Definitely not Master Chef

Its May Bank Holiday and we have beautiful weather. Normally we would have the customary BBQ but this time because John is recovering from a terrible chest complaint I said 'NO' but I would put food out instead. 

We weren't prepared either, having done no specific shop for extra food, though my store cupboard and freezers are full. Its much more fun (and cost effective) to make something out of whatever there is than trawl the supermarket for impulse buys. The family were expected to arrive, grandchildren included and so I had a good sort through my food stash for bright ideas. 

store cupboard ingredients

The freezer gave up a bag and a half of cooked pork strips, a half full bag of frozen sliced mushrooms, and a half empty bag of mixed peppers. Out came the electric fry pan/slow cooker to become the focal point on the breakfast bar. I had a mega tray of Aldi's ready cooked egg fried rice languishing in the fridge with just two days to go before its use by date and was relieved to be able to add this to the pork and veggies when they were cooked. 

Jo cooking the pork

I heated some sunflower oil in the pan and added the frozen pork strips and let them sizzle away. Daughter Jo arrived just in time to take over stirring and I added the mushroom and peppers to the pork. They cooked some more and I sprinkled a tomato, pepper and chilli cupasoup mix over the whole concoction and let it cook some more again, while Jo continued to stir. The rice was added next with just a splash of hot water and then all the ingredients were folded together. The family loved it and tucked into garlic bread as well. 

ready for the oven

cooked lasagna

I had to make something gluten free for myself and daughter Barbara, so I decided upon a vegetarian lasagna. A tin of ratatouille, a jar of basic tomato and herb pasta sauce, 400grams of mushrooms in a sauce made from two mushroom cupasoup mixes and home made cheese sauce with some extra grated cheese for sprinkling, lots of pasta sheets and voila! I enjoyed it and I think Barbara did too and luckily there was some left for lunches through the week. Last week's chocolate cake was devoured in no time which means... I think I will have to bake some more.

Jasmine and Lily Jo

Mike, Jasmine and Natalie

After eating, grandchildren played and grown ups chatted the afternoon away. All in all, its been a very nice day. 

cake and cookies

The old mojo seems to have gone to sleep again. I really had to kick it hard to come up with some creativity this week. I was stuck between projects and didn't know where one finished off and the other began! So I was reluctant to start anything else. 

I hate waiting around...waiting for something to happen and yesterday was just that. Husband was waiting for the acute nurses to visit and check him out and I was getting bored. Thumbing through recipe books and looking at pretty pictures gave me the urge to bake. Chocolate and peanut butter squares sounded good and I had all the necessary ingredients, so quick as a flash, the decision was made and I started to bake.

Before too long the house was full of nurses and surprise family visitors all arriving at the same time. I had plenty of helpers and who said 'too many cooks spoil the broth'? In this case helping hands certainly enhanced my efforts at making chocolate and peanut butter squares and the kitchen became a hive of activity while husband John was in the sitting room being looked after by amazing NHS nurses. 

The cake mix was done and Joanne poured it out into a baking tray leaving enough in the bowl for a good finger licking session afterwards and Alex broke up chocolate buttons to sprinkle over the top. The finished cake was so good. Definitely one to make again and it will go into Nana's favourite recipes book.

That was yesterday and today I thought why not try a recipe using gluten free oats. I had bought the oats at a gluten free fair last weekend and hadn't baked with oats before. I searched for a recipe on-line and found one for thick and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at glutenfreeonashoestring.com . Its a great site and I visit quite often. The only changes I made to the recipe was to use mixed fruit instead of chocolate and I have to admit to being puzzled as to what the american term Baking Soda was. I could choose between British baking powder and bicarbonate of soda but which one? I finally used baking powder and hoped it would work. I also used less sugar and slightly more egg. 

The recipe was very easy to make and though I must have made the cookies bigger than they should have been (I made 18 as opposed to the 24 stated in the recipe) they turned out well and I think just one would make quite a filling and healthy breakfast. They taste very yummy too, crisp on the outside and chewy inside. 

I wonder how long these will last when shared out with family. I'm off to watch Master Chef now.

Playing at the kitchen table

Yesterday was special because it was my Mother's birthday and although she is no longer with us I think she must have been in spirit because she would have loved yesterday's play time.  Two of the grandies and Aunty Teresa all turned their hand in making flower wreaths, though not all at the same time I'm glad to say. C treatment doesn't allow for too much fuss all at once. Non of it was planned. It just seemed to evolve and before we knew it we were sharing an old family custom of creating wreaths and chatting at the kitchen table. My Trotter forebears would have all been familiar with this custom, albeit, their wreaths were the earthy plant type. Four of the wreaths shown above are now hanging from the door handles on my landing at the top of the stairs. It brightens the place up a bit. Aunty T's wreath is now hanging on her kitchen wall.

What birthday would be complete without handmade cake? 

