My First Embroidery Hoop

I used to hate textiles when I was at school. For me, It was such a faff having to thread the sewing machine. Recently, however I have wanted to try and acquire some basic sewing skills so I purchased this mini kit from Corinne Lapierre’s website. The dispatch and delivery was extremely quick. Though once I opened the kit I saw how mini this mini-kit really was.

My initial worries with this piece were how I was going to fit all the details on as the hoop was only 11cm . I do think it ended up looking a bit squashed  when compared to the example shown on the front of the box , however I think it was a decent attempt and  I really do love the floral design.

I also learnt how to three new stiches: french knots, back stitch and a straight stitch.

 

 

 

Cross Stitch Box

Cross stitch is probably my favourite stitch as it’s simple to do and looks great.

 

 

Making a Cross Stitch Greeting Card

Peppermint Creams

Although the dough can be a bit off a faff to make these taste lovely after a dinner and are prepared with minimal ingredients. Think of them like homemade After Eights.

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 350g icing sugar
• 3 drops peppermint essence (may need more just taste as you go)
• 1 bar of Bournville chocolate

Method

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and leave to cool a little.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg white until frothy. Sieve in the icing sugar and mix well. Add the peppermint essence and mix well until you form a dough. You will need to use your hands for this. Once the dough comes together knead a little.
4. Break off small pieces of the dough and roll into small balls.
5. Flatten into discs and dip half into the melted chocolate.
6. Place on the baking tray to set (until chocolate had hardened).

Notes: Next time I would make these even thinner than shown in the photo.

 

 

Date Milkshake

Dates can be expensive so  when I had some leftover dates from making Sticky Toffee Pudding, I wanted to find another use for them as to avoid wastage. The dates I had were quite dry, unlike the Medjool variety,  so I couldn’t just add them to a salad. Then I thought about the exotic sounding date milkshake that’s served in our local lebanese restaurant and thought this would be the perfect way to use up my dates! What’s more is that this recipe is ready in a flash with only 4 ingredients needed! A win-win situation if you ask me.

Ingredients

• 20 stoned dates
• 250 ml milk
• 1 small handful ice cubes (about 3 large icecubes)
• 1 generous pinch ground cinnamon

Method

1. Just chuck the dates into a liquidizer with the milk and blitz until smooth. Add the ice cubes and the ground cinnamon and whiz again. Serve straight away in tall glasses.

Note: if your milkshake is too sweet, add some more cinnamon to it. It will not have a strong taste of cinnamon but it will balance out the sweetness.

Recipe taken from Jamie oliver 

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/the-amazing-date-shake/

 

Candyfloss

Probably the simplest recipe ever as it only requires one ingredient- sugar! Once you’ve let candy floss machine warm up simply pour the sugar into the centre of the machine and get your skewer ready to pick up all the candyfloss goodness. Yum!

Chewy Flapjack Recipe

 

Ingredients

Chopped rolled (cheap porridge) oats (asda own brand scottish oats).	125 g
Rolled (premium porridge) oats (asda own brand scottish oats)	125 g
Margarine (aldi baking spread)	150 g
Golden syrup ( asda own brand)	75 g
Sugar (granulated)	75 g

Method

1. Put the 150 g of margarine, 75 g of sugar & 75 g of golden syrup in saucepan (or microwaveable bowl if using a microwave ) and heat until it is all liquid.
2. Meanwhile line the baking tin with greaseproof paper.
3. Mix the oats into the liquid. Leave to cool a little if using chocolate chips as you don’t want them to melt.
4. Put the mixture into the baking tin & press flat.
5. Bake at 175 °C (Gas Mark 4) for 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Cut into squares whilst still hot
7. Leave to cool and set.

Notes: asda own brand golden syrup is best as it is not as sweet as Tate and Lyles . If using tate and Lyles use less sugar or golden syrup to adjust sweetness accordingly .

I use a 20 x 20 cm tin

you can use just one type of oats instead of two

use 60g choc chips or any other flavourings you like such as nuts.

