won't want to, have time to or even want to think about being in there and making meals, but a family I have and a family I need to cook for. Now I know they can more than fend for themselves but why waste this time I have now to cook up a storm and get some baking done, that way at least I can avoid the occasional 'delights' my wonderful husband concocts (I didn't marry him for his culinary skills)  

So today with more snow on the cards, I rolled up my sleeves and headed for the kitchen and began, today's creations were:
Chocolate chip loaf cake

Banana and honey loaf cake

Ginger loaf cake 

Lemon drizzle tray bake

This took me just over an hour to do, that's right, 4 cakes in an hour. I think my many years of baking has taught me a style of baking I love and that's straight forward, no fuss type baking and also little tips I use to ensure I'm not frantic in the kitchen, covered in flour emptying drawers looking for a measuring spoon!!! I'll share with you my top 10 tips to stay calm in the kitchen: 

• Always wear an apron, it saves your clothes getting mucky & bleach marks from the flour on brand new black tops ( been there!!!!) & handy for drying wet hands.

• Use scales, I have electronic ones. Baking, in my mind is a science and using correct amounts means more good results at the end of the day.

• Containers!!! I can't stand using bags of flour or sugar, as every time you unroll the top you get covered in a dusting of flour or sugar spills onto the work tops and then sticks to you at every opportunity.  Some baking powders come in such small containers that you can't get a measuring spoon in & you reason with yourself  that you can gently shake the powder out onto the spoon which will be ok & end up with the whole lot falling out in one great lump & into your mixture - cue one very enraged mum desperately trying to flick it back out of the bowl with the only implement to hand, a fork or other useless item ( yep, done this a few times too) I like to decant these types of dry ingredients into containers, I like to use the containers they use in our local sweet shop, she gives them away for free when empty. I also use jam jars & kilner jars, anything that is air tight and wide enough to get a spoon in. 

• When using ingredients like honey, syrup or treacle, place the measuring spoon in hot water first before measuring out said ingredient, it'll slide off the spoon with no mess or fuss.

• If a piece of egg shell falls into your egg mixture, the right tool for the job to get it out again is actually one of the broken halves of the eggshell itself! The jagged edge of the shell cuts through the viscous egg white, letting you scoop up the bit of shell without any fuss. (Sorry, bit scientific, promise not to go there again!!) 

• Keep a jug of hot water nearby, it's handy for sticking in utensils you use and then can be taken out again when required and given a quick dry, otherwise you end up using lots of the same things like spoons, knives, spatulas etc

• Always use free range eggs, I'm not saying they are of superior flavour or anything like that which I'm sure they are, but more for the welfare of the chicken. I use in excess of a dozen eggs a week, that soon mounts up over a year (624 if you're wondering!!). That's a lot of chickens laying a lot of eggs for 1 family, doesn't take much to ensure that chicken is a happy one!! 

• Timers, use it!! I have seriously on many occasions, made a tray of brownies, set the timer, sat down, picked up my crochet and the outside world fails to exist anymore, I've even remember once thinking "mmm, what is that lovely smell, next door must be cooking something delicious" & then the the timer goes off and I remember its me that's baking 'duh', I really am that dizzy sometimes!!!!!

• Disposable liners - they are just brilliant. No greasing tins, no complicated origami sessions trying to get parchment paper to fit to your tin, no washing up, no temptation to just not use it, resulting in cake sticking to tin, using a knife to try coax it out, scratching tin, throwing in dishwasher in a temper and then having the non stick surface eroded away, thus making tin practically useless & only good for giving daughter to use in her pretend kitchen - yep, you live & learn, my daughters kitchen will testify to this, great for making mud cakes now!!! 

And that is it, of course I would always recommend making sure you have used all the ingredients required before putting into your tin, no point baking if you've left out something important like baking powder or sugar!! Always bake because you want to and not because you have to, errors will happen, results will be effected and you'll not want to bake again. 