At the beginning of the week I had made my very first carrot cake. The recipe was given to me by my niece Cheryle from an Asda magazine and it proved to be an enormous success. The recipe was for a double layer cake but I made just a single layer as I didn't want any to get wasted but I wish I had made two layers now, because it was so delicious. Even my husband who claims not to like carrot cake came back for seconds. Being gluten free and also lactose free meant it was suitable for all the family and I will certainly be making it again.

Home baked gluten free cakes and pastries are far better than anything I've eaten that is shop bought. It has taken a while to get the hang of gluten free baking but I'm getting there and well worth the effort. 

I'm looking forward to my next gluten free challenge.

Phew! that's a lot of greetings cards

I've been working hard this last two weeks putting together bundles of cards for fundraising. I'm so glad to be able to do it and if it helps Charlie Bear, the Church Roof and Cancer Connections in their good works then I will be a happy bunny.

I'm using up lots of craft stash that has been in storage for too long and also of course my laptop and printer that I couldn't do without. The cards are mostly prints of my own pressed flower artwork with some embellishments added. To add a bit of interest I've also included faded images on the card inserts.

It was fun making the mini cards. At only 4 x 4 inches they were fiddly and surprisingly time consuming but I think worth it. The tiny floral images are my own and they are layered on top of background paper cut to size  and a bit of glitter, gel pen and peel offs added to finish them off. They also have a decorative insert and a short message.

I owe my life to good surgeons, cancer specialists, my faith and the support I got from many wonderful people. The least I can do is give a little bit back and if I can encourage others to do the same then its all worth while.

Easter cupcake decorating with the grandkids

Easter is coming and I thought we could play at making some birds nests cupcakes with yummy teeny chocolate eggs.

It starts off well! Nanna does an example of one then leaves the grand kids to carry on by themselves.

 Jasmine very carefully adds butter cream to the mini cupcakes. This is the base of the birds nest.

Yumm, this is finger lickin' good! Sprinkling coconut on top comes next.

Wow! Jasmine is doing well and has a head start on Natalie. Three little eggs in each nest sounds right.

 Ah Ha! Who gets caught with their fingers in the bowl of chocolate eggs.  Never mind, Natalie's cup cakes are finished and she can eat the left overs.

 Granddad enters the room and his eyes light up at the sight of all those scrummy cupcakes just waiting to be eaten.

One little mite didn't get to join in because she wasn't feeling well. Poor Lils didn't even eat her snack. Maybe next time Lils.

Summer in Chains

I haven't done much in the way of creativity this last week but I did find a fossil lurking in my witches cauldron. The cauldron has had no attention for years but due to a kitchen re-vamp the cauldron was unearthed and you won't believe what I found inside. Last year's summer covered in cobwebs and tied down in chains. Before it got a clean up I thought I would take a photo 'cos I thought it looked quite arty and then I did a bit of digi manipulation and came up with the above image. I like it!


I've had a busy weekend...well busy for me! Still recovering and still on treatment but it was good to have visitors and I'm so thankful for young Marton our friend from Hungary who assembled some additional new kitchen units for us. John and I have a larder cupboard each now to house our hobby stuff. In my case its largely baking equipment and in John's case its his home brew stuff. I have my art and craft stuff in the spare bedroom and John has all his other stuff in the garage, garden, shed, greenhouses and loft. What a hoarder he is!

I still love playing with my mini cupcake maker and made some minis for breakfast. The butter cream is actually made with olive spread, not butter, so its nice and healthy and tastes nicer too. Each one an individual luscious mouthful and so quick and easy to make...smile!

Think I will make a card with my summer in chains image and show it next week... Bye for now.

Re-cycling Christmas cards

Two blogs in one day. My goodness, things are looking up! It goes to prove how creative I've been over the last week. Something that I have sadly lacked for too long. Its good to have my mojo back.

Christmas might be the last thing on people's minds right now but I couldn't help playing with last year's Christmas cards and re-cycling them. I have some mount board scraps that I squirrelled away several years back just in case they came in handy one day and I guess that day, or week or month has arrived. Time certainly slips away when you're having fun.

An ever breeding collection of cut outs from used Christmas cards, glitter glue, ribbon, peel offs, flowers and embellishments and my trusted glue gun and more took over the dining table like some rampant alien species until I was left with a six inch space to work on, so then I removed myself to the kitchen breakfast bar for more space. Crafter readers will know what I'm talking about at this stage and I'm sure there will be a smile and giggle or two.

My idea was to decorate mount board making them into plaques supported on plastic stands...the type that small plates are displayed on. My first effort took me absolutely ages but as I progressed each one got easier to make. The only trouble is I have run out of plastic stands and I can't remember where I bought them many moons ago. So now, my dining table is clear again, at least until I find more stands.





Maybe I will be able to raise a bit of money for worthy causes, next Christmas.

This one is my favourite.