The Obligatory Pumpkin Soup

Would it be Autumn with out pumpkin soup? Probably but it would also be less warm and yummy!

So here is my warming super yummy, super quick, super soup:-

1/2 pumpkin peeled and seeded
1 sweet potato peeled
1 parsnip peeled
1 onion
1 glove of garlic crushed
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1tsp sea salt
2tsp rough ground black pepper
100g kale
1tblsp olive oil
1.2L vegetable stock
1tblsp orange squash

1. Dice the onion and place in a pressure cooker with the olive oil.
2. Dice the potato, pumpkin and parsnips into fairly large chunks.
3. Start frying the onion and add the spices and garlic.
4. Add the diced veg and give it a good stir.
5. Pour in your stock, seal the pressure cooker and cook for 15 minutes.
6. While the soup is cooking boil the kale until tender.
7. Once the soup is ready place it in a blender with the orange crush and wizz until smooth.
8. Add the drained kale and serve with home made bread.

MMMMM!

Wet Felting for Wet Weather

The weekend has been rather grey and damp so I decided to try a new craft, Wet Felting.

What it boils down to is taking dyed wool fibres, wetting them and rubbing them together until the fibres fuse together to get a solid fabric. It does take a bit of patience as some steps are repetitive but the result is really interesting.

I made two items, felt beads and felt coasters, both basic and easy to do. 

I won't list the instruction here as I found a fabulous site by some very talented ladies with tutorials that I followed to make these items.

So here is the web address: -

http://rosiepink.typepad.co.uk/rosiepink/tutorial-wet-felt-making-for-beginners.html

And if you want a full kit to get you started I suggest eBay as that is where I got mine from.

Beads: -

Coasters: -

Up close you can really see the different colours melded together.

So there you have it, proof that there is always a fun craft out there that you haven't even tried yet!

Not Exactly Seasonal French Cakes

I friend brought me some cakes from France called Financiers, and when I looked up the recipe I got really interested because it is quite unusual. I gave them a go and they are really yummy and fairly easy to make.

Here is a picture of one

And this is the very interesting recipe:-

• 125g salted butter

• 25g plain flour

• 125g ground almonds

• 100g caster sugar

• 3 egg whites beaten

• 50g sultanas , soaked in 3 tbsp rum

1. Butter and flour 24 financier moulds or two 12-hole mini muffin tins and put them in the fridge so the butter sets.

2. Melt the butter in a pan over a high heat until it starts to brown. Strain through a fine sieve. Cool. 

3. Mix the flour, almonds and sugar in a bowl. Fold in the egg white and stir in the sultanas and butter. 

4. Chill for half an hour, or overnight.

5. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 

6. Pour the mixture into the moulds and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and risen in the centre. Cool before taking them out of the tins.


Incidentally if you have issues with Gluten this is a great as it has such a small amount of normal flour in it.

Ginger Bread Bicuits

The best part about making your own biscuits is the delicious smell that lasts all day long and ginger bread smells the best! As you can see I have made mine seasonal by turning them into ghosts a la Halloween but if you don't have cookie cutter you can use an upturned drinking glass and have simple round ones.

I cheated a bit with the icing as I bought a ready made tube, but simply mixing icing sugar and water together will work just as well. I was lazy!

The recipe is as follows:-

350g Plain Flour
1tsp Bicarb
3tsp ginger
1tsp white pepper (this is optional and makes them extra fiery)
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
125g butter
175g dark brown sugar
1 free range egg
2 tblsp golden syrup
2 tblsp treacle

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients and spices together, add the brown sugar and mix well.
3. Add the butter and mix until it looks like bread crumbs.
4. Add your egg and the treacle and syrup and mix to a soft sticky dough.
5. Turn on to a floured board and roll out to about 1cm thick.
6. Cut out your cookie shapes and place on grease proof paper on a baking tray.
7. Bake between 12 and 15 minutes. The longer you bake the more crunch you get, however don't worry if they seem a bit soft when you take them out as they do harden as they cool.
8. Decorate to your taste and make some tea.


Hope you enjoy them, ours are nearly finishes already!