 

original recipe source: http://duramecho.com/Food/Flapjack/index.html

Bread Loaf

Ingredients

• 400g malted grain brown bread flour, or wholemeal or granary bread flour (Asda wholemeal bread flour)
• 100g strong white bread flour (aldi)
• 7g sachet easy-bake dried yeast (aldi bellbake) (or 2 tsp Quick dried yeast)
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp soft butter (I can’t believe it’s not butter)
• 4 tbsp mixed seed (optional), such as linseed, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower, plus extra for sprinkling

 

Method

1. Mix your choice of brown flour with the white, the yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Put in the butter and rub it into the flour. Stir in the seeds if using. Make a dip in the centre of the flour and pour in almost 300ml hand warm (cool rather than hot) water, with a round-bladed knife. Then mix in enough of the remaining water and a bit more if needed, to gather up any dry bits in the bottom of the bowl and until the mixture comes together as a soft, not too sticky, dough. Gather it into a ball with your hands.
2. Put the dough on to a very lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 mins until it feels smooth and elastic, only adding the minimum of extra flour if necessary to prevent the dough sticking. Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface. Cover with an upturned, clean, large glass bowl and leave for 45 mins-1 hr or until doubled in size and feels light and springy. Timing will depend on the warmth of the room.
3. Knock back the dough by lightly kneading just 3-4 times. You only want to knock out any large air bubbles, so too much handling now will lose the dough’s lightness. Shape into a ball. Cover with the glass bowl and leave for 15 mins.
4. Now shape to make a tin loaf Grease a 1.2-litre capacity loaf tin (about 23 x 13 x 5.5cm) and line the base with baking parchment. Using your knuckles, flatten the dough into a rectangle about 25 x 19cm. Fold both shorter ends into the centre like an envelope, make a ¼ turn, then flatten again into the same size and roll up very tightly, starting from one of the short ends. Roll the top of the dough in extra seeds and place in the tin with the join underneath, pressing the seeds gently into the dough. Cover with a clean tea towel. Leave for 40-45 mins, or until risen about 5cm above the top of the tin.
5. Put a roasting tin in the bottom of the oven 20 mins before ready to bake and heat oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Put the risen bread in the oven, carefully pour about 250ml cold water into the roasting tin (this will hiss and create a burst of steam to give you a crisp crust), then lower the heat to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Bake for about 30 mins or until golden, covering with foil for the last 5 mins if starting to brown too quickly. Leave in the tin for 2-3 mins, then remove and cool on a wire rack. If you tap the underneath of the baked loaf if should be firm and sound hollow.

 

 

Original recipe link: bbcgoodfood

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1582639/brown-loaf

 

 

 

Welsh Cakes

 Ingredients

• 225g of self-raising flour (aldi) , or 225g plain flour and 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100g of butter (block of salted kerrygold butter), or margarine, plus extra for cooking
• 50g of caster sugar (silverspoon) , plus extra for sprinkling
• 50g of greek currants (bellbake lidl)
• 1 egg, beaten  ( asda 6 pack of free range eggs)  with 3 tbsp milk (full fat) 

 

Method

1.Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl and rub in the margarine or butter. Add the sugar and currants and stir well

2 Pour the egg mixture in and mix until you have a stiff dough

3 Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board until 5mm (1/4 inch) thickness and stamp out rounds with a pastry/biscuit cutter

4.Heat the griddle over a medium heat until hot and grease with a little butter – the baking griddle should be well-greased, and then heated until a little water sprinkled on the surface skips about in balls, evaporating. A heavy cast iron frying pan makes a good substitute. Cook the cakes for about 3 to 4 minutes each side, until they are golden brown and have risen slightly

5 Serve immediately sprinkled with a little extra caster sugar

Notes for next time: roll thinner and cook on a low heat!

Recipe from https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/welsh-cakes-recipe

Chewy Ginger Molasses (Treacle) Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies 

These Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are easy to make, super-soft and chewy, and irresistibly delicious.

 

Ingredients:

• 171g butter, softened to room temperature (not melted*)
• 100g granulated (white) sugar
• 100g packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup Lyles black treacle
• 1 egg
• 264g plain flour
• 1/2 tbs ground ginger
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Set aside.
2. Using a separate mixing bowl, either with a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugars on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and a pale yellow color, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as needed. Mix in the eggs (one at a time) and molasses, and beat on medium-low speed until each is combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat until it is evenly incorporated.
3. Transfer the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is completely chilled.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
5. Roll the dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter. Fill a separate small bowl with sugar, and roll each ball in the sugar until it is completely coated. Place dough balls on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies begin to slightly crack on top.  (They will crack more while cooling.)  Remove from the oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
7. Serve warm and enjoy, or store in a sealed container for up to 4 days.  Or freeze for up to 3 months.

Note: recipe also works with all white sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar

Recipe taken from

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chewy-ginger-molasses-cookies/comment-page-11/#comment-1582556