A busy week

Hi all..

It's been a busy baking and making week.

JJ, my other half, went out blackberry picking and on his way also scrumped some apples .. so out with the baking gear and 2 apple and blackberry pies and also 2 apple and blackberry crumbles were made, the rest were frozen for the winter months when a little bit of late summer taste would be the ticket..

Then the jam jars and preserving pan were brought out and the jam and chutney making started, I am not really a jam maker but I was given the recipe by my daughter Laura, who informed me that it was really easy to make and I can confirm that, yes it was easy ....I am glad that I had invested in a jam thermometer as it made realising that you had got to the setting point a lot easier.

Apple Jam

Ingredients

2lb apples

2/3rd pint of water

2lb jam sugar

Method

peel, core and chop the apples

Tie the waste into a muslin bag and put with the apples and water in a preserving pan

Cook apples until they are pulpy, then squeeze out the muslin bag and discard 

Stir in the sugar and boil until the setting point is reached

Remove from the heat, skim, pour into the pots, cover and leave to cool.

Tips    

Test the setting point; put a teaspoon of jam onto a freezing cold plate and see if it sets to your liking

Sterilise jars by boiling them in a large pan whilst making your preserve.

I also made apple chutney and managed to fill the house with the smell of vinegar. I used just malt vinegar which was the recipe but the next time I think that I will either use cider or white wine vinegar as I don't think that it will smell so strong.

As I was in the baking mood I made some flapjack, chocolate buns and cheese scones, another recipe given to me by Laura.. (which you can get from her blog http://laurasbakesandmakes.blogspot.co.uk/)
Laura, I can confirm that they were a success as Matt ate 2 and thought that they were delicious... He had only popped in as he had locked himself out of his house..but that's a long story...  Funny though I swear he can smell my baking from his house...

I have also been playing with my Silhouette cameo machine and made a 3D model of a beach hut from a file purchased from a really lovely lady who designs and sells her own files, the idea is to make a long line of these in different colours and to find a piece of driftwood to make a shelf to display them on ... well that's the idea anyway..

A very long catch up...

Well it's been a very long time since I have written a blog entry..

I have done a lot of crafting since the last update...

Christmas 2012, we decided to have a homemade Christmas all gifts had to be home made, so I got making, knitting, crocheting, cooking and jam/chutney making .. I loved it and would love to do it every year but my ideas are a bit limited..

A few knitted winter woollies, the backpack was the first thing I had ever crocheted 

Chutneys, all prettied up for gifts 

Flavoured oils and mincemeat

I also made a food hamper for both of my kids and their partners and they went down well, lots of goodies included shortbread, fudge and cookies..

In the April of 2013 I had a lovely present given to me, a Silhouette Cameo, which is an electronic cutting machine, just right for making cards and 3d models, I have had a great time experimenting with this and had a lot of disasters and failures and quite frankly it nearly made an early exit through the craft room window, until, through a lot of perseverance, things started to come together and with the help of a couple of great Facebook pages dedicated to the Cameo, I got adventurous and have produced some cards and models that I am quite proud of.

Here a few examples of the end results ...

  

At the end of the year my daughter started a little business hiring out vintage china and she also started to sell vintage items at vintage fairs we decided that tea cosies would be a great added extra to sell with the tea pots, also crochet lavender hearts ..

Then we got more adventurous and also added hats, which were very popular and I enjoyed making them, I was really surprised how people really liked them and got the knitting needles and crochet hooks going at record speed..  

Then we were given the fantastic news that we are going to be grandparents, so you can imaged the needles and hook came out yet again a here are a few of the items I have made so far, only a little sample, as not keep photos of everything..

So I wonder what the rest of the year will bring! I am sure that the crafting will go on and on and on..........

Beef Cobbler

This recipe is a well loved Jeffery dinner dish...

 Beef Cobbler

serves 2/3

8oz lean mince beef

I tablespoon oil

onion

small tin of  Tomatoes

few mushrooms.. chopped

Tomatoe Puree

Carrot/ chopped

Vegetable stock cube

Chop onion and fry in the oil add the minced beef and cook until browned, add the mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and tomato puree add a dash of worcester sauce and vegetable stock cube                 ..season to taste..

Cook for a further 15minutes and put into a oven proof dish

Cobbler

 8oz Self Raising Flour

half teaspoon dry mustard

seasoning

2oz of butter

3oz cheese (finely grated)

dash of worcester sauce

about quarter pint of water

1 tablespoon of milk 

 

 

Sieve together flour and mustard into a bowl and rub in the butter until resembles breadcrumbs add the cheese, worcester sauce and mix with some of the water until you get a soft dough.

