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Birthday Pavlova

It was Fergals birthday today- he is one day older than I, and unfortunately for him there have been many a year that I almost forgot about our birthdays- no, actually, it was more a case of being oblivious that it was the end of April already. But this year I was organised!-ish! So I had a presents, cards, and when he came home from work: this pavlova.

Such a simple and delicious dessert!

To start, preheat the oven to 180′C. Take the whites of 5 eggs (make sure that not a speck of yellow gets in with the whites). With a balloon whisk, whip up the whites until stiff, and then, for every egg, you add in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk until the whites and sugar form glossy white peaks. Into this, whip 1 tablespoon of cornflour and a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Onto a tray prepared with greaseproof paper, spoon out the stiff mixture, spreading it out to cover the tray (it will be approximately 2 inches high) Put this into the oven, and turn it down to 100′C, cooking for an hour and a half.

Leave it in the oven for as long as possible once cooked without opening the door. Then, when ready, spread oodles of cream on top, decorate with fruit (I used tinned mandarins here) and delicious pieces of crumbled chocolate.

Yum!

Posted in Celebrations, Cooking, Home-making, Our Home, Recipes.

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By Emily – April 27, 2012

Yarn Along (of sorts)

(My boy, the rockstar. Oh, and Grace has decided that since her name was “Apple Dumpling” when she was a fairy, that she is reverting back to that name from today)

It is good to know that high production rates are not confined to one side of my family gene pool. As you may know, my sister is a veritable crochet machine; my father, whose wildly successful painting blog is updated several times a week with new paintings, instruction, and time-lapse films for each painting; and now, my mother is knitting at the speed of light… I am talking serious production here… a couple of garments a week!!!

So, while I’m filing this as a Yarn Along, it isn’t strictly my yarning… but my mothers. Having said that, I am going to learn to knit this year and cardigans and sleeveless tops are my aim.

On the book front, I’m reading “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” and read “Room” by Emma Donoghue in a day- I couldn’t put it down. It’s rare you read a book like that…

(there is only so much of sitting in a highchair that a boy can handle (approximately three minutes in our house) But he is still so hilariously cute when he has a tantrum. Note Apple Dumpling making a hasty exit)

Posted in Crafts, Our Home, Yarn Along, handmade.

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By Emily – April 25, 2012

A Few Moments of Bliss

While our little boy sat in his chair for a few moments today, I had a chance to:

:: have a cup of tea

:: eat a bar of Green & Blacks chocolate that a dear friend sent me

:: do a bit of doodling (I had started this last night: we were watching something a bit scary, so during those bits I would be scribbling furiously)

The bowl of eggs in the background are calling me, I need to bake today. More for my head than my stomach, needless to say…

Our little chap, despite his top teeth coming through and causing him plenty of grief, is still delighting us with his beaming smiles at every turn…

(thank goodness for Homeopathy- I must say this mantra 100 times a day; every time he gets fussy and upset I give him a little remedy and he instantly settles)

I planted a few roses and clematis today in the warm sun.

::Bliss::

Posted in Home-making, Homeopathy, Mixed Media Art, Our Garden, Our Home, tea.

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By Emily – April 24, 2012

Sophie’s Lemonade

Before I succumbed to The Illness, I had ordered several lemons in our organic-veg box, with great plans for lemon drizzle cake, lemon meringue and lemon and garlic broccoli. But they languished for a week with the apples looking like blobs of summer amongst the  earthy green apples until our small men decided to make lemonade.

This lemonade is a recipe my friend Sophie gave me, and in its making brought great memories and hopes of a warm summer :-)

Sophie’s Lemonade

zest and juice of 5 lemons

1 lb of sugar

2 litres water

2 tablespoons citric acid

Mix the zest, sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves. Let this sit for a couple of hours, then sieve, add the lemon juice and citric acid.

Dilute to drink, delicious with ice in the shade of an old tree on a warm day!

