More Free Stuff .........

Fabric Paper Dolls!  I couldn't resist having a go at this free pattern substituting the fusible fleece with felt and Supermend bonding powder (it's non toxic and BSI approved).  It meant a bit more fiddling about but I really don't mind that and am rather pleased ..............

I ran out of velcro so, sadly, she won't get a change of shoes but she does have several outfits.  Mindful of her journey, I've stuck to 100% cotton fabrics but can you imagine being let loose with all manner of synthetics and frivolous bits?  The hair and clothes, excepting dress, all fit within a 5" charm square so a great use for those and she won't take up much room in a shoebox!

Thankfully no big dinner to cook tonight with enough of yesterday's vegetable stew and dumplings to keep us warm.

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Pinterest and Stuff

Pinterest, that totally compulsive, addictive, viral online pinboard ......... if you've never heard of it then don't look, it WILL take over your life!  My husband often moaned that he couldn't find his few bookmarks amongst my hundreds (I do sort them out but it soon gets out of hand again) so I started transferring them onto Pinterest.  It's wonderful to be able to see a pic to remind oneself rather than having to click on every link to find just the thing one's looking for and to be able to organise things via boards - heaven!  One of my boards is ideas for Christmas Shoeboxes so I started seeking things out.  A fabric alphabet I've just finished ...........

I used the template here.  I'd make them a little bigger or do them a little differently another time to allow for easier cutting of the internal apertures but I do like the way they've turned out.  All different fabrics with plenty of colours, spots, stripes, checks, flowers etc. for added play value, cut on the bias as much as possible to minimise fraying and a great way of using up all those little scraps - they're probably a little less than 2" high.


This week it's been just the weather for some warming winter soups ......... very cheap too!  Root Vegetable soup = potato, carrot and onion (or leek or both) sweated down in a little butter for a few minutes.  Add some stock, a few herbs and seasoning plus a teaspoon of sugar.   Sometimes I'll omit the herbs and add spices instead (ground coriander/cumin/curry) or add some chopped fresh coriander at the end.

 Simmer in a lidded pan until the vegetables are soft ...............

then blend with a stick blender whilst still hot .................

A head of celery had been in the fridge drawer since Christmas so that got used up too, sweated down with some potato, onion, an apple and a clove of garlic.  I used half stock, half milk, salt and pepper. 

The milk curdled it but it didn't look too bad blended and tasted wonderful.  It was only me that ate it anyway ....... over a few days!
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More Cooking than Stitching

I've kinda lost my way a bit this week with the stitching.  First off I removed the paper from the back of the patched sleeves and noticed a lot of the bottom stitching was quite loose ..........a huge disappointment with myself for not checking earlier!  Thankfully it was only a top tension issue and tightening it up a notch seems to be ok.  I just need to get on with it!  The elephant is stuffed though ................

Cheese and bacon whirls (of which I ate far too many) ..............

Basically a cheese scone mix (salt, white pepper and mustard powder for plenty of flavour) mixed with egg and milk and with more cheese and minced lean unsmoked bacon laid on top before being rolled up and cut into slices.  A great use for Sainsbury's cooking bacon (£1.09 for 660g) as is the Bacon and Onion suet pudding we had for dinner last night.  I was going to take a pic this morning but the remaining portion in the fridge has gone!  For a cheap and easy dinner if anybody is interested .......

Bacon and Onion Suet Pudding

250g SR flour

125g Suet

Pepper, mustard powder and a little salt for seasoning

225g lean unsmoked bacon (rashers, chopped or minced)

1 large onion chopped

Mix all dry ingredients together with water for a manageable dough and roll out on a floured surface to about (guessing here) 9" x 12".  Place bacon and onion on top and, starting from the short end, roll up like a swiss roll.  Parcel in foil and, making sure any joins in the foil are on top, place into pan and steam for 2.5hrs.

We had apple shortcake this week too, here's one I made earlier:

I can't remember which recipe I used for the one in the photo but this week it was from Nigel Slater's "Kitchen Diaries" .............. just as he says except I don't caramelise the Bramleys too much as I prefer the crisp clean look of the apple and cooked for a little longer (more like 1hr rather than 40 minutes but that could be my oven and the fact I placed the baking tin on a tray) to prevent a soggy middle ............ the apples keep it moist anyway.  Oh, and I've ate far too much of that as well!
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