a winter solstice

happy solstice day!

from here on in, the days will start getting longer.  spring is on the way :)

more deccies

i came across this project on a few different sites while browsing online recently (something i do when trying to avoid housework!) and thought i could use up some man-made 'wool' we had left over from an outdoor weaving project.

so, despite a slight balloon phobia, i gave it a go.

a few tips for you before starting:

= don't make the pva too watery and thin as it will quite literally go everywhere (unless that's just me being very messy?).

= place a LARGE towel underneath the bowl with the pva in it if you want to avoid having to peel dried splashes of pva off the living room floor.

= if you hang the wool-wrapped balloons up to dry, check your reflection in the mirror before leaving the house. again, this might just be me, but the pva had dripped all over my hair and i hadn't noticed before leaving the house - think of that moment in "there's something about mary" and you will just about get the picture!

just in case you haven't already seen this a thousand times before, here's a quick tutorial:

1. mix a little water with some pva in a bowl.

2. partly blow up as many balloons as you would like to use.

3. loosely wrap the dry wool around the balloon to try and gauge how much you will need. add a few centimetres (or inches) extra and cut a length of wool for each balloon.

4. keeping hold of one end (this is quite important if you don't want to be digging around in cold, slimy pva for the missing end) carefully place the wool in the bowl of pva and water.

5. hold the balloon in one hand and start wrapping the wool around the balloon with the other. realise at this stage that any attempt to create an intricate pattern is harder than you realised and fall-back on the favoured "it's organic and the design just evolved" approach.

6. try to cover the balloon as evenly as possible without crossing over the same point too many times as the wool may just gather in a thick bunch.

7. hang the balloon up to dry and move on to the next balloon.

8. absent-mindedly wonder what that tapping noise is while you are repeating steps 1 to 6 but become so absorbed in wrapping slimy wool around a slippery balloon that you really don't give it too much consideration.

9. stand up to hang the second wool-wrapped balloon up to dry and discover that 'tapping' noise was actually the first balloon dripping watery pva all over the living room rug.

10. thank your lucky stars that you have a partner who works night shift, giving you ample time to clear up and try to dry out the rug!

(feel free to miss out steps 8 to 10).

11. once you have covered all of your balloons, give each one a final roll in a thin layer of pva and water just to make sure that every piece of wool is covered.

12. leave to dry.

13. once the wool is dry and you are happy it has stuck to itself, pop the balloon! if a few strands appear loose, just paint on some more pva and leave to dry again.

14. you are now left with a delicate wool lattice.

15. display in a bowl, attach to fairy lights, or add some ribbon and hang from the tree to bemuse the postie like i have done.

if you do make some, please share the piccies J

deck the halls with ...

... dried oranges!

well, it's third time lucky for me with these decorations. you wouldn't think that drying oranges would be that difficult would you?

last year i decided i would dry some orange slices to hang prettily on the tree and around the house. i don't quite know what went wrong but they ended up all brown and squidgy! then i ran out of time and inspiration so just left it as a failed experiment.

this year, a little more browsing on the internet seems to have done the trick and it worked!

well, it worked on the third attempt - here's a wee hint for you ... when you're waiting for the oranges to finish drying, don't think "oh, i'll just wrap myself up in this snuggly blanket and watch a little tv for the last hour they're drying" because, if you're anything like me, you'll wake up six hours later and just manage to stop the little blackened orange slices from setting your oven on fire!

so, i think the trick was slicing the oranges and placing between two tea towels for a day to remove a lot of the surface moisture.

then i popped them in the oven (on a rack, to allow the air to circulate) at 135C/275F/Gas Mark 1 for the first hour, and turned the oven down to 110C/225F/Gas Mark 1/4 for the next two to three hours.

i did keep an eye on them this time and turned them every hour. i think they took a little longer than three hours but perhaps i had sliced them a little thickly. what you're looking for is the flesh of the orange to be dried out without starting to brown.

and here are the finished deccies ...

 

april

i didn't have much in the way of free time last month, what with day-job, felting fun, and holidays so my offering by way of an april celebration is a little paltry this month!

while we were away recently, one of the hostels we stayed in had a beaded light-pull which we thought was a good way to add a little colour to our littlest room. using beads that my brother brought back from thailand, i think i've managed to do just that :)

happy pancake day!

