Rocky Road

One thing I've never made is Rocky Road - I've no idea why because it is very easy to make and requires no oven. Then I saw Jane's Patisserie post a photo on Instagram and I thought I had to make some.

Jane's Patisserie has lots of very yummy recipes - I've previously made the Millionaire's Shortbread which you top with Malteesers. 

The recipe for the Rocky Road is here - I used a microwave to melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup as it was really quick and just as effective as a bain-marie. 

My first batch wasn't as successful as my second as I was cooking a curry at the same time and was probably maxing out my multi tasking abilities too much. I think I overheated the chocolate/syrup/butter mix which resulted in it thickening and it was difficult to mix with the dry ingredients. I halved the ingredients for the second batch, used a microwave and had no issues. Definitely focus on one thing at a time when making anything!

Yuuummmmmm

Do check out Jane's site - endless amount of deliciousness xx

Dydd Santes Dwynwen - Heart Bookmark DIY

In honour of Dydd Santes Dwynwen, I decided to make a quick DIY - the heart bookmark I made is a little big (I used a 15cmx15cm piece of paper) so reduce according to the size of the book.

Here's one I made earlier :)

I used this video for the instructions. I recommend using paper/thin cardboard which is coloured/patterned on both sides.

I'll be following this up with some Valentine's Day DIYs ....coming soon x

Something Old, Something New

It's fun to bake something new and to experiment, but it is also great to find a recipe that just works - one of those effortless but yummy bakes.

Here are two examples - one tried and tested cookie recipe, one new muffin recipe:

Nigella's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe is available here but I've altered it slightly to make it even more accessible:

• It states you should use 1 egg yolk and 1 egg - I just throw both eggs in whole as it is a waste of an egg white and only makes the dough slightly wetter - be cautious if you're using large eggs though
• Use fridge cold eggs - my eggs are never from the fridge when I've made these

The best bit about cookies is you can add pretty much anything you like - Easter egg chocolate, nuts, Reese's Pieces.....

Coffee and cookies

Dan Lepard's Clementine and Oat Muffins

This recipe was from Lepard's book "Short and Sweet" which I'm currently working my way through. Plenty of practical tips - I found the introduction to the bread section really interesting and the ingredients are pretentious. 

Here is the recipe.

These muffins were easy to make - whisking them for 3-4mins at the start really helped them rise in the oven and for once I did sieve my dry ingredients. Also, we have lots of clementines in the fruit bowl at the moment.

Mmmmmm......

Happy baking :)

DIY - Tie Dye Infinity Scarf

I've experimented a lot with tie-dye and dyeing clothes in general. Tie-dye generally works very well - it is really satisfying unravelling your work and seeing which patterns you've created.
Sometimes it hasn't always gone to plan - I once dyed my jeans black (they'd turned grey after being washed thousands of times) and I kept finding black dye in the washing machine for weeks afterwards.

This sounds like another one of my silly tips but it is so important to follow the instructions on the packet of dye. Other than that, go wild.

Another tip is do the dyeing either outside or in the garage - basically anywhere you don't mind the odd drip of dye going. An old bit of carpet or an old rug is ideal.


Tie-dye Infinity Scarf

You will need...

• A packet of dye - I used Dylon's intense violet
• An infinity scarf - mine is a white jersey scarf from eBay and was about £5
• Disposable gloves or marigolds
• Measuring jug
• Plenty of washing up bowls/plastic boxes
• Salt 

The dye and scarf....and a sheep (optional)

Firstly I washed my scarf as per the Dylon instructions - I popped it into the washing machine but I'm sure you could hand wash it.

Meanwhile, I stirred the dye with some warm water - the photo below shows me using a saucepan - I didn't actually heat it on the hob, the saucepan was just useful to pour the mix into the water later.

Swirly dye

I then poured warm water into a plastic tub and added the salt (from memory, it was about 6litres of water and 5tbsp of salt)

Salt bath

The dye/water mix is added to the salt/water mix and you are almost ready.

