A week in the life... #2

It turns out that last week was fairly eventful too. Perhaps even more so than the week before! So here are a few pictures of my week.

On Saturday I went to Plymouth with my almost whole family. One of my sisters goes to uni there, so we drove down to see her and meet my uncle and cousins there, who live in Cornwall. My grandma had been staying for the week so we drove her down and swapped her with them to take her the rest of the way home! We had a lovely lunch and went to the aquarium. I love doing things like that, especially with my younger cousins; it gives me the perfect excuse to behave like a bit of a child. I absolutely LOVED this tank; it curved backwards behind you so it was almost like you were in the tank.Very cool. 

I went fabric shopping with my Grandma and picked up some adorable fabric for making all sorts of lovely things. Dog print, again. One thinks one may be obsessed. I've already whipped up a doorstop with some of it.

On Valentines Day, my boyfriend told me to expect an adventure. I literally had no idea where we were going or what we would be doing. All I knew was that I had to wear warm clothes and take a torch. My imagination was going mental. My surprise was a nighttime trip to Moors Valley Country Park, where The Electric Forest had taken over the treetops. It was basically a light, sound and art installation through a forest trail. It took about two hours to walk through it and it was absolutely AMAZING.

I finished both these books this week. Usually I hate reading more than one book at any one time, so I really don't know how this happened. I suddenly had four books on the go and my mind was very muddled! I love Dave Gorman books - he is so funny and has the best attitude to life ever. They always inspire me to do something I've never done before and to stop being such a wimp. I also finished 'The Four Hour Work Week'. I won't lie, it took me a while to trawl through this. It's about how to do less and achieve more, but not in a lazy way. I like non-fiction, but this was non-fiction at it's most extreme. It did help me relax a bit about what I am doing with my life though and now I have all sorts of exciting ideas!

I've done lots of scrapbooking this week. My room is a total mess and as I've gone through it I've found lots of scraps of things I wanted to keep that I never got round to putting in. I like to stick everything in a book because it appeals to my very organised, slightly OCD, nature. This way, it's much more difficult to absentmindedly put something important in the bin.

My red rose from Valentines Day that is absolutely towering over my chest of drawers. I put it in my mum's antique vase thing - it's green glass and very, very tall and thin. I love it. Then there is my card, simple and understated, just how I like it. 

And then the coolest thing, hearts projected onto the forest floor at The Electric Forest. 

Less hearts next week, promise.

Falling out of love with Delia.

Oh my. Oh my, oh my. After my recent discovery of Delia's Complete How To Cook, I tried to emulate my previous success and make a lemon meringue pie. Using, no less, my new pie dish. Which I love. HOWEVER. The lemon meringue pie was a bit fat fail of a pie. Granted, it does look ok and I really thought I'd done it. If only we could have just looked at it forever. 

 So the meringue could have been a little higher. The whisked egg whites were perfect right until I put the sugar in with them; I think maybe I used the wrong type and it was too heavy. It tasted yummy though. 

The pastry was a little blighter this time too. I just couldn't roll it out any wider, so I ended up stretching it a little to reach the rim of the dish. Bad idea. After about 5 minutes in the oven the pastry had slipped down the sides of the dish leaving little crusty bits along the top. YUM. 

And now we move onto the lemon filling. This is the first time I have ever used cornflour and I wasn't exactly au fait with what it does. The recipe tells you to boil the water with the lemon zest in it, add it to the cornflour and then transfer all of this back to the pan and bring to the boil while still stirring, so it doesn't stick. I didn't even get a chance to stop it sticking; it was like a big lump of lemony wallpaper paste before I could even think what was happening. But then I added the rest of the ingredients and all seemed to be well again. So I piled it all into the pastry case and popped it in the oven. 

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So, Sunday evening, main courses polished off, out comes the pie. As soon as it got cut I could see something had gone drastically wrong. The meringue looked and tasted fine, but the filling was like cement?! I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be silky and melt in your mouth-y, whereas mine looked as set as it possibly could be and, put simply, lumpy. Which my dad will happily attest to; he had one bite and just couldn't go on. My grandma ate all of hers, but I think she was just being nice. So, the rest of the pie went in the bin.