> ingredients
120g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
210ml milk
90ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

> method
1. put the flour and salt into a bowl and mix together.
2. make a well in the flour/salt and crack in the two eggs.
3. in a separate bowl, mix together the milk and water.
4. beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon.
5. gradually beat in the milk and water mix to get a smooth liquid, with a creamy consistency.
6. stir in the oil and leave to stand for 30 mins before cooking.
7. add a little oil to a hot frying pan
8. pour in some of the pancake mix, how much depends on how thick you like your pancakes!
9. cook until set and then flip to finish cooking the other side.
10. serve with your favourite filling (lemon and sugar for me).
11. eat while cooking the next one!

not much in the way of a pic for this one, too busy making and eating, making and eating, just an empty plate to show how tasty they were - bliss :)

(belated) happy valentine's

in an effort to be more aware of each month and the passing of the seasons, i'm trying to find a tradition (or excuse!) to have a little celebration about each month and what better reason, on a grey and drizzly day, than valentine's day.

given the total lack of any decent light during the day, it was pretty difficult to get a decent shot of this months decoration but here is a little driftwood/beach glass/recycled paper/recycled jewellery mobile ...


and some yummy jammy biccies too ...


hope you had a lovely valentine's with lots of love and loveliness :)

celebrating ... rabbie

as it was burns’ night on tuesday i decided to have a bash at making a ‘traditional’ meal. we normally eat ready-made veggie haggis so i thought i would have a bash at home-made and i’ve always wanted to try making cranachan since i had it in a restaurant ages ago.

it took a couple of hours of prepping and cooking and i’m quite surprised but delighted to report it was a success! no more shop-bought veggie haggis for us.

m completed our evening by reading me some of rabbie’s poetry (my english tongue just can’t enunciate some of those scottish words in the same delightful way that m can!).

here’s the recipes in case you fancy creating a little piece of scotland on your dinner table.

(you'll notice that the photos are all taken pre-cooking ... that's because once they come out of the oven, i'm usually too hungry to be standing around taking pics!)

veggie haggis

> ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot
6 to 10 mushrooms
small piece of turnip
350ml vegetable stock
7tbsp red lentils
4 to 5 tbsps red kidney beans (slightly mashed/chopped up)
7 to 8 tbsps of chopped, mixed nuts
3 tsp soy sauce
(i also added 3 tsp of mushroom ketchup)
juice from one lemon
1.5tsp thyme
1.5 tsp rosemary
pinch cayenne pepper (i used chilli powder as a substitute)
1.5tsp mixed spice
ground black pepper to taste
1 egg
250g oats (i used the remainder of the pinhead oatmeal i bought for the cranachan)

> method
put the oven on to 190oC, gas mark 5, 375oF.

finely chop the turnip and one clove of garlic, mix with the chopped nuts and a sprinkling of black pepper. pop into the oven to roast for 5 to 10 mins.

finely chop one clove of garlic, onion, carrot, mushrooms and saute.

add 250ml of the veg stock, lentils, kidney beans, roast nut mix, soy sauce, mushroom ketchup and herbs and spices.

mix well, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins.

add the remaining stock mix if the mixture looks a little too dry.

add the oats to the pan, cover and simmer for 20 mins, add a little more seasoning if required.

add lemon juice, then stir in a beaten egg.

mix well and turn into a greased loaf tin, baking tin or roasting tray.

cook for 30 mins until firm.

serve with ...

clapshot
(i'm not sure if this is the traditional recipe, it's more like our version of it!)

> ingredients
potatoes
turnip
single cream
butter
grated cheese

> method
peel and chop the turnip and pop in a pan of boiling water,

allow to cook for five minutes and then chop the potatoes and add to the pan. i don't peel the potatoes as i like the extra texture from the peel.

allow the turnip and potatoes to cook until soft.

add the butter and the cream and smash, rather than mash the mixture together. you're aiming to have a texture like a lumpy mash.

mix through half of the grated cheese until it melts.

you can add so herbs at this stage too.

turn out into a baking tray and top with the remaining grated cheese.

pop in the oven (or under the grill if you're in a hurry) until the cheese on top has browned nicely.

and then for dessert …

cranachan

> ingredients
60g medium oatmeal (i could only find pinhead and it worked fine)
150g raspberries
4tbsp malt whisky (we didn't have whisky so i used cognac which was lovely)
4tbsp honey
600mls double cream

> method
mix the oatmeal with a little brown sugar and toast lightly.

blend 75g raspberries until smooth.

whisk the double cream until stiff.

stir the honey and whisky into the cream.

fold in 50g of the oatmeal and all of the raspberry puree.

serve topped with the remaining raspberries and oatmeal.

i like a little shortbread biscuit on the side too, so here's a recipe for that as well ...

shortbread

> ingredients
250g butter, softened
250g plain flour
100g golden caster sugar

> method
put the oven on to 190oC, gas mark 5, 375oF.

beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, i find this easier to do if i warm the butter slightly in the microwave first.

sift the flour in a little at a time and mix together until smooth.

turn the mix out onto a floured surface.

roll out to 1cm thick and cut into your desired shape

sprinkle with a little sugar and chill for 20 minutes.

bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

and here's a little robert burns' to accompany your meal ...

oh, my love is like a red, red rose
that's newly sprung in june
oh, my love is like the melody
that's sweetly played in tune

as fair art thou, my bonnie lass
so deep in love am i
and i will love thee still, my dear
till all the seas gang dry

till all the seas gang dry my dear
and the rocks melt with the sun
and i will love thee still, my dear
while the sands of life shall run

and fare-thee-well, my only love
and fare-thee-well a while
and i will come again, my love
tho it were ten thousand mile

you can find some more here