And now for a bit of a crochet!! 

Now, I do feel this blog is heavily becoming like a food diary,  but originally I started this blog to record my crochet makes, as well as other homemade creations, but then at the time of starting this blog, I embarked on my biggest project ever & so I'm still half way through making a granny striped blanket for my daughter. 

In hind sight, if in the first place I had got off my lazy bum and actually measured the width of my daughters bed & not guesstimated it, I would probably have finished by now, but instead I'm still on with finishing this blanket that could now probably fit our super king size, but never mind, I am absolutely loving making it, love having the vastness of it over my legs as I work on it every opportunity I get while the snow falls once again, it's a feeling of being all snugly, under my blanket, warm & cosy & that's how I hope my daughter will feels when it's eventually makes it to her bed and hopefully before this weather finally starts looking warmer!!!  

Here are just a few glimpses of my WIP and I hope I can reveal it all in it's glory very very soon!! 

Now I'm off to cling film wrap my cakes and get them safely put in the freezer before they are spied by certain members of this family, ie all of them & then back to my blanket. (ha, who am I kidding, that lemon drizzle tray bake will never make it to the freezer, never made one that has yet!!!)

Happy times in the snow to all and I'll be back soon 

Busy week

Well I'm still frantically making cupcakes and selling them in a bid to raise money for Comic Relief Twittermillions.  I have changed the design this week to reflect the approach of Easter, and also maybe because I was becoming a woman possessed looking for red food colouring and buttermilk in my local community, especially as snow made an unexpected and quite frankly unwelcome return!! 

I hope to return soon, I have a gorgeous granny stripe blanket that I'm currently working on that I can't wait to share, if the weather doesn't cheer me up, seeing this bright assortment of stripy colours all together certainly will!!!

Back soon

School Holiday!

School Holidays

Well, that week past swiftly and here I am, Sunday evening, sorting out uniforms and school bags, preparing for school and work in the morning, where did the week go?

I feel the hols were a triumph, it contained just the right amount of outdoor activities, indoor playing, visiting friends, completing jobs, accomplishing tasks and eating, drinking and merriment. 

The weather was a mixed bag and it started surprisingly warm but soon reverted back to colder temperatures. I kept a steady flow of daffodils in various states of flowering to keep a cheery reminder that Spring is only round the corner.

Following on from an earlier post, I found a bit of spare time to make Miss Owl a sibling and is now completed and christened Junior! It was my intention to make 'it' a 'him' but realised at the 'final finishes' stage that it was quite difficult to complete his look to make him look more masculine than feminine. I crocheted a bow intending it to be a dicky-bow but it didn't look right under his beak and after some talks with my chief design consultant, otherwise known as my daughter and she who must be obeyed when she has an 'IDEA' we agreed to place it where it now sits, so be it a boy or a girl, it is a lovely younger companion to Miss O!

They are both very cute and I have finally used up all my left over yarn, they match the blanket very well I feel. 

The weekend ended on a high, my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and with daughter safely packed off to the grandparents for the night, we enjoyed a lovely meal out with my brother in law and wife in a local Indian restaurant. But oh!!!!, the lie in in the morning was heavenly, the peace, the giving myself time to rouse at my own pace, the pleasure of seeing that the time didn't start with the number 6.....ha ha, it was weird not having the ball of endless energy in the shape of our daughter come charging into our bedroom at her usual unearthly hour to begin her constant stream of dialogue about everything and anything, I'm sure if someone could harness and bottle the enthusiasm of your average 5 year old, they could sell it for a pretty penny. Anyway, we soon collected her and our usual weekend routine resumed, the dog was taken for a good walk,

Mugs of tea was drank with more freshly baked lemon drizzle cake and I got to sew the last little car onto my recently finished ripple blanket. That then meant I had completed my second baby blanket, although this one was destined to be a present for a friend who knew she is expecting a boy. 