After making the leek and goats cheese tart from this book, I mentioned that it was pretty difficult to follow in the heat of the moment, due to it being one huge chunk of prose. I'm not saying it's entirely the fault of the book, but that most definitely goes some way to explain why this went so wrong. I got all flappy and kept losing my place and splashing egg everywhere. Nightmare. So today I am making some Earl Grey cupcakes to remind myself I can bake a little bit well. 

Can anyone shed any light on what I might have done wrong?

A week in the life...

 I actually wrote this post last week, about the previous week, but have been so lazy with photos that it's taken me this long to finish it. But I thought I would post it anyway.

I've seen this sort of post on so many blogs, and I absolutely love reading them. I think it appeals to the nosiness of the human nature. Not in a bad way, it's just so interesting to read what other people love and what they do with their time. Some people are so creative and do the craziest things - I think that's what makes blogs so inspiring.

So, I thought I would just post a few photos of my week!

On Tuesday, my boyfriend picked me up from work and took me out to dinner! This doesn't happen every week, don't get too excited. We went to The Stable, a new restaurant that's just opened in Weymouth in what used to be the harbour master's store room. It was absolutely AMAZING. I want everyone to go there and appreciate the sheer joy. I will blog about it later and make everyone go there.

I bought this super cute Valentines Day card in M&S. I hate really cutesy or overly sentimental cards, and thought this was just the right side of cute. Ironic though, as my boyfriend and I both suffer horrendously from sea sickness. Thus, will never be on a boat together.

My mum went to a Jamie at Home party a while ago - I was invited but politely declined! She bought this gorgeous pie dish because that very same day I'd been complaining that we had barely anything we needed in the kitchen. Still in dire need of a pestle and mortar if anyone can point me in the direction of a nice and realistically priced one. There's only so much longer that I can use a ramequin and a rolling pin...

I've spent a fair amount of this week knitting. I'm using a super simple pattern from a  book that I've never used before, to make something heart shaped... I'm planning a whole post for it when it's finished, but until then this is all you're getting!

So, if I have an equally interesting week next week and then the week after that, this post might become a regular thing! One can only hope...

Hope you all have thoroughly exciting weekends!

Book Challenge #2 - Delia's Complete How to Cook

Leek and goat's cheese tart

So we move onto book #2 of the challenge! I think this challenge is going to take me a little longer than I had at first anticipated; so far it seems to take me three or four days to work up to actually making anything. I choose my book and recipe/project, and then think about it for a few days, before sitting myself down and having stern yet encouraging words! That said, I am relishing the challenge and I've already learnt SO much. 

I bought this book just at the start of my second year at university - I'd just moved from halls into a lovely little house with a little kitchen (in retrospect the kitchen was TOO little) and I was convinced this book would teach me how to cook and I'd be a proper little homemaker. Needless to say, the kitchen was always post-apocalyptic and I didn't use the book once. Until now!

There's a story to this one too. When I first met my boyfriend, four and a half years ago, I told him I was really good at making quiche. Truth was, I'd made one in Food Technology when I was in Year Eight. In my defence I do remember it turning out really quite well. So it transpired that I would make him a quiche for a picnic lunch. I got as far as trying to roll the pastry out and the tears of pure frustration began... I couldn't roll it out without it going into holes and sticking to my work surface, no matter how much flour I dusted it with! It wasn't so much dusted as absolutely coated, actually. The pastry went in the bin and for about four years I have lived with the constant teasing EVERYTIME someone so much as mentions quiche. It's been tough and there have been tears. So I really had something to prove this time.

Thankfully, Delia came through for me. I can't quite put into words quite how proud I am of this. After four years of quiche related bullying, I had assigned myself to the ranks of those who cannot make pastry. But look, look! I can! Turns out that the thirty minutes in the fridge is really quite crucial.. oops!

