Lazy Giraffe

My blog has moved...

2011-10-17T15:40:00.005+01:00

Hello everyone,
Just to let you know I have moved my blog to a new one.
So I would be very grateful if you'd resubscribe to see my new posts on the new blog.

My archive is over on the new blog so you can find all the recipes (and pictures of cats) on there too.
I'll be posting news about my jewellery making on my new website from now on, which is here (and very shiny) www.lazygiraffe.com
Thank you!

Little Chef, Kettering

2011-10-12T11:21:00.001+01:00

I think that has to be the least glamorous sounding blog title I've ever written.

But some of you may know that Little Chef has been undergoing something of makeover. I watched Heston's Little Chef back in 2009 and from the looks of it there didn't seem to be much hope for Little Chef changing beyond the few restaurants they made over, but now there are 10 new Little Chefs with the updated menu and new diner style decor.

We visited the Kettering West branch just off the A14 on our way down to Shropshire a couple of weeks ago, something I've been meaning to do after Ino at Kitchen 22 blogged about it. The interior is fantastic, booths and diner style furniture with the famous 'blue sky' on the ceiling. Service was fast and friendly and the menu had so much choice. Breakfasts, little light bites, proper mains, puds and a great selection of tea and coffee with reasonable prices.

We were just stopping for a light lunch so I ordered the starter scampi, Mr Giraffe had a mushroom and pepper cheese toastie and we also got a side of chips to share. Oh my were we glad we got chips. If you don't get anything else here, make sure you get the chips. They are the triple cooked affair which Heston Blumenthal has made famous, ridiculously crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. I want to go back now and get some.

The scampi was brilliant, under the batter was proper crayfish instead of the reconstituted seafood mush you normally find, I think this is the first time I've had proper scampi. The toastie was filled with proper mature cheese and a rich mushroom and pepper rattoutile with a tomato base.

This is good food, done properly - everything tastes very fresh and it is clearly made onsite. It is very simple to get food right if you make it right. Well done Little Chef!

For 2 light lunches, a coke, cappucino and a side of chips it was £17, probably more than you'd spend on a motorway lunch but much nicer than anything else you can get off the A14.

If you love chips, go. I think that is my main message.

A weekend away in a nice little place

2011-10-07T21:33:00.000+01:00

Last weekend we stayed at the beautiful Brook Farm B&B in Berrington, just on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire. It was so lovely, the B&B was so homely and the owner Sarah was so friendly, accommodating and and excellent cook!
We ate yummy breakfasts, walked around the beautiful cottage garden, played with the cats, patted the donkeys and ate in the many lovely pubs in the area. Just what we needed.

I didn't take any pictures of our meals out but I recommend the Rose & Crown in Tenbury Wells, The Queens pub in Ludlow and Chang Thai in Ludlow. The food market on a Saturday in Ludlow is so yummy, and they have a craft section too. And then the market is opened up on a Sunday for antiques and flea, so many interesting finds!

Changes at Lazy Giraffe Jewellery

2011-09-27T16:23:00.001+01:00

There will be some changes afoot at Lazy Giraffe. I will have a shiny new website soon with a shop built in. This blog will be changing to a food only blog, possibly still here or on Wordpress, I haven't quite decided yet.

Whilst I ummm and aaah (and add all of my 90+ listings to my new shop!) here is a sneak preview of it (click to make it larger).

I'm really looking forward to what you all think of the whole site once it is ready, I love how simple it looks and I think it is quite easy to navigate.

More coming soon!

German Apple Cake

2011-09-08T11:42:00.000+01:00

I love apple cake, it is a very autumnal thing and being as it has felt autumnal for about 3 weeks now I think it is the perfect cake to be baking at the moment. I'll start off with a little disclaimer, I didn't bake this cake, Mr Giraffe did, but it was so yummy that it needed to be blogged about.

This recipe is from Honey & Jam - it is a very simple sponge with none of the usual spicing that most apple cakes have, the sponge is very buttery and light and the apples really stand out. The apples aren't peeled which works suprisingly well, especially if you have good quality apples.

I think we/I will be making this again soon!

Jewellery update

2011-09-05T15:14:00.000+01:00

A couple of new things in my shops this week.

A simple pair of textured studs made from recycled silver...

Twisted silver necklace, something I've been working on getting right for a while. Pleased with this effect!

I am having fits and starts of inspiration, hoping to include some new gemstone designs for the autumn soon.

Thanks for looking :)

Deepa

Cambridge Clandestine Cake Club & Banana Oat Cake

2011-09-01T21:03:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I went to the 2nd Clandestine Cake Club for Cambridge held at the fantastic Greens Coffee Co. in Cambourne. You really have to love cake to go to one of these, and fortunately I do. Everyone brings a cake along and then you spend the evening drinking tea and eating your away around all the sugary offerings.

There we over 20 cakes this time and every one looked amazing. I didn't try all of them but I managed 4 slices whilst I was there and took some home - much to Mr Giraffe's delight.

My offering was a Banana and Oat Cake with Elderflower Cream Cheese icing. The cake was originally meant to be vanilla sponge but it came out of the oven dense and flat, and my buttercream failed too. Luckily I'd also made banana bread so I jazzed that up with the icing (made at work the next day, before the club!) which worked really well.

Yummy.

The evening is organised by Miss Sue Flay of tea party fame. I'm really looking forward to the next one.
There are lots of Clandestine Cake Clubs being held by other people around the country - check the website to see if there is one in your town.

The banana loaf recipe started off wanting to be the one from the Hummingbird Bakery book but I edited it so much it pretty much is a different recipe now. I subbed out a lot of the sugar, used less flour and added oats.

Banana Oat Cake

140g sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas (about 200g peeled weight), peeled and mashed.
140g plain flour
40g porridge oats
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinamonn
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp ground ginger
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled.

Preheat oven to 170c / gas mark 3. Grease and line a loaf tin.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until well combined. Then add in the mashed bananas and mix well again. Fold in the dry ingredients carefully, and then pour in the melted butter and fold again. Pour into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until cooked through.

Elderflower Cream Cheese Icing

I really struggle with buttercream, it tends to split very easily for me. I love cream cheese icing because it is just as decadent but so so much easier to make. This recipe is based on the Jamie Oliver recipe that goes with his carrot cake.

100g mascarpone cheese
200g full fat cream cheese
2 tbsp of elderflower cordial
85g of icing sugar

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and then spread all over your (cooled) cake.

Hurray for Fitzbillies

2011-08-30T14:02:00.000+01:00

All I can say really is YAY.

The Chelsea Bun is back, and also a whole host of other goodies. I'm so pleased Fitzbillies is back and improved, and also it is a proper bakery where everything is made there, and made properly. We've already had a chelsea bun each but we visited again at the weekend.

I had a perfect hot chocolate (made from ganache made in their kitchen) and a wonderful coffee choux bun. Mr Giraffe had a cheese chelsea bun which is simply an excellent twist on the classic sugary treat - topped with cheese and filled with more cheese, leeks and mustard.

The tea is also very good here, proper loose leaf served in a pot. We'll be back for the coffee and also for lunches.

The re-opening of Fitzbillies really makes it feel like Cambridge is edging towards being a decent place to eat.

Church Street Gallery, Saffron Walden

2011-08-26T14:44:00.000+01:00

Hello!
I am breaking the blog silence (I did leave you with brownies though, in all fairness!) with some really excellent news.

My jewellery is now available to buy in the beautiful Church Street Gallery, just down the road in Saffron Walden. This is my first ever 'bricks and mortar' stockist so I am very very pleased indeed.

I went along to a preview evening for the Saffron Walden Maze Festival - mainly to snoop at my jewellery on display but also to look at some of the other work. I picked up some amazing wax paper bunting from Mangle Prints, which is now proudly displayed in my studio.

Ridiculously Good Oreo Fudge Brownies

2011-08-14T22:08:00.002+01:00

Bet you are already thinking about when you can next bake.

I am very late to this party, I saw the brownies on Lorraine Pascale's show a few months ago (ok it was January, doesn't seem that long ago!) and ooohed over them and then never got round to making them, which is my usual trick. Ireena made them and so did Katie and I ooohed again.
I kept on buying oreo cookies and they'd get opened and suddenly there were no more oreos. So I bought a pack and hid them at the back of the cupboard for a few weeks, and finally today I made oreo brownies.

I make a lot of brownies but I think these might be the best. Rich, sweet and almost moussey in the middle (from whisking eggs, something I've never done for brownies) and very crispy on top - and then you get an oreo in there too - magic!

You should definitely try these, I think they'd be great in place of birthday cake or even for a dinner party. Or for, you know, eating two in a row. The brownie base itself without the cookies is a great one.

I made three alterations - I didn't include the 2 extra egg yolks - mainly because I didn't have enough eggs but really I felt it was a bit unnecessary. The chocolate was just broken into small pieces, I think grating chocolate would get melty and messy! And I had some fudge chunks lying around so I put those on top before baking, they melted into the batter and then when cooled became crispy and sticky, yum!

Recipe on BBC Food.

General eatings

2011-08-10T10:58:00.002+01:00

I've been doing some good eating lately (whilst trying to lose a bit of weight, hmmmm, not working), so I thought I'd condense some of the yummy things into one post.

First off, lovely greengages in my garden. The wasps are eating most of them but we managed to save a few, a recipe coming up soon for Plum Crumble Bars.

Have any of you been watching The Good Cook? I'm sure I've seen Simon Hopkinson before but I can't remember where, and wikipedia doesn't jog my memory, but that is beside the point! I have really been enjoying the programme, the filming is interesting - sometimes over the top - and the recipes are really really good. I made the aubergine feta and parsley recipe over the weekend and it was fantastic. Sure to please veggies and meat eaters. Next on my list is the baked parpadelle, cheese and onion pie and the piedmontese peppers.

Next up, broccoli pesto. I like pestoing (I made a new word!) things. Asparagus, peas, broad beans, and of course basil. In my attempts to be healthier I tried out the Double Broccoli Quinoa recipe on 101 cookbooks for lunches this week. The pesto is nice, a little more woody than other vegetables - I think a handful of sweet frozen peas would help here. Although I also skipped the cream to be healthier, which is probably what it needs.

Last Saturday I asked Twitter where to go for a decent coffee and a slice of cake in Cambridge, The lovely Miss Sue Flay suggested Jocalatte on Burleigh Street. I was not disappointed! Lovely fresh homemade cakes, great coffee and in a beautiful vintage style tea room setting. I'll be going again. They also do little homemade chocolates and cute cupcakes.

I think that is my foodie round up done, a new recipe featuring greengages coming tomorrow :)

Deepa

Lavender Wholewheat Scones

2011-08-09T10:58:00.001+01:00

Until now I have only ever used lavender in my bath, probably like most of you. There are a few things that lavender really works with especially sweet things. I've heard lovely things about lavender panna cotta, I've eaten lavender shortbread before. I've seen some people put it with lamb but I'm not entirely convinced about that.

I had been given some very nice strawberry and rhubarb jam and the best thing to do when you get jam is make scones! The perfume of the lavender in the scones works really well with the sweet jam, and I think the wholemeal flour makes it nutty, meaning the lavender doesn't overpower.

I am by no means an expert on scones yet, these still didn't have the required oomph that I was looking for, I think they need self raising flour, which I keep forgetting to buy. And in fact I keep forgetting to get more plain flour too, hence the reason for wholemeal - which worked out nicely anyway!