This is the fun bit - add elastic bands, wrap marbles, whatever you want to create your tie-dye pattern. Initially I wrapped the scarf around a piece of wood as I wanted to create a grid pattern - however once wrapped around the wood, it was too big to dip into the plastic tub that contained the dye. 

Nice pattern, shame it won't fit, duh

I decided to tie the scarf randomly with elastic bands instead. Into the dye it goes for approximately an hour.

The scarf submurged in the dye 

According to the instructions, you then need to rinse in cold water and then in warm water. Again, if you want to be on the safe side, fill up another washing bowl/tub with clean water to do the rinsing. I then hung the scarf on the washing line to dry. 

The results are interesting - you never know what it's going to look like. 

Different sides of the scarf

Happy experimenting! X

DIY - Box Frame Art

This is so easy and inexpensive, anyone can do it. You can personalise what you put in the frame according to the room and best of all you can change it whenever you want. I've have three examples here, but the possibilities are endless...

Home Sweet Home

This one is a great house-warming gift - the supplies I used were...

• Gold Glitter Alphabet Stickers - I used these but you can cheaper/smaller/non glitter alternatives (non glitter - who'd want those?!)
• A box frame - mine is from Asda and was about £3 and came with a mount
• Patterned paper - mine are from Mollie Makes
• Plain cardboard
• A ruler, scissors, pencil and craft knife

I cut the paper to match the inside of the frame where the photo would normally be and then I started to work out where the letters should go. Using a ruler and pencil enabled me to space out the letters in a consistent way and ensure it was straight.

Once the letters were all stuck, I traced a house shape onto some tracing paper, transferring the house onto the paper and cutting out with a craft knife and ruler. I then placed contrasting cardboard behind it. 

Scrabble Tiles

These also require a box frame (ensure the depth of the frame will allow space for the tiles) . I used E6000 glue to stick the tiles in place. The wooden Scrabble tiles would look good too.

Ice Cream paper from Mollie Makes

Remember My Space? No me either...

Patterned/Text Paper

With this example, you can just cut it to size and stick it in the frame :)

Mollie Makes paper

Healthy Breakfast

I'm trying out new foods to have for breakfast - ideally healthier options - and I wanted to try out pancakes because (a) I love pancakes and.....well that's it really.

I saw that a lot of people I follow on Twitter made banana pancakes and substituted the flour with oats. Pancakes sounded far more exciting that porridge so here is my attempt...

The recipe I used is from this website:

2 bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup of rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

pinch of salt

maple syrup, fresh fruit (optional, to serve)

First of all, you put the first 5 ingredients in a blender, until you get a smoothish batter

I freeze bananas that no one wants to eat anymore -
just put them in freezer bags in pairs - good for baking

You then need to leave the batter for 10-20mins so that it thickens slightly.

Blended banana gloop

You then fry them - they seemed a bit more sticky than normal pancake mix and harder to flip over.

Oh, did I mention they tasted horrible?

I still ate them - my bananas pancakes with
maple syrup and raspberries

I think I'd rather just eat normal pancakes as a treat rather than attempt this again but if you can recommend a good variation, let me know.

But for now, back to the Special K.

What I've learnt about.....making your own candles

I'm trying to come up with regular themes for my posts - rather than revisit old ground, I thought I'd write up some things I've learnt from various DIYs.

This first post is about candles - which make great little gifts and you can personalise the look and smell quite easily. But, it can be messy and more expensive than going out and buying one for as little as £1. Here's what I've learnt along the way...

• Preparation is key - you need the right supplies and to be all set up before melting your wax. Trust me, it'll turn out better this way. Glue your wick in place with strong glue/hot glue and leave it to dry otherwise the hot wax will make it float and move around

• Smaller new or recycled glass votives work well as you don't need lots of wax and good for practice - a really good shape and size is a 200g Nutella jar - for £1.50 you get a jar for your candle and something for your toast :)

Wax candle in a Nutella jar with cake sprinkles

• Crayon candles - the don't work! I've seen many tutorials on this method and yes it does colour the wax really well but when I've used this method, the candle doesn't burn. Also, the tutorial recommended melting the wax crayons in a paper cup in the microwave - in my microwave the cups almost caught fire(!)

