Bara Brith Cake

Bara Brith Cake 

357g mixed dried fruit

75g brown sugar

300ml strong hot tea ( I used 100mls of sherry and 200mls of tea)

250g self-raising flour

1 egg , beaten

Soak the dried fruit in the tea for as long as you like minimum overnight . Add egg, brown sugar and flour (flour add spoon at a time) while beating so its smooth as can be. 

Cook in large loaf tin at 150c for about 1 1/2 hour. until the skewer comes out clean.

TEA- I used Earl Grey tea but you can use any type . English breakfast or chai tea. 

Have also added nuts,  My favorite is Walnuts.

This cake is not sweet at all. with the 75g of brown sugar and the sugar from the fruit. I Love this cake with a cup of coffee after dinner . Its also lovely with a spread of butter. 

My Husband  came home with the recipe from work as one of his work mates made this and he loved this cake. He made the first one and got me hooked. So I thought I would share this cake recipe with you all. 

Mr & Mrs Bunny

MR & MRS 

I really enjoy working on these bunnies. They were easy to do and all done in SC and in rounds. The fun part was making them up once all the pieces were finished. 

At first when I started making them I didn't think they were right . The head looked too big with the body, the legs didn't look right as I thought they were too long and their arms too short. But once I started stitching them all together they started to look right. 

I love making toys and these are one my favorites . I did the scarves just in sc but with the girl one I added tassels .

 You can  choose any sort of fabric's which you add in the ears , hands and feet  and you can use your imagination . Bow ties, ribbons and buttons, However I always keep in mind about the chocking hazard. I used felt and hand stitched these on.

I used the safety eyes, and nose, just for the extra safety.

The pattern I found on Pinterst, Amigurumi pattern by lilleliis. I didn't do the full pattern as I only wanted to do a plan one and excluded some of the steps . 

cushions delight

It's been awhile since I've been on my blog. I am a hermit in the winter just like bears are, but I can say I didn't stop making anything. I have to always  keep my hands busy.  So this is what I have done.

These two are my favorite ones . So I am making a throw to be at the end of my couch . 

I love trying new stitches and patterns and the thing about cushion covers are, that they are quick to make and you feel that you have created something great and fast too. Somethings when you crochet things you can get bored especially when they start to take to long to make. Wow how great do these look . Very happy with these and they look great on my couch. 

These cushions have made my lounge look great . The great thing about making these is what ever colour combination you choose they will make your room look good. 

White chocolate 21st cake

Well I couldn't believe I made this . I have to keep looking at this photo to remind me that yes girl you did this be proud and own it. 

I have to admit It took me all day to complete this with a few swear word and very sore feet. 

The cake itself is a devil chocolate cake  with a Raspberry and white chocolate ganache filling 

The outside icing is just a white chocolate ganache . I melted white chocolate and place this on baking sheets and spread this out . Just before it was hard I measured and cut each slice the same for the sides of the cake. I then filled in each top of the cake with red and brown M&M's  .

To stick the slices of white chocolate The leftover ganache I spread on each slice. I used fancy ribbons and lace butterflies to decorate . 

I have never taken classes for cake decorating but I must have learnt something from my mother. I don't think i could do this as a job . But if any of my friends or family ask I might be persuaded with a lot of greasing.  

BRIGHT BUT NO MORE DRAFTS

Granny squares

Well I have started another, just as I am getting into my two weeks off. However this may take a little while as I have a 21st to organize as my big girl is having a party at my place. 

I will be having to sort out the menu (All been finger foods) Her birthday cake ( So far I have iin mind is white Chocolate ) a photo board showing her 21 years on this plant (this will be fun trying to find the most embarrassing photos I can find) she will hate me fur sure.

Then in between this Clean my house do my chores and make dinner, and entertain my youngest. 

Will I find time to do these thing. 

 I will follow up on the progress and hopefully have great photo's to show you. 

Bye for now 

Corner to Corner Blanket

Hello my Friends! Well it been a busy week or so for me. As some of you know I work full time and pretty much only get the evening and weekends to do my hooking. It was a good end to the start of my two week off from work with finishing this lovely delightful soft and snuggle blanket. I have put this on Facebook to sell to any of my Facebook followers. 

It seems I have gone a bit bonkers on color lately and just love the brightness that this brings into the house and my very mundane life. Its wet and damp around here at the moment with that horrible season that I dislike so much (Winter). I am like a beer that hibernate's and stores it's food, but with me its all the wool on sale throughout the year. This is my chance to get a lot of my hooking done. 

The colours in this is from Attic 24 (Lucy Pack) which I order from England . I was so impressed by the texture and softness of the 100 % acrylic I don't think I will buy any other yarn now that I have had a taste of this. I will have to order more .

I have seen so many of these blankets lately on Pinterest that I had to make one. It was a struggle at first, with the very first three rows, I think I pulled it apart several times until I finally got it. That is one thing I am not good at, is reading patterns, I am completely useless at that. Well anyway,see I mastered it. 

You can find free patterns anywhere now on internet or if you are lucky like me you have a good friend that loves what you do and can show you how. My friend does this for me most of the time when it comes to trying something new. But this time I can say I mastered this without her, but it nice to know she is there and I love her to bits. 

Watch out for the next blanket which again I saw on pinterest that I have started. 

Yarn Bombing world.

Yarn bombing is hitting our town in all the colours . Last year my good friend got involve with the local village manager and some amazing ladies. They decided to make our town bright and colourful in the winter months.

