Thimbles

Its been our Thimbles group meeting today and last week we were given homework :-) one of our quilting ladies is putting together a quilt from the group for the village Christmas Fair to use as a raffle prize. We were all asked to take some home to put together and bring them back this week, I panicked a bit when she said we were doing Japanese Folded Patchwork, but once we had been shown how to do it it wasn't so bad, they must have been ok because she asked if I would do another 6 for next week.  The thick wadding is already inside them and they are quite puffy, I wouldn't want the job of sewing them all together. At least this is something done by hand while watching tv.

Japanese Folded Patchwork

Not perfect but my first attempt!!

Take Care

More Preserving

After our Coffee morning last week we had 2 red cabbage left and 4 huge beetroot so I brought it home to preserve and take back for next months.  The Red Cabbage is easy to do and tastes much better and fresher than the supermarket stuff thats been soaking in vinegar for ages.

 Shred the cabbage and layer in a large glass dish with salt, and leave for about 24hours, this draws out the moisture from the cabbage and preserves it better.

 Next day give it a good rinse and place in a colander to drain, I patted mine with a wad of Kitchen roll to dry it off a bit.  Add it to the jars but dont pack it in too tight leave room for the vinegar to cover the cabbage, screw the lids down and keep in a cool place for a couple of weeks.  This will be ready in nice time for those cold cuts of meat and cheeses at Christmas, its a gorgeous Christmassy colour.  I will add this to the 4 jars of Beetroot I did yesterday, lets hope its sells and raises a bit more cash for the Study Centre. I will pretty the jars up a bit with some material caps and make it look more presentable.

 Later this morning I made a half batch of Tomato Pickle, I only made half because I didn't have fresh tomatoes and wanted to try using the basics cartons from Sainsburys.  It worked a treat, so much quicker to prepare too, just open the cartons instead of having to skin and chop 3lbs of tomatoes :-)

 It made a 2lb jar and half this preserve jar so nearly 3lbs altogether.  I had a little taste and its lovely.  The big jar will be going down to Plymouth in a few weeks at the request of my son!!

We are having a quick tea tonight of Jacket Potato and salad, I will make some red cabbage slaw to go with it.  We have eaten a bit too much stodge this week!!

I have lots of apples to use up too so I'm thinking Apple Chutney, we have enough stewed apple in the freezer to last over the winter for puddings and apple sauce, just need to source a few more jars!

Have you made the most of preserving fruits and veggies for the winter and whats your favourite?

Take Care

Pick up a Bargain!

We were at a bit of a loose end Monday and needed to get out of the house for an hour so we took a drive to our local mill shop to pick up a few things.

 Toothpaste 2x2 large tubes 99p each Season and shake 5 for £1 Birds Custard 600g 49p!! 3 jars of Mincemeat £1 Jaffa Cake Bars 3 for £1 Fondant Fancies 3 for £1 I bought 4 packs of Batchelors Cup a Soup at 49p per pack too.The Lacta are chocolate bars and they are really nice 24 bars for £2 these are hubbys treat.

 The crisps are still well in date and are the snack packs which are plenty to have with a sandwich at lunch time, these were £1.50 for 28 packets.

It was quite cold on Monday and I fished out a pack of Pork Steaks from the freezer, they had a tiny bit of freezer burn on them so needed using.  I popped them into the slow cooker with loads of veg and a few new potatoes and cooked them on low for about 6 hours, hubby fancied dumplings so I turned up the heat and made 4, they were light and fluffy and delicious!

I knew there would be plenty for two days especially if we had some cabbage with it to bulk it up without adding more calories!! It looks a huge pot but its only a small one, just enough for two people 2 meals each.

It was really tasty.  I love slow cooked food and using the slow cooker is an efficient way of cooking.

We shared half a tin of rice pudding and a few slices of tinned peaches.  I think we overdid the carbs a bit!! maybe we will have a nice crisp salad tomorrow to make up for it!

Take Care

Mums 80th Birthday

Today the eleventh of the eleventh is my lovely Mum's 80th birthday  and yesterday we celebrated with a wonderful family dinner at our favourite eatery, then it was back to our house for a glass of bubbly and a piece of birthday cake.

 Happy Birthday Mum!!

 Dad had his 80th in June, both still enjoying life to the full with 5 holidays booked already for next year!!

 My little brother and me, not so little now he will be 50 next year lol

 with Great Grandaughter Willow.

 Grandchildren. David, Becky and Louise, pity Danny and family couldn't be there :-(

My hubby and me- daughter, with the old battle axes.

Son- Michael, Amanda and Becky.

Happy Birthday Mum

Love you Lots

xxxxxx

Remembrance and Love

 Red Crocheted Poppies for Remembrance

Red Felt Hearts for Love

Take Care

Love

In the Red.

Santa Claus is coming to town...... Another of my crafty makes for the December Coffee morning sale, a Santa Gift Card.  I used a bought cutting file for my Silhouette Die Cutting \machine and enlarged it, separated the pieces and cut out 6.  I have spent a few hours sticking these together and adding some googly eyes and a few sparkly gems.

 On the inside I matted and layered some card for people to write on.

 I am really pleased with the way they have turned out.   I'm onto some Snowmen tonight!!



And staying with the red theme, tonights tea was supposed to be Jackets, tuna and salad, when I opened the salad drawer it didn't look too good, 1 soft tomato and a bit of crunchy lettuce.  The veg drawer looked better so I chopped carrot, red cabbage and onion in the processor for a bit of winter slaw and hubby added sweetcorn to the tuna, it was delicious and after 2 days of cooked dinners it was a welcome change.

The coffee morning on Saturday went really well, we sold lots of cake and drinks, the organic veg went down a storm with people praising the quality and the reasonable prices it didn't take long to sell out (we need more for the next one).  We decided to make up a big basket of veggies for the raffle which turned out to be a brilliant idea, much more practical than wine, chocolates or smellies! this is definitely one to stay. I am sorry there are no photos but you know what its like when it gets busy you forget....will try harder next time :-)

Hope you are all keeping nice and warm, we had our first frost this morning and although the sun has shone a little it has still been very cold.  Washing has been dried on the airer in front of the sunny window so I guess its ironing for me tonight!!

Enjoy your evening

It's c c c c Cold being a Snowman....

The Snowman Song  by Simon Mayor  click to listen to a clip

Snowman Soup is now on the menu for our Craft Stall next month.   I sat ages last night putting this little lot together, cutting bag toppers and embossing them with a snowflake folder and then making the labels, they're not perfect  but they go down a treat with the kids at school.

Things are coming along nicely, but I will probably be last minute for a few things.

I have had a really busy day today, its our Coffee Morning at The Austerfield Study Centre  tomorrow so lots of cakey things have been baked and are now ready to go. More about those tomorrow when I can take a decent piccie. We are being sponsored by a local organic veg producer  Pollybell Organics, they are supplying us with fresh local vegetables to sell with all monies going to the study centre funds and it was our job (daughter in law & me) to go and get them from the cold store.  It was pouring down with rain and the farm was well off the beaten track and very very muddy!! luckily the car park had gravel down so we didn't get dirty, just soaked!!   The veggies are fabulous we just hope they sell well, I have my camera in my bag so hopefully I will get some photographs to show you.

Until tomorrow, take care