Organising is good for the soul...

Every now and then the pantry needs a good going over! And boy, did mine need one. The problem with most pantries is that they're designed by MEN. And they don't do the cooking. So nothing really works well. So I took myself off to Ikea and bought some metal shelves to put into the pantry.

Then I just needed to get someone to put them together for me. Ok, I could have done it myself, but if there's a willing helper around, why not use them... Stephen to the rescue!

Before...

After....

Gotta love Ikea!

Felt like felting???

Well, not really. But I'm doing some freelance stuff for a yarn company. (Which happens to be just around the corner from my place, so commuting is not an issue!) At the moment I'm working on a project putting a felt story together to sell into major retailers in Australia and the USA. Roving, tools, yarn, raw bags.. you name it. It's all part of the program. So I had to make a few inspirational samples. Nothing too flash. Just interesting enough for Mrs Average. So here they are...

I havn't used my DMC floss for years. Just as well it doesn't have a use by date!

Simple simple...

The pink bag and blue purse were done with a needle and roving. It's called 'dry felting'. Quite fun. And the results are fairly quick,

Baking & Crafting

Cold Winter's day. That inspires me to get into the kitchen and rustle up some biscuits! Now my experience with baking bisciuts is not the best. My first batch ever was a total dissaster. So I've steered away from cookies. My brother Lionel was in the army about a hundred years ago! I thought I'd be a good big sister, and bake him a batch of homemade biscuits. Except I misread the recipe. I overdid it with the baking soda, and the biscuits just oozed all over the oven. Not pretty! But this recipe that I found on http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ was easy and successful.

Simple ingredients. Self raising flour, sugar, condensed milk & butter. Lots of butter! Not good for the diet! But moderation right?!

I managed to get close to 100 cookies.

And here's the total batch. I divided them up to give away and have kept only one tin for ourselves. Frans LOVES biscuits. So it's best not to have too many hanging around!

Here's the recipe:

Makes 7-8 dozen, cook 10 min at 180C

500 grams butter (approx 1.1 lb)

1 can condensed milk (390-400 gram)

1 cup sugar

5 cups wholemeal self raising flour (or plain flour and paking powder)

toppings like choc chips, smarties, jam, cinnamon and sugar

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk. stir in flour. roll into balls and flatten. top with choc chips etc, or thumbprint and add jam for jam drops.

Bake at 180C for approx 10 min until golden brown. cool on racks

And then it was Frans' neice Gwen's birthday on Saturday. We had her over with her folks for dinner on Sunday night. I thought I would have a go at making Macarons. Mmm... not that easy. Mine look nothing like the ones you buy. In fact they looked like mini dog turds! But the taste was good. They got the thumbs up from everyone. I think I'll have another go. Second time round may be better!

I baked a delicious pear and burnt butter cake for dessert. A winner all round. Here's the birthday girl.

And here's the cake!

Now to what I'm up to craft wise at the moment....

Remember the yummy yarns I posted earlier? Well they're coming together nicely to create a beautiful shawl. I thought I'd have enough little crochet rounds, but no.... I'm about half way. The current measurement is about 40cm wide by 70cm long. I need to make it at least 150cm long. So I will keep makng those little crochet circles and flowers!

I dug out an old UFO (unfinished object) the other day. I started crocheting a rag rug a few years ago. Somehow it ended up in a box burried in the sewing cupboard. I've pulled it out and hope to keep going with it. I need to cut a load of fabric strips to finish it. It's about 80cm in diameter at the moment. I'd like to make it around 1.5m total. So there's just a little bit more to go!