I used this recipe, subbing with wholemeal and 2 teaspons of baking powder. And my lavender was in the form of homemade lavender sugar (grab a bunch of lavender flowers, hang upside down for a month, remove purply bits, add to a jam jar of caster sugar, wait a week), so I just replace the plain sugar with that.

The lavender comes through really well, not too soapy and just the right amount of perfumeyness.
They are perfect for a tea party!

My first jewellery making class

2011-08-03T10:33:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I took my very first jewellery making class!

I've been making jewellery for nearly 5 years now and all of my techniques are self taught via all the wonderful craft blogs out there and the tutorials you can find on YouTube.

One thing I really wanted to learn properly was pearl knotting, and a commission for restringing a pearl necklace spun me on to book a class and go. At first I thought I really wasn't going to ever get it, like most things, but after a few test pearls I was feeling confident to make the whole necklace.

The class was run by Sally at The Beaderie in Cambridge, only 5 people which was just right and Sally is an excellent teacher. I came back with a lovely freshwater pearl necklace which felt like a great achievement in 2 hours. Along with the commission I have to make I have plans for knotting some chunky long necklaces with some of the millions of beads I have left from past bead buying sprees.

Kale Chips

2011-08-02T15:25:00.001+01:00

Kale is one of those vegetables that I do like but always ends up getting left in the back of the fridge to go off. I received some in my veg box and after a week I really really needed to use it up. I normally put it on pizza but we weren't having pizza so I made kale chips, which I've heard about before.

Kale chips are super duper easy, it is nearly not a recipe.
Just wash your kale, remove the stalky bits and tear in to medium sized pieces. Drizzle over some olive oil and season, toss to cover all the leaves.
Bake in a low-medium oven (about 150c) for 10-15 minutes, turning every five minutes to stop them buring - mine caught a little bit which means they go a bit bitter.

Eat!

The Hole in the Wall, Little Wilbraham, Cambridge

2011-08-01T15:09:00.000+01:00

I think Cambridge maybe in danger of becoming a good place to find good food. Slowly, very slowly new places are opening up which are inventive, yummy and good value. The opening of The Hole in the Wall Cambridge by Masterchef finalist Alex Rushmer has been much anticipated by foodies in Cambridge, especially me!

We went along for Sunday lunch on the most beautiful sunny day. The pub is set in a very pretty Cambridgeshire village, lots of cute cottages, well-kept gardens and scenic countryside.
The pub itself is also very nice- a 16th century building with beams and low ceilings. Inside it still has quite a pub feel, I don't think a great deal has been done to the decor since they moved in, maybe something they are working on? Some of the fixtures are a little dated and the carpet is the extremely 1970s, but it doesn't really matter once you start reading the menu.

The menu comprises of 3 starters, 3 mains and much to my glee FOUR puddings. This is a good start. Often so many restaurants stick a couple of puds on, ice cream and cheese. Ice cream is not pudding! Vegetarians are catered for here too, only one dish on the starters and mains but both were fantastic and well thought out.

For starters I had the pea & ham soup which came with toasted brown bread. It was sweet and fresh with lovely smokey pieces of ham in the soup, I could have done with a bit more bread though, only one small piece for a large bowl of soup. My husband had the tomato and mozzarella salad which combined at least 4 different kinds of tomatoes in an olive oil and basil dressing with creamy mozzarella. The green tomatoes were my favourite, crisp on the outside and very soft in the middle, perfect.

For main I had the confit duck with pork cassoulet and very creamy mash. The duck was done to perfection, fall off the bone and the cassoulet had huge chunks of slow cooked pork inside. My only complaint would be that it was quite under seasoned, though salt and pepper were provided.

The vegetarian main which my husband had was really really well thought out. The peppers had been pre roasted til smokey and soft then stuffed with cous cous studded with aubergine, courgette and deep fried cheese, yes deep fried. It was then covered with goats cheese and cooked til bubbly.

The choice of puds was, as already mentioned, excellent. On the menu was a honeycomb cheesecake (my choice), lemon tart with blackberry sorbet, mirabelle plum charlotte and chocolate peppermint pots. My cheesecake was fluffy and rich at the same time, with a gingery based and a creamy top with chunks of honeycomb inside and on top.

My husband had the plum charlotte, we’d previously had the excellent apple charlotte at Le Gavroche so it had a lot to live up to. Whilst it wasn’t as good as Le Gav it was brilliant, the bread was so crispy and the inside very soft and full of plummy goodness.

We will definitely be going again soon, the food was excellent and the menu varied. The service was a little shakey but they’ve only been open for 2 weeks. I think now is an excellent time to go because so much seasonal produce is on show.

The Hole in the Wall Cambridge
Primrose Farm Road,
Little Wilbraham,
Cambridge,
CB21 5JY

http://holeinthewallcambridge.co.uk/

Weddings, Jewellery and Food Blogging

2011-07-25T15:42:00.003+01:00

This post is about something totally lovely. Over the last year or so I have found and met a group of local food bloggers in Cambridge, via the awesomeness that is Twitter. We've been to a Secluded Tea party together, had mulled wine and mince pies, eaten at the best Chinese restaurant in Cambridge (Peking Restaurant) and are planning many more foodie events in the next few months.
One of these lovely people is Nora, or Norathesplorer as she is known by her food blog readers. She was getting married this summer and asked me to make her a pair of Classic Pearl earrings for her special day. I love making bridal jewellery and I especially love making it when I know the bride.

photography by Lauren McGlynn

She kindly sent me a picture of her on her wedding day, with the earrings on which go so well with her beautiful green dress. She also had a second dress which was a white gown which also went very well with the earrings.

Thank you Nora for making my jewellery part of your day, and for letting me blog a picture of your lovely wedding!

*sniff*

Isn't the Internet a lovely thing?

Weekend pictures

2011-07-25T10:36:00.000+01:00

Lots of pictures from the weekend. A vintage looking Jess, making lavender sugar, coffee and cake at Greens Coffee Co , Jess atop a fence, making catnip 'strawberries' from Mollie Makes tutorial, made a gingham cushion cover, salt and pepper popcorn, found 'Home' old sign in the garden, first garlic harvest.

Tomato Salsa from Mexican Food Made Simple

2011-07-21T09:24:00.000+01:00

Mexican food is one of my favourite foods, and I have really been enjoying Mexican Food Made Simple on Tuesday nights, and I am a big fan of Wahaca. I gave the salsa recipe a go to stuff in to some burritos because it seemed so simple and quite authentic.

The dry roasting of the tomatoes and garlic is a great idea, much much quicker than roasting in the oven and both come out just as juicy and flavoursome as oven roasting. I was amazed at how well the garlic roasted like this, even in my dodgy frying pan. I blitzed mine the food processor instead of my pestle and mortar so it was a bit more liquid but because it was quite spicy you only needed to use a little anyway!

I subbed half a chipotle in adobo chili instead of a fresh jalapeno, as I'd forgotten to buy fresh chilis. I assume fresh green chilis would work the same as a jalapeno. The chipotle gave it a nice warm smoky finish to add to the charred taste from the tomatoes.

I served it with traditional burrito fillings - spicy black beans, mexican rice, sour cream, cheese and tortillas.
This recipe makes a lot so there will be plenty left over for other things. I am going to use mine to top a steak and jazz up my cous cous at lunchtime.

The next recipes I want to try are the griddled pineapple with rum caramel and the chorizo and potato quesadilla. And I will attempt homemade corn tortillas once I've got the frying pan situation sorted out.

Sweets & Chocolate

2011-07-20T12:06:00.001+01:00

I love sweets. I do a lot of baking and whilst I appreciate freshly baked sweet treats there is something inside me that really loves the processed sugary wonderfulness that is sweets. And chocolate, I am a sucker for cheap sugary chocolate whilst also liking dark chocolate too.

Every day after school I used to go to the corner shop and buy a chocolate bar or a bag of 10p (20p if I was feeling rich) penny sweets. There was a brief phase of those sherbet sticks that you could buy for about 3p which everyone in school had and for some reason I remember them being of particular concern to teachers. Maybe because kids were pretending they were cocaine and snorting them, maybe that was it.

If you've read Stephen Fry's Autobiography (the first one) which includes a long section listing all the sweets he loved and loves that is just about how I feel about sweets too. Even though most of the sweets I used to eat still exist now there is always a heap of nostalgia associated with them.

Here comes the list, my favourites include: foam shrimps, lemon bon bons, apple laces, strawberry laces, sherbet dib dab, black jacks, fruit salad, foam mushrooms, foam strawberries, cherry lips, aniseed balls, fizzy cola, chewy cola, giant cola bottles, fizzy blue bottles (not the flies, the drink) coconut rolls, love hearts, foam teeth and toothbrushes, refreshers, drumsticks (one of my teeth came out because of a drumstick lolly), flumps, rhubarb and custard, Wham bars, candy sticks, candy necklaces, fried eggs.... the list is pretty much endless.

Although there are some sweets I don't like. I'm not a big fan of hard sweets save for bon bons and rhubarb and custard. And I never understood why people liked those white mice. I'm not a big chewing gum person although I did used to buy those long packs of bubblegum which were about 15p a tube. They never tasted sweet for very long so I could easily chew a whole pack in a couple of hours.

Chocolate wise the list is quite a lot smaller than the sweet side of things. At the moment I am favouring Galaxy over Cadburys - have Cadburys changed their recipe? I am inclined to blame Kraft Foods for the less chocolatey nature of their Dairy Milk lately. My favourites at the moment (which changes often!) are Galaxy Caramel, Galaxy Ripple, Wispa, Milky Bar and Crunchie. I am still mourning the loss of Kit Kat Peanut Butter which has been replaced by the rubbish Kit Kat Caramel - which isn't really caramel inside at all is it? Do we not get peanut butter as much in the UK as our American counterparts. There should be more peanut butter in confectionary in my opinion.

My favourite chocolate bar ever was the Cadburys Fuse bar, which was discontinued around the late 90s. It had basically everything going for it - chocolate, raisins, nuts, FUDGE PIECES and crispies. And the packet design was pretty cool too. I miss those.

So there you are, an essay from a sugar addict. I still do need to have at least one bar of chocolate a day, and it is a need, I think. I get a bit crabby otherwise. And you have no idea how glad I am that retro sweet shops have become popular again, Mr Simms Olde sweet shop in Cambridge is one of the best places to go for all kinds of sweets.

Now I am off to the shop for some sweets. I hope you enjoyed reading my post!

Sweetie images from Handy Candy - http://www.handycandy.co.uk and google image search

20% off on Etsy

2011-07-17T12:53:00.003+01:00

This blog post is a bit late but just to let you know I have 20% off in my Etsy shop, ends tomorrow evening.

Happy Shopping! :)

Summer Fruit Drizzle Cake

2011-07-13T11:30:00.000+01:00

It hasn't been all bad on the eating front lately.

It was the husbands birthday yesterday so on Monday I baked up this lovely cake, the recipe is in this months BBC Good Food magazine. I love the idea of sweet berries mixed in with lemon and sugar, very decadent but also feels healthy. The cake is studded with fruit inside too.

If you do make it I have a tip! The recipe says to chuck everything (minus berries) in the bowl and whisk, Don't do this! You will end up with mix EVERYWHERE. I would use the normal cake method of creaming sugar and butter and then adding the rest, unless you have a food processor or a stand mixer.

I think I will be trying this again with different fruits, maybe peaches and raspberries.

back from holiday

2011-07-12T20:57:00.000+01:00

Hello!