• Beeswax produces a nice clean smell when burnt and looks good too. Also using old wax from mostly used candles is a great idea

• Sometimes your candle may develop what is known as a 'sink hole' when the centre of the candle dips whilst drying. I looked this up to see what causes it - apparently it is down to temperature - tips included using a thermometer and heating up the glass votive 

I hope these tips help - happy candle making xx

Healthy Eating

Like everyone else this time of year, I'm trying to eat healthy and organise my lunch the night/weekend before. If I don't do this, I'll start acting like I'm going to starve and buy prawn cocktail crisps.

This is a 5-day lunch plan which I've followed before - it requires almost no cooking (I buy pre cooked chicken and ready to eat quinoa) and you'll probably have enough ingredients to make a second week's worth of lunches. The only one I never attempt is the chickpea sandwich, which doesn't sound too appealing (and last time I did this, I worked a 4 day week so only need 4 pre-prepared lunches).

Butternut squash going into the oven

Day 2 - a mix of quinoa, squash, pepper, olives, chickpeas, cucumber

Try, try, try again - Christmas 2015

This is a classic example of when something goes right eventually.

I try to bake some kind of gift every Christmas and 2015's choice was biscotti. Easy to package up into small cute bundles and wouldn't go stale so quickly. I tried this recipe first - not all three flavours but the cranberry and pistachio. We bought the pistachios with their shells still intact so we painstakingly removed them. The instructions are pretty straightforward but I felt a bit intimidated by the stickiness of the dough and having the option of adding as much liquid (in this case, egg) as I saw fit. As I saw fit?! Paul, TELL ME how much egg I need!

The recipe recommends you cut them up (after their first bake) into 2-3 cm slices. Clearly my idea of 2-3cms was huge bricks of haggard biscotti.

First try - cranberry and pistachio bricks

They tasted wonderful but they were so thick and hard, they could stop a conversation dead.

Time for another try - this time, a different flavour and recipe. I tried this one from John Whaite's collection of Christmas recipes and they turned out perfect! So I adapted the recipe and made another batch of cranberry and pistachio. 

Double chocolate and ginger

John Whaite's Biscotti

230g plain flour

20g cocoa powder (not used in the cranberry and pistachio version)

150g caster sugar

125g milk chocolate chips (I replaced these with pistachios)

2 large eggs 

2tbsp milk

50g stem ginger from a jar, finely chopped (I replaced this with dried cranberries)

Essential Equipment
Large baking sheet, lightly greased 


Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. In a mixing bowl, toss together the flour, cocoa powder and sugar until evenly dispersed, then stir through the chocolate chips.

In a small cup, beat together the eggs and milk, and add the chopped stem ginger. Pour this into the dry ingredients and bring together, with your hands, into a fairly smooth dough. This takes a little bit of kneading and force, but it will come together.

Roll the dough into a fat sausage about 28cm/11-inch long, place onto the baking sheet and flatten down slightly. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and with a sharp serrated knife, gently but firmly slice the biscotti into thin pieces about 1cm thick. Place these, flat onto the baking sheet and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

The pistachio and cranberry biscotti going in for their second bake

Hi.....

The concept of this blog came to me a while ago...it has just taken me a while to get going....but my recent actions underline why I have started it.

I like to dabble it a bit of baking, crafting, making stuff...making a mess. And a lot of the time it is really nice and satisfying. BUT, sometimes, it goes wrong and a lot of the time, I've given up. However, I hate to say it, but practice does make perfect. Also, following instructions and recipes help!

Here is my journey along the way :)

The spelt and ale loaf I made a few days ago failed miserably - I think the hot ale killed the yeast because during the proving stages, the dough did not increase in size at all!