Our Easter 2011

So how did everyone's Easter go??
We had a fantastic day, We had our dinner cooked for us...

YUMMY INDEED

After dinner came the Hunt!!!!!

The boys had a a ball, I really enjoyed watching them.....

I also got a couple of my fave eggs too, I just love the bells & now have 2 more to add to my collection!

Frazer all tuckered out with a belly full of chocolate.....

.... In front of a lovely fire


To end the day ELIZABETH was on the telly

I love the shoulders in this dress......

And this collar well it is just ace, if only we could wear it in this day and age huh!!!

I hope you had a
FANTASTIC
Easter

xxx

More food and some Easter prep!!

Hello there peep's and a very happy Saturday to you...

It has been another glorious sunny day here, minus the rain so even better than yesterday! I have had a day of catching up on stuff you know washing, dishes etc.... But I managed to get a little Easter prep in with the boys. I am soooo looking forward to having our first hunt tomorrow, what fun it is making your own traditions eh!!

....... Yummy!!!!

And on another note....

Here is the finished Chorizo & lemon thyme AKA Fougasse...
It was very yummy indeed!!

xxx

steak and ale pie recipie yum yum....

you may all know me as a sewer, a mummy and a thrifty lover but today i though i would share my passion for food.....

this is a defo a firm fav in my house
it's all in the prep too so no labor intensive cooking required!!!

so what do you need for this winning meal :)

450g diced steak beef
250g of button mushrooms
2 onion's
440ml of stout
400ml of water
a good shake of gravy i would say 4-5 tablespoons
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon's of tomato puree
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
black pepper to taste

now you could make your own puff pastry but i just buy it pre made!!!
so all i need then is a egg

now for the prep......

brown the steak, then add the mushrooms & onions, leave for 5 mins then add the flour then leave for a couple of mins

whilst this is going on add all the other ingredient's in to a pot bring to the boil then, cook for 5 mins

now transfer all ingredient's into a pot and put in the oven for 1 hour at 200c 400f gas mark 6 stir occasionally, then for the last 15 mins remover the lid
this is also when you should have your egg beat and pastry glazed as it should go in when the lid is removed from your steak

i always serve this with creamy mash as the dish is full of gravy goodness
is you put you mash on the plate as a big donuts then you can put your steak in there and add your puff to the top

be prepared for a clean plate!!!!!

YUM YUM!!!!

for desert why not try......

cat Taylor's brownie's, i shall be trying these out sometime this week
OR
frog, goose & bears, shortbread, something else i shall be trying this week

hope you all are having a fab weekend
and you like my steak pie yummyness

xxx

end of our wee term at creche

so it was the last day of term at the boy's wee creche they only go one day a week but i love them 2 hours, it's amazing what can be done in 2 hours now than before i had kid's ..... i mean what the f??? did i do with my time!!!!!!!!

and here they are the little apple's of my eye's
I LOVE YOU

so we were to be ready for 9.55am not all that difficult i hear you say well.....
i say to you
it bloody well is with my 2 wee mite's!!!! LOL they love a good old wrestle in the morning weather that be over taking the nappy off, putting it on, putting on clothes or their jacket's. that being said when i mention the name "jimmy" he's the bus driver all wrestling ceases amazing!!!!
so baking done, Nappie's on, clothes on & jacket's too...

we run out the door leaving all this mess behind......
Finn run's out the door full of excitement "jimmy" is here
and guess what Finn stick's his lovely little foot in my newly baked banana cake i have to say .....
i was the funniest fecking thing in the world.... i am still having a chuckle to my self now!!!!
i still gave it to the creche staff and let them know that there was a muslin square was there so no actual contamination.... to be honest dear lovely reader's even if there was they were getting it anyways i had been up since 6.10am baking all their treat's!!!!!

hope this brings a wee chuckle to your lovely selves

have a fab day

xxx

banana cake victory!!!!!

so so........
i have now managed to win the fight with my oven!! and i now have a fully cooked golden brown banana cake.....

this cake is a winner with the kid's as-well as the creche staff that the boy's go to and all the thanx must go to vicki for this fab recipe
as a beginner baker this was a good change from cookies!!!
this is the first of many victories i shall have with this cake
mmmmmmmm
thanx again Vicki

xxx

oh no poor banana cake!!!!

so i have just made a banana cake......
i got the recipe from Vicki my apron swap partner here

i feel i must have gone wrong along the way HELP!!!!!
was it the tin i used????? i didn't know the size so just filled is 2/3's
was it the wholegrain self raising flour?????
OR is it that my oven is fan assisted????

basically it's a little burnt on the outside.....& a bit more stodgy on the inside?!?!?!?!

if your reading this vicki.....
HELP!!!!!!!

i did put the remainder of the mix in a oven dish with 4 spaces they got slightly more crispy but they still tasted dam good, i must get this on right as it would be a good snack for me and the boys to make and eat......
mmmmmmmmmm

xxx

my ever growing book marks......

so today i am trying to cull some of my MANY bookmarks.....
basically i can't it's to hard they are interesting and 1 day i will get to do some of the many tutorials that i have ear marked.....
so here's a peek at some of the things that have grabbed my attention.....

• spoonflower - a fellow blogger brought this to my attention.... you design your own fabric!!!
• make your own baby stuff - a small variety of stuff easy to do from food to bumpers
• lovely little sweet peas tutorial - on the go art satchel
  
• misty book - a really cute collection of knitting patterns
• stitch magazine - 37 sewing projects for spring
• clutterpunk - thread sketching on fabric
• crochet - free patterns & tutorials
  
• knitting - free patterns & tutorials
• tipnut - 1000's of tips & project's from garden-sewing
• monkeyroom - fab fab pin cushion
• coatsandclark - crochet & knitting
• adventures in dressmaking - jeans mending tutorial, she also has a shirt 2 skirt tutorial
  
• craftzine - transforming traditional crafts
  
• bighugelabs - helping you do fab things with your photos
• pink penguin - fab blog with fab tutorials & flickr too
• whimsyloft - lovely tutorial, sock owl
• coloured buttons - baby in pouch very cute
• shabbyblogs - spice up your blog with these templates
• save hand made US -every little helps
• great inspirational quotes - fab site
• whip up - if your looking for crafty stuff this is a good start
• craftgossip - more crafty stuff
• one pretty thing - site of how 2's

hope you enjoy them as much as i do and you find some new ones in there too :))))


xxx

our good deed

so me and Finn done some baking on Thursday for a fund-raising event for a friend in the Derry well woman centre..... finn was quite the chief ( and with my Thomas the tank engine apron on too!!!!)

first the butter and the brown sugar were creamed

then the egg and vanilla essence were beat in.....

now for the flour and baking powder.......

(the camera ran out of battery ran out so were on the phone camera hence the light change!)
now we added the oat & raisins

rolled to the size walnut's and pressed, ready for the oven......

now how's this for training them young huh.... he's 2y 8m :)


you wanna make these beauty's ???????????????

the recipe is from Anabella Karmel's super food book so it's good for you and the kid's well that's what i say myself when i much through them!!!!!

• 115g (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
• 100g (4oz) caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla essence
• 140g ( 5 oz) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100g (4 oz) rolled oats
• 100g (4 oz) raisins

grease proof paper ..... i only say this as i have got to the end of prep only to realize i had none!!!!
pre-heat the oven to 180 oc /350 of /gas mark 4
it says 15 mins but i am fan assisted so i say just check after 10 to see how they look if they are golden brown yank them out leave them to cool and enjoy
mmmmmmmmm

ps i always use salted butter and then ignore the 1/2 tsp....