I am back from what was a bit of a disastrous holiday in Scotland. Scotland itself was lovely but we both caught a stomach bug, and then made the mistake of soldiering on and going to T in the Park festival too (camping and being ill, oh dear!) even though we were still recovering.

Anyway...... I am back now and so pleased to be home!
We are planning a weekend away SOON to make up for last week. Something with luxury and NO camping.

Thanks to everyone who ordered jewellery whilst I was away, everything will be shipped on Friday. I also finally hit 600 sales on Etsy whilst I was away. Yay!

Bill's Restaurant & Store, Cambridge

2011-07-04T11:44:00.000+01:00

I find it very hard to think of a good place for breakfast in Cambridge, and upon asking other people it would seem that no one else really knows either. You can pop along to the Black Cat cafe for some french toast, or maybe Giraffe for one of their breakfasts but nowhere really sticks out as being amazing.

Bill's Restaurant and Store opened last week, at the site of the old (and not very good) Slug and Lettuce pub. The first thing that really drew me in was the breakfasts, it has a good selection of traditional 'fry up', french toast, eggs benedict/florentine/royale and some interesting inclusions like bubble & squeak and grill vine tomatoes with basil on toast.

As the name suggests you can also shop here, they sell jams and marmalades, fancy French lemonade, pasta, chocolate, beer, the list is endless. Everything is arranged in shelves around the tables so you can shop whilst you eat.

I ordered the Bill's breakfast which was two fried eggs on sourdough toast with bacon, sausage, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes. My husband had the veggie breakfast which was really well put together, poached eggs on toast spread with houmous and guacamole, tomatoes, mushrooms and sweet chili. He also tried the bubble and squeak which the real star, crispy on the outside and pillowy soft inside with a good kick of grain mustard.

The coffee here is also excellent, as are the freshly made smoothies.

We arrived at about 11 and the restaurant was quite busy, it is obviously very popular already, only a few days after opening. The food seems very fresh with attention to detail.

It is a small chain and in a place full of chains I can be wary but Bill's does have personality. I'm looking forward to coming back, mainly to give the puddings a go, which look very naughty!

Bill's Restaurant and Store
Green Street, Cambridge
http://www.bills-website.co.uk/

waiting

2011-07-01T10:05:00.000+01:00

I like round numbers, and having shops means you can count the sales and get worked up about milestones.
I am very nearly at 600 sales on Etsy.
It has been at 597 for what seems like a million years!

Please help me out!
I have 25% off for the next 3 purchases, use the code 600SALES - the 600th gets extra things too!
So if you buy three things you get 25% off and freebies!

Pad Thai - Guest blog for UK Handmade

2011-06-30T14:31:00.001+01:00

Hello!

Today's blog post is a bit of a cheat because I have written this already, click here to visit my guest post on UK Handmade for a summery vegetable pad thai.

Asparagus, Broad Bean & Feta Pesto Dip

2011-06-26T12:37:00.002+01:00

Ok so that is a long title, but I did want to fit in all the yummy things I put in this.

I intended to make it a version of this Asparagus Pesto but I didn't have quite enough Asparagus and some broad beans, and some feta. So I whizzed it all up with some oil, garlic and pinenuts to make this delicious pesto/dip.

The asparagus season is nearly over, so you'll have to be quick to find some before it goes out of season.

I served it stirred into spaghetti but I think it would make a really lovely dip, or an alternative to guacamole perhaps? It does have raw garlic in it so maybe if you are serving it for dipping a garlic oil or roasted garlic might take away the pungency a bit, it depends if you are in company afterwards.

This is quite a flexible recipe, you can add and take away things and work to the consistency you get as you make it.

Asparagus, Broad Bean and Feta Pesto Dip

5-6 stalks of Asparagus, cut into about 1 inch pieces.
about 5-6 broad bean pods, podded and shelled
approx 1 tablespoon of good quality olive oil
50g pine nuts, toasted
about 2 inch piece of feta, crumbled
1 clove of garlic
splash of water
1/4 red chili with seeds

Toast your pinenuts in a dry pan. Then boil some water and cook your asparagus for just one minute at a rolling boil.
Whizz up all your ingredients in a food processor, add more oil if you need a looser mixture. Taste and season.

Stir into pasta, add to a sandwich, serve as a dip, whatever you can think of!

Yum. :)

25% off all weekend

2011-06-16T13:24:00.000+01:00

I have decided to start the weekend a little earlier than usual.

25% off on everything on Etsy, and sale items are 50% off.

Happy Weekend everyone!

wordless wednesday

2011-06-15T13:54:00.002+01:00

Gooseberry Crumble Cake

2011-06-14T09:00:00.001+01:00

I think gooseberries can be a bit daunting. They are all hairy and a bit weird looking when raw, not to mention sour. But add a bit of sugar, cook them for a while and they are gorgeous. I tend to treat them like rhubarb, and my favourite thing to make with rhubarb is a crumble cake.

Crumble cakes (or coffee cakes as they are known in the USA, though they have no coffee) are impressive looking and tasting but really easy to make as they just combine two very basic recipes. They work particularly well with rhubarb and gooseberries as the double blanket of sugariness, batter and crumble, will make sure your fruit isn’t too tart.

I have previously made a rhubarb crumble cake (with a really bad photograph) but it was huge so I have dialled back the quantities a bit to make a slightly smaller cake. This is still a generous cake so will serve 6 people easily!

I made this cake with lots of vanilla and swapped half the flour for ground almonds to add more taste to the cake part. The crumble top was the basic equal parts of sugar, flour and butter mixture, and I sprinkled some more ground almonds on before baking which made the top extra crunchy.

The gooseberries are prepared very simply, I just topped and tailed them and sprinkled them with sugar.

Gooseberry Crumble Cake

Makes one 9 inch round cake

For the cake:
100g of softened salted butter
100g sugar
2 eggs
50g of ground almonds
50g of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or equal of vanilla extract
Splash of milk.
125g fresh gooseberries

Cream your sugar and butter together until nice and fluffy, then add the eggs in one by one and mix together after adding each. Then put your vanilla in and then fold in the almonds and flour. Mix to combine and then add a small splash of milk to loosen the mixture.
Pour into a greased and linked cake in.

Preheat your oven whilst you prepare the crumble and fruit. 170c / gas mark 4

Top and tail your gooseberries. Cut the bigger ones in half but leave the smaller ones whole. Arrange on top of the cake batter and sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar.

For the crumble top:
50g butter
50g sugar
50g flour
Sprinkle of ground almonds

Rub together your butter and flour til it resembles breadcrumbs, and then add in your sugar. Sprinkle over the gooseberries, make sure they are fairly well covered but it doesn’t matter if they are peeking out a bit. Sprinkle over the almonds.

Bake in the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown on top. It can be hard to tell if is done as the knife won’t come out clean, as long as it is cooked at a low temperature on a middle shelf it won’t burn.

Leave to cool, the cake will sink slightly. If you take it out the tin whilst it is warm it will collapse.

Slice and serve with custard, it is good with custard!

My gooseberries were from Walden Local Food, if you are nearby you must go and visit their market stall on a Saturday. I also came away with some fabulous plum tomatoes and some tender new season kale.

Giveaway Winner - Caramel Pearl Bracelet

2011-06-05T17:02:00.000+01:00

The lucky winner of the Caramel Pearl bracelet is......

Kavey!!

Please check your email!
Thank you to everyone for entering and tweeting and liking.

I have been making lots of wedding jewellery lately, there are some new pieces in my shops made with pearls and lovely vintage style bead caps. And I am having a 20% off sale today on Etsy!

Perfecting Meringues

2011-06-02T16:21:00.002+01:00

I finally managed to make good meringues!

They are some that have eluded me for some time, due to bad technique, bad recipes, bad oven, and ok.. a bad baker.

If you know me well enough you know that I don't like Delia Smith. I find her recipes a bit overly fussy and mainly old fashioned, I guess I am not her target audience. But when talking about meringues everyone tells me that her recipe is the best recipe.

So I gave it a go and it did work. It helped having the timings in the recipe, I made them precise by using the oven timer, but she could have included the timings after you added the sugar, it went a bit vague after that. And you really do have to leave them til they are cold in the oven. It is hard to resist but that is how you get the crisp shell.

You may not want Delia to tell you how to make something from a tin of meat but she can tell how to cook a meringue properly.

P.S. On an unrelated note, have you entered my giveaway?

Untimely Cucumber Pickles

2011-05-31T21:14:00.001+01:00

The timing of this blog post is slightly bad in light of recent news/scare stories. But if you buy some lovely local cukes like I did then you will be fine, I'm sure. Trust me, I'm not a Doctor.

Anyway.
There is another disclaimer that goes with this blog post, I don't like cucumber.
There is something about the odd watery taste of cucumber that just sets my teeth on edge. But pickling it in rice vinegar, herbs and chilis takes away the odd unfinished flavour of cucumber. It might sound odd but I know what I mean.

This recipe is super easy, no cooking required, just some slicing and pouring and waiting.

Cucumber Pickles
fills one 250ml kilner jar

1 whole cucumber
1/2 red chili or pinch of chili flakes
handful of soft herbs - thyme, oregano, basil, coriander
100ml of rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon of caster sugar
pinch of salt

Slice your cucumber thinly into coins, about 1/2 cm thick, and then half the coins into half moons. Salt them and leave them for about 10 minutes in a colander over a bowl. This will remove some of the water from them so you get nice crunchy pickles. Rinse under cold water.

Layer up the cucumber neatly in a wide mouthed glass jar, a kilner jar is great. In between the layers put in the herb leaves and chili so it is well incorporated. Mix the vinegar and caster sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Then pour into the jar slowly so it reaches all the cucumber. If you find you don't have quite enough vinegar just add a bit more on top.

Seal and leave in the fridge. They are ready to eat after about 2-3 hours, and keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge. And like most pickles they are really good after a few days.

I am mainly eating mine at lunchtimewith cous cous and vegetables, but I am sure they are fantastic with a nice burger.

The British Larder, Suffolk

2011-05-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

The British Larder blog has been one of my favourites for a long time, I love the recipes and the focus on local food, as well as the stunning photography. When I heard they had opened a pub restaurant last year it was on my list of places to go.

It is about an hour and a half from Cambridge, two if you go the scenic route (and your sat nav diverts you through all the horrible bank holiday traffic in Ipswich), so we tied it in with a trip to Orford and Aldeburgh for foodie shopping and a walk on the coastline.

We ate in the bar and had a deli board each, which is a really good way to sample all the different flavours the British Larder has to offer. They are incredibly well thought out and everything is perfectly made, exceptional. And for £12 they are really reasonably priced.

I had the Dingley Dell Pork Tasting Board which featured the most impressive scotch egg I've ever seen and tasted. Shredded slow cooked pork with a perfectly cooked egg and crispy exterior. My platter also had a chicken and pork terrine, puy lentil and ham hock salad, the most beautiful celeriac remoulade (with whole mustard seeds in, something I am going to do next time I make it), a vibrant and sweet pea and ham soup, locally made bread (from the Pump Street Bakery) and a perfect green salad.

The husband had the vegetarian deli board which was also excellent. Aubergine and tomato cavair, pearl barley salad, gorgeous spiced sweetcorn fritters, Suffolk Gold cheddar straws, olives, broad bean and white bean hummus, homemade tomato mayonnaise (I didn't let him call it burger sauce!) more local bread and that lovely green salad again.

The little additions like the mixture of different breads, soft creamy butter and perfectly cooked thinly sliced beetroot were lovely.

