Less is . . . . LESS!

The overhead photo doesn't show the depth of the box - this is 30 years' worth of crafting magazines, about to go down the road to the charity table in Tesco, which is always a good way to pass books and magazines on (local charity shops don't take magazines and one of the charity shops in Llandeilo doesn't take books).  

I may list the Fons and Porter's magazines on eBay, as that's where I bought them, but the other patchwork magazines will probably be offered round at my class (that's where I got rid of a big pile recently).

A small pile stayed for me to go through a 2nd time and try to harden my heart.  They might just have one project in I particularly like, or as is the case with the Australian Inspirations embroidery magazine, just be so useful for techniques etc that they are staying on as reference books.  Some of the magazines were harder to shed - the Just X-Stitch mags ARE 30 years old and I got Keith to pay for a year's subscription as a Christmas present for me.  Several of those I am still keeping (the Christmas issue for one) but most I have decided to move on.  Some of the Quilter's Newsletter magazines are from the same era, and I have had to break the emotional attachment to them as they represented rare purchases (when we were skint) - several copies having been bought in the Blandford Patchwork shop one year - and I have the clearest memory of sitting in a supermarket car park in Shaftesbury whilst Keith took the kids in to get food for the journey back to Wales, and I had a blissful, peaceful quarter of an hour just diving into my patchwork magazines without 3 small children (all under 5 then I think) wanting my attention.

I did start making a prototype of this for a cushion front, but my leaves were much smaller.  This picture's from the Belle Armoire magazine, which will probably go on eBay.

I also hardened my heart over material - I had quite a bit stashed away on the shelves and went through it yesterday with the result that 3 bags went to the Green (Charity) Shop in Llandeilo.  However, there is a fairly big pile of material to list on eBay - some of it Laura Ashley, and some vintage fabrics.  It takes time to take photos and make the listings, but it's good to get some money back for that you have spent on things down the years.

There is also a big book-swop going on as the big unit at the back of the junk room which held my crafting magazines and material is now reverting to a bookcase again, and upstairs I am emptying the biggest of the bookcases in my sewing room and putting all my craft books in there.  A handful have gone up so far, and - below - some have moved down.  There will be a cull of these at some point, but the Phil Rickmans, Barbara Erskines, Diana Gabaldons, and Philippa Gregorys are all staying.

Right, this won't do.  I must attend to my eBay empire!

Lemon Drizzle Muffins recipe for Judy

LEMON DRIZZLE MUFFINS

250 g pack of butter, softened
400 caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
250 g Self Raising Flour
Zest and juice of 3 lemons

Heat oven to 160 deg. F/140 deg. C Fan/320 deg. F/Gas 3.  Line a muffin tin with 12 cases.  Whisk the butter, 250g of the sugar, eggs, flour, zest of 2 lemons and juice from 1 lemon until just combined - don't over-whisk.  Fill the cases 2/3 full, then bake on a middle shelf for 30 mins, until a skewer poked in comes out clean.

Cool for 10 mins, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack on a tray and poke each a few times with a skewer.  Pour remaining lemon juice over remaining 150 g sugar and zest 1 lemon, and immediately spoon over the cakes.  Leave to cool.  This is the recipe as given in Good Food magazine 2011.  However, I have always combined the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small pan and boiled for a minute or so to combine sugar properly and thicken.

Enjoy anyway.  There you are Judy, I finally got around to posting this for you!!

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Disaster in the kitchen

I think I'm not paying attention.  Or I'm tired.  Or I'm having blonde moments when I'm already grey!  Anyway, after my recent debacle with the Plum Muffins and the top oven, I had a really STUPID episode yesterday afternoon.  I wanted to make a recipe I'd found the other day - Black Forest Bakewell Tart.  I downloaded two recipes for it, but one called for Marzipan and the only Marzipan I had was rock-hard from being in the fridge and was over 2 years out of date . . .

Anyway, when I came to make the base, I discovered I had no ground  almonds - which is bizarre, as normally I keep finding jars and half-used packets of them every time I open the food cupboard.  But no - the cupboard was bare of them this time, so when we took Danny back to town, I popped into the supermarket and got what I needed.

However, it was late afternoon before I got around to making the top, and by then I WAS feeling a bit tired, but plodded on with it.   I spread the tin of cherry pie filling over the base, which I had cooked on top of a greaseproof lining in a flan dish.  I could see the amount of cake mix I had made called for a bigger tin, so, bright spark that I am, I thought I would take the  flan base, peel off the greaseproof, and put it in my deeper tin.  It was going well until the greaseproof stuck and then in one laughable moment, the base broke into three pieces, two of which, well-covered in gluey cherry mix, fell face down on top of the cooker, and over my sleeve . . .  Perhaps it is a message from the Gods to Stop Baking!!  I managed to rescue it and looking at the finished cake, you'd never guess.  