 

Roll out and cut with pastry cutters.(round or square)

Arrange the cut slices of dough on top of the mince, brush the top with milk and bake in the preheated over for 30-40 minutes   Gas Mark 5  190oc 3750f

 

Knitted Camper Vans

Well it's been a while since I added any thing to the blog, but I have been very busy and my new additions to the blog are my knitted Camper Van cushions

I am really pleased with the way they turned out. I think that they look really cute.

I've really taken to my knitting and hope to find more cute patterns to try out.

Another knitting project..

Here's another venture into the knitting world..

I will have so many hats and gloves next winter I will be very cosy...

I've really enjoyed my knitting projects and I am looking for something different to knit, any ideas welcome, just remember I am new to the craft...

I could do that...

The other day while I was watching a celebrity chef on the TV cooking a fancy macaroni cheese,  I though, I could do that ...

So after a few alterations to their recipe this is how it turned out...

Leek and Spinach Macaroni cheese

Serves 2.

4oz Macaroni ( cooked )

half a leek

2 nuggets of frozen spinach..defrosted

1 large mushroom.. sliced

half a tub of ricotta cheese..1 egg,  beat these together

3oz cheese grated

salt and pepper

2 slices of bread made into breadcrumbs 

1 teaspoon of Parmesan cheese

Saute the leek then add the spinach, add the ricotta cheese and egg mix,  grated cheese , and mushrooms.and season to taste put into an ovenproof dish 

Mix some grated cheese and the parmesan to the breadcrumbs and put on the top of the mixture.

Bake for roughly 30minutes, serve with salad or vegetable.

More tasty meals...

Here are two recipes that both my OH and I enjoy, have a go at them yourselves and let me know how you enjoyed them, don't forget you can add things that you like, everyone's taste buds are different so you can add things or take things away from the recipes below ..

So go on experiment .............

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne

Serves 6  (I halve the recipe for the two of us)

450g (1lb) thawed frozen leaf spinach

1tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion,  thinly sliced

50g (2oz) pine nuts

salt and pepper

250g (9oz) ricotta cheese

1 egg

175g (6oz) lasagne sheets

for the sauce

25g (1oz) butter or margarine

25g (1oz) plain flour

300ml ( 1/2 pint) milk

100g (4oz) medium cheddar cheese grated 

Preheat oven to 180oC (350o F) Gas Mark 4

Rinse the spinach and drain well, Cook over a high heat with no extra water for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally until the leaves are tender. Drain well.

Heat the oil in the pan.  Add the onion and saute until soft and just starting to brown.  Add the pine nuts and heat through.  Mix in the spinach mixture .

Beat the Ricotta cheese and egg together and stir into the spinach mixture

Spoon half the spinach mixture over the base of the oven proof dish and cover with sheets of lasagne. Repeat these two layers one more so that all of the ingredients are used up

Heat the butter or margarine in a small pan.  Stir in the flour then, off the heat, blend in the milk.  Return the pan to the heat and stirring all the time, bring the sauce to the boil.. Cook for a few minutes to thicken, then stir in three-quarters of the cheese and check that sauce for seasoning.

Spoon the sauce over the pasta so the sheets are completely coated.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the surface then bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Fish Pie

Serves 4-6

 (as before I halve the ingredients for the two of us)

450g (1lb) white fish

80g (three and half ounces) of butter

50g (2oz) frozen peas

600ml (1pt) milk

110g (4oz) grated cheese

50g (2oz) plain flour

3 large potatoes

salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to190o C /375o F/ Gas Mark 5

Place fish into an ovenproof dish, pour in 300ml (half a pint) of milk and add salt and pepper.

Place dish into the oven and cook for 25mins

Meanwhile boil the potatoes for about 15 - 20mins drain and mash and add (50g) 2oz of the butter and a little milk

Remove the fish from the oven and drain liquid into a saucepan or jug and add the remainder of the milk.

Cheese sauce

Melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan over a low heat, stir in the flour and cook on a low heat for  2-3mins remove from heat and gradually add milk, stir constantly and simmer for about 4 - 5 mins, when sauce is smooth and creamy  (I use a balloon whisk for making all my sauces) gradually add the cheese.

Add the peas and pour the sauce over the fish mix, spoon the mashed potatoes over the top adding a little extra cheese on top and bake for 20-25 mins....