Naturally I had to opt for pudding, I always leave room. I picked what was hailed as their 'famous' treacle tart, and it was amazing. It was huge, just the thing for a pudding lover like me. Served with white chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce. The inside of it was lightly spiced, it reminded me of the Indian dessert 'gulab jambu' - which is a pretty impressive thing to achieve in a treacle tart.

We also had coffee and tea which was served with little cocoa dusted meringues.

We will definitely be going back, the Sunday roast looks fantastic, the British Larder hasn't been open long and I think is still getting its name out there, so go and support them, everything is as local as possible and cooked perfectly. I can't wait to go again!

We also visited Orford whilst we were there for bagels and doughnuts from the Pump Street Bakery and scallops from Pinneys of Orford. And then on to Aldeburgh for goodies from Lawsons Deli. A lovely day out! Suffolk has fantastic food.

Giveaway - Win a Caramel Pearl Bracelet

2011-05-27T09:03:00.021+01:00

To kick of wedding season I am doing a giveaway...

This is not something I do very often so it is extra special (well I think so!)

This lovely bracelet worth £45 is part of my bridal range, and would also look lovely for the mother of the bride too. It is made from caramel coloured glass pearls and handcrafted gold fill circles linked together.

To be in with a chance to win please leave a comment below telling me which item is your favourite from my Etsy shop and your email address.

You will receive extra entries for:

Liking my page on Facebook

Tweeting my giveaway

click above or use the words:
"I have just entered the giveaway to win a Caramel Bracelet on @lazygiraffe 's blog http://t.co/Sp5A8zw"

Just let me know you have in the comments.

I will pick a winner at random on the 3rd June.Comments will close at 5pm GMT.

good luck!

Candied Ginger Brownies

2011-05-26T12:41:00.002+01:00

You'd think I would have enough brownie recipes on here but I don't think there is such a thing as too many brownie recipes, or too many brownies!

Lately I have been more of a fan of brownies with things in them, before I was more of a chocolate nut and just wanted them to be as chocolatey as possible - which is obviously no bad thing either. But sometimes it is fun to experiment!

Spiced brownies are lovely and these candied ginger ones give you a good hit of ginger in each bite, and a bit of texture from the candied coating.

If you really like ginger I would make your pieces big but if you don't chop them up finer than I did, it will all work out fine either way. These are semi gooey brownies, with a nice crisp top.

100g good quality (70% cocoa or more) dark chocolate
70g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
75g self raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
25g cocoa (or just use more flour)
100g candied ginger, chopped

Preheat your oven to 400f, 200c (180c fan) or gas mark 6

Break your chocolate into pieces and melt together with the butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring frequently.
Take the bowl off the heat, leave to cool for a few minutes and then add in sugar and then your eggs one at a time.
Then add in the vanilla. Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients and fold together.
Then carefully fold in your chopped candied ginger, saving some for the top.

Pour into a non stick or greased and lined 9 inch square cake tin and sprinkle over the rest of the ginger. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

25% off on Folksy

2011-05-24T16:17:00.000+01:00

If you head on over to my Folksy shop this week I'll refund you 25% off all jewellery.

Yay!

weekend pictures

2011-05-23T12:07:00.001+01:00

Even though it has been hot for about 2 months now it really feels summery now that strawberries are in season. I got my first fruit and vegetable box from Walden Local Food and it contained a lovely punnet of strawberries which were eaten up in minutes! This weekend our little Flossie kitten turned 1 year old, no longer a kitten *sniff*.
I did lots and lots of cooking over the weekend so I have some recipes coming up this week - elderflower cordial (to be bottled tonight, hope it has worked out!), brownies, pad thai and cucumber pickle.

Watch this space!

Elderflower Fritters - version 2

2011-05-18T16:14:00.000+01:00

It's elderflower season!

Well strictly speaking it isn't but the whether has been so warm lately that elderflowers are blooming nearly more than a month early. I know this because I made fritters in late June last year.

They were so good that I couldn't wait to get my hands on some more this year, so I am glad they are early.

Elderflowers grow almost everywhere so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding your own in the countryside. I am lucky, I have a tree in my garden!

I am waiting for some more to bloom so I can make cordial too. So check back for a post on that.

Last time I made fritters they were nice but the batter was a little dense and my technique wasn't so great so they weren't all that pretty. I replaced some of the milk for sparkling water this time around, giving them a light batter, much like you would use for tempura.

Elderflower Fritters - serves 2 / makes 6 fritters

6 heads of elderflower - checked for bugs

50ml of milk
100ml of sparkling water
100g of self raising flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg

ground nut or sunflower oil for frying

Use your elderflowers as soon as you've picked them, if left too long they start to smell strange and lose their floral scent. Check them for any bugs but do not wash them otherwise you'll lose all the lovely pollen, which is where the flavour is.

To make your batter mix together the milk, water and then the egg. Slowly whisk in your flour, salt and baking powder until you have a loose batter - the consistency of single cream. Add more water if necessary.

Heat about 2-3 inches of oil in a large saucepan. Pop a bit of batter in after about 2 minutes to check if it is hot enough.

Dip your elderflower head in and twist slowly to make sure it is fully battered, then pull out and let the excess batter drip off. Carefully put into the hot oil - if you keep the stems long when picking you will have something to hold on to. Fry in batches for a few minutes until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper.

I like to serve them drizzled with honey and with a scoop of ice cream.

15% off on Dawanda - All Week

2011-05-17T08:51:00.000+01:00

Hello blog readers!

Just to let you now I am running a sale in my Dawanda shop all week - 15% off everything.

The prices are already adjusted.

Dawanda is in Euros but you can pay via PayPal in any currency.

Lemon & Ricotta Breakfast Muffins

2011-05-16T11:34:00.001+01:00

I called these muffins so you can eat them for breakfast.
I am kind to you like that.

I made these for three reasons.

1. I had a lot of lemons
2. I wanted to test out my new silicone ~~cupcake~~ breakfast muffin cases

3. I like to eat cake for breakfast.

On a serious note, they do have much less sugar than a cupcake, and of course no icing or buttercream -they aren't particularly sweet, so add more if you want a sweet muffin. They are lovely split open and served with some natural yoghurt and honey.

Lemon & Ricotta Muffins
makes 12 muffins

1 cup (200g) of self raising flour
1/4 (50g) cup of sugar
half teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 (100g) cup of ricotta
1/4 (50ml) cup of milk
3 tablespoons of melted and cooled butter (approx 75g solid)
1 egg
zest of 3 lemons, juice of 2
oats or wheatgerm to sprinkle on top - optional

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 / 180c / 160c fan.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Do the same with the wet ingredients and the egg, whisk them together. Slowly fold the wet into the dry, taking care not to over mix.

do you like my silicone cupcake liners? fancy and useful.

Fill the cupcake cases generously with the mixture, about 1 cm from the top - you want them to rise high.
Sprinkle with some oats or wheatgerm if you'd like.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until they are cooked through.

20% off Weekend

2011-05-06T16:12:00.000+01:00

On All Jewellery, All Weekend On Etsy!
And all the prices are adjusted, no need to enter a code.

Happy shopping and hope you have a lovely weekend!

Deepa

Lemon Bars for UK Handmade Summer Issue

2011-05-05T13:52:00.001+01:00

Hello!

I have been a bit quiet on the blog front recently, I have just started a new job and still getting into the swing of things. Also I had a rotten stomach bug last week which left me with nearly a whole week off unable to bake anything!

I did however recently write a recipe for the UK Handmade summer issue, some gloriously summery lemon bars. It is on page 47, please have a read and the rest of the magazine is just beautiful this month.

I will be back very soon with some new recipes :)

Deepa

15% off weekend - Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T18:59:00.000+01:00

Hello! Just to let you know I have an Easter off in my Etsy shop, 15% off with the code HAPPYEASTER. Runs until Tuesday morning. Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend!

Deepa
x

wedding jewellery 2011

2011-04-13T15:59:00.000+01:00

A few bridal orders have been coming in over the last month so I think it is time for a blog post! I love making bridal jewellery and it is lovely to know that a bride will be wearing my designs on her special day.

I have a range of wedding jewellery in my shops, perfect for brides and bridesmaids, using freshwater and swarovski pearls, simple metals and vintage charms.

I also love to work on custom pieces, so contact me if you'd like something made just for you.

Deepa
x

Cat Blogging

2011-04-12T16:15:00.000+01:00

I take a lot of pictures of my cats. A LOT. More than anything else really, even cake. I haven't shared any on my blog for a while so here are some, enjoy the dosage of cute!

Flossie is very much not a kitten anymore, she is nearly as big as Jess and developing into something of a mouser.

They are loving the sunshine and be able to roll around on the patio and chase each other around the garden. We've had quite a number of 'presents' recently including the tiniest baby bunny. Luckily (although it is hard to catch them) they bring them in alive and we have managed to release them safely.

Asparagus Pesto

2011-04-11T14:56:00.000+01:00

Didn't I promise you another asparagus recipe? Here it is!

To break from the rut of asparagus/egg/bread which whilst being delicious is a bit of a standard way to have asparagus, I decided to whizz up the stalks into a nice fresh pesto.

Asparagus makes a beautifully green pesto which is creamy and light, not as strong as the basil variety and perfect for a quick dinner.

Use any pasta you have to hand, spaghetti or linguine would be lovely as well as any other pasta shapes.

Asparagus & Walnut Pesto - serves 2
adapted from local lemons

8 stalks of asparagus
50g parmesan
handful of walnuts
few basil leaves or any other soft herb
pinch of chili flakes
handful of fresh spinach leaves
good quality olive oil
salt and pepper
1 small clove of garlic - add less if you don't like raw garlic
approx 150g - 200g pasta

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, you will use this to gently cook your asparagus and cook your pasta. Put the asparagus stalks in whole, woody ends removed. Cook for only 2 minutes, they will be just tender enough in this time.
Remove them from the pan and then add in your pasta.

Chop your asparagus into roughly 1 inch pieces, put the tips to one side.
Blitz the rest of the chopped asparagus with the other ingredients (except the olive oil) in a food processor. You can use a pestle and mortar for a rougher pesto. Add in approx 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and pulse, adding more oil if it needs be to loosen up the pesto.

Drain your pasta, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking water. Return the pan to the heat with the pasta, add in your pesto and the reserved stalks and mix really well. Serve in warmed bowls with another grating of parmesan.

Free Shipping Weekend

2011-04-08T16:27:00.001+01:00

Hello!

Just to let you know I have Free Shipping in my Etsy shop - just enter the code FREESHIPPING when you checkout.

Happy Weekend everyone, hope you enjoy the sunshine!

'white' pizza with purple sprouting broccoli

2011-04-08T10:36:00.000+01:00

Along with asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli is one of my favourite spring veggies. It is very versatile, you can treat it like asparagus - grill or steam it and have with an egg, or add it to a veggie lasagne, or put it on a pizza like I did.

Because I wanted a quick dinner I opted for the 'white pizza' method, using a creme fraiche sauce instead of tomato. A tomato one is pretty quick but a white sauce is even quicker! I use my favourite thin base recipe, some cheddar, parmesan, spinach and some pine nuts.

White Pizza
makes 2 medium sized pizzas

For the base:

250g of strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp of salt
7g sachet of dried yeast
1 tsp of sugar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
approx 300ml of warm water

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix the warm water, yeast, sugar and oil in a jug, leave to stand for a few minutes to let the yeast activate. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add in the liquid. Slowly incorporate the flour into the well until it starts to come together. Work into a dough, add more water or flour if you need it. Then turn it out on to a floured board and knead for a couple of minutes.