For this blanket, I used 4ply wool as I wanted to experiment with using a lighter wool. As much as I truly love my Sunburst Granny Square blanket, I realised that it is a hefty piece of work and wanted to try making something not as weighty. 

This is my first ripple blanket and the first time I have done a 'ripple'. I once again looked about for a suitable pattern and chose Attic 24's neat ripple pattern as Lucy also beautifully illustrated this pattern with a handy photo tutorial, perfect for this first timer. 

As for the design, my eye was drawn to a lovely blanket I saw on Etsy, a picture of this blanket can be found here. This particular blanket was for sale and wasn't, unfortunately, a pattern, so I decided to try recreate my own version. Using Sirdar 4ply wool (colour soapstone), I began rippling away till I had used 3 x 50g balls. Then using the same wool but in silver cloud, I rippled 4 rows, with a row of double crochet in white in-between, thus giving the illusion of a road.  I then used another ball of blue wool to complete the blanket. 

Lastly I made 3 cars in lovely bright colours, these wools were all 4ply as well and were left over yarns from past projects but were all by Stylecraft. The pattern I used was this.

Instead of crocheting the wheels, I used black buttons and sewed them on to within an inch of their life, well,  considering it was going to be used as a baby blanket, and boy, do babies enjoy having a good chew on anything they get their tiny mits on, I thought it best to play it safe!

And here we have it!!!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it is certainly a lot lighter than my own baby blanket. I'm now considering making myself one for my own 'bump' but need to think of a design that it more unisex. Any suggestions greatly received?

Now I suppose I need to head towards bed and get a good nights sleep in preparation for tomorrow mornings school / work run.

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend and I hope to be back soon xx.  

School Holiday Survival Kit!

School Holiday Survival Kit

The school holidays are upon us once more, wow, how the time has flown since Christmas!! Unfortunately, I'm flying solo on this weeks break as hubby has to work, but I still have a very active 5 year old who requires entertaining every minute of every day.

My first instinct to prepare for a full on week of activities, is to dig out my collection of cookery books and begin looking for some sweet inspiration in the form of cakes, biscuits and pastries.  

My trusted fail safe favourite is always the ever popular cupcake. I love using the Hummingbird cookbook & the recipe is easy enough to find on line, if you don't have the pleasure of owning the book, I'm sure I gain weight just looking through the pictures. I decided to make the Vanilla variety. The batter is quite wet, so I find that putting it into a jug first, and then pouring it into the cases an easy way of making sure more gets in the case and less is wasted - result!!

Of course, the butter icing had to be pink!! A house dominated by women dictates that pink prevails in many aspects, including cake decorations! A quick sprinkle of 100's and 1000's to crown this gooey delight, and hey presto, first batch of baking completed and safely tucked away in a tin before they are spied and eaten.

Next on my list was lemon tarts, my husbands absolute favourite! I simply made a sweet pastry, using twice the amount of plain flour to butter, adding a small amount of caster sugar and a few tablespoons of cold water to bind together. I chilled the pastry for a while in the fridge while I prepared the tin. I love making teeny tiny tarts and this mini tray ensures the tarts are small enough to pop whole straight into my mouth, what could be more perfect! I added a star topping for no other reason than because I felt that way inclined! The lemon curd filling was shop bought, I have never got round to making my own and this particular brand is lovely and tangy, it certainly ticks all the boxes.

I will admit, this batch didn't make it to a tin and the minute they were cool enough, were gobbled up by us all with a cup of tea, they really do go down a treat - fortunately I have some pastry left over and will be making more very soon!

In the course of my uninterrupted afternoon (the joys of a play date) I also rustled up a lemon drizzle tray bake and a batch of shortbread. 

My cake tins are now full with a selection of sweet offerings, I feel prepared for collections of hungry children, impromptu picnics and last minute guests. 

Heres to a fun packed week off, hoping you all have a good one. Back soon....now where is that tray bake!!