A week of culinary delights...

I don't know what's got into me this week but I seem to have spent a lot of it in the kitchen! Maybe it's because I'm going back to Uni this weekend where funds and time is limited to whip up propa bo food! I love cooking but don't do as much of it at Uni because it's difficult cooking for one plus I don't have as much time to labour over slow roasted stews and beastly sponge cakes.

So this week I've made apple and cinnamon muffins, ginger biscuits, sticky toffee pudding (which was to die for!), carrot and coriander soup and last nights tea which was homemade burgers and chips which, if I say so myself were AMAZING! So much better than bought in my opinion! And the best thing is I have popped the majority of this in the freezer for my mum so she's got some meals and treats for the next month. So, she doesn't have to come home and spend ages cooking herself tea. Sorted!

The burgers were from a brilliant recipe by Jamie Oliver in his Ministry of Food cookbook but it can also be found on his website...

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/a-cracking-burger

as for the chips well they were a bit of an experiment putting together quite tips and recipes I'd read but here's the gist of it (I know it's a very lengthy process but trust me it's so worth it if you have the time!)...

1. Cut up a few potatoes into chip shaped pieces roughly the same size so they will cook in the same amount of time.

2. Put the potato pieces in a bowl of cold water and put in the fridge overnight. This gets rid of a lot of the starch.

3. The next day give the potatoes a good rinse in fresh cold water and drain off.

4. Plunge your chips into a saucepan of boiling water and then simmer very gently until the point of a knife will penetrate the chips easily.

5. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chips from the pan and lay them out on a tray. Let them cool down completely.

6. Add some oil to a frying pan and lightly fry the chips. Don't have the high too high and remove the chips as soon as they start to brown off.

7. Let the chips cool down completely again and then put in the fridge.

8. When it's time for tea, place your chips on a baking tray and put in the oven on gas mark 6/7 and cook until they are golden brown and crispy.

9. Sprinkle a bit of salt over them and serve!

Megatron

A card for my friend Megan's birthday...blow out the candles!

Best New Year's Eve...EVER!

I've just got back from Disneyland Paris where me and my mum spent the whole of New Year's weekend. It had to be the best I have ever had! Two whole days in the park and welcoming in 2011 stood next to the Disney castle with sparkling fireworks raining down...it doesn't get much better than that. Hopefully 2011 will be as magical!

A Handmade Christmas.....

It's always a challenge buying presents for my family at Christmas because they are all so different and they never know what they want! So, this year I decided to put my thinking cap on and using the skills I have, make the presents. Here are my crafty ventures...

For my sister and brother in law...

I made a pair of birds from a pair of socks, a coat toggle and then I knitted legs and scarves! I also embroidered little hearts onto the wings to just add a final detail.

They're both keen gardeners so I bought some terracotta pots and some blackboard paint. I made a couple of stencils and then painted the shapes onto the pots and to finish off the present I bought some chalk and decorated the box. The idea is that you plant something and write its name on the front of the pot! Nifty!

Oh and a couple of lavender bags for my sisters drawers!

For my Granny...

I made a set of 3 heart shaped lavender bags for her drawers and wardrobe and tied them together with a piece of ribbon.

And for my Mum...

A red knitted scarf

And a handmade bag with edible goodies in it for when she's had a hard day at work.

I'm pretty chuffed with the finished products and I think they went down pretty well too!

Jen's Birthday...Christmas Eve Eve!

Well the festive season continues and today is Christmas Eve Eve only 2 days to go until the man in red comes and I don't mean the postman! Although I suppose technically santa does deliver! Anyway, it's Jen's Birthday in a couple of weeks and I wanted to do something for her birthday early on so I thought what's better than a mini party. The usual suspects were there, cocktail sausages, mini sandwiches, little slices of pizza, cheesy poofs and of course that childhood favourite...a cheese and pineapple hedgehog! These treats aside I've always wanted to make a novelty cake and seeing as Jen loves cats I saw this as a challenge...

I made two round chocolate cakes and cute them into a body shape and a head shape. Then with the leftover pieces I cut out four legs, a tail and a couple of ears and "glued" them into place with icing! Next, I used plain and chocolate buttercream to cover his body in stripes. Then it was time to decorate! I used milk and white chocolate buttons on the body and then for the face I used chocolate buttons for the eyes and I cut liquorice into thin slices for whiskers. Finally for the nose and the toes on the paws I cut malteasers into halves and stuck them on with a little bit of buttercream. And hey prendo the cat cake was finished. I have to say I'm pretty chuffed with the outcome not bad for my first novelty cake. Jen always goes above and beyond for people so this was my way (although small!) of saying thank you. Much love Jenbobs.

"Walking in a winter wonderland..."

I came out this morning to find these on my drive! They were so cute I had to take a photograph. That's one thing I love about snow is seeing which visitors have been in your garden especially the little foot prints that birds leave behind.

Summative Project...

Ahhhh...I breathe out a long sigh of relief. The first term is done and dusted and so is our last project before Christmas whoop whoop! For this brief we had to produce a piece which summarised what we had learnt during the first semester of Year 2. I didn't want to do another leaflet or booklet so I decided to design a set of little postcards with imagery on one side and text about what I'd learnt on the other. They would then be presented in a container with the title, "Project Survival." Here's the end result.....