Auld School Granny Baking ...

 

I have been missing my Gran's baking recently and been intending to bake her oatmeal scones for many weekends but never gotten round to it. So today I made a point of not picking up my knitting and baking early.

This was not difficult as Fearne Cotton was  on Radio 1 with Jessie Ware in the Live Lounge, it was amazing!!!

Oatmeal Scones

First put your oven to Gas mark 4, then weight out 8 oz of self-raising flour and 8oz of pinhead oatmeal and mix together.

 

Then rub in 6oz of margarine then 4oz of sugar and 1 egg.

 

 

 

Roll this out and bake in the oven on baking trays, dusted with oatmeal, until golden - turning half way through.

I like them with butter and jam or cheese, brought me right back to sitting in my gran's kitchen with my sister and cousins having tea and oatcakes when we came home from school.

Macaroon Monday

Double Chocolate Macaroons

 

This afternoon I had a little visitor, Emma decided to work from home. Once she had done all her Aamos tasks for the day we tried to make Macaroons again, my 2nd attempt Emma's 3rd.

Meringue with icing sugar & almond flour                   Adding the coco powder     

 

There was already almond flour mixed with icing flour left over from Emma's last bake off we went for double chocolate macaroons, the general recipe came from Pinterest originally but Emma added coco to the meringue and we think that maybe made it not look so pretty. I was in charge of the ganache which was made with milk chocolate (Green & Black), cream, vanilla & a pinch of salt very say but once it's cooled we whipped it and it made it super tasty.

Pouring hot cream over the chocolate               I love when it goes all silky...nummy

 

 

Again not 100% happy with this attempt either but it just means that I will need to try again

... What a shame!

 

We think that the coco powder maybe didn't do the meringue

any favours so back to the drawing board we go

 

 

Have you got a baking nemesis? If so please let me know below.

First Couple of Days of the October Holidays ...

Some of the Aamos Designs new styles & colours

 

I am lucky that I came home to Shetland joost in time to catch the end of wool week, I accompanied Emma & Aamos Designs to the a Makers Market at the Town Hall and we had a great time meeting other crafters and people who have travelled far and wide to see what Shetland has to offer.

Emma getting annoyed at my tension

 

The thing I enjoy the most though was spending the day with my sister, her crocheting and me starting to knit my tam & finishing off the squirrel gloves.

Squirrel glove no.2 the ribbed wrist part feels like it takes ages

but once da fairisle starts you are flying

 

Emma's Granny Squares, by the evening she had joined 5 or 6 of them with a purple,

 it looks amazing may have to commission a peice from her.

 

Emma has a couple of new pieces since I wis last along the studios and they are gorgeous... I am a little biased though.

Aamos Designs Overshot Scarf she is going to make blankets like this

I didn't buy much besides coffee and a cupcake but I did get a new pattern by Outi Kater (same lady who made the tam pattern) for Christmas presents but I'm keeping dat one a secret for now.

On sunday I was feeling a little out of sorts but I did manage to finish the

ribbing on my tam, I'm liking the colours so far

All that Naughty Italian Foods

Pasta:

Roasted Veg Ravioli          

 

After watching the trailer for Simply Italian by Michela Chiappa, on Channel 4 this Summer, I decided to try my hand at Ravioli. My sister Emma used to make a stuffed pasta from a Jamie Oliver book which I loved but we did not have any of the ingredients so I decided to wing it ... a little brave I know but I was lucky and it paid off.

I diced a whole load of veg really small and put it into a pan and dry fried on a low heat making sure to keep the mixture as dry as ever, I added rosemary and garlic to give it some flavour. I then made a basic pasta recipe with 'pasta' flour and eggs then rested (I don't think you have to use pasta flour as I have used plain four and its worked really good). I now go by the rule 100g of flour to 1 medium egg- (Michela Chiappa's recommended ratio. I served this with homemade pesto and it got the families approval.

Penny Pinching Pasta                    

You know when it is the end of the month and you really want to avoid buying more food? Well my secret penny pinching recipe is Pappardelle, I use Michela's pasta dough recipe and cut it thick (1 or 2 cm) for  pappardelle or then (0.5 cm) for linguine.