Here is the Jus-rol recipe (you can of course use Jus-rol pastry for the base) and I will add the recipe for the base which I used, afterwards:


BLACK FOREST BAKEWELL TART

• 50g cocoa powder
• 100g plain flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 150g soft butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 50g dark chocolate chips or chunks
• 400g can cherry pie filling
• 1 tbsp flaked almonds

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven) Gas Mark 4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until big enough to line a 22-23cm round deep loose-bottomed tart tin. Line the pastry with foil or greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and cook for 10 minutes more until sandy and golden. Set aside.
2. Make the filling by putting the cocoa powder, plain flour, almonds, butter, sugar and eggs into a big mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until smooth, then stir in the chocolate chips. (Tip: I never pay extra for bags of chocolate chips, but just chop up some of Keith's high-cocoa dark chocolate).
3. Spread the cherry pie filling over the tart case, then spoon the chocolate sponge mix on top. Scatter over the flaked almonds, then bake for 35-40 minutes until the sponge is risen and firm. Allow to cool completely in the tin.
4. I got the base from this recipe - see LINK HERE for gorgeous illustrations to it and the blog where I found it. 
5. BLACK CHERRY BAKEWELL TART
6. Ingredients (makes one 23cm tart, serves 6-8):
   For the filling: 
   125g ready-made marzipan
   50g unsalted butter, diced
   75g caster sugar
   2 medium eggs
   120g ground almonds
   1/2 tsp baking powder
   A thick layer of black cherry jam
   1 tin of black cherries, halved and patted dry
   30g flaked almonds
   Icing sugar for decoration
   
   Step One | For the pastry: mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add in the 1/2 egg and mix well. Add in the flour and ground almonds until combined and it starts to form a dough. Place the dough in clingfilm in the fridge for two hours (or 10 minutes in the freezer and half an hour in the fridge), as it’s easier to work with when chilled.
7. 
   For the pastry
   60g unsalted butter
   60g caster sugar
   1/2 medium egg, room temperature
   125g plain flour
   15g ground almonds
8. 
   Step Two | Once chilled, preheat oven to 170 fan / 190C / Gas Mark 5, remove from the fridge and roll out the pastry so it covers a 23 cm tart tin including the sides. Press into the tin carefully as it’ll be quite thin and is prone to ripping, just cover over any holes with pastry that overhangs. Cover with baking parchment and pour ceramic baking beans (or any dried beans) over this and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
9. 
   Step Three | Meanwhile, roll out the marzipan, but just enough to cover the bottom of the tin, and layer over the base once it’s out of the oven. Cover this with a layer of black cherry jam and scatter the black cherries evenly over this.
10. 
    Step Four | For the filling, mix together the butter and sugar until creamy, add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Add the ground almonds and finally add the baking powder. Layer this over the cherries evenly. Sprinkle some flaked almonds over the top if you like. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is very lightly brown and it has a spongy texture that springs back when you press it. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving. Keep in an airtight container for several days.

I have to say, whichever one you make will taste WONDERFUL.  I had one small piece and the family can eat the rest!

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A couple more things Finished!

FINALLY, the new shower room is finished.  I have had to be patient, because it was very slow work because Keith's frozen shoulder preventing him from working regularly on it.  All it needs now is another wee Green Man being hung in a corner, and the little table in the corner will have a spikey plant on it as Tam is bringing me one tomorrow.

So Yah, Boo, Sucks to the family who viewed the house last year when this room was still a work in progress and enquired would this be a working shower when it was done?  You have no idea how much that still rankles with me, as we had to be polite to them and not snap, "what do you blardy well think?!"

Another "finished" - we bought this bed (in pieces of course), and Gabby had the loan of it for a while, and then bought herself a better one, and we got this back (in pieces).  This morning I persuaded Keith that we might as well get it put together in time for Tam's arrival tomorrow, and so we did.

Whilst it was still dry this morning I set to and began ripping the ivy off the small wall by the dustbins, and have an entire wheelbarrow-full to show for it.

Then I took photos of various items of tack that I need to clear.  I spent the entire afternoon listing them on eBay as I watched the racing.  Well, yesterday was a Day of Dreams, but today was a day of sorrow, after Sir Erec broke a leg and then later, Invitation Only had a bad fall and had to be put down.  The highs and lows of National Hunt racing.  