Leave to prove in a bowl covered with cling film for about an hour.
When it is proved, divide it into two portions, knead lightly and then roll out into bases.

For the topping:
8 stalks of purple sprouting broccoli
two tablespoons of creme fraiche
clove of garlic
mozarella or cheddar
parmesan
pine nuts (optional)
olive oil

Whilst the dough is proving, roast the purple sprouting broccoli in a medium oven, drizzled with some oil and seasoned. For about 20 minutes till it is about half cooked.

For your sauce spread a tablespoon of creme fraiche on each pizza base, then crush your garlic and sprinkle over the top. Season. Then layer up with your cheese, broccoli and pine nuts. Season again lightly and add a bit of olive oil over the top. I also added a handful of spinach too.

For a gas or conventional electric oven ,bake at the highest heat on the top shelf for 10 - 15 minutes.

For a fan oven bake on middle shelf at approx 200c for 10 minutes.

Serve with a nice big salad and an extra grating of parmesan!

new pictures and freshening up for summer

2011-04-07T14:15:00.000+01:00

I've been a busy little jewellery maker lately, I've added some new designs to my shops and I have also been reshooting pictures (helped by this lovely bright weather) for the summer wedding season.

I've just had a very nice parcel of vintage beads arrive so there will be some new vintage designs very soon, including more flowers!

asparagus & egg gratins

2011-04-07T11:18:00.002+01:00

One thing we are very lucky to have locally is someone who grows and sells asparagus from his greenhouse. The asparagus is ready around mid March and goes on til about May, which means you get a chance to eat it early and also well into asparagus season.

I've blogged about it before, and I always make sure I go along and buy every year. It is a very small enterprise, just a retired man's hobby. If you are in Cambridgeshire, it is signposted from Granta Park.

I saw this recipe on Shutterbean a couple of days before the asparagus went on sale (I made this about 2 weeks ago but I have just blogged it now!), and once it did I hot footed it down there and then down to the farm shop (Gog Magog Hills) for the rest of the ingredients.

These are lovely and simple to prepare, we had them for dinner but I think they'd make a great breakfast too. Be careful not to over cook the yolks, I did a little whilst trying to bubble the cheese under the grill.

You can find the recipe over here on Shutterbean.

I amended it by using milk instead of cream and different cheese. I picked up some Neals Yard Dairy Cotherstone cheese at the farm shop, softer than parmesan but just as strongly flavoured, it worked very well.

I served it with warmed ciabatta bread and hot sauce, yum!

I used the remaining asparagus for lunch the next day, grilled on a griddle pan with chillies, garlic, lemon and soy sauce. It was delicious. I just bought another bunch today so hopefully I'll be blogging another recipe soon.

Sun!

2011-04-06T14:14:00.001+01:00

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely sunshine today!

England really is such a beautiful country in on a sunny day.

25% off sale!

2011-04-01T15:48:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know I have 25% off in my Etsy shop this weekend.

Use code APRILSALE for an immediate discount.

Happy Shopping! Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Macarons - v2

2011-03-31T11:32:00.000+01:00

I made macarons a little while ago and they weren't quite perfect, they tasted amazing but they didn't have the little 'feet' - mainly because I didn't age the egg whites, and they weren't quite as uniform as I'd like.

These aren't quite as perfect again, I think macaron making definitely takes practice. I did age the whites and I got a nice crisp shell and 'feet' on my macarons. But I think I needed to pipe them a little smaller, as they were a bit ungainly, macarons are meant to be a delicate and sophisticated French sweet after all.

The macaron shells were flavoured with my new favourite thing - vanilla bean paste, and made pretty with a few drops of red food colouring, for a pinky colour. I sandwiched with lemon curd again, but I am going to try buttercream or maybe a chocolate ganache next time.

Despite their appearance they do taste fantastic, which some would say is the main thing.

I used Ruth's recipe from her blog - The Pink Whisk.

Macaron makers - do you have any tips for me?

Spring snaps

2011-03-24T14:06:00.000Z

Spring time has finally sprung in Cambridgeshire this week. So lovely!

Etsy Euro Week -10%

2011-03-23T09:02:00.000Z

Every year Etsy celebrates all things European by having Euro Week!

It is a week that focuses on all the european sellers on Etsy which includes lots of features and spotlights from Europe.

To celebrate, I am offering 10% off in my shop with the discount code EUROWEEK. Happy Shopping everyone!

Sticky Beaks Cafe, Cambridge

2011-03-22T17:17:00.006Z

image from stickybeakscafe.co.uk

Sometimes it can be really hard to get a decent cup of coffee and a slice of cake in Cambridge, most cafes are chains and the cakes rarely made anywhere near Cambridge.

Sticky Beaks opened up recently, on Hobson Street, it is independently run and most importantly the cakes are made there in the cafe, along with the yummy savoury offerings.

Another thing that is lovely about Sticky Beaks is their branding, I love the little birdie and it is even on their cups which is a sweet touch.

The hubby and I popped in for a quick weekday lunch. I had the sausage casserole served with a nice hunk of crusty bread, and him the puy lentil lasagne. Both lovely, the casserole had lots of lovely veg in it and herbs. The lasagne was really rich and comforting.

We also couldn't resist the lovely cakes on offer and shared a slice of 'Giant Lamington' - an Australian cake which is a sponge sandwiched with jam and topped with a thin layer of chocolate and coconut.

They also do a very nice cup of tea, in huge cups, using Tea Pigs tea which I have sung the praises of before.

It is small cafe decorated in duck egg green and pale wood (I am a sucker for duck egg) which makes it nice and bright. The huge range cooker and the artily placed Kitchen Aid behind the counter gives an air of homemade and homeliness.

The prices are very reasonable, the menu changes daily so there will always be something a little different to try. I always like to support local businesses in Cambridge rather than visiting all of the many chains that crowd the centre.

A Lovely Loaf of Bread

2011-03-20T19:44:00.000Z

I have baked a lot of bread before, no knead bread, one hour bread, soda bread, potato bread and various other things which have been eaten too quickly to blog about. But I never seem to get around to cooking a normal white loaf, you know one you can slice and use for sandwiches and toast. I guess because it is easy to get supermarket bread for that and make fancy bread homemade. But really baking an everyday loaf is really satisfying because you can include in your everyday meals to make them more interesting.

This recipe has more water in than normal bread doughs and I proved it once for an hour, and second in the loaf tin for 45 minutes. This mean it was moist, very well risen and airy, I think if I'd left it the second time for another 15 minutes it would have bloomed a bit higher. I sprinkled it with poppyseeds for extra crunch and prettiness.

Simple White Loaf
makes one small loaf

300g (2.5 cups) of strong white bread flour
1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
3/4 tablespoon of salt
1 flat tablespoon of instant yeast
1 tablespoon of olive oil
150ml of warm water

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then make a well in the centre and add the oil and water. Slowly incorporate the flour into the well until it combines fully, mix to a fairly sticky dough. Flour a board well and knead the loaf for a few minutes until it is smooth, you may need to keep adding flour to stop it being too sticky.

Put into a large clean bowl dusted with flour, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.

After an hour turn the dough out and knock it back, kneading lightly for a minute. Then shape into a rough loaf shape and pop into a floured loaf tin. Prove again for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place, covered with a tea towel. Preheat your oven to 180c / gas mark 4 before the proving is nearly up.

Once proved slash the top with a sharp knife, about 3 or 4 slashes should do. This will allow the loaf to rise and air to escape during cooking. Dab with some water or brush with milk and sprinkle on about 1 teaspoon of poppyseeds.

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Remove from the oven, grab the butter, slice and spread and EAT!

I think this bread would take really well to other flavourings such as cheese, herbs, sundried tomatoes, whatever you can think of. Sesame seeds and a drizzle of oil would be an nice twist too. The possibilities!

I toasted it the next day and spread it with honey, it toasts extremely well.

wordless wednesday - daffodils

2011-03-16T14:45:00.002Z

affordable art fair, london & cake

2011-03-14T12:28:00.000Z

I spent the day in London on Saturday, whilst we go up (no ,down) there quite a lot I did manage to cram in quite a lot in one day, especially as we only arrive at midday too.

First stop was to meet the lovely Tina Mammoser (aka The Cycling Artist) who showed me around the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park. I really enjoyed it and seeing Tina's work was brilliant too, you should check out her website, amazing work!

Some of my the other favourites were:

Sally Elford

Susila Bailey-Bond

Nguyen Quang Minh

I wish I'd made notes because I have forgotten half of what I saw!

After the art fair I headed back into central London, had a mooch around the shops, ate a goat mooli and bought some Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes. Then we went for dinner at Byron. Yum!

Byron Hamburgers, Wardour St, London

2011-03-13T15:51:00.000Z

I am by no means the first or the last person to review Byron but I am going to anyway!

The smell of meat is the first thing that hits you when you walk into Byron, and instantly makes you hungry. There are lots of burger joints all over the country but mostly they aren't very inventive, tasty or interesting.

I was most looking forward to the sides, which is probably an odd thing to say. We ordered the skin on fries and the much talked about courgette fries. The courgette fries were just brilliant, lightly battered and really fresh tasting.

The other highlight of the meal was my amazingly big pickle, something which seems to be much more popular in the USA but you don't get much here. Unfortunately my burger was a little underseasoned but otherwise it was very tasty once I added some seasoning.

I also ordered the Oreo Milkshake, which was a bit like cookies and cream ice cream but melted, it was a lovely, and quite filling, so much so that I uncharacteristically didn't have any room for pudding.

We booked for Saturday night at Wardour Street, but arrived half an hour earlier which I was glad of because by the time we left about 7.30 there was a huge queue out of the door. I'd recommend booking or going at a quieter time in the weekdays to secure a table.

Byron Hamburgers

Wardour St
London
http://www.byronhamburgers.com/

Butterscotch flowers

2011-03-11T17:15:00.000Z

Butterscotch Earrings

The saddest thing about vintage beads that you really love is that inevitably they are hard to find again, these butterscotch daisies are so cute and have been quite popular in my shops.

I found the very last pair of them in my bead box this week so they are being relisted on Folksy for the last time. I'll be sad to let them go because they are such pretty beads, I keep looking out for them in case a few turn up somewhere.

But I think they are gone forever now!

Grab the last pair whilst you can. And it will also stop me writing such soppy posts about beads ;)

Coffee & Hazelnut Cupcakes

2011-03-09T11:31:00.000Z

I think I have a cupcake fixation. I think it is because they are a) really easy to make b) cute and c) great to photograph.

I have no less than 7 (now 8) cupcake recipes in my reasonably petite recipe archive. They are a bit like brownies (I have a lot of those blogged too), adaptable and everyone loves them. I don't always like icing or frosting, it can make the cupcake overly sweet for an everyday lunchtime snack, but for special ocasions you have to. My favourite cupcake is lemon drizzle, which is also my favourite cake.

These cupcakes are again super easy and people always swoon when you mention coffee cake in any form - have you noticed that? I played around with the traditional walnut and decided to sub hazelnut instead because I prefer them. There is a mixture of whole and chopped hazelnuts, along with one of the top which gave it a slightly er, protuding appearance - oops!

I am a coffee snob and I much prefer proper fresh ground coffee to instant, but instant is always the best thing to use for baking - unless you can find coffee extract. You can get a much stronger coffee taste, and I've tried using freshly made proper espresso before, than real coffee. Trust me!