The goats cheese and leeks go SO well together - I love leeks with all my heart and goats cheese not so much, but I think the absolute leekiness of it cancels it out somewhat. Either way, it's entirely delicious and I would never have thought myself capable of creating such a masterpiece!

My only really tiny qualm with this book is the way its written. The instructions are just one big bulk of text, no numbers or bullet points or anything to separate it and make it more manageable. I almost found myself needing a highlighter while I was reading this recipe. Or a magnifying glass. An eye test, perhaps? I'm afraid I won't be writing the recipe out, it really is so long and I keep losing my place. I would seriously recommend this book though, it's full of food that normal people actually eat, as opposed to fussy, fiddly things that just aren't realistically achievable. 

I'm definitely going to use this book a lot more, I feel like I've 'discovered' it now. And now I know I can make pastry, I feel like the world is my oyster!

Happy Baking!

Book Challenge #1 - The Great British Bake Off!

And so the challenge begins! The rules of the challenge are really quite simple, I just have to use one recipe or pattern from each book already in my possession, before I buy any more! As easy as it may sound, it's actually quite daunting, which I definitely hadn't expected. Where should one start? I have severe 'that's-way-too-hard-for-me' phobia and that's at the fore of my mind as I approach the bookshelf... 

I began with a casual flick through the Great British Bake Off book, opening the book at the Earl Grey cupcakes page. I'm not a huge believer in fate, but this was meant to be. Not only do I love Earl Grey beyond all belief, the recipe sounded simple and completely achievable! 

The finished article!

I was particularly scared of this book; the bakers on the programme are always so accomplished and know exactly what they're talking about, have all the right stuff, and usually know how to work an oven. I am none of the above. Don't get me wrong, I can produce a rudimentary cupcake when pushed, so this was just a tiny bit more of a challenge than usual. Start small. All you do differently is throw two Earl Grey teabags into some hot milk, leave them to infuse for two minutes, then slowly add the milk as you beat in the flour. 

I did make the cakes in the most drawn-out way possible; I made the cakes on a Thursday, didn't want to rush and make a mistake, so didn't ice them until the Friday?! There's some warped logic in there somewhere.

A note must be made here of my intense dislike for icing sugar. I've never been fond, but this had me decided once and for all. It just goes EVERYWHERE. Even with the gentle touch of a wooden spoon, I manage to inhale it. I just hate it, so much. Also, I apologise for the piping, it leaves a little to be desired...

Earl Grey Cupcakes

You will need..
For the cupcakes...

• 200ml semi-skimmed milk.
• 2 Earl Grey teabags
• 115g unsalted butter (softened)
• 225g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 250g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

 For the icing...

•  75g unsalted butter softened
• grated zest and juice of 2 large, unwaxed lemons
• 375g icing sugar, sifted

1 x 12-hole muffin tray, lined with paper muffin or cupcake cases; a piping bag fitted with a star tube (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4. Heat the milk in a pan until it is steaming hot. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and leave to infuse for 2 minutes. Squeeze the bags gently, then remove them. Measure 150ml milk and leave to cool to room temperature (if the milk is warm it will melt the butter in the cake mixture).

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating in well. Add one-third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one-third of the measured tea infused milk and and beat again. Repeat until all the flour and the milk have been added.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cup-cake cases, dividing evenly so they are all about two-thirds full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cup cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in the tray for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, beat the butter with 5 tablespoons of the lemon juice and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar, beating well until smooth and creamy. Taste and add a little more juice if needed. Pipe or spread swirls of icing onto the cupcakes and decorate with the lemon zest.

Happy baking!

My Top 10 craft books wishlist! And the challenge that comes with it..

I am a HUGE lover of craft books - baking, sewing, knitting, I'm really not fussy. There seems to be an absolute glut of craft books in shops at the moment; everywhere you look someone is telling you that knitting is cool again, or that baking the perfect lemon meringue pie will enhance your lifestlye tenfold. Delia, I'm looking at you.

So, after scouring the bookshops and Amazon, of course, I present to you.. my current most coveted craft books!

