I’m not dead…and I made a cake to prove it!

Wow, I never meant for that to happen!

I don’t even have any proper excuses to be honest, just that life got in the way!

I’m still working in the same place, still knitting and sewing whenever I can, I’ve almost finished my BSL Level 1 – check out this woman signing Cee Lo Green – it’s ace but is NOT safe for work!

My camera’s still broken 😥

And most importantly, I’m still cooking, doing my bit for feminism , Nigella!

In a bid to put off my BSL revision for a little longer, tonight I made a cake I’d been dreaming about for a while. I got the recipe from the the beautiful Joy the Baker, whose blog I stalk obsessively read 🙂

Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread

Before

Doesn't it look like porridge with strawberries?!

After

Little overdone but still yummers!

In terms of difficulty, it’s pretty easy but it involves a lot of little tasks and a helluva lot of washing up. It’s worth it though, especially if it’s OH’s turn to do the washing up. 🙂

It is a delish banana cake, with lovely tiny strawberry yumminess dotted in it. Perfect energy food for late-night sign language exam cramming!

Speak soon, I promise!

x

Life and Craft and Stuff

Hiya,

Wow, a lot’s happened since I last updated. I’ve started a new job, started a college course, booked my first craft stall. And I turned one year older.

Here’s a pic of some of my birthday pressies. I’m so lucky!

And here’s a peek at the kinda stuff I’m going to be selling at the craft fair:

Peg Bag

Large Tote Bag

100% Wool Felt Brooch

Sorry about the poor quality, they’re taken on my phone ’cause I still have a broken camera 😦

Just a quick update for you today as I have  things to do. I’ll update you soon xxx

The World Cup Is Over (for England, anyway)

So the World Cup is over. Yes, there may be two weeks to go but as far as England are concerned it’s over. Sigh.

And so my World Cup themed food must also come to an end. I meant to update after each game but I have been struck down by a particularly awful case of the sniffles and haven’t had the energy to blog so here’s a quick update.

England Vs Slovenia

I was a bit lost when it came to Slovenian food but thankfully my friend Zowie came to the rescue. Zowie is one of my bestest friends. She also happens to be a strict vegetarian. However, she’s the kind of ace vegetarian who doesn’t snarl when I order a double cheeseburger and who suggests yummy recipes like Goulash.

I changed the recipe a bit but I’m feeling too lazy to write it out so if anyone wants my recipe specifically then please ask. Here’s how it turned out:

It was yum, but the way I made it, it was quite liquidy, a bit soupy. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be more stewy than soupy but it tasted good and we ate it with bread to soak up some of the liquid.

England Vs Germany

As I was all bunged up with a cold last night I could not be bothered cooking (I was going to make fancy potato pancakes with sausages as well, honest) so the OH did Frankfurters. Bit of a cop out I know. And we had to eat the German food, after Germany had thrashed us 4-1(2)!

Ah well, there’s always the tennis.

And so, as I was sofa-bound most the of the weekend, I’ve had chance to do a lot of crafting. Inspired by my new favourite blog Ruffles and Stuff, I decided to give one of my dull cardigans a makeover. For the tutorial, click here.

Here’s my boring old cardy before…

And after…

I shortened the sleeves, added a lacy trim, then added some buttons I’d covered in fabric. It was a pain in the bum to make. I’m not a very patient or methodical crafter. Once I’d attached the buttons, I tried to fasten the top and realised the buttons were too big for the buttonholes. So I took a pair of scissors to the buttonholes. I don’t recommend this kind of botched approach but it suits me. So, it may only last a few days before it falls apart but until then, I have a lovely new top!

Rudding Park Hotel and The World Cup

As promised, although a little late , here are some food pics from our recent stay at Rudding Park Hotel in Follifoot (part of Harrogate, Yorkshire).

The hotel was lovely – they even took our bags to our room – I felt well posh! 🙂

They had a driving range in the grounds so we booked in there before dinner. I was incredibly bad, but the OH was pretty good – let’s hope that’s the only thing he shares with Tiger Woods!

Some people might think it’s a little odd that I take pictures of my food, and well yeah it probably is but food is a big part of the experience whenever I go anywhere and so I like to keep those memories, just as I would take photos of the places we visited and the things we’d seen.

So, you might have noticed that the World Cup has started. I’ve got my inflatable England hands ready, face painted and I’ve even made some red and white bunting for the window.  Strangely, the OH has even decided to back the England team, despite the fact that he’s Welsh. Funny that.

Anyway, for me this is just another excuse to make yummy food. So, on Saturday, as England were playing USA (we didn’t lose yey!) we decided to make USA themed food. We had burgers with sweet potato wedges and real strawberry milkshakes – yum.

I intend to do the same based on every team England face in the competition. I’m really looking forward to Friday when we play Algeria! Slovenia, on the other hand, any ideas?!?!

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup, Plus Sewing Snippets

Just a quick post for you today but I will be back very soon with some scrumptious delights. The OH and I have been away recently on a very mini ‘mini break’ to Harrogate so I’ll be sure to tell you all about that as well.

For now, here’s a couple of recent creations from the Pavlova household to whet your appetite:

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

I got the idea for this from Comfort Food by Bridget Jones but didn’t really follow the recipe. I find you don’t really need to with soups. It was very simple to make and was made even simpler by the fact that OH had already roast the root vegetables (carrots, swede, parsnip, onions with garlic oil and mixed herbs) for tea so I nicked half of the roast veg and put them in a pan for my soup. Add some chicken stock, boil for a bit, 20 mins or so, then blitz it with a hand blender. That’s it. Simples.

And mega cheap too, always a bonus.

Next we have some oatmeal and raisin cookies which OH made last night. The recipe was taken from Rachel Allen’s Bake! Here’s the recipe. The only alteration was that OH used plain flour instead of SR as we didn’t have any. It didn’t matter, they tasted great. I enjoyed mine with a large class of strawberry milkshake. Mmmm. I think OH is definitely the better dessert chef.

Finally, here’s a couple of my non-edible creations. I’ve got back into sewing lately which is great, but I worry it will eat into my cooking (and eating) time!

I made these cushion covers based on a tutorial from Craftblog. These are great for a newbie sewer, very easy and it doesn’t really matter if you don’t get the measurements spot on.

And this is a little wristlet I made last night, from a tutorial from Javajem Knits. This was a little bit more difficult, but after a few tantrums and one broken needle (don’t sew over pins!) I got there and I’m happy with the results.

I’m not sure what to use it for though. Maybe just as a purse, or a pencil case. Any suggestions welcome, I look forward to some particularly silly ones from my family. That’s it for today, be back soon. x