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By Emily – April 23, 2012

Speedy Spicy Sausage Pasta

I have been sick for the past few days… (after everyone else had been sick in turns) and so haven’t felt like donning my apron and starting into meals that take anything other than the merest of thought (for me, it is usually the thinking of what we eat and how I’ll make it that takes the most of my energy) so this ticked all the boxes.

It is becoming slghtly obsessive eating though, I do wake thinking about it; unfortunately my kids are starting to look for a bit of variety in their diet…

This recipe comes third-hand: my friend Bernadette originally got it from Cherry Menlove (great blog despite the dodgy sounding name), made it her own, then I made my own version via Bernadettes… a sign of a great recipe!!

We don’t love very spicy food, so up the chilli sauce and add a few chillis to your own requirements.

Speedy Spicy Sausage Pasta

1 onion chopped

1 Chorizo sausage, cut into thin rounds

garlic, crushed (I use 3-4 cloves)

2 tins of tomatoes

2 tablespoon tomato puree

chopped herbs (I used approx 1 tablespoon of basil and 1 tablespoon of mixed dried herbs)

Sweet chilli sauce

Ball of Mozzarella (approx 15g)

500g Pasta cooke to al dente

The How-To:

Quickly fry the onion in a little oil, then when softened, add the sausage and garlic. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn, add the tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs.

Stir in the sweet chilli sauce to your requirements, then pour the whole lot over the pasta.

Break up the mozzarella, and add it to the dish before ladling large portions into waiting bowls.

You could stretch this by using 1 kg of pasta, and having dinner for a couple of days! :-)

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By Emily – April 22, 2012

Home-Made Playdough

Our boys needed playdough this week as part of their stop-motion film they were making. Something I assumed I had to hand but couldn’t find it…

(they reckoned I dumped the mouldy lump of playdough I found in their room. I reckon they are probably right)

I had stashed away a recipe ages ago. I had often made salt dough (flour-salt-water mixed up) but this is a cooked recipe, and worked a treat. Our second eldest (almost 11) made it himself in a couple of minutes, it really is very easy.

We now have several lumps of beautifully coloured playdough (kept soft and fresh in cling-film)

(Dollhouse birthday cake: tea parties still going strong in this house :-) )

The Recipe (I found it here):

1/2 cup salt

1 cup oof flour

2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of oil

Food colouring (I used food colouring pastes)

Put all your ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucpan and heat gently until it combines into a lump of pliable dough. Divide it up and colour it with the dye, then wrap in air tight plastic. it will keep for months.

Posted in Cooking, Crafts, Our Home, Recipes, handmade.

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By Emily – April 14, 2012

Nettle Soup (YUM!!)

It is that time of year again. Nettle-season! My childrens favourite soup- not sure if it is the taste or the very green colour that tickles their fancy…

Nettles are SO FULL of nutrients, fantastic for cleansing blood and detoxing your system; and at their best around now. Pick a bag of the top four fresh leaves for this recipe.

(My recipe varies every time- depending on what I have to hand, but I do prefer to use leeks rather than onions. Everything here is optional! Apart from the nettles of course :-) )

In a large pan, I melt approx 100gs of butter, and sweat 8 chopped leeks. I cover them with  piece of greaseproof paper or butter wrapper and a tight fitting lid.

I add 8 sticks of celery, and approximately the same amount of purple sprouting broccoli (leaves, stalks and all)

2 chopped potatoes, a handful of parsley and a handful of seaweed, then the rinsed nettle leaves. I put the lid on and let it all wilt down on a LOW heat for approximately 20 minutes.

I make up a stock with 1 pint of vegetable stock (and I added Miso powder here- another fantastic health-giving food) and added it to the soup, then another pint of water (you can add as little or as much as you like)

I turn up the soup until it simmers, then simmer for 30 minutes.

Blend it up so you don’t frighten anyone with a floating nettle leaf!

Extra delish with some fluffy potato and a sprinkle of cream (to look good)

Enjoy!

