Making and Baking

A little later than usual this week, thanks to a quite whingey littlest yesterday who was in one of 'those' moods. (You know the kind...'how dare you leave me for 10 seconds mummy! Why aren't you carrying me about everywhere??!') but still in time to link up with Wendy for Handmade Monday. My two are currently glued to Toy Story, so as soon as I'm finished here I will be heading over to see what everyone's been up to.... wish me luck that Woody and Buzz can work their magic for long enough!

I've had quite a busy old week this week, and I've managed to make quite a few things, edible and otherwise. I'm now in the last couple of weeks of 'freedom' before ,whispers> work beckons, so I'm trying to make the most of it. Bread has featured heavily in the baking stakes, as has sourdough of course. On the bread front I've had my first true and epic bread failure, using yeast anyway. I've had a couple of failed sourdough breads but never a 'normal' white loaf. I suppose after so many years on and off of making bread (about 15 I would guess at) one epic fail isn't too bad really. I'm still not sure what went wrong, but the dough was sluggish on it's first rise and then decided it wasn't going to rise at all second time round. My guess is that the water I used was a bit too hot or the yeast was a bit stale. But my next attempt (using different yeast) was a riproaring success and definitely restored my faith!
Continuing the bread theme, we had bread and butter pudding for Sunday tea. I love making this as it is really minimum effort, maximum rewards. I don't think there is a better end to a roast dinner. I once read a Nigella recipe, where she made sandwiches with ginger jam to put in her bread and butter pudding, and I have to admit I stole the idea, changed the jam for orange marmalade and have never looked back. On Sunday, however, I rang the changes with chocolate chip brioche. Delicious and went down a storm with everyone,, but it will be back to the old one next time I think. I know I should have taken a picture of it, but I forgot in my haste to get into it. I will leave it up to your imagination, but just think about a rich brioche studded with chocolate chips, covered in a lovely thick set egg custard, with lots of dried fruit and you're there.

Herman has been eaten, of course. It can be taken for granted now that every week I will have eaten Herman in one form or another. This week I was lucky to have 3 portions to get rid of cook with so we made 2 lots of pancakes and one lot of muffins,

I made the muffins to the 'standard' recipe - apples and raisins, but added a cup of porridge oats as well. It was unanimously agreed that these were the best muffins so far. I don't know whether that was the addition of the the porridge oats or the fact that Herman has been living with us for ages now and I'm getting used to using him!

The pancakes were made at tea time, incidentally, when I had a bit of spare time to make them, and stored in the fridge for breakfasts through the week. The girls had the last 2 this morning, still as tasty as when they were made at the end of last week, so they definitely keep well.

On to other making and I have produced a few things, one of which I will share at a later date, as I want the recipient to see it first. But just a couple of ATC's to share that I made for the ATC Trail on UK Scrappers



This was made using some gorgeous card stock I have that has a great vintage, shabby feel. I love the muted colours.

I used cosmic shimmer on the background of this one. I have not used it before, and I was introduced to its delights by my friend Sharon (here's her blog Chasing Art ) I sprayed it over a piece of sequin offcuts and I love the effect. I sprayed the background before I had even thought about the other elements. I thought it looked like the sky and a rummage in my stash led me to some beautiful flowers I obtained from somewhere at some point and never got round to using.

The making continues today. We are having a messy play day, just as soon as Woody saves Jessie from the plane to Japan.

PS Jill I haven't forgotten the award. I will post a blog nominating my 15 bloggers in the very near future, I promise. It's quite difficult choosing just 15 from all the blogs I read!

Hope you all have a good week!
Til next time!

Life's Simple Pleasures.

I usually visit my mum's on a Sunday morning. She only lives round the corner and it's only a few minutes walk. This morning though I opened the door and it was pouring down, with two small kids this doesn't make for a quick dash!

I could have evicted Himself from his bed and asked him to take us round in the car. But instead I brought out the wet weather clothes and prepared to face the elements.

I'm so glad I did. The journey took three times as long because Caoimhe had to jump in every puddle she saw. And when we got to my mum's her lovely once white tights had to be washed as they were brown with muddy water flowing over the top of her wellies. But the look of excitement on her face when I brought her wellies out was enough for me.

She had a ball on the walk round. Who am I to deny her such a simple pleasure?

I love being a mum.

An Award, A Thank You and a teeny bit of Magic.

No blog last week as we were away sunning ourselves in the gloriously....wet, windy and cold Fleetwood! But I hope you all had a lovely Easter and had lots of chocolate and treats! What are you going to do with them all? Apart from eat them I mean. We are going to enjoy eating all the middle bits - the sweets, the treats and the chocolate buttons and creme eggs - and then melt down the actual eggs themselves to bake with...what I haven't decided yet! Last year we made chocolate cornflake cakes and cakey truffles I recall. Probably more of the same here. I try not to let Caoimhe gorge herself on chocolate and sweets and I think the large collection of confectionery currently sitting in the kitchen is a bit overwhelming so we've decided to do something nice with it other than just eat it all until we are sick! Though I have probably got the only child in the country who hasn't eaten all her eggs yet!

