Learning to Knit

Well, with a Mother like mine, it was inevitable that I would learn to knit. What I didn't realise is how addictive it is!
I've been trying lots of different small patterns to practice and to get a feel for the all important tension. Here are my first baby steps into the knitting world...

Even though these are quite tight, I think making friendship bracelets as a child has helped me get a grasp of the tension needed.
I'm really pleased with them, especially my first cable knit!

Now I've moved onto my first project. The scarf!
Nice and simple, but still extremely exciting. It's knitting up quickly, so hopefully it won't be too long until I can post it on here.

Also, Charles, I'm one step closer to that Cable Knit Onsie...

xxx

Pesto & Cheddar Savoury Muffins

These Pesto and Cheddar Savory Muffins made a delicious alternative dinner. I actually made 6 of these for three people, but I think it would be nice next time to try and make them twice as big so each person can have one big old muffin to themselves. 

(The following recipe has been adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

50g Butter
175g Plain Flour
2 Tspn Baking Powder
1/2 Tspn Paprika

2 Eggs
125ml Milk

80g Cheddar Cheese
20g Pine Nuts
6 Tspns Pesto

Recipe:
1) Preheat the over at 180 degrees and prepare your baking tray with muffin cases (I use silicon cases) 

2) Gently melt the butter over a low heat. Once done, do not clean the pan. Pour the butter into a small bowl and beat with the milk.
3) Lightly toast the pine nuts in the pan you used for the butter.
4) In a large mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder and paprika together.
5) Add the egg mix to the flour mix and fold in. The end result will be slightly lumpy.
7) Spoon this mixture into a muffin case until half full, then add a tspn of pesto on top and fill up the case with more mixture.
8) Sprinkle the lightly toasted pine nuts on top.
9) Bake for 25 minutes. 

Served with roasted vegetables, crisps, some of Mum's lovely handmade bread and a nice glass of chilled white wine.

They were delicious and satisfyingly filling. I will definitely be up for making them again! I'd also really like to try making a savory muffin that doesn't rely so much on cheese. I just found this recipe for a vegetable muffin and think I will be giving it a go soon. 

xxx

Summer Fete Bakeathon

From the loving request of my Nan, I have been busy baking away for the Hayling Island Summer Fete. I managed to rustle up four delicious batches of cupcakes. For these I used a mixture of online recipes + a few variations that I will describe below.

Chocolate Cupcakes

An essential dessert for any fete!

(6 cakes) The sponge recipe was taken from this link.
For the frosting I whisked together 100g butter, around 1 tbspn of coco powder and 100g of icing sugar. But this link as a pretty awesome chocolate frosting recipe.
The garnish was made from sifted icing sugar and a malteser.

Banana Muffins 

They came out beautifully, I would strongly recommend making these!

(8 cakes) The sponge was made using this recipe, and I am definitely keeping that somewhere safe!
The frosting was a simple butter cream. If you haven't made it before, this is a pretty good guide (though I would use Vanilla Extract instead of food colouring).
To garnish, I used British style cake toppings and more maltesers.

Strawberry & Cream Cupcakes

Very British, perfect for a Summer Fete.

(8 cakes) For these delicious summer treats, I used this recipe. Whilst the sponge was lovely, the icing was terribly runny. I would suggest using a fraction of the suggested strawberry puree (more like 50g).

For the garnish I simply used some delicious British strawberries. 

Lemon Curd Cupcakes

Because I freakin love Lemon Curd!

(12 cakes) To make the sponge I used this recipe, although they tasted great, I was disappointed at the density of the sponge and highly recommend looking for an alternative recipe.
I also used a Delia Smith Lemon Curd recipe instead of the one specified in this recipe. It was from her book Winter Collection. Great book.
The frosting was a simple icing (icing sugar + water) which I mixed with the Lemon Curd.

Apparently they were all bought. I'm relieved.

xxx

Wedding Dresses

Kindly, and thankfully, Cheryl was a nice Bride who wanted her Bridemaids to look lovely for her big day. So instead of yellow puffy dresses, we got these very fun and very clever twist dresses.

They are brilliant because they allow each Bridesmaid to wear the dress in a way that suits them. As you can see from the photos below, this came in very handy for us mixed bunch of Bridesmaids. 

They also hung really nicely and were easy to cut to size because they were made of Jersey - and trust me, I needed mine to be cut a lot shorter!

However, it wasn't really about our dresses at all. It was all about this beautiful lady. I think her dress is elegant and classic (which mirrored the whole essence of her Wedding).

Congratulations Cheryl, you look dazzling.

xxx 

The Wedding Gift

I've just had a wonderful weekend at my friend's Wedding! She is the first of my friends to get married, and I still can't believe she asked me to be a bridesmaid.

Thank you so much for such a beautiful weekend Cheryl, I wish you all the happiness in the world.

Now, I won't tell you what I got as a present (because the happy couple haven't had a chance to find out yet!) but I will show you what it looked like.

It's simply wrapped in parcel paper, paper doilies and ribbon. I think it looks perfect for a wedding and hope you will agree.

Hopefully I will scavenge some beautiful pictures of the wedding soon, so much of it was wonderfully handmade!
xxx

Redecorating My Room

Having just finish University, my mum has kindly let me live with her again. Although I was worried this would crush the independence I had grown whilst living away from home, I've been pleasantly surprise by how happy I am back here.

I think a large reason why I don't feel 'like a child again' is because I haven't move back into the room I grew up in. It's been redecorated.

It took a lot of hard work and patience, but I think my room looks gorgeous.

One of my personal favourite things in the Chest Of Drawers I redecorated. They were once a cheap student storage solution from Ikea....

(Click here for a link to the Ikea product) 

...but after some sanding, priming, painting and new handles, it looks like this!

The beautiful handles were purchased from the Ebay seller Mango Tree

I think the drawers look stunning and fit perfectly in my lovely vintage/Laura Ashleys style room. And even though it has been lots of hard work, it has been well worth it. I feel so at home here, which is exactly what someone stressing because life-as-they-know-it-is-over needs.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to my Mum for making this redecorating possible and for being lovely to live with. Also, thank you James for my lovely shelves!

xxx