The Festive Period

Well I think I am going to declare this Christmas one of the breeziest we've ever had. The children all united and decided that we wouldn't do gifts this year.....except for second hand buys and hand made. They are all becoming more conscious of their environmental impact and bees wax wraps were definitely a common theme.

Even my boss got the recycled/hand made treatment. I found a half restored plant stand in an antique shop that he definitely needed and it goes so well with the age and style of the house that is our clinic. Craig removed the rest of the old paint and sanded it. I then did the finer sanding, oiling, French polishing and waxing. It took quite a few hours but a delightful outcome.

As well as making Peanut Chilli Brittle and Coconut Ice, I made soap for gifting. This one is a tallow/olive oil/coconut oil mix with a couple of blue layers upon the natural creamy soap and flecks of silver mica on the top after I gave it a sea swell look. I'm calling this one "shore".

For our children I made them several different bags of roasted and ground Indian spice mixes for authentic curry making. They all like cooking and I think this will take their curries to a new level, thanks to my trusty Thermomix. The house smelt soooo good!

The Christmas Cake this year was made by combining to of my Grandmother Murray's recipes. It was a whopping 11" and had 10 eggs and a whole pound of butter. I did a quick family research poll and they elected to have it not iced this year but it was liberally dressed every few days with good brandy. Plenty for visitors so do call in.

Our singing group gathered at the Anglican Church this year for the community carols as it was so windy out of doors

We also did our fair share of feasting and pintrest has helped me amp my "cheese platters" to a whole new level....

But on the whole we kept Christmas feasting to a simple but special design.

This epic show stopper of a salad was a key component. It is made of lots of fresh leaf lettuce ("Forellenschluss" or speckled trout) picked from the garden with thinly sliced pear, quartered figs, Italian prosciutto and pomegranate with a pomegranate and oil dressing.

Our home grown leg of lamb was glazed with a blackberry and balsamic reduction and stuffed with pistachios, breadcrumb, onion and blackberry and thyme. The Balsamic Potatoes from Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook were a very big hit. The directions call for lots of cooking that sounds completely impossible but it just works. Fresh peas from the garden lightly steamed added the final touch to our carefully constructed menu. An elegant berry pavlova with berry curd and extra cream was the perfect light, refreshing finish.

Christmas Mass was held at 9pm on Christmas Eve and I wish I had stopped to get a photo of St Michael's from the outside as I was leaving. The stained glass windows lit from within looked stunning in the deepening twilight.

I have jumped into the modern world with Spotify and streaming replacing my huge Christmas CD collection and I have even managed to blue tooth it all to the car so it has been hours and hours of Christmas songs. I feel thoroughly drenched in festivity.

Thank you to key family members and friends for your help and good cheer, making this one of the cruisiest and fully celebrated times of joy.

All that is left is to wish you the same joy and may it last throughout the year.

Beer and Chilli Peanut Brittle

I've started my Christmas cooking this week and the ever popular peanut brittle is a must.

So deliciously moreish I've had it from myself as well as The Shearer!

I first made this in 2015 so here is the recipe again....

I used per batch - 

260g of raw sugar

200g of lager beer

600g of salted peanuts

1/2 teas ground dried chilli

Pre-heat oven to 180C and line two non-stick biscuit trays with baking paper. By all means lightly grease with butter but we only did it with the first lot and kept recycling the peeled off baking paper and it worked fine.

In a medium sized stock pot on medium heat, combine the sugar and beer, stirring gently till the sugar is dissolved.

Add the peanuts and reduce the heat and simmer for about 15mins stirring occasionally. At this point the liquid is quite reduced and thicker, partially absorbed by the nuts and steamed off.

Remove from heat and mix in chilli. (Add a couple of teaspoons of salt too if you are using unsalted nuts.) 

Tip the mixture onto the biscuit trays and place in the oven.

The next step will take approx 15 mins but you do have to watch it to make sure it doesn't burn. If your oven isn't even you may also need to switch trays and shelf positions during cooking. What should happen is that it will self level a bit bubble away turning a bit more toffee. 

Remove from the oven and place on cooling racks to set.

The paper should peel away easily when cold and you'll be able to break the sheet into rough chunks.

Some notes-

This is best made during dry hot days and humidity will definitely have a bearing on the "snap" to the brittle. Likewise store in air tight containers to keep brittle.

If you are making subsequent batches, DO wash you pot and spoon between batches to prevent crystallising the sugar. 

Milk Bottle Makeover With Decals

Take an ordinary bottle and add a fun decal to totally transform and re-purpose it.

This is an easy up-cycle project if you have an ink-jet printer.

These images were sourced for free from The Graphics Fairy and there is an abundance to choose from and I give you fair warning, you could get lost down a rabbit hole and lose an hour of your day as you discover one vintage image after another.