The Thank You goes to Bath Bomb Creations whose giveaway I won a few weeks ago, and picked it up from the sorting office last week (why does the postman always call when you're out and never when you are in?!) I won some pretty earrings and some lovely bath bombs so thank you once again! I can definitely vouch for the loveliness of their products, having had them before so if you're after bath time treats then give them a visit. I have yet to use my new bombs, I am waiting for an opportune moment (doesn't come around very often with two littlies!) but I am looking forward to doing so!

Thank you as well to Gill at Christmas Pie Crafts who awarded me the versatile blogger award. I will post about it, later in the week. It is so nice to have people leave comments and recognise my blog, even though I do wonder what people find interesting about what I chunter about sometimes!

Crafting has been a bit slow this week, though I have been quite busy in the kitchen. We have decided ...well actually that would be my husband... that we should have homemade bread rather than shop bought stuff if we can. It tastes better and lasts longer and at least I know what's in it. It's also not hard to make at all and works out surprisingly cheap to make compared to buying shop bought bread. So bread has been made - not sourdough this time, but 'normal' white bread. To go with the bread we've had home made soup (sweetcorn and potato) and pasta with homemade tomato sauce (infinitely better than shop bought sauce) I have even got myself a bag of pasta grade flour and will have an attempt at making pasta too.....

I have also found another use for Herman. Instead of Herman cake this time I had a bit of a bimble around the net and found a recipe for sourdough pancakes using Herman starter. They were not an immediate success. The batter is a much different beast to the one I usually use and the pancakes are much softer and harder to manage. But perfect them I will! One lot of Herman starter makes enough pancakes for a hungry family, and they keep for weeks in the fridge apparently. Sounds like a great plan for when I'm back at work. (but no more will be said about the W word as it is only weeks away now and I am sad!)

The make I am sharing this week is a bit of a cheat, as I actually made them before Easter. They were for the children of a couple of friends of mine, so I didn't want to show them til I had posted them and I knew they had arrived. I made fairy doors for a little boy (who has been poorly with chickenpox so I hope you're better now Callum!) and two sisters, Amelie and Francesca. I hope they like them. I made them from artist's mounting board off cuts again. The one for the little boy was the most challenging as I didn't want it to be girly!

That's it for this week, just time to remind you that as it's Monday you should have a visit to see Wendy over on her blog for Handmade Monday. I'm off out now for one of the last remaining free Monday mornings I have before....well, you know!

Til next time!



Fabric tag swap

I entered a fabric tag swap over on UKscrappers and found it to be a great challenge for myself. I live fabric but as you know I really lack the skills to do it justice. I was looking forward to using the tag swap to get out my sewing machine and try and practice my sewing but it didn't quite work out that way. We have a small domestic problem with our electric and using my sewing machine was out of the question. Hand sewing was never going to happen either! So with a change of plan and not a single stitch sewn I was happy to produce a simple, less is more tag. Well 6 of them actually.

I wasn't satisfied with the finished product, but then are we ever pleased with it or wonder whether we could have done better? I rarely am! However I've never made fabric tags before, or indeed any tags, so it was interesting on that count. Back to ATC's for the next few swaps!

I'm linking up with Wendy for  Handmade Monday  (once again I'm blogging from my phone so if there's a problem with the link, you'll find another on my sidebar) so have a wander over and read what other crafty bloggers have been up to!

Til next time!

The 5-a-day breakfast!

Welcome to the beginning of another week, and what a beautiful weekend we've had. I hope it continues!

Don't forget to head over to visit Wendy and all the lovely blogs linked up to visit Handmade Monday (if the link doesn't work there is one on my right hand side bar.)

Just a quick note to my fellow bloggers by way of an apology. I am currently unable to post comments on blogs that have word verification on them. I think my ipad is going through some kind of midlife crisis or something. I do read them all! And once my deskyop pc is up and running (don't ask) I:ll aim to comment on those i missed!

I hope you're all enjoying the sunny weather. I think it makes it easier to eat well instead of just stodge when the sun shines. Not that my girls need any reason to eat fruit! I thought this week I would share my recipe for 5-a-day pancakes which is usually a hit here and sets us up for a good day!

To make 8 pancakes you need:

1cup self raising flour

1cup milk - semi skimmed, full fat, buttermilk - whatever you have.

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas

A punnet of blueberries.

In a bowl beat the eggs and add the flour to make a thick batter. Add in the mashed up banana and slowly add the milk until it is dropping consistency. Add the blueberries -as many or as few as you like. Drop generous spoonfuls on to a hot frying pan or skillet. Once there are bubbles forming on the top, flip them over. It takes a couple of minutes only.

Serve with chopped fresh fruit on the side (hence the name 5-a-day pancakes !) we like strawberries, melon and grapes.

You could try adding raisins instead of blueberries, add a spoonful of cocoa powder in the mix too for a chocolatey taste.

