What was made today?

I thought I'd show you what was made in our house today.

First up - a teacup pouch.  This is my first effort and now I can see where I need to make improvements. 

1.  Line everything up better so the seams match all the way round.

2. Cut the material for the handle on the bias - thought I could get away with it as I had a strip of fabric but, no, it needs to be bias cut.

3. Better free motion embroidery. 

4. Make sure material isn't wonky when I attach the zip.

5. Go slower - it is not a race!

Other than that (!) I'm quite pleased with it as the pattern was 4 out of 5 star difficulty rating and I consider myself to be a novice.

The pattern is from the supremely talented Laurraine Yuyrama at Patchwork Pottery. 

Next up is some apple, date and cinnamon bread, made by the husband.  Smells divine and I shall be having a slice for breakfast tomorrow.

And finally, pizza for tea.  Dough made by me (recipe below), toppings of salami and chicken satay.

Recipe for pizza dough that I use (for 3 bases):

• 3 cups plain flour
• 3 tsps sugar
• 1 and half tsps salt
• 2 tsps yeast
• good sprinkling of herbs

Mix all this together in a bowl with about 1 and half cups of water until dough is formed.  Leave to rise in a lightly oiled bowl for about an hour.  Then split into three bits and press into pizza tins.

Much nicer and cheaper than shop bought!

Quince paste

A few years ago I tasted quince paste for the first time and a love affair began.  The sweet, ruby, gooey paste with my crackers and cheese goes down a treat, the only pip in the paste being the outrageous price.
Fast forward to a couple of Sundays ago at the markets, when I spotted buckets of yellow, knobbly quince on the back of a truck.  $4 later and 2 kilos were mine!

I chopped them up and put them in a pan with enough water to almost cover.

 Then, when they were soft, I whizzed the whole lot up in the liquidizer.

Squished the pulp through a sieve and weighed it.  Then added the same amount of sugar (next time I would add a bit less sugar)

Then left it in the slow cooker for hours as it bubbled away and reduced and got redder.

Finally, (when I really needed to go to bed) I poured it into moulds and left it to set overnight.

Enough quince paste to give away to family and to last for ... ooh ... a couple of months!
I'm keeping it in the freezer. It doesn't freeze solid - it's ready to eat as you take it out.

Pride before fall situation

Oh how smug I felt when my cinnamon rolls came out of the oven.

Oh how disappointed I was when the Lemon Pudding I'd made for dinner with a guest came out very brown (black, if we're being picky) and rather than the lovely lemon sauce that was supposed to be underneath the sponge, all warm, runny and citrusy, there was rubberised lemon goo. So, so, so disappointed. My darling husband tried his best and even had seconds (surely the mark of true love), but I knew that it was an unmitigated disaster. Next time I shall listen to that small voice that says "Gosh, 45-50 minutes seems like a long time to cook this", and put it in for less time.

I may even do the whole pudding again tonight, just to prove to myself that I can.

To perk myself up - here are mug, bowl and plate that I bought on sale (£3.50!) after Valentine's Day - aren't they fab!