Coffee & Hazelnut Cupcakes
makes about 12 cupcakes

200g butter, softened
200g white or brown sugar
4 eggs
175g self raising flour
4 tsps of instant coffee (dissolve about 2 tsps of powder in as little water as possible, approx 75ml)
dash of vanilla extract
chopped and whole hazelnuts - about 100g in total plus extra for the top.

Preheat your oven to 200c / gas mark 6
Cream together your butter and sugar with a spoon and then whisk in the eggs one by one, mixing well to incorporate each time. Add in your vanilla, coffee and then the flour, folding in, try not to overbeat. Then add in your hazelnuts.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake cases, and fill to about 2/3 full, top with hazelnuts. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes til cooked all the way through.

I did intend to ice them with chocolate and coffee icing but trying to eke out some leftover chocolate frosting with extra coffee and milk made it go all runny, whoops! I experimented with one but the chocolate just wouldn't set, but it was tasty when topped with more hazelnuts.

P.S. The other cupcakes in the picture are lemon cupcakes, recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery Book :)

Birthday Cupcakes, La Hogue Farm Cafe and other treats!

2011-03-08T10:40:00.000Z

This weekend was my birthday, well Saturday was but I made a weekend of it, I think that is the rule if your birthday is on a Saturday.

There was a LOT of cake.

First of all hubby really out did himself and made these fabulous chocolate cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery book, he added his own twist of a raspberry filling and a chocolate cream cheese icing. They are seriously good, so chocolatey! There is ONE left and it is all mine....

We went for a lovely lunch a the Old Fire Engine house in Ely on Saturday, I didn't grab any pictures (except for the bread basket which isn't that interesting!) but it was a really quirky place to go for lunch, the puddings are great!

Due to the wonder that is Twitter the lovely La Hogue farm shop offered me free tea and cake on account of it being my birthday, yay! So we stopped off there for some shopping in the farm shop and then for a slice of (more) cake in the farm shop cafe and a cup of tea (look at the cute milk jug!). The new farm shop cafe is lovely, with proper tables for lunch and cosy sofas for a relaxing cuppa. We are going to stop by for lunch some day. The cakes are beautiful too, the ginger cake we had was very fresh and obviously homemade. Yum!

I also received a lot of foodie presents, including a very large box of marshmallows from Sweet Treats Bakery.

There is stilll MORE cake to come, I have bought some in today to give to my colleagues, for the odd tradition of bring in cakes when it is your birthday. I will be blogging those later on this week.

Ohn No Khao Swè - Burmese Coconut Noodles

2011-03-04T12:36:00.001Z

This is one of those recipes that you see and bookmark and promise to make immediately, only thing is Meemalee blogged it way back in August 2010. So I didn't exactly get to it! I've never ever tried Burmese food, or seen any Burmese restaurants in the UK, I think Meemalee is helping it catch on here though.

Ireena blogged her version with tofu (instead of chicken) recently and the craving was too strong to put off for any longer! I really like the preparation of silken tofu from Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu so I did it this way - coating the cubed tofu in seasoned flour and frying til crisp. Tofu is then added at the very last minute so it stays crispy.

The coconut sauce was slightly spicy and with depth of flavour, I love coconut milk so I always like to make new things with it (p.s. it makes a great cake ingredient). I am glad I tried the fried rice noodles too because they were really fun to make and yummy! I'm afraid I didn't make the soft boiled egg to go with it, mainly because I ran out of time and I have a bit of solid egg white phobia ;)

60% off!

2011-03-03T16:53:00.000Z

Aren't I generous?

I am clearing some older lines to make way for shiny new things, so I have 60% off lots of jewellery here.

Ends Friday!

Sourdough Bread

2011-03-03T14:22:00.000Z

I started my sourdough starter nearly two weeks ago, and the week between making the starter and making the bread made me really impatient!

I love sourdough bread, it keeps really well and has a really distinctive taste.

I used the recipe from River Cottage to make my bread, using 100ml of my starter (which I fed again once I had taken some out for bread). You have to make a 'sponge' first and leave it to ferment overnight. This bit is a bit nerve wracking first time because it is then if you find out if your starter will ferment - luckily the morning after I was greeted with a nice bubbly bowl of sponge.

Once worked into a dough and proved all day it baked to a lovely big loaf. I think the only mistake I made was getting a bit carried away with making sure I had a nice crisp crust. I poured water into the tray a few times during cooking so the crust was really thick, not so great the day after, but good straight out the oven.
Next time I will fill up one tray of water and leave it at that.

I am looking forward to making some more bread next week. I have also seen a recipe for sourdough pancakes which sounds interesting!

I made a simple tomato soup to go with our sourdough which I topped with cheese and grilled. Yum!

Rhubarb Custard Cake with Lemon Glaze

2011-02-27T17:36:00.001Z

Forced rhubarb time is here! It definitely feels like spring time when seasonal fruit comes back into the shops. I love the colour of forced rhubarb too, shocking pink just reminds me of summer time rather than dull old February.

I bake with rhubarb a lot, cakes, cupcakes, pies, simple crumbles and jam. This recipe is super simple to make, the crumb is creamy - to me it actually tastes of custard - and we all know what rhubarb goes with! This batter has more eggs and less flour, hence the custard taste, and the juices from the rhubarb seep out whilst it makes which makes it extra moist.

I experimented with a lemon glaze too, rhubarb is sour but I think the glaze works surprisingly well.

Rhubarb Custard Cake
makes one cake, I baked mine in a 7 inch square tin.

150gs of softened unsalted butter
150gs of white sugar plus extra for the top
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100gs self raising flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
zest of one lemon
2 large sticks of rhubarb

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, mix in your eggs one by one and then the vanilla. Fold in your zest, flour and baking powder til just combined. Pour the batter into a greased and lined cake tin (mine was non stick so I didn't use any baking paper)
Trim your rhubarb and chop into 1 inch pieces, arrange over the top of the cake, sprinkle about a tablespoon of sugar over the top, this will add a bit of extra sweetness to the rhubarb.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 200c / gas mark 6 til cooked through. When a knife is inserted it won't come out absolutely clean because it is quite a moist cake, a few crumbs should stick.

Leave to cool for about 5 minutes and then very carefully transfer to a plate or a board to allow you to glaze the cake.

For the lemon glaze
juice of one lemon
dash of vanilla extract
approx 70g caster sugar

whisk both together until well combined, the sugar doesnt have to dissolve as you want a nice crunchy top. Spoon over the warm cake and leave for as long as you can before grabbing yourself a slice.

This cake is just lovely out of the oven as it is incredibly crispy on top, you can reheat it slightly from cold to crisp up again too.

The Eight Bells, Saffron Walden

2011-02-25T14:34:00.000Z

Saffron Walden is a brilliant little town, about 15-20 minutes from Cambridge, full of lots of independent shops, delis and restaurants and seems to be a well kept secret! We live only 5 minutes drive away now so we shop and eat there often, the Saturday market is fantastic (go to the bread stall and the olive stall but for the tapenade) and there is a wool shop opening soon! We have also tried Dish Restaurant and Cafe CouCou (for the puddings) there and both are a must, fantastic food.

But now onto the Eight Bells. We went about 6 months ago when it was under different ownership, the food was only okay, but the pub was taken over just before Christmas by new owners. The old chef from way back when the pub was better is back and the interior of this 15th century (?) building has been transformed in to a nice cosy place with big leather sofas and huge woodburners.

Lit with candles and dim lights it wasn't best for photography but it was very romantic!

We went one Saturday afternoon for one of the 'grazing boards' - we tried the Greek meze board - which was fantastic and really good value, £9 which fed both of us a nice lunch. They also have local cider on tap, yay!

Keen to go back we treated ourselves to an evening meal one weekday. The food was just as good as before, there is lots of choice on the menu and if you go for anything, go for the puddings. I had fishcakes with green beans and a lovely lemon butter sauce for main, oh and I had to order some onion rings because I love them - they were great and obviously made from scratch.

The real star was the enormous sticky toffee pudding with cinder toffee- drenched in caramel sauce and with a scoop of locally produced vanilla ice cream. Yum! I think I could have just had that and gone home happy. My hubby had the vegetable tagine which was really flavoursome for a vegetarian dish, followed by an immensely chocolatey chocolate brownie.

The pub is open all day, they do light bites, sandwiches along with their main meals. We will be going back soon, it is also a lovely place to stop off for a drink after shopping.

The website is here but you will find the menu on their facebook page

Starting a Sourdough Starter

2011-02-23T11:15:00.000Z

I have started a sourdough starter! I started it on Sunday, so far it is going well and I had bubbles last night. I am probably too excited about it. Hopefully I can make some sourdough over the weekend.

This blog post from Joy the Baker is super useful, some of the other recipes out there are ESSAYS on the subject, really it is simple. One cup of bread flour. One cup of water. Blend. Every 24 hours for the first 3-4 days you need to feed it. Do this by throwing half away, and adding half cup of water and half a cup of flour. Stir. Leave in a warm place. Once it has established itself you keep it in the fridge and feed it once a week.

(if anyone knows how to take an attractive picture of this big yeasty floury mess I'd be grateful, haha).

buttony goodness

2011-02-19T14:34:00.000Z

I always like it when someone comes to me with an interesting custom order, I made a button necklace for my colleague before Christmas, she gave it as a gift and loved it so much that she asked me to make another for her.

I love this idea, the design is relatively simple but looks really lovely on, I am wondering if I can start a new line in my shop of button necklaces?

I think some button shopping is in order! More pictures here

Mushroom Ragu

2011-02-18T10:37:00.006Z

We've been going veggie in this household, the last 3 and a bit weeks we have only eaten veggie evening meals (except for a couple of slip ups, one involving takeaway pizza) which has made me more creative and I have tried lots of new recipes.

This mushroom ragu is one of my favourite meals from the last few weeks because it is so MEATY and really easy to put together. Other highlights from our veggie adventure include Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu and pasta puttanesca. You must try the tofu, it will convert you if you don't like tofu- but you must use silken tofu as stated.

Anyway, onto the ragu. You can use any mushrooms you have, about 300gs serves 2 people, I had some mini portobello mushrooms (yes I admit I bought them because they were cute) which I put in. A mixture of different interesting mushrooms would be lovely, maybe with a few dried mushrooms thrown in.

Mushroom Ragu
serves 2

half an onion or 3 shallots
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp tomato puree
approx 300ml passata or pureed tomatoes
300g mushrooms, sliced
dried or fresh herbs - oregano, thyme, basil - about 2 tsp if dried, handful if fresh.
bay leaf
dash of chili flakes
milk

Fry the garlic and the shallots in some olive oil, then add in the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add in your tomato puree and passata with your herbs, bay leaf and chili. Season.
Bring to the boil and then simmer very gently for about 15minutes, stirring every now and again.
I read somewhere that a splash of milk or cream at the end is lovely in ragu, so I always add some in, it takes the acidity out of the tomatoes.
Serve with spaghetti and parmesan on top (apparently parmesan is not veggie but you can sub with cheddar or maybe some nice feta?).

This is so rich and comforting, definitely cured my craving for a proper meat ragu.

an array of new things!

2011-02-17T14:46:00.001Z

I have been slowly but surely been adding new things to my shops over the last few weeks, time for new ideas is tight but I am hoping for more things soon - more rings, more vintage beads and some more bridal jewellery.

All of these pieces are in my Etsy shop and selected pieces in my other shops.