I serve with left over pesto or a tin of tomatoes which is cooked down with onions, garlic, fresh chilli and a splash of red wine (if any).


Pizza:

My flatmates favourite, Blue Cheese & Chilli Pizza

 

Pizza is something I have been making from scratch since I was a student but as I have gotten wiser I have tweaked different things and now have a collection of toppings that I like cook, here are some of them.

I use a variation of Jamie Oliver's pizza dough and a tomato sauce made with a tin of tomatoes, garlic and basil whizzed up in the food processor.

Homemade pizza base & tomatoe sauce just

add mozzerella and its a quick easy meal

 

Some little tricks that I have learnt along the way are:

1.  Use fine polenta when rolling out the dough, it gives a really nice texture and taste to the base (Like dominoes);

2.  I also put a drizzle of oil (preferably a flavoured oil) into the dough mixture before you add the dry ingredients;

3.  I freeze any left over tomato sauce and it keeps really well.

Hugh's Beetroot & Goats Cheese Pizza

Do you have your own pizza topping variations or dough recipes please share them in the comments below.

Jeans for Genes UK

 

As well as other activities we have planned at work I thought I would raise a little extra for the charity doing what I love the most ... Cooking & Crafting!!!

When playing on Pinterest I discovered this photo and thought I might bake something similar and sell it in the staff room.

 

I made a simple sponge and icing and used coloured icing and rolled it out to make the pockets, very simple but hopefully effective.

October holidays start on Friday and so I am trying to use up food in the cupboards and fridge before I go north. I bought a huge bag of carrots from my local shop when I only needed one and they are still good so I wanted to use the rest up. I don't like carrot cake (I know I'm weird) so I typed in carrot relish and carrot jam into Pinterest and a recipe for Carrot Cake Jam caught my eye. Even though I don't like the actual cake, I tried the jam and it was nice, I really liked the walnuts in it.

I will decorate the jars with denim and hopefully get some generous donations for this Jeans for Genes UK.

 

Here is a picture of the decorated jars

Another Successful Morning at the Blue Door

Broken 'Medicine' Bottle that I managed to fix

 

Lynn and I went down Victoria Street again to see if we could find anything exciting. I had watched Lauren Conrads Crafty creations Video the other night and was really tempted to see if I could find anything that I could make a cake stand with, sadly I didn't but I did find more crystal jars.

 The medicine bottle was broken but with a peerie bit of super glue it is as good as new. I bought this with two crystal jars and a peach rayon table cloth which I thought might be a cute way to protect my wooden dresser.

Crystal Ring Dish 50p                                         Crystal Jar 60p

I recently read 'Cupcakes & Cashmere: A Design Guide For Defining Your Style, Reinventing Your Space, And Entertaining With Ease' by Emily Schuman I recommend this book and her blog!

Print that I bought from the Moulin Rouge is Paris this Summer

 

She talks about organising your belongings and using your collections to add character to your room. Which inspired me to change certain things in my bedroom. I have lived in my current flat for almost 3 years but have only started to put a mark on it.

Poster that I bought from The MET in New York last October

 

I have bought a clothes rail as I do not have a wardrobe and got some beautiful crystal glass decorations to help me store jewellery (see above).

Origami Flowers dipped in glitter I got the instructions from Pinterest

 

It's a working progress but I've showed you a couple of things that I'm started to do.

White Rose Hooks from one of my favourite shops in Shetland Ninian

Please share your decoration ideas in the comment box below.

Silverwork Night Class

 

Last September I enrolled in the Orkney College's night class, Silverwork, at KGS. At school we had a peerie go at making 'lead' by making moulds and melting it down and cooling... I liked this but this night class made me realise der wis a lot to jewellery making.

We started by creating basic silver bands (rings) then had to go home and do some research/planning for our individual projects.

 

I decided on making this bangle that wrapped around the wrist like wings. It did not take as long as I thought it would so started to make a starfish charm for my bracelet.

 

Then I made a twisty ring after seeing one of the senior students techniques, when it was closer to Christmas I decided to make presents. After the success of my previous charm I made some heart charms which could be worn as a pedant or charm.

 

I loved this course and plan to go back some year and further my learning ... recommend it!!!