Lavender Bag

Ever since moving to the nothern hemisphere I have struggled to sleep during winter. Having researched it I now know this is a sympton of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and bought myself a light box. However I also find lavender helps calm me before bed and have made myself a Lavender bag which I keep by the bed.

You could also increase the size and make a pillow or keep your bag in you linen cupboard so your bed always smells pretty.

Even for someone like me, with very basic sewing skills, is able to achieve a fairly good result.

What you need
A square of spare material (mine was 15cm x 15cm but you use whatever suits you best)
Dried Lavender flowers (if you grow lavender in your garden you can dry your own)
Needle and thread (or a sewing machine)
A short piece of ribbon

1. Fold your material in half with the side you want on the outside of your bag inside the fold.
2. Sew along three of the edges.
3. Turn the bag inside out and fill 3/4 with dired lavender.
4. Fold a little bit of the unsewn edge inside and sew closed.
5. Sew your ribbon to one side of the bag and tie in a bow at the front.

And here is one I made earlier: -

 

 

 

I think it is working on my cat already!

 

 

Get Outside in the Clear Air

As the temperature drops it's easy to get complacent and spend all your time inside. But Autumn is such a vibrant colourful time that when the drizzle stops you really need to make an effort to get out and get in touch with nature.

If you can find a wooded area near you to walk in that is the best as you can watch the season take hold. Not to mention I saw wild rabbits, squirrels and birds!

Pumpkin Pie

Autumn and pumpkin pie go so well together. The colours of Autumn are reflected in the rich brown and orange. The smell is just a tiny bit Christmasy which gets me childishly excited. And warm pie on a cold wet evenings is just heaven!

So here is my recipe.

Sweet Short Crust Pastry

You could buy pastry if you want but since this blog is about making something yourself I really think you should give it a go. The secret to all pastry is keeping everything cold and taking your time. You need to make this at least an hour before you intend to bake it as you leave it in the fridge to get cold again.

500g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
225g butter (cold straight from the fridge)
200g caster sugar
2 large eggs

1. Sift the flour salt and sugar together into a bowl.
2. Cut the butter into small chunks and add to your flour.
3. Either blitz in a food processor or mix in a normal mixer until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. (Hint: if you put a tea towel over your mixer it will stop flour going everywhere)
4. Keep mixing and add your eggs, the mixture will turn into pastry really quickly.
5. Put in a sandwich bag or sealed container and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour. This makes sure the butter stays solid so when you bake it the pastry gets nice a crisp.
6. Grease your pie dish (the recipe will make a 25-30cm wide pie) and pre-heat the oven to 190c.
7. Roll out to about 1cm thick and gently place in your greased pie dish. Make sure you squish the pastry into all the edges and then get some anger out stabbing holes at regular intervals to stop air bubbles.
8. Put the pie dish and pastry back in the fridge for about 10 minutes. This way when you bake it blind you don't have to mess around with paper and beans to keep it flat.
9. Bake for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

450g Pumpkin Flesh
125g Dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs
150ml cream

1. Boil the pumpkin until it is tender, drain and either mash or blend.
2. Once the pumpkin is cooled mix all the other ingredients together and add them to the pumpkin.


Now gently tip your filling into the pie casing and bake at 190c for around 40- 45 minutes.

And here is the one I made earlier! The decoration is some cute mushroom shaped marshmallow sweets I found which I think add to the Autumnal feel :-D

Notice how it is not perfect? How the edges are slightly over the pastry and the colour is slightly different on one side? That's because it's home-made! Never ever feel that what you create has to look like something out of a box or magazine, it's yours and that makes it perfect!

Beginning In Autumn Is Probably Cheating

I love creating things. I think humans have survived and dominated because of our ability to make what we need. Now in the 21St century we have very little opportunity to create things. Most of us work behind a desk and our busy lives mean a lot of us take the easy option of prepared food, mass produced products and the TV as entertainment.

So this blog is to encourage me to spend more time learning new things, baking and crafting, and hopefully getting you the reader to have some fun!

Now why is starting in Autumn cheating? Because there are so many reasons to get creative!

Shortly I'll start giving you quick, easy and fun projects to try.