The other thing you will need is some clear decal paper suitable for an ink-jet printer. I got mine from here.

Do a test of your chosen design on a sheet of ordinary paper first to make sure it's the size and style you want. Then simply lay the decal sheet in the printer and away you go.

To make the ink water resistant you will need to coat it and I used Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear spray. Spray lightly, giving the decal at least four coats allowing it to dry between coats.

Once dry cut the design out close to the edge of the printing. Make sure your bottle surface is clean. Using a shallow dish, place your decal in water for about 30 seconds. You'll know it's ready because the backing will start to slip from the decal. Ease your design onto the bottle making sure it's straight and smooth.

Now you've turned an old bottle into a new vase, water bottle or milk jug!

Your items will not be dishwasher safe and require gentle hand washing and to get the longest life from your design, do not soak. 

Give it a try. They make great gifts too.

If you can't be bothered with the faffing about, these bottles will be 

available

 in the shop.

( Link at the top of the page too)

I've used genuine vintage 1 pint milk bottles and they make a lovely nostalgic addition.

If you have had a go at decal work, post your pics or links in the comments section.

The Ultimate Coconut Ice Recipe

This was a firm favourite growing up and I have memories of Mum making this recipe in triple batches and more for Christmas giving and for school fetes. It is not the average run of the mill coconut ice recipe, You'll want to pin this one. I know, because Mum lost the recipe about 30 years ago and it has been the subject of regular hunting ever since. She vaguely recalled the ingredients but not the quantities and every likely book she saw in an op-shop had us checking indexes and suffering endless disappointments. 

At last! The recipe is found. In an old school recipe compilation from her old home town in outback Queensland (with contribution credit to a relative of hers) I give you the ultimate Coconut Ice recipe, that it may never be lost again!

Be warned though, it is seriously divine and you will NOT stop at two pieces....

Creamy Coconut Ice

1lb icing sugar

8oz desiccated coconut

1 teas vanilla

2 egg whites

4 oz butter

pink food colouring

Mix sifted icing sugar and coconut in a bowl. Pour on the slightly beaten egg whites and vanilla.

Melt butter over a gentle heat until barely warm, not hot, test temperature with your finger tips. 

Pour onto the ingredients in the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Press half the mixture into a cake tin 7" square or similar.

Add just a couple of drops of pink colouring to make a pretty colour and press this onto the white layer. Pop into the fridge and allow to get quite cool and set before cutting into squares.

Looks perfectly ducky in cellophane bags tied with ribbon and is much more sumptuous than the usual recipes found in old cook books.

Last Minute Gifts

I've finished all my hand-made presents and wrapping things up now. I can't really show you what I've made because that would spoil the surprises but if you are looking for some last minute ideas try these favourites from years past...

Hand Towels

Chive Flower Vinegar

Lavender Sachets

A couple of people in the family are getting new aprons

and another keen gardener is getting a load of manure

My Cake In A Jar is a neighbourly gift

or how about 

Beer and Chilli Peanut Brittle

In the next couple of days I will be finalising the menu and preparing ahead some things to make the Christmas Day less hectic as this year ALL the children are home which is very special. 

And that's what I want to enjoy the most, the children and the grandchildren learning, sharing and laughing together. Thank goodness our new home is a five bedroom - we are going to fill it right up to the attic next weekend.

Play Mat

This is a present I've just finished making for my nearly three year old grandson.

I bought this bag of animals from the op shop quite some time ago. I thought it would come in handy for cake decorating or some kind of Christmas crafting....

But now Ju is very interested in animals and this will be a fun (fully supervised) creative play set.

I saw this idea a few years ago and I've used it for inspiration.

I randomly sewed scraps hoping for an agricultural landscape and added some "water". I overlaid it on some thicker material and used some of the stitch functions on the machine to add water detail, plough marks and define some paddocks with "fencing".

We'll be able to talk about the animals 

Sing songs...

Talk about seasons

Act out stories.

Then when we've finished, it all packs back into a simple draw string bag.

Total cost of this project probably no more than $5 for the lot.

You could use this idea for a zoo play mat or a town and car play mat.

Lot's of possibilities.

"Behold...."

Another piece of my Christmas planning arrived today.

My Christmas cards!

I have used Moo previously for post cards and business cards and all things compared with other "DIY" print companies, I decided they were best value for money and quality. 

I chose a few of my favourite photos from last Christmas and decided these three worked best with the print proportions etc. They are a flatish matt type finish rather than a glossy photo finish.

You can have the card blank, customise a greeting or choose one from their list. You can even customise the back. This lets our family and friends know where to go to for our day to day doings and photos during the year.

I'm halfway through gift #1 but as predicted I keep wandering off outside to work in the garden but who could blame me, the sap is rising and the soil is warm. We are expecting several days of storms and flooding rains over the next 4-5 days so I should be able to finish by the end of the weekend.