We have Tam returning home for a week tomorrow, and Danny coming to stay this weekend too, then Gabby mid-week, so it will be lovely to have them home.  I will go back Oop North with Tam for the following weekend, and I am very excited about going up to Yorkshire, as we are going to the Bronte Parsonage Museum. I have always been interested by the Brontes and the last time I went to the Museum was 1987, with my daughter in a push-chair!  I think I "may" treat myself to a book or two . . .

Ta-dah moment (and racing, and recipes)

FINISHED!  How wonderful it is to be able to tick the box and move onto finishing the other works in progress.

I'll keep this aside for best for the moment, until the Heirloom quilt has been done (not even started yet). The current W.I.P. is the Baltimore Quilt, you know - the one I thought was a wall-hanging until I saw it needed an 80" square of wadding!  How did I not guess when the central appliqued  panels were so big?  There will be another FINISHED at the weekend, when Tam arrives with a plant or two to fill a corner . . .

After the two busy crafting days, when I spent the evenings watching the Cheltenham racing which Keith had recorded for me, I got to watch it live as I sewed this afternoon, and WHAT an emotional afternoon it was.  First of all, Bryony Frost winning the Ryanair Chase with Frodon, who she loves to bits.  I will admit to dabbing away tears.  Then in the next race (the Stayers' Hurdle), more emotion when Paisley Park, who I have been following all season, won for his blind owner Andrew Gemmell.  Gosh, you should have heard me yelling at the screen for him to keep his nose in front, especially after he didn't get the stride he wanted at the last.  Then to finish it off, another lady jockey, Lizzie Kelly, came home beaming ear to ear on Siruh du Lac (which we had a fiver on!) It was definitely Lady's Day (even if it was a day late for the one held yesterday when all the gals dress up to the nines and some must have been absolutely freezing, trotting round in skimpy numbers and nothing warmer than a pair of knickers to keep them from the gales!  A great sporting afternoon. It was SO good to see women jockeys prove they are every good as bit as the men, and whilst I am not a feminist, I am so pleased they have shown their ability and skill.  I've followed National Hunt racing  ever since I was 8 or 9, as mum used to watch the racing on a Saturday (only day it was on in those days).  To see the best horses in the jumping game competing at the best meeting on the calendar is something else.  Now I'm tired, as I feel like I have ridden every inch with them! 

Here are the Lemony Apple Scones (all that's left as Keith likes them) and the Pineapple Muffins left over from Patchwork yesterday.

Lemony Apple Scones

8 oz(225g)Self-Raising flour
1/2 level teaspoon salt
2 oz (50g) butter or margarine
1 level teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
1 medium peeledcooking apple, grated
5-6 tablespoons cold milk to mix
A little beaten egg for brushing (I used milk)

Sift flour and salt into a bowl and rub in butter or marg finely.  Toss in lemon peel, sugar and apple, and mix to a soft dough with the milk, using a fork. 

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth.  Pat or roll out into a round 1/2" (1.25 cm) thick. Cut into 12 rounds with a 2" (5 cm) biscuit cutter, re-rolling and re-cutting trimmings to make the correct number.

Transfer to a greased baking tray, brush tops with beaten egg and bake for about 15-18 mins near top of oven (any position in a fan oven)set to 400 deg. F (200 deg. C) Gas 6.  Cool on a wire rack then split open and spread with butter.  Eat when fresh.  (Keith has them cooled and without butter).

Pineapple Muffins

4 oz (100g) butter or margarine
6 oz (150g) caster sugar
2 beaten eggs
7 oz (200g) Self Raising flour, sifted
Half of a 435g tin of Crushed Pineapple

Cream butter/marg, and sugar until fluffy and gradually beat in the eggs.  Mix in the crushed pineapple and stir, and then sift in the S-R flour, beating well.  Take 10 muffin cases and put them in a muffin tin and fill with mixture and bake in preheated oven at 200 deg. F/180 deg. fan oven/gas 4/350 deg. C for about 20 mins or until a skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.

Fun with weaving

Yesterday was the monthly gathering of our small group of local crafters who take it in turns to host a get-together, where we try something new or improve the skills we already have.  This week it was Sue's turn, and she hosted a weaving workshop.  The top photo shows her loom (a recent gift) and her current work in progress (very impressive).

On a table were various small looms Sue had made up so we could all have a go.  3 of us went for the square looms and Dawn chose the circular embroidery hoop.

Here are just a couple of the books which were for perusal.  Of course, I didn't find the couple I had until I got home (untidy so and so I am).