 1. The Liberty Book of Home Sewing

I can't believe that I didn't know of this book's existence until very recently. I'm very surprised there was not more publicity surrounding the release of this book, especially considering Liberty's place in British culture. I saw it in a Waterstones (minus the apostrophe) and completely fell in love with it. It is cloth bound, very Liberty, and is full of some of the most delightful ideas and patterns I have ever seen. There's the cutest little apron that will definitely be the first thing I make, if or when this book comes into my possession! The patterns used are absolutely beautiful and I can't help but feel this book will be not dissimilar to placing a vacuum in my bank account. Of course I have to make everything in the suggested Liberty fabric...

2. The Collette Sewing Handbook: 5 Fundamentals for a Great Sewing Experience

I only recently discovered Collette patterns, through a post on another blog about some free patterns they were offering! I downloaded the patterns, had a flick through and my imagination went wild. I could completely picture the garment, knew exactly that fabric I was using, everything. That said, I still haven't even cut the pattern out yet. Oops. You can find the patterns here on the gorgeous Collette blog. They instructions are so easy to follow - I often find that I look at a pattern, decide it's FAR too hard and never look at it again. I just didn't get this with the Collette patterns and if the book is anywhere near as easy to follow, it's perfect for both seasoned stitchers and beginners. Plus the clothes are completely beautiful. You can see quite a lot of them made up here.

3. Kirstie's Homemade Home

I remember watching this programme religiously when it was on. As far as I can remember, it's really the first programme in recent times to focus entirely on crafting. I know there are A LOT of criticisms aimed at Ms Allsopp for how she is presented in the show, Janet Street Porter I'm looking at you this time, but I genuinely think that's irrelevant. A woman can craft until the cows come home, but it doesn't make her detrimental to the feminist cause. It's not like she's chained to the sewing machine or anything. SO. I hope this book is full of some of the lovely projects that were on the show, if anyone has it, does it live up to expectations?

4. Kirstie Allsopp Craft

Much the same as the above really. I think this book is a lot more varied than the above; where Kirstie's Homemade Home concentrates on home interiors, this book touches on everything. Noteworthy bits are Elderflower Cordial and the perfect scone recipe. Which has long eluded me...

5. The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making

I think that even if this book had blank pages, I would still love it. It's one of those books that just looks good on the shelf. It's about quilts and it's practically wrapped in a quilt. Even if some of the patterns inside may be a little too complex for me, the colours and the general ideas are so inspiring. However, when I'm quilting, there is absolutely nothing gentle about me. So I think perhaps this is wishful thinking and I have a long way to go before I can partake in the gentle art of quilt-making...

6.Patch!

I put this book on the list somewhat cautiously. I received Make! as a christmas present this year, and while it is undeniably crammed full of Cath Kidston prints and products, it is ever so slightly repetitive. I expected the book to cover a wider range of crafts, when in reality all it offers is applique and embroidery onto varied sizes of fabric; a tablecloth, a napkin, a towel, it's all very samey. I'm hoping that Patch! will be different, in that it will offer some beautiful patchwork inspiration and some original ideas for where to use it. If anyone has this book, I'd love to know what it's like.

7. The Vintage Tea Party Book

My boyfriend showed me this book ages and ages ago on a day that I remember being in a particularly bad mood. I didn't pay proper attention and the book made little to no impact on me. I recently came across it again and sat in an armchair in Waterstones for about 30 minutes reading it. I used to feel bad about doing this in bookshops, until I saw an elderly couple perch down with their chosen books and pour themselves cups of tea from a Thermos flask.. This actually happened. The book is crammed full of cute little recipes for the perfect afternoon tea party and is interspersed with cute little vintage crafts - fascinators and such. Did anyone ever watch The Famous Five programmes? Because the girl who features throughout the book looks JUST like Georgina.

8. Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts

This book sounds right up my street. I really like a project to come together quickly, so the simple aspect of these patterns is really very appealing. I also think that a repeated, simple motif in bright colours and prints is far more effective than something super complex. Again, this is another book that can only add to the beauty of the bookshelf! I just need quilting and general craft inspiration at the moment and I think this is definitely the way to go.

