Well, nearly! I have been crocheting a baby blanket for a friend at work who is going to be having her baby in October. I decided on a pattern of granny squares, using lemon wool and cream wool, as she does not know what sex her baby will be yet. Each square has three rounds of crochet, either going cream-yellow-cream or yellow-cream-yellow. I have made 36 squares which are going to be sewn together, and then I am going to crochet a border around the whole thing.
I have used Peter Pan baby wool, because it is washable and ultra soft, and a 3.0 crochet hook. Each square has come up at about 6cm long. When I have finished the border I will post a picture here.
If you fancy trying your hand at crochet, granny squares are a great way to start. You can use double knitting or chunky wool and a larger hook, and the squares will grow really fast. My best tip is that if you leave a really long tail when you start each square, you can use it when you sew the squares together.
Oh, and whenever you are going to follow a crochet pattern, check if it is American or British. I found out the hard way that we use the same names for different stitches, which means things can turn out very differently from how you expect!
Here is a link to the pattern that I use; it is an American pattern, and although it looks complicated at first, it is really easy to do as there is a lot of repetition, and once you have made one or two squares, you will just be glancing at the pattern now and then for reference, and then you will just be able to sit and make them without the pattern at all!
http://www.jpfun.com/patterns/free/granny_squares/f101001_basicgranny.shtml
Monday, 18 August 2008
Mimi Makes Naan Bread
I have always loved having adventures in the kitchen, and just recently I have been having lots of them! I have been experimenting with cooking in a low GI way, and also with slow cooking, and cooking with beans and pulses. Basically, we want to eat healthily and without breaking the bank, but also seasonally, and most importantly, deliciously!
The dinner I made the other evening was really enjoyable to cook, used up odds and ends, and although not low GI was healthy too.
I made a vegetable curry with a tin of tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped potatoes, celery and carrots bubbled away with some stock and curry powder, and a tin of chickpeas put in towards the end. What made this dinner extra special was the homemade naan breads. They are easy to make, and freeze well, and I did feel really accomplished! Of course, you will need a flowery apron for this, because otherwise you will have a floury top!
500g plain flour + extra
1 tsp each of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
250ml milk
2 tbsp yoghurt
200ml water
1 egg
1 oz melted butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp nigella seeds (also sold as black onion seeds)
Sift the dry ingredients together, and then stir in the wet. My recipe said that I would need 500g of plain flour, but the dough was really sticky, and I ended up using about 750g. You want a nice soft, but not sticky dough; one you can knead for 5 minutes, and then leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Pull pieces off of the dough, and roll them out quite thinly. How big the pieces you pull off depends on how big you want your naan to be. I made mine so that when they were rolled out, they were about the size of my palm (I have big hands). How thin to roll them is a bit of trial and error too. My first one was way too thick, and by the time the outside had cooked, the inside was all doughy and raw. I rolled the rest out to about 1cm thick.
Wipe a heavy bottomed saucepan with a little oil, heat the pan and then cook the naan for about a minute on each side. I could fit three in my pan at a time, and to find the cooking time, I tasted one after a minute of cooking to decide if they needed a bit longer or less.
This all sounds very hit and miss, but really, it was an easy recipe, and I shall definitley be making these again!
The dinner I made the other evening was really enjoyable to cook, used up odds and ends, and although not low GI was healthy too.
I made a vegetable curry with a tin of tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped potatoes, celery and carrots bubbled away with some stock and curry powder, and a tin of chickpeas put in towards the end. What made this dinner extra special was the homemade naan breads. They are easy to make, and freeze well, and I did feel really accomplished! Of course, you will need a flowery apron for this, because otherwise you will have a floury top!
500g plain flour + extra
1 tsp each of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
250ml milk
2 tbsp yoghurt
200ml water
1 egg
1 oz melted butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp nigella seeds (also sold as black onion seeds)
Sift the dry ingredients together, and then stir in the wet. My recipe said that I would need 500g of plain flour, but the dough was really sticky, and I ended up using about 750g. You want a nice soft, but not sticky dough; one you can knead for 5 minutes, and then leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Pull pieces off of the dough, and roll them out quite thinly. How big the pieces you pull off depends on how big you want your naan to be. I made mine so that when they were rolled out, they were about the size of my palm (I have big hands). How thin to roll them is a bit of trial and error too. My first one was way too thick, and by the time the outside had cooked, the inside was all doughy and raw. I rolled the rest out to about 1cm thick.
Wipe a heavy bottomed saucepan with a little oil, heat the pan and then cook the naan for about a minute on each side. I could fit three in my pan at a time, and to find the cooking time, I tasted one after a minute of cooking to decide if they needed a bit longer or less.
This all sounds very hit and miss, but really, it was an easy recipe, and I shall definitley be making these again!
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Spinach Diamond Puffs
It was my turn to make lunch for the library lunch club, and I decided to make Spinach diamond puffs, a green bean, edamame, sugarsnap pea and rocket salad with sweet chilli dressing, apple blossoms with cashew nut butter, and then coffee and a tiny bar of organic green-and-black chocolate.