Above - my first effort.  The brown square in the middle was an attempt at making a shape in the middle of the weave, picture-wise.  It's fluffy at the top as that was a twist of brown Alpaca fleece, from curiosity as to how it would work.  I wasn't very adventurous!  Unlike Sue, below, who went really off-piste and introduced various different elements in her weaving.

Below - Lyn had found out the best way of rolling the yarn onto the "lollypop" which made weaving with it much simpler.

Finally - Dawn chose the circular "loom" and made this colourful piece with different textures (more Alpaca fleece from her Alpacas).

Then after lunch we went on to try a different sort of weaving for a scarf each.  Lyn used various long coloured ribbons of material on hers and modelled it afterwards.

I just used some chunky green wool and a thinner purple threaded through either side, then lilac  weave across it.  It's still a WIP but I plan to try and get it finished tomorrow, whilst I'm watching the racing.  I have a few ends to sew in too.

Here was Sue's using a black base scarf, and I forgot to get a photo of Dawn's colourful one.

We all had a great time, much chattering but an ABSOLUTE SILENCE of concentration when we were working on the looms!  I dare say we were all biting our lips too.  

Finally, this was my late friend Annie's Inkle loom, which I am going to get to grips with.  It needs to be re-warped, but I shall play with what's on there, take photos of how to warp it as it is now, and then start with fresh yarn.

Note:  tomorrow is a "ta-dah" day"!  Something finally FINISHED.

A Monsoon of Hailstones!

Good evening.  Today has been a busy day as it was a local Fleamarket Fair so we were up before 6 a.m.  at which point I was in a deep sleep having been awake from 3.30 till gone 5 a.m.  Anyway, we got unloaded and set up and then it was a busy day with lots of people through the door, but 99% of them had short arms and deep pockets . . .

A customer who had phoned to see if we would be there and asked to hold two items for him didn't turn up - we are hoping he isn't still ill after a recent holiday in India where he contracted dysentery.  Since someone wanted to buy one of those items this morning, we said no - they wanted it cheaper than we were prepared to let it go anyway.  (Update - he's just phoned to apologise and say he was too ill to leave the house, poor chap.)

By lunchtime all I had sold on my side was ONE thing - a Victorian hand-sewn "tapestry" (flowers) on velvet for the grand sum of £7.50!  Trade slowly improved but not a very good day, and it ended with me wanting to say something scathing to a rather stupid woman who wanted to buy a large Caithness vase of mine, but was determined to find an excuse not to.  She said there was a chip on the base - well, it was so miniscule it took some finding and you wouldn't have seen it without using a loupe.  I said I was prepared to knock a fiver off, but really it wasn't an heirloom piece worth hundreds of pounds, so really didn't matter at all.  Oh, but she was going to leave it to her daughter and she wouldn't be able to sell it because it was damaged!  At that point I had to Step Away!!

Anyway, the day ended with an "old friend" (stock which has stuck - sometimes for years!) finding  a fitting home.  It was an early 20th C advertising page from a newspaper, mounted and ready for framing, with a horse's head and Elliman's Embrocation and a long diatribe about its efficacy - it went to an Equine Vet, who was delighted with it and I was pleased it had finally found its rightful owner.

We were SO glad to be indoors - there weren't many outside stalls at all as the weather forecast had been for strong winds and wintry showers.  As many outside folk as possible got themselves set up beneath the veranda,  but a few were right out in the weather - there was a very heavy hailstorm just before lunch, and then mid-afternoon they were coming one after another - horrendously noisy on the metal roof of the large cattle shed where the Fairs are held and you couldn't hear yourself speak.  Then the temperature suddenly dropped and one of our friends was visibly shivering, so I hope she won't have caught a chill.  

I needed something warming for tea and decided to make a pasta sauce (just tomatoes, onions and red peppers) and pop some Waitrose cheese and smoked ham ravioli in it.  I gave it a good sprinkling of Smoked Paprika too, to make it tasty - but boy, it ended up like a Vindaloo pasta sauce and my glasses steamed up when I was eating it (I was reading at the same time).  

I tried a new baking recipe yesterday from an old 1980s cookbook of mine - it was for Lemony Apple Scones, and they were lovely.  I cut them with a small cutter and I will admit to eating 3 of them today (and having a boughten cup of hot chocolate to warm me up too), and they were well received by fellow stallholders.  I always have to bake as it is expected (and anticipated!)  I'll put the recipe up tomorrow.  Right now, I think a hot bath would not go amiss.  I hope you weren't knee-deep in hailstones where you live.