Showing posts with label homemade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homemade. Show all posts
Friday, 26 August 2011
Wedding invitation stuff....
I am incredibly excited that this weekend's plan include a wedding invitation construction line! These are some of the elements that are being incorporated:
Thursday, 2 September 2010
This, that and homemade pasta...
So my Bank Holiday weekend was as wild as anticipated! I delved into Gordon's 'Great Escape: 100 of my Favourite Indian Recipes' and made a delicious (in my humble opinion) Badami Chicken Curry and Sag Aloo. Badam translates to Almond in English but the curry had a very different flavour to a Korma, less sweet. Both recipes turned out well although I would modify the curry slightly the next time by adding some extra chillies, it was spicy but a bit mild for my taste. The book seems great so far though. There are a number of other recipes I'd like to try and many that are a bit different from what you might find in a standard Indian cookery recipe book.
The other culinary adventure of the weekend was totally instigated by the OH who bought a pasta machine (this one actually) from a charity store which we were browsing for books. I was, it has to be admitted, a little unenthusiastic. I love cooking of course but it just seems so much easier to buy pasta from the shops. But we followed (well the OH followed and I observed) the recipe in the recent Guardian article 'How to make perfect pasta' and after a bit of trial and error with the rolling and the folding it turned out wonderfully, although we made far too much. Served up tagliatelle-style with a carbonara sauce the pasta was honestly so different from shop bought that it was well worth the effort (probably not for every occasion on which I fancy pasta though). Next we are going to use home made pasta in lasagna and I have a feeling it will be a bit special.
Leaving food matters aside, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Liz Earle shampoo and conditioner. I have pre-ordered their new haircare range which officially launches today. Finding a decent shampoo that contains no sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate can be a struggle for natural beauty product fans so I am excited to see whether the range lives up to the Liz Earle high standards which I have always found with their face and body ranges.
The other culinary adventure of the weekend was totally instigated by the OH who bought a pasta machine (this one actually) from a charity store which we were browsing for books. I was, it has to be admitted, a little unenthusiastic. I love cooking of course but it just seems so much easier to buy pasta from the shops. But we followed (well the OH followed and I observed) the recipe in the recent Guardian article 'How to make perfect pasta' and after a bit of trial and error with the rolling and the folding it turned out wonderfully, although we made far too much. Served up tagliatelle-style with a carbonara sauce the pasta was honestly so different from shop bought that it was well worth the effort (probably not for every occasion on which I fancy pasta though). Next we are going to use home made pasta in lasagna and I have a feeling it will be a bit special.
Leaving food matters aside, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Liz Earle shampoo and conditioner. I have pre-ordered their new haircare range which officially launches today. Finding a decent shampoo that contains no sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate can be a struggle for natural beauty product fans so I am excited to see whether the range lives up to the Liz Earle high standards which I have always found with their face and body ranges.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Make do and mend....
So the OH and I have just moved into a new house.....and without gushing (I only do that to my family and friends....a lot) I am just in love with it. We are only renting so are not in the business of making huge decor/refurbishing changes.....but we are planning on being there for a while so we are making it our own.....slowly but surely.
One of the projects I want to do in the fairly forseeable future is 'upcycle' our aged billy bookcases, of which there are 5 now in the open plan lounge/dining room area. They are currently tired-looking pine and the plan is to paint them white and wallpaper the inner back panel.
This is not a new and original idea by any means, it's been done to great effect here on design sponge and there are a number of sites that give step-by-step instructions. I think it's going to look great and to be honest, if it doesn't, we can always get some new bookcases as the ones we have at the moment are not in the prime of their lives so I'm not afraid of 'ruining' them. But I would always rather reuse what we have already, especially when doing that can mean you end up with something a little bit more original and personal than something straight from the shop.
I have ordered the wallpaper already (see below....I love it) and hopefully once that arrives I can get started so will post pics in the next few weeks.
One of the projects I want to do in the fairly forseeable future is 'upcycle' our aged billy bookcases, of which there are 5 now in the open plan lounge/dining room area. They are currently tired-looking pine and the plan is to paint them white and wallpaper the inner back panel.
This is not a new and original idea by any means, it's been done to great effect here on design sponge and there are a number of sites that give step-by-step instructions. I think it's going to look great and to be honest, if it doesn't, we can always get some new bookcases as the ones we have at the moment are not in the prime of their lives so I'm not afraid of 'ruining' them. But I would always rather reuse what we have already, especially when doing that can mean you end up with something a little bit more original and personal than something straight from the shop.
I have ordered the wallpaper already (see below....I love it) and hopefully once that arrives I can get started so will post pics in the next few weeks.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
If life gives you lemons....
Homemade lemon cordial....
Ingredients: 4 lemons (unwaxed, organic lemons are best); 1 orange; 500g organic sugar; 12.5g citric acid; 1.5 pints boiling water
Grate the rind of the lemons using 
the fine holes on a grater. Squeeze the juice from all four lemons and the orange. In a large pot dissolve the sugar and citric acid in the water, add the lemon and orange juice, rind and squeezed lemons and orange (chopped into quarters). Allow to cool completely before bottling.
the fine holes on a grater. Squeeze the juice from all four lemons and the orange. In a large pot dissolve the sugar and citric acid in the water, add the lemon and orange juice, rind and squeezed lemons and orange (chopped into quarters). Allow to cool completely before bottling. To drink: dilute the syrup with water, approx. 1 part syrup to 5 parts water. This is a great syrup to use for cocktails and makes a great mixer with vodka. Enjoy....
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