 It was noticed that people were doing it Europe and brought it to our town .So this group from all ages meet up once a month ,then weekly as the winter was getting closer. It was a big hit last year 2013 ,so the group started it again.  This year my friend had the task of doing a couch and lamp shade. With just a little help from me of course. 

 

Where this sits, outside the local Lotto shop on the main road , The messages that we are getting from this delightful lamp and couch is amazing. My friend should be very proud of this . We should have made heaps of the lamp as we could have sold it 50 times over. HeHe

Well done to all the great knitters and don't forget the crochetors of Greerton Tauranga.

Tabbouleh Salad

This salad is one of my favourite. I love this in the Turkish to go meals. I had gone around to my mums place and she just purchased two lovely cook book from the Hairy Bikers I went home and made this. It was a very easy recipe .

1 tsp flaked sea salt

200g bulgur wheat

1/2 medium red onion, finely sliced

200g cherry tomatoes, halved

25g bunched of fresh mint, leaves  roughly chopped

40g bunch of flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 tblsp of leamon juice

freshly ground pepper

I used buck wheat and placed one cup of this in the rice cooker and water just covering the wheat. This cook the same as the rice did. I set it aside to cool. I then place the rest of the ingredients. Add the cooled bulgur wheat to this and mix all together.

if you enjoy this as much as I did then you won't to share it .

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

I was given a taste of a home baked cake. I had to have the recipe.. I am a person that doesn't have a sweet tooth and trying to find the right cake, desert and slices, is hard to find with  just the right amount of sweetness. This cake is a little of both, sweet but not too sweet. I love rhubarb and I love red Doris plums. both are sour but with a bit of a  sweet cake underneath and  with a little of my Hubbys homemade Ice-cream it hit the right spots for me. 





Prep Time 15 mins 
Cook Time : 50-60 mins
Serves 8-10 


CAKE MIX : 

140 grams soften butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup of plain yoghut
3/4 cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 stalks of rhubarb thinly slices or 190 grams of mix's berry's or your choice of fruit. 
1 tin of Black Doris Plums 

First Time I made this, it was Apple and Plums 


TOPPING: 

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup silvered almonds or chopped walnuts
4 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
60 grams of melted butter

Preheat oven to 180 c . Grease a 25 cm round spring form tin and line the base with baking paper. 

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Beat in yoghurt then add dry ingredients and stir gently to just combine. (mixture will be a thick consistency). Spread in grease tin and sprinkle rhubarb and plums. Then add topping mixture on top. 

Bake until golden brown and skewer comes out clean for 50-60 


Serve this with some Vanilla Ice Cream or custard. 

This cake is nice warm or cold . But I prefer it Warm . 


Please have a go at this and you will be impressed. Another desert added to my list of yummies .

Gerry the Giraffe

This was a great pattern which I found in the handmade magazine. 

I love doing this one and was so easy to follow.

I was doing this for a lady at work for her gran baby that's due in April.

Don't you just love this little guy the best thing about this is that you can make it in  any colour for any child .

This guy is ready for loving and just makes me smile. :) 

Colorful and Fun

Phew, am I gald that this week is ended. You know sometimes you get those moments when everything seems to just get on top of you and everything seems to all happen at once. Appointments to keep and make, visitors arriving for a few days  then the weekend hits you and you have all the cleaning up and washing . But with all this happening this week I have finally finished my lap blankets to go with my beautiful and colourful cushions. 

But now I can take a deep breath and relax into the weekend . I 've enjoyed working on this but I am glad this is over. 

I will confess this has taken me well over 5 weeks to complete because of how time consuming each little square took and to top it off I have a sore right shoulder which has caused me alot of pain and discomfort . I am having a ultrasound this coming week to see if anything  inside is wrong , but I have a feeling they won't find anything and will put it down to overuse syndrome. RSI or Neurological which won't surprise me at all. 

Straight lines and all in a box . Granny square cushion

Bright and Beautiful Colors 

It all about colour for me lately and found some fun ways to us bright colours. These have brigthen up my couch . I will be making a blanket to go with these cushions. 

Beautiful and bright cushion

Bright and beautiful colours. This just brighten's up your day. This is my first blog for 2014 and just to start off with a bang of brightness. I ordered a few months ago some wool from England and received a bag of bright colours. Went to visit my good friend and she was doing  some cushion covers to put in her kids play room. She quickly showed me the pattern and off I went ,a few days later ta dar finished pillow cover and wow it has brightened up my grape couch . So next on the a gender is a bright coloured Granny square cushion cover. 

This pattern was so easy I didnt even need to write it down. 

you start it with a magic ring of 8 sc  slip sitch to join. Next round sc twice in each to make 16sc slip sitch to join. Next round sc twice in each to make 32 sc then slip sitch and end . This makes your circle. 

Join with the main color your choice  . ch 2 in same space dc, ch 2,dc, half dc, next space half dc, next space sc in the next 4 space , (half dc in next space, half dc , dc , ch 2 dc, half dc  in next space,) make your corner. follow this all around ending with a half dc then slip sitch 2 time ending in the ch 2 space. 

Next round ch 2 this make your first dc, dc, ch 2 dc, dc, (corner) . dc in each to make nine dc  this should meet you up into the next corner and repeat to end. slip sitch to end and cut off. 

This should make your poke a dot square. 

now this is in my memory banks so if it doesn't work let me know.