Posted in Cooking, Garden produce, Home-making, Our Home, Recipes.

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By Emily – April 13, 2012

Yarn Along

Despite my whinging that I don’t have enough time, I completed another two necklaces, and have plans for something very exciting on the yarn front…

(the green/blue one is currently tied at the back: I had planned on a button closure, but I kinda like it tied. The one on the right sits to one side when worn. The flower is a peony- these lovely flowers are coming into bloom in our garden now)

My Grand Plan: I bought a “Crochet Circle Vest or Shrug” pattern from Craftsy because it was driving me mad trying to figure how it was made (oh, how clever it is)

So, with the yarn I bought from My Mummy Knits, I am going to make one (a small one for Grace for starters to get a feel of what I’m doing)

Sadly, even looking at the pattern makes my eyes swim (the pattern would be completely perfect if there had been some photos/diagrams) so I have worked out how to make it and I hope to start tonight (I could rue the error of my ways yet by my non-pattern-reading but we will see)

Along with reading (or trying to!!) the book of crochet blocks (as part of my Grand Plan), I started “A Book of Bees” (thanks Ginny!) So far, it is super. We need to start working the hive again, and no doubt there will be a swarm soon, so I want to get some “backgound information” on the bees: I have read the how-to manuals and the history etc, but this is something different; I’m really enjoying it.

So I’m off to see what everyone else has in their work baskets over at Small Things…

Posted in Our Home.

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By Emily – April 11, 2012

The Island

Here it is, ta-dahhhhh!!!

The more I use it, the more I love it. I come into the kitchen and feel like dong a dance of delight when I see it.

(I think I need to get out more….. :-D )

Posted in Home-making, Our Home.

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By Emily – April 11, 2012

Liar

Well, here I am just about to make a complete liar out of myself after proclaiming no time in my last post…

(we spend an inordinate amount of time wandering around the garden with Cutie Pie in the sling)

Baby is in his Daddys arms,

(it really is very difficult to put a baby down when he wraps his very pudgy legs around you and holds onto your t-shirt with the most edible little hand. I think he has learned the secret of being held all the time: intolerable cuteness, a few baby sighs and smiles and a mohawk of wispy hair to tickle your nose);

there is no-one coughing, complaining of feeling sick/headache/snotty/tired/sore toe… (have I just jinxed myself?!) and so I have a few minutes before I finish a journal I was asked to make (rather than do my usual, leave it until the 11th hour, and then have near heart failure as I try to put it all together)

I was to post this weeks ago: Erin from Talking of the Tadpoles and I had had a bit of a gift-exchange and I completely forgot that she was sending me something until this parcel arrived in the post.

Yummy, delicious, gorgeous soaps! This is something I want to try make this year, although with smallies around I might wait a while yet…

This weekend, Henk (a.ka.a the Cabinetmaker) made me an island unit for my kitchen

(I feel I should have that in block capitals, surrounded by exclamation marks, but I’ll try stay calm)

(detail of the wood grain along one side. A veritable painting)

I love it. Love it, love it, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!

(from this to this)

Oh, my goodness: it has, in three days, become the central point of our family. It is a completely personable piece of furniture- at any one time during the day there is someone lying against or on it, rubbing the silky wood and sniffing the linseed oil smell; that is when many of us aren’t making rhubarb tarts and cookies all at the same time (without a lot of elbowing and complaining) or drinking tea or drawing…! (Did I mention I loved it?)

Today, with far more help than I wanted (frankly, I wanted no help. At All. But it didn’t quite pan out like that) I we painted the base unit- one undercoat and 3 layers of Farrow and Ball “Blue-Green” paint.

Tomorrow I will post a picture as it is still drying in the (newly painted paint splattered :-) ) porch.

But trust me, it is simply F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S

(shrieks of delight and whooping resonate around this little blog)

Posted in Cooking, Home-making, Our Garden, Our Home, handmade, tea.

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By Emily – April 9, 2012

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