9. A Diary of The Lady: My First Year as Editor

So technically this isn't a craft book. Actually, it just isn't a craft book, full stop. But I got to Number 8 and thought that if I put two more craft books, they'll be books that I don't really want, but rather am just vaguely interested in. And that just won't do. This book is one I completely want. I walked past The Lady HQ so many times over the past three years, without even so much as a second thought and now I find out that all this was going on inside?! My grandmother has read this book and said it was absolutely fantastic. It may seem odd that I go by the recommendations of an eighty year old, but my Granny and I share a lot of the same tastes. Rachel Johnson (Boris' sister no less!) documents her battle with the elder generation of The Lady readers and her first year as editor at the magazine, where she is continuously accused of being obsessed with the.. er, male anatomy! How can anyone not want to read this?

10. The Thread

There are two writers whose books I will always buy as close to the release date as possible and always in hardback; Kate Morton and Victoria Hislop. Not because I like hardbacks, but it's too long to wait for paperback! I will admit, these books do border on chick lit, but not so far so that I'm embarrassed to get the book out in public. They do have more than an ounce of credibility. (I was reading a Sophie Kinsella book on the beach last summer, when my boyfriend pointed out that it looked like I was reading a childrens book. I checked the cover and he was completely right, it looked like a picture book. Back in the bag it went.) The Thread is Victoria Hislop's third book following in roughly the same vein. The two predecessors have been set in Greece and Spain consecutively and I believe we head back to Greece for The Thread. I can't think of anything better than reading about warmer climes in this cold, wet weather. Amen to that. I'm downloading this to my Kindle as soon as I've saved enough money to not feel bad about buying it. Does anyone else think that it's FAR too easy to spend money on the Kindle?

So, now for the challenge. Here is the crafty section of my bookshelf at present..

Here's the challenge. I am not allowed to buy any of the wish list books until I have completed at least one project/recipe from all of the books currently on the shelf. I haven't even touched some of these books since they got put there, so I really can't justify buying any more until I can use the ones I already have! That's not too much of a tall order I don't think. Achievable I'd say. I'm not setting myself a time limit on this one, it would feel too much like hard work if I did. If I really do want any of the wish list books that should be motivation enough to complete the challenge! 

So with each book will come a blog post, proving to you and myself that these books are completely necessary and each one of them was money well spent. Wish me luck!

Funky Vintage!

I feel like everyone needs to know about Funky Vintage; everything about this little company is completely gorgeous. For anyone even remotely fond of the humble floral print, read on. 

Founded by, strangely enough, an art teacher at my old school, Funky Vintage uses both new and vintage fabrics to create the most charming of characters. Sourcing fabrics from anywhere and everywhere, with animals encompassing elephants, owls, hippos, snakes and mice, no two characters will ever be the same. Unless, of course, requested. 

Some Funky Vintage offerings!

Possibly the cutest thing about the company is it's custom order option. Customers can select their character, and provide their own fabric, turning a cherished garment into something even more meaningful. Whether it's a baby grow, a child's first school uniform or a wedding dress, nothing seems too much. 

 

Some school uniform characters!

For someone supposed to be ardently saving money, it is with a heavy heart (actually, not really at all), that I admit to giving into this sheer loveliness. The new elephantine addition to my bookshelf couldn't look more at home if it tried. If you hadn't already noticed the running theme throughout my posts of late, I may be developing a penchant for red flannel tarten, see below. I'm hoping this will cool off towards the summer months, I can only imagine it wouldn't be a good look come mid-July.

The stuffed elephant that has stolen my heart.

I am 99.9% sure that an almost 23 year old shouldn't be getting excited about, more to the point, buying, a stuffed animal. But I don't care, I just don't care. Names on a postcard please!

To check out Funky Vintage in it's glorious, beautifully-made entirety, you can either go to their website, or visit them on Facebook! Go on, off you pop.

All photos lovingly borrowed from Funky Vintage's Facebook page. Show their page some love!