Forgetfulness

2011-02-16T12:39:00.001Z

This is the kind of lovely 'antique' effect you get with brass when you leave charms in silver dip for 3 days by accident. Sometimes forgetfulness has its rewards. I am keeping these pretties for myself!

Lemon Meringue Pielettes (or Tartlettes!)

2011-02-15T10:22:00.001Z

It is no secret that I am a serious chocolate fiend, a lot of my desserts revolve around chocolate, but I also really love lemony puddings - lemon drizzle cake is my go to cake and I have recently become rather enamoured with lemon curd.

Onto the lemon meringue pielettes. I planned on making a big pie but I bought these ever so cute little tartlette tins at the weekend so they went into four individual tins.

Lemon Meringue Pie or Pielettes
Makes one large pie or 4 tartlettes with lemon curd leftover.

Preheat your oven to 180c / gas mark 4
approx 200gs of sweet shortcrust pastry - this is my favourite pastry recipe - No Shrink Pastry Crust

For the lemon filling:
juice of 4 lemons
zest of 4 lemons - make sure you buy unwaxed
120g unsalted butter
125g of caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs (save the whites for your meringue)
3 egg yolks

Melt the butter in saucepan with the juice, zest, salt and sugar. Whisk together your eggs and egg yolks, gradually pour in the egg mixture til combined, then whisk over a very low heat until the mixture starts to thicken. You want to take it slightly thicker than normal lemon curd, like thick custard. Once it is at the right consistency pour into a cold bowl to stop it cooking further.

For the meringue top
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons of sugar

Whisk the egg whites together with the salt until it forms soft peaks. Then slowly add in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking each time til you get stiff peaks.

Roll out your pastry to about 1cm thickness. Put into a greased large pie dish, or into greased tartlette tins.

The best way to line a tartlette tin is to use the tin as a pastry cutter and then lay over the tin. Blind bake your pastry - 10 minutes for tartlettes, 15 minutes for a large pie, til it is lightly golden brown.

Turn your oven up to 200c / gas mark 5.

Then add in your lemon curd, you want it to reach to the top of your pastry as the meringue sits above the line of the tin. You can now either pipe your meringue on if you are fancy (like I was), or just spread it on with a palette knife - working lightly so as not too knock too much air out.

Bake in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes til the meringue is crispy on the outside and puffy inside. Keep an eye on it, some ovens may cook it quicker and it can burn quickly.

Leave to rest out of the oven until cool. Some meringue recipes say leave it cool inside the oven, with the oven turned off - but I think it was ok out of the oven at room temperature.

Any leftover lemon curd can be put into jars, or saved to make a simple lemon tart.

14% off for Valentines!

2011-02-14T12:46:00.000Z

I can be a bit cynical about Valentines but it is a nice thing to do and a little pressie and a card is always a good thing.

So, in the spirit of being kind and nice I am offering you all 14% in my Etsy shop, only for 1 day!

Treat yourself or buy a last minute (very last minute) gift for your Valentine.

Use discount code VALENTINES during checkout for your discount.

Adventures in Tea

2011-02-09T11:57:00.000Z

I am normally a very boring tea drinker. The usual everyday brew with milk, quite weak. I've tried other tea before but I never like it as much as 'normal' tea - boring. I had some lovely tea at the Secluded Tea Party recently and this inspired me to try and broaden my tea drinking habits!

I bought some Rhubarb and Custard tea from Tea Box Online. A loose leaf tea which is faintly sweet and really refreshing, and I liked the name!

Then I picked up some Tea Pigs Darjeeling Earl Grey tea temples (tea bags!) from Waitrose which is much much nicer than normal earl grey, the bergamot flavour is real and not fake orange. The tea is lovely without milk and with a slice of lemon.

I have been trying to cut out milk from tea but I can't stand the usual tea without milk (although that is mainly because the limescale in the office kettle is horrendous), these are better without.

Feature in Cambridge Agenda

2011-02-01T12:11:00.000Z

If you are a local you can pick up a copy of Cambridge Agenda this month and find my Petite Rose Ring in featured it looks lovely on the page, I am so pleased. I love a good press feature!

You can also find the full magazine online here

The Secluded Tea Party

2011-01-31T11:55:00.000Z

Yesterday I attended the very fabulous and utterly scrummy Secluded Tea Party hosted by Miss Sue Flay - what a great alias!

I've never been to a pop up restaurant or foodie event before so this was my first, it was held at the Cambridge Cookery School, a shiny and new food school in Cambridge - perfect for the tea party.

I found it via Twitter and me and a few other Cambridge foodie friends ( Nora, Ireena & Sarah ) went along to join the party.

We had some brilliant tea from Tea Pigs and Tea Box Online - I had the rhubarb and custard tea from Tea Box and it was yummy, just right on its on and slightly sweet. The Earl Grey was much nicer than any I'd had before, not the fake orangey-bergamot you get from mass produced earl grey, that was from Tea Pigs.

But now, on to the food! We had red onion jam & pancetta tartlets, little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, chocolate macarons sandwiched with vanilla cream (my favourite), huge fruit scones with peach & amaretto jam and cream, and lastly a rich chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.

We left with very full bellies, all going home for a nap!

There will be more tea parties in the future so keep an eye on the Secluded Tea blog for dates, each one will be in a secret location!

Ring a Week - 1, 2 & 3

2011-01-25T11:15:00.000Z

I started a new project in the New Year, which I am pleased to say I am keeping up with.
I very much admired the Ring a Day project that lots of people undertook last year but it was a bit much for me, so when Ring a Week came along it was perfect!

I am looking to perfect my ring making skills as they sell well in my shops, and I like making something different. So far I have submitted a little daisy ring, some copper stacks and this week a moonstone bezel set ring.

My bezel setting is very amateur (and I used a premade bezel cup) but I love the look of the ring, I have also been able to practise using thicker silver wire which I have had trouble with before. Watch this space for wider silver rings in different finishes.

I will be blogging weekly my Ring a Week submissions, some of them will pop up in my shops too.

My First Macarons & Using Up Your Egg Yolks Lemon Curd

2011-01-24T11:06:00.000Z

Hurray some food blogging!

I've been a bit remiss since Christmas (ok way before then) even though I've been baking lots of things and making lots of things.

Macarons have been on my lists for ages and ages, our last house had the worse oven on the planet, it couldn't even cook a baked potato evenly so I wasn't trusting it with macarons. Since we have moved we have a nice shiny electric oven which keeps the temperature even and cooks things nice and quickly. I can now bake a whole cake in less than an hour and without checking it every 2 minutes impatiently.

This also means I can now make meringues, lemon meringue pie specifically! Yum.

I used the recipe over on The Catty Life, she embued me with confidence that I Can Do It. Macrons scared me a bit, maybe I read too much into them and worried about how hard they would be.

I didn't age my egg whites, like you should, because I forgot. I still got the taste of macarons and the airy inside, but I didn't get the longer for 'feet' and a thicker shell. You can make macarons with un-aged egg whites but they won't be as pretty!

Vanilla Macarons with Lemon Curd Filling
recipe from the catty life

100g ground almonds
200g caster or icing sugar (I used caster which was fine)
50g caster sugar
3 egg whites - preferably aged by leaving them in a bowl at room temperature for 24 hours.
squirt of vanilla extract

Whip your egg whites still they start to foam/turn white, then add in the 50g of caster sugar slowly to combine. Whisk further til you the eggs form stiff peaks, add in the vanilla extract.
Combine the almonds and the 200g of sugar in a bowl, mix, then carefully fold them in to the meringue mix, adding it in quarters til combined.
Using a piping bag dot the mixture on to a lined baking tray, mine were about 1.5 inches wide, they don't spread too much in the oven.
Leave for 30 minutes to an hour til the mixture sets a little, it should form a 'shell' on the top.
Bake at 150 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. Keep checking, the recipe says 10 minutes but I needed a bit longer.

Remove when cool by sliding a knife under each macaron.
Sandwich with lemon curd, eat four in a row like I did.

Lemon Curd
This lemon curd is great because you can use up your leftover egg yolks from the macarons.

3 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
juice and zest of one lemon
50 grams of unsalted butter, cubed

Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl using an electric whisk til the sugar has dissolved.
Then place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, add in the lemon juice and zest plus the butter. Whisk to melt the butter, the eggs should start to thicken, keep whisking. Keep an eye on the heat as you don't want the eggs to scramble. The mixture is done when it coats the back of a wooden spoon - it will thicken further as it cools.
Immediately pour into hot sterilised jars (this actually makes one jar) and seal. Keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge, after opening.

Super Duper Sale - 30% off!

2011-01-21T11:35:00.000Z

Hello lovely blog readers!

Because I am a) extremely generous and b) surrounded by beads I am having a little sale to clearout some of my stock - ready for lots of fresh lovely things for the New Year (is it still the 'new year' or are we over that already?).

So for one day only I am having 30% off in my whole Etsy shop, even on sale items (making them 60% off overall).

Use the coupon code 'JAN21' when you checkout for an immediate discount.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Deepa
x

sparkles for valentines

2011-01-19T13:26:00.000Z

Just popping along to say I have lots of goodies for Valentines day in my shop, I hope you find some a wonderful gift for the one you love.

Available on Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda and selected items on All Things Original.
Please order by the 11th February if you are in the U.K.

Deepa

Photographing in Artificial Light

2011-01-19T12:10:00.000Z

I have always been a very very firm believer in natural light being the best light to photograph jewellery in, always saying never use artificial light. I have been very frustrated with the nights being dark so early so I have only had time to photograph early in the morning before work (which is sometimes dark too, so not always!) or at weekends - which kind of puts a dampner on listing new things in my shop.

I made these copper stacking rings over the weekend and time escaped me and I didn't photograph them. After asking on Twitter (I think it is called crowdsourcing, no?) a lot of people actually took photos using artificial light and making it work by using the white balance. So I popped up my light tent and placed it quite close to one of the wall lights in the living room, standard yellow bulbs. Adjusted the white balance and actually it worked really well!

The light was clean and white like daylight, only a hint of yellow which would be removed in photo editing.
I think you need a light tent here as it diffuses the light so it isn't so sharp, so you don't get harsh shadows or too much yellow.

I'm really pleased with how these came out, I think I will use daylight wherever possible but this technique will definitely see me well in the winter months.

The rings will be available in my shops very soon!

new workspace

2011-01-18T12:56:00.002Z

One of the things I was really looking forward to about our new house was having a whole room dedicated to jewellery making. Previously I was squished in the corner of the guest room with minimal desk space and a great big double bed in the way.

Now I have a lovely double aspect room to myself with two desks - one for shipping and one for making a mess! And a little corner at the back for storing shipping supplies and other bits and bobs (like my ever growing fabric stash).

I'm much more productive already and I can ship my orders out in a more organised way. I have decorated it a little but I am planning on add lots of prints and art from my favourite artists and making some more bunting for the other window (which is out of shot).

I hope you have enjoyed having a peek at my new space, I always love to see others too - what is yours like?

January Sale - 30% off

2011-01-04T13:57:00.001Z

I'm having a sale over on Etsy! 30% off selected jewellery and free shipping on everything too. Sale starts from $11/£7 (give or take a few cents/pence!).
Happy Shopping, and Happy New Year! :)

Deepa

The Obligatory Round Up - 2010

2011-01-01T19:54:00.000Z

My google reader is full to the brim of round ups so I thought I'd join in with a foodie one. I've blogged more about food this year than ever before and I have discovered some really yummy recipes in 2010.

These are my favourites, I hope you try them in 2011 if you haven't already.

