Bonnets on for Easter!

Eva's playschool requested that today she attended wearing an Easter Bonnet, preferably one that I have helped her to make. So here's what we did:


First we dug out from the bottom of the dressing up box her old straw hat...

and had fund painting some coloured pieces of card.

 Then I cut some cream felt and pink fabric for some ears, I also added a layer of pelmet vilene sandwiched in the middle to add some structure to the ears. I stitched around the pink layer with two layers of running stitch.

Eva then cut out the eggs and chicks from the painted papers and added detail (her word - from Mr Maker apparently) with a fine liner pen and I stitched some yellow strips of paper around the brim for the nest and stuck on the decorations. I stitched the ears on with the sewing machine.

Last night once we had attached the under chin elastic, she was very excited! Throwing out my favoured theory of less is more I also stuck on some decorated eggs that Eva made at playschool and some small furry chicks, after she went to bed.

However in the light of day, is this the saddest girl ever to wear an Easter Bonnet?! I am sure she'll cheer up when she finds her chocolate eggs. Happy Easter!!

Stay Cosy

That's it, the heating is on, Autumn is in full flow and the long Summer days are a distant memory. I think Autumn is my favourite month. Firstly because it starts every year with my birthday and then Halloween and Bonfire night. I love the cold crisp mornings, the bright leaves crunching on the ground and all of the new warm food's we eat.

The weather took a definite cold turn this week so I have dragged out the slow cooker. So far I have made a gorgeous lamb tagine and a sausage casselout I felt compelled to start a collection of recipes appropriate for hibernation. My thoughts always turn to soups and stews but this year I am also going to be making some sweet treats like gingerbread and Alcoholic hot chocolate.

I have started a board on pinterest and will be adding furiously to it no doubt as I am addicted. Feel free to follow me...

I really like simple foods, nothing could be more fitting than a simple boiled egg and soldiers. My three year old loves the whole concept of cracking the egg and dipping in strips of buttery toast for breakfast, but as she's three and nothings happens quickly, to prevent her dippy egg from getting cold (while she decides where she wants to sit and which spoon she would like to eat with), I have created a range of cheerful screen printed egg cosies.

They are all bold and simple in design, my work is heavily Zakka inspired. Each cosy started life as a hand drawing, that I transferred to screen and then printed by hand. These are all printed in scarlet red on a super soft Scandinavian cream cotton. The reverse panels are all different. Some are plain and some have gorgeous Liberty prints on them.

I would love to hear what you are doing to stay cosy this Autumn and any traditions you have at this time of year.

Day 37: Homemade Daily Challenge, Toad in the Hole

My heritage is partly from Yorkshire and all the ladies in my family can make awesome Yorkshire Puddings. This skill has always escaped me. No matter what I do, I end up with soggy pudding or burnt pudding. Never the light, crisp, well risen delights that my Mother seems to be able to make in her sleep! In theory it should be easy, get a pan nice and hot with a little oil, pour in some pancake mixture and put it back into a hot oven. But I have always avoided making a Sunday Roast through the shame that is my lack of yorkshire pudding skillage.

Last month I went to a Pampered Chef  party where the host said we were going to make fool-proof yorkies that would rise out of the dish and were easy peasy to make using the baking stoneware. Of course I didn't believe a word.

She added 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup milk and 4 eggs* to a bowl and whisked. Whilst the oven came to a roaring furnace (it's got to be hot I've been told).  Spray some oil into the stoneware. Pour the batter into the dish or dishes to about half way up and put in the oven. To my amazement about 20 minutes later she removed from the oven a dozen, huge, golden brown, crisp, fluffy puddings. I had to buy a dish just to see for myself!!

Two weeks later my dish arrived this weekend I had a bash at making a Toad in the Hole. I first baked the sausages for about 12 minutes in the dish as I then didn't need to add any extra oil, while I prepared the batter (same recipe as above) I poured it into the dish and put back in to over for 20mins on a high setting and then another 5 mins on a lower setting, that bits not an exact science as all ovens are different.

This is what I pulled out of the oven after said 25 minutes:

 

Unfortunately in my eagerness to fill my belly I forgot to take a side view so you could see how well it rose but it stood up from the dish by about 3 inches!! We were all very impressed and got stuck in with veggies and gravy. It was so simple and completely worked even for a first attempt. Although I am not sure my granny would approve of using American stoneware when if I had any actual skill I could make them in her old baking tin!! 

*In my original post I said 2 eggs you actually need 4 for a good rise!!