Thanks for sharing your plans and project comments in the last post. Its good to know we are beavering away together. How are your plans going?

Gift Planning

I know there is three months till Christmas (don't groan) but I am starting my planning now.

Handmade takes time so I have to line my projects up and have some sort of time frame in place.

This year we are excited to have our travellers returned after three years roaming so it will be a special time having all the family home.

I'm planning to do the knit projects now rather than later as I notoriously loose interest in knitting when the weather warms and I have a couple of sewing projects in mind for later.

This is something I'm working on for Ted and we'll have to keep it a secret. I spotted the yarn some months ago and knew straight away that they were her colours. It pays to have a vague plan for your gift box all through the year so when you spot things you can ferret them away for the right moment, saving anxiety, time and usually always money.

Now is also a good time to plan cuttings or sow seeds for garden gifts.  

Do share your ideas and plans here to inspire us.

Personalised Shopping Bag

A personalised shopping bag is another great gift and I really love this one my step-mother made for me some time ago. The picture is entirely stitched on her sewing machine using a programme.

She used this photo in her programme and reproduced it with thousands of stitches.

Pretty amazing huh!

Knitted Silk

My mother is allergic to wool so for Christmas I have knitted her a scarf in silk. This should be very comfortable next to her skin and it has lovely drape. It could even be used as a table runner really.

The pattern is "Fern Lace Scarf" by Knitting Pixie and is available as a FREE download on Ravelry.

I've used a combination of two different hand dyed silks that I purchased from

The Lucky Ewe in Oatlands

The pattern is a very easy repeat over 12 rows. Admittedly, it was much easier if I put the knitting down at row 12 and I did have to unpick a couple of times because I forgot where I was at sometimes. My yarn was about sport weight so I used 4.5mm needles. It is not a very long scarf but certainly enough to knot in front. I am very happy with the end result and the pattern really showcases the yarns lovely textures and colour variations.

My Ravelry link here

Beer and Chilli Peanut Brittle

We still don't have a kitchen but I've had this recipe pinned all year for Christmas presents and so it was to Mum's kitchen I de-camped for the night. We had such a good time though I am astonished it all turned out as I kept stuffing up the multiplied quantities. You will find a couple of versions if you google this recipe, but I'll tell you my version further down. I think some candy making experience will give you confidence. There are some variables to note in candy making and I gathered by the comments under the recipes I read that some newbies struggled. It is incredibly moreish and you will need to make a batch for the cook also. So here we go....

I used per batch - 

260g of raw sugar

200g of lager beer

600g of salted peanuts

1/2 teas ground dried chilli

Pre-heat oven to 180C and line two non-stick biscuit trays with baking paper. By all means lightly grease with butter but we only did it with the first lot and kept recycling the peeled off baking paper and it worked fine.

In a medium sized stock pot on medium heat, combine the sugar and beer, stirring gently till the sugar is dissolved.

Add the peanuts and reduce the heat and simmer for about 15mins stirring occasionally. At this point the liquid is quite reduced and thicker, partially absorbed by the nuts and steamed off.

Remove from heat and mix in chilli. (Add a couple of teaspoons of salt too if you are using unsalted nuts.) 

Tip the mixture onto the biscuit trays and place in the oven.

The next step will take approx 15 mins but you do have to watch it to make sure it doesn't burn. If your oven isn't even you may also need to switch trays and shelf positions during cooking. What should happen is that it will self level a bit bubble away turning a bit more toffee. 

Remove from the oven and place on cooling racks to set.

The paper should peel away easily when cold and you'll be able to break the sheet into rough chunks.

Some notes-

This is best made during dry hot days and humidity will definitely have a bearing on the "snap" to the brittle. Likewise store in air tight containers to keep brittle.

If you are making subsequent batches, DO wash you pot and spoon between batches to prevent crystallising the sugar. 

Lavender Sachets

Home made from our house this year are simple lavender bags for drawer sachets.

Simple in style but a twelve month process to get to this point.

The lavender is home grown and harvested on a warm sunny morning after the dew and hung upside down in paper bags to dry for the season. After quite a few months the heads then have to be rolled and stripped by hand. I haven't found an easier way, perhaps you have one? It takes a lot of lavender to produce 10g of heady seedy stuffing.

Cotton fabrics are washed, dried and ironed and then we used a seed packet as a template.

I say "we" as the shearer did all the sewing while I cut, turned, pressed, stuffed and tied.

The simple bags were stuffed with about 12g of lavender, leaving a few centimetres of head room. The top was machine sewn with a matching thread and cinched with a complimentary bow purely for sweetness. Not only do these scent drawers and cupboards but they also deter insects and a gentle squeeze every now and then will release more of the volatile oils and last for years.