Bacon Brownies
Don't knock 'em til you've tried them! They are seriously good, and we all know salt and sweet is all the rage.

Courgette & Squash Blossom Pizza
(and the ultimate pizza dough)
2010 was the year I perfected pizza dough! This soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside pizza base is inspired by No Knead Bread, effortless to make and bakes up beautifully every time. We feasted on squash blossoms on pizza this summer, I can't wait for the summer to roll around again so we can enjoy this seasonal treat.

Easy Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Lots of people made these after I blogged which tells you how good this recipe is. Four ingredients and cookies in less than half an hour. These are perfect for a quick cookie fix.

Cacio e Pepe
A simple pasta recipe which tastes amazing, this was on my 'to make' list for a while. Authentic, simple and yummy.

Ricotta Gnocchi & Sundried Tomato Pesto

I've never made potato gnocchi since I found this recipe. Makes beautiful pillowy gnocchi with a creamy flavour without the hassle of watery potatoes. And the pesto goes well with all kinds of pasta, not just gnocchi.

And a 2010 round up wouldn't be complete without a mention of our fabulous meal at Le Gavroche. Find a special day (or just any day) and go - book a table for 2011!! I want to go again, but we are setting our sights on other 'must eat' places instead - maybe the Waterside or The Ledbury this year.

Happy New Year!
Thank you for reading and cooking my recipes in 2010, i'll be back with something new and yummy soon.

Deepa

Merry Christmas from Me!

2010-12-23T14:08:00.000Z

Just popping by to wish all my blog readers a Merry Christmas!
I am off for a well earned Christmas rest, the presents are wrapped and my work is done.

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas, see you in the new year!
Thanks so much to everyone who has read by blog and bought my jewellery this year.

Deepa

shop updates

2010-12-22T12:38:00.000Z

A quick update of some new jewellery in my shops, stop by in January for my sale!
From the 22nd - 30th December (whilst I am away) I will be offering Free Shipping on Etsy.

Happy Christmas everyone :)

Snowed Under!

2010-12-21T12:37:00.000Z

I feel like I have been snowed under recently, with the weather and with shipping out jewellery orders (thank you to everyone that has given me their custom this Christmas) so my blog has been a tad neglected. Have you made mince pies since I last blogged?

I have made another batch since then, with slightly different pastry, delicious again.

We have had lots and lots of snow over the weekend, about 6-7 inches on the ground which is a lot considering the weather said 'light snow.'

Everyone has probably seen lots of snow pics but here are a few from me, and you get to see my new house a bit too. We are hoping to get away to Kent for Christmas, fingers crossed the roads are ok!

PS - Today is the last day to order from my shops for shipping tomorrow, after that I will be going on holiday til the 30th December.

Easy Peasy Mince Pies

2010-12-13T12:49:00.001Z

I love homemade mince pies, shop bought ones are always disappointing, too much filling and horrible dry pastry. Mince pies are also very satisfying to make, they seem like a big achievement but they can be really easy.

I was given a jar of homemade mincemeat which went into these pies, it was much lovelier than shop bought - not too sweet, boozy and well spiced.

The pastry contains no liquid, just butter, flour and sugar. A lot of butter, which is what makes it stick together. The resulting pastry case is very close to shortbread but crisper and sweeter. I think these took me just over an hour to make, most of the time was spent because I had to bake in two batches.

They are not the prettiest mince pies ever, not neat but what I like to call 'rustic'. They taste brilliant though, which is what matters!

I played around with the mincemeat, the first batch had pure mincemeat but the second I added some chopped hazlenuts and grated apple (spotted that tip on Kirstie and Phil's Christmas) which added lovely texture and also meant I could eke out the mincemeat more.

Makes approximately 16 - 18 mince pies
adapted from BBC Good Food

225g very cold butter
350g plain flour
100g granulated or caster sugar
1 jar (about 300g) mincemeat
egg or milk to brush over tops

Add your flour to a large mixing bowl, then grate in all of your butter. Grating cold butter means that you have finer strands in your flour which allows you to incorporate it better. Rub into the flour til you have a texture like fine crumble. Mix in your sugar and start to knead into a dough, the butter will be warmer now and so you will be able to work into a dough. Try not to add any liquid as your pastry will shrink in the oven later on.
Once it starts to form knead briefly and it is ready to use.

Preaheat oven to 200c (180c fan) or gas mark 6.
Lightly grease a nonstick cup tin, you don't have to but I wasn't going to trust my tin entirely after last year!
To form the bottoms you can either form walnut sized pieces of dough, flatten and then spread out into each cup to form a base. Or you can roll out the dough carefully (using plenty of flour) and use pastry cutters. I found the pastry cutters a better method although a little more time consuming. Form tops using pastry cutters or small sized balls squashed out.
You can also go for a lattice effect (which may look neater than mine, I am sure) or top with chopped nuts - both of which are delicious.

Brush the tops with beaten egg or milk, bake for 20 minutes til golden brown.
Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before taking them out of the tins.

Christmas!

2010-12-13T12:34:00.000Z

Christmas has arrived in our house!
I have baked a batch of mince pies (recipe coming up in the next bloggage), the tree is up and the cats are very (too) interested in it. We have a real tree this year and it looks so lovely in our olde worlde house.

Christmas posting dates - USA & Canada & Eastern Europe extended

2010-12-09T10:53:00.000Z

Hello!

Just popping in with a quick reminder about last order dates for my jewellery shops.

I have a lovely day off tomorrow (yay) so I'll be able to extend my last order date for USA, Canada and Eastern Europe to the end of today - 9th December. As long as I receive your order by tomorrow morning then it will be posted in time to arrive for Christmas.

Other dates as follows:

Western Europe - 12th December
UK First Class - 19th December
UK Special Delivery - 22nd December (at extra cost, please contact me beforehand).

Thank you to everyone who has shopped with me so far, and those of you who will!

Deepa

my favourite shops - christmas gift guide

2010-12-08T15:59:00.000Z

I spend a lot of time on Etsy, and I have to say probably a lot of money too. It is hard being a seller because you find yourself amongst all this loveliness all the time! I have lots of handmade things so I thought I would share with you some of my favourite sellers, just in time for Christmas!

Moo Cow Hand Knits

not only is moo awesome but she also knits the best! I have one of her oatmeal drop stitch scarves, a beautiful purple swing top , rose corsages and a cuddly cowl neck jumper. She also handknitted a beaded purple wrap for my wedding, and I have just ordered some pumpkin coloured armwarmers too! I have more moo things than I thought I did!

ffflowers
Fabulous fabric flowers!

A cute little orange spice flower adorns my windowsill in the living room and some ffflowers nearly always find their way amongst my christmas shopping. I have a tendency to kill every plant that I own, I have so far only kept one alive for about 3 years, with about a dozen being killed in that time, so I much prefer these because they always look fresh and nice. Helen also makes little brooches, ooh and hairpins.

Sweet Treats Bakery

Yummmmyyyy!
The yummiest foodie shop on Etsy. I have some smoked salted caramels winging their way to me right now, they aren't for a gift, I'm keeping them! I have bought their marshmallows before and they are to die for, the lemon meringue in particular. Go stock up on sweet things, I want to dunk my head in their caramel sauce.

Ink Me Up

Beautiful hand drawings turned into prints, lavendar bags and totes. I have a litle chicky drawing, a wren print and an avocet print, all beautiful! These are really well received gifts for bird lovers and the new kitties, chickens and foxes are cute!

Asking for Trouble

Pure cute! I have bought notebooks as gifts before and the little book marks, and cards. I love the Jammy Dodger mug!

Quercus Silver

I couldn't not include Su, she made my wedding ring! I really ought to buy some more of her jewellery, I love the juicy colours and also the simple silver work. I have my eye on some of her gold work too.

I hope you've found something lovely here and will shop handmade this Christmas, I am! :)

wordless wednesday - 1st December

2010-12-01T13:12:00.000Z

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes - Gluten Free

2010-11-29T22:31:00.001Z

These are properly syrupy, sticky and sweet cupcakes with a lovely lemon tang - I didn't start out intending for them to be gluten free but they are which is a great bonus! I made them by replacing the flour for ground almonds - which makes the cakes light and slightly nutty as well as gluten free.

I sprinkled the cupcakes with sugar before baking for an extra crisp top, and then drizzled them with a generous amount of syrup when the came out of the oven.

Makes 12 muffins / large cupcakes

175g unsalted butter
200g sugar
200g ground almonds
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
3 eggs

Cream the butter and sugar together til well combined, then whisk in eggs, fold in almonds, zest and baking powder. You can add a dash of vanilla extract here too. Spoon into cupcake cases, leaving about 1cm from the top of the case. Sprinkle each cake with sugar, be generous!

Bake in the oven for 10 - 15mins til cooked through, they will be squidger than normal cakes but they will be cooked through. They won't rise to a dome like a flour cake either, mainly cos of the sugar topping too, but the baking powder will help them along a little bit.

for the drizzle:
juice of 2 lemons
approx 3-4 tablespoons of sugar

mix the drizzle ingredients together til you have a consistency like double cream, set aside while the cupcakes cook. as soon as the cupcakes come out prick them a few times each with a fork, and then drizzle some of the syrup over the top.

Leave to cool and then eat! These are so soft and syrupy that they make a lovely pudding with some creme fraiche or ice cream.

Black Friday Sale - 20% off

2010-11-26T10:47:00.000Z

I am running a Black Friday sale in my Etsy shop! 20% off all jewellery

Use code BLACKFRIDAYSALE which runs until midnight (uk time) 28th November!

(Etsy now has coupon codes so you can get your discount straight away by typing it in at checkout - yay!)

I am also running a promotion at All Things Original - 10% off at All Things Original until Midnight tonight.

Last Posting Dates for Christmas & Moving House

2010-11-15T11:33:00.001Z

I think the Christmas spirit seems to be in the air now, don't you think?
I have lots of pretty things which would make perfect gifts and I would love for you to shop for a loved one in my shop this Christmas.

Please order early so I can make sure your order arrives in time. All of my orders are gift boxed and tied with satin ribbon. I can also add a tag with a message, free of charge, just let me know when you order.

Last Posting Dates - for ALL my shops (Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda, All Things Original):

3rd December – South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Far East (inc. Japan), Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

8th December – USA, Canada, Eastern Europe

9th December - Western Europe

19th December - United Kingdom (up to 22nd for Special Delivery at extra cost).

You may have heard through the grapevine, or mostly because of my twitter ramblings that I am moving house next week!
My shops will all be open but orders will be delayed by up to 2-3 days between 20th - 24th November, I will be in touch straight away to let you know when you order will be sent.

Food Blog Discoveries - More Blogs!

2010-11-04T14:44:00.001Z

A few more food blogs that have been added to my reader recently, hope you find some inspiration like I have :)

image from Desserts for Breakfast

Desserts for Breakfast - I only followed this food blog because it had an awesome name (and matches my philosophy in life, clearly), but it is also a really lovely blog with gorgeous photographs.

Une-deux Senses - food but also fashion and music, beautiful photos! she has just been to New York too so some great recommendations if you are visiting soon.

Kitchen 22 - Cambridge food blogger, restaurant blogger. Yummy recipe for Oxtail Ragu.

Anne's Food - blogger based in Sweden, some really interesting recipes here, and if you like Swedish cookbooks then you'll find it very useful ;)

wordless wednesday

2010-11-03T14:57:00.000Z

autumn colour

2010-11-02T15:17:00.001Z

Some photos from my walk today, I love Autumn, it photographs so well.