The Spinach Diamond Puffs went down very well, which I was really pleased about. I made two versions, one without cheese as one of the girls is vegan, but if I was making these just for me, I would use cheese.
Spinach Diamond Puffs
Tie on your prettiest apron, and put on radio 4.
Preheat the oven to 180oC (I have a fan oven)
Cut a 500g block of puff pastry in half, and roll out to a 30cm x 30cm square.
Cut the square into 4, then each of those squares into 4 so you have 16 in total.
Chop (I used my multi quick) 300g spinach, 1 onion and 1 carrot and mix together.
Stir in 100ml of mayonnaise, 3oz of grated cheddar, a good grind of black pepper, and a grating of nutmeg.
Put a teaspoon of the mixture into the middle of each square. (You should use half of the mixture in all) Pinch together two diagonally opposite corners, and place on a baking tray.
You can brush them with milk to make them golden.
Bake for 15 minutes, or a until puffed and golden.
Roll out the rest of your dough and use the other half of your mixture in the same way.
These are very tasty hot out of the oven, but just as nice cold in a lunch box the next day.
Enjoy!
(To make the salad, I boiled a handful each of edamame beans, green beans and sugar snap peas for about 3 minutes. I drained them and rinsed with cool water, then tossed them with a handful of rocket, and drizzled over some bottled sweet chilli sauce.)
The Spinach Diamond Puffs went down very well, which I was really pleased about. I made two versions, one without cheese as one of the girls is vegan, but if I was making these just for me, I would use cheese.
Spinach Diamond Puffs
Tie on your prettiest apron, and put on radio 4.
Preheat the oven to 180oC (I have a fan oven)
Cut a 500g block of puff pastry in half, and roll out to a 30cm x 30cm square.
Cut the square into 4, then each of those squares into 4 so you have 16 in total.
Chop (I used my multi quick) 300g spinach, 1 onion and 1 carrot and mix together.
Stir in 100ml of mayonnaise, 3oz of grated cheddar, a good grind of black pepper, and a grating of nutmeg.
Put a teaspoon of the mixture into the middle of each square. (You should use half of the mixture in all) Pinch together two diagonally opposite corners, and place on a baking tray.
You can brush them with milk to make them golden.
Bake for 15 minutes, or a until puffed and golden.
Roll out the rest of your dough and use the other half of your mixture in the same way.
These are very tasty hot out of the oven, but just as nice cold in a lunch box the next day.
Enjoy!
(To make the salad, I boiled a handful each of edamame beans, green beans and sugar snap peas for about 3 minutes. I drained them and rinsed with cool water, then tossed them with a handful of rocket, and drizzled over some bottled sweet chilli sauce.)
Friday, 20 June 2008
Devil's Foodcake Cookies
At work, I belong to a little group of ladies who periodically do things to raise money for charity. One of our favourite things to do is a cake sale at teabreak time. We are planning one on Monday, and will be splitting the proceeds between our local hospice and an animal charity in Greece.
One of my favourite 'cosy' murder mystery series is written by Joanna Fluke, and features Hannah Swensen, the owner of a cookie shop who seems to stumble over dead bodies. Each book includes recipes for the cookies and cakes mentioned in the story. The library just bought 'Candy Cane Murder' and it arrived on my desk yesterday. I started reading it last night.
How could I resist making some cookies from my new murder mystery story for the cake sale on Monday? I chose 'Devil's Foodcake Cookies' and used my american measuring cups for the first time.
I am really pleased with how they turned out- you roll them in granulated sugar before you bake them, so they are a little crunchy on the outside, and really chewy on the inside. (Of course, I had to taste them to make sure they were ok to sell at work!)
My plan is to post recipes and instructions for the crafts and cooking I do here, but seeing as this is published in a book, and the authors website www.murdershebaked.com does not list the recipes, just an index of which book to find them in, I don't think I should publish this one.
I can really recommend baking them though, and I am enjoying the story too, so why not check out your local library for a copy of the book?
One of my favourite 'cosy' murder mystery series is written by Joanna Fluke, and features Hannah Swensen, the owner of a cookie shop who seems to stumble over dead bodies. Each book includes recipes for the cookies and cakes mentioned in the story. The library just bought 'Candy Cane Murder' and it arrived on my desk yesterday. I started reading it last night.
How could I resist making some cookies from my new murder mystery story for the cake sale on Monday? I chose 'Devil's Foodcake Cookies' and used my american measuring cups for the first time.
I am really pleased with how they turned out- you roll them in granulated sugar before you bake them, so they are a little crunchy on the outside, and really chewy on the inside. (Of course, I had to taste them to make sure they were ok to sell at work!)
My plan is to post recipes and instructions for the crafts and cooking I do here, but seeing as this is published in a book, and the authors website www.murdershebaked.com does not list the recipes, just an index of which book to find them in, I don't think I should publish this one.
I can really recommend baking them though, and I am enjoying the story too, so why not check out your local library for a copy of the book?
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