These pancakes literally take 10minutes to put together from ingredients most of us have around the kitchen and the kids can get involved too. They are great for babies too, Teaghan loves them and it is a breakfast she can eat by herself without the need for spoonfeeding.

I usually make half quantities just for the girls and it still nakes 4 generous pancakes.

I'd love to see what kind of things you serve up for the kids instead of the same old cereal and toast!

Til next time!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope the mothers amongst you have been spoilt rotten by the kids. Judging by my Facebook timeline, most of the Mums I know seem to have had a lovely day. I still find it quite surreal that I am a mum, and feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have my two gorgeous girls in my life. I never dreamed that it would ever happen for us after many years of trying. In the end it all worked out for us, but others are not so lucky, and go through all konds of hell to experience what many people find quite natural and easy - conceivibg, carrying and having a child. So while you enjoy your treats today, just spare a thought for those ladies who would love to be a mummy but for one reason or other have not been as lucky as we have.

Of course it's time for  Handmade Monday and also  I made this! blog hops. The first hosted by Wendy, the latter hoated by the Bath Bomb Creations team. Lots of great blogs are posted there so take a look!

This week I have a sewing project to share and I also want to share my Hermann and Hetty news too.

I have carried on with my sourdough baking, and have even been brave enough to experiment a little. To the ladt baych of Hermann I decided to add cocoa powder and chocolate drops and make chocolate muffins. They were lovely and will defintely be made again. I haven't tried any other bread recipes yet but I will.

My sewing project was a little taggie for Teaghan. I made it out of scraps in my fabric stash, the fabric has been upcycled from a pair of my pyjamas,  and an old flannel cot sheet. The whole project only took a couple of hours to complete, including distraction time! Its not perfect but I doubt Teaghan cares about that!

Well that's about it for this week. Don't forget to check out the other blogs and have yourselves a great week.

Til next time!

Finding my mojo!

Here we are again, another week gone! And it's been a busy one, with some making and baking going on in the Gallery house. So I have a few things to share with you this week, as I link up as usual with Wendy for Handmade Monday and the Bath Bomb Creations team for their I made This! Sunday Linky.
Don't forget to have a wander over there to see what other people have been filling their week with this week!

The making has involved both fabric and paper crafting this week, although only one was completed. I am currently involved in a fabric tag swap over on UK Scrappers so I spent some time this week trying to sort out what I wanted to do. I wasn't able to actually complete any of them as things just didn't go to plan. In order to avoid sewing as much as I could, I bought some wonder web to glue the two pieces of fabric I'd chosen to use for the main body of the tag together but it just didn't work out as I wanted. Instead I decided to sew them, but was thwarted by the search for the thread box, and then the wakage of a certain Tilly Bud from her morning nap!

But I did manage to complete one crafting project, which was to make a fairy door for Caoimhe.

The door is actually a purply pink colour, unfortunately the photo doesn't quite show that! I made it with the offcuts of a picture mounting board, which I got from an Artist's shop in town. It's thanks to my friend, Sharon, that I came across the shop and knew that the owner sells the offcuts of board he doesn't need for his picture framing service. I know I promised not to buy any more stash, but at a handful of boards for a quid, I'm sure you'll forgive me!

I made the door whilst Caoimhe was at nursery and put it on the wall outside her bedroom door before she came home. We have been talking about fairies for a while, ever since Violet the elf came to stay, and she has become increasingly interested in them. She has recently discovered Peter Pan and Tinkerbell too, and enjoyed dressing up as Tinkerbell for World Book Day at the beginning of March

So you can imagine the excitement when she discovered that her very own fairy had come to stay, too! I'm sure we'll all have lots of fun with Daisy and Buttercup (who is Teaghan's fairy!) in the house!

I have also well and truly rediscovered my baking mojo this week. I love baking and cooking with Caoimhe as you know, but recently I have been more than happy to let Grandma take over the baking . I'm not sure why this is, other than the fact that with Caoimhe now at nursery 3 times a week we don't seem to have much time. But this week I have made a concerted effort. It all started with Hermann, who has continued to bubble and grow for the last couple of weeks, and we are now onto our 3rd batch. This week we made 2 lots of Hermann cake, some muffins and a couple of loaf sized cakes, one of which was given away. Once again they were delicious!



I've bravely made a sourdough bread starter, too, and today I made my first loaf from it. Well, I say 'made', but it is currently on it's second proving. I started it off this morning before breakfast and I'm hoping to get it in the oven some time before midnight! This slow rise seems to be the norm, and should apparently get quicker as the starter develops with age. we have decided to call our starter Hetty, for no particular reason, and she is now in her tub in the fridge waiting for the next time I decide to make bread. I will let you know how it all turns out, triumph or disaster!

And of course we had Sunday Dinner leftovers last week, so me and The Flop made veg, and chicken and veg pasties. A huge hit with both my girls for tea and dinner the next day!

Right, that's your lot this week! I'm off to read all the lovely blogs on Handmade Monday, and I Made This!
Til next time!