Time and Effort Bear Fruit

I am delighted to say that I have completed another appliqué blanket and this time it's for me to keep, rather than to give away. I am finally enjoying what my friends have been enjoying (or so they tell me) for a while now.

Amidst catching up on the news, drinking tea and eating cake at Craft Club the other weekend, I managed to make 15 bird templates. Each one is first drawn onto the paper backing of a roll of bondaweb before being roughly cut out. These are then ironed onto the wrong side of your chosen appliqué fabric before being cut out, carefully following the drawn lines this time.

Since I was applying my 'birds on a wire' design to the blanket, the next step was to mark and sew the three wires that sit at a very slight diagonal across the whole of the blanket. I measure and mark the lines with tailors chalk before setting the sewing machine to the shortest stitch possible without the stitches ending up on top of each other and then setting it to a medium width of zig-zag. Many metres of thread later you can not only admire your three straight lines but also set about arranging your birds along their wires.

As I say, lots of news needed to be caught up on, interspersed with tea drinking and cake eating so that's about as far as I got at Craft Club. So, it was with some relish that I clocked off work early last Friday and set about carefully sewing each bird to the blanket. First you arrange the birds, then you peel off the paper backing from the bondaweb before carefully ironing each bird in place.

Sewing appliqué involves using the same zig zag stitch as used to sew the 'wires' but to enable the fabric to slide neatly under the sewing machine foot and give you an element of rigidity and control of the fabric, you pin a piece of paper to the back of the blanket beneath where your appliqué shape, in my case a bird, sits. I find it easier to start at a point, usually a beak, and then steadily work my way around the shape. I try to continuously move the fabric to get a smooth line but some curves are just too acute, as are all corners, so you end up lifting the sewing foot and making a slightly larger adjustment. Just remember to keep the needle in the fabric before lifting the foot or you will completely lose your place.

You also need stop the needle on the correct side of the fabric so that your zig zag stitches don't get too spaced out.  So, if you are sewing clockwise around the outer edge of a ring, keep the needle down when it's at the outer edge of the fabric.  This is the right hand edge of the zig zag stitch. If you are sewing clockwise around the inner edge of a ring, also keep the needle down when on its right hand edge of the zig zag stitch but this will be in the appliqué fabric as opposed to just in the blanket fabric. This is probably something you need to read as you are sewing for it to make sense but I promise it gives a better result.

Anyway, what with the pinning of the paper and then tearing away the paper once I'd completed each bird, I think I managed a bird every four to five minutes. This must be a record for me - I must be improving with practice! With a few slurps of tea as I went as well as stopping to load on more thread, I had completed all 15 birds in about an hour and a half.

The final step was to pin and then blanket stitch a hem all the way around the edge of the blanket, which was a task I enjoyed over the next few days, either nattering with a friend or catching up on some TV.

I am really pleased with the result and it has already been put to very practical use, warming me up after getting a bit of a soaking on my cycle home from work on Tuesday!

I'm also equally pleased to be able to share with you more fruits of my labour. This time the labour has been less intense but certainly fruitful - literally. This is a project that began back in March with the sewing of some tomato and chilli seeds and I'm pleased to say that the first crops are appearing.

The first ripe, outdoor-grown tomatoes of 2015 

With more ripening every day

And the first chillies

With some even turning red

Happy days indeed!

A Bit of Nostalgia

I was on a fabric shopping mission this week and so took any opportunity I had to detour into shops and poke around markets. I was looking for some denim to make some place mats and coasters and some black fabric for some trousers that would be suitable for the office. I failed on both counts but my searching did pay off in an unexpected way.

For almost six months I have been looking for a dark-ish grey fleece to make my next couple of appliqué blankets and had pretty much given up, at least until the autumn when I hoped shops would start stocking more wintry fabrics. However, my fabric foraging this week unearthed a small roll in a stall in St Nicks Market in Bristol.

I had taken the long-way home from a meeting and braved this stall which my friend describes as 'scary'. The best way I can describe it is being a run of narrow, wooden lock-up cupboards within the market's Glass Arcade. The wooden doors can't possibly be the original ones from the 1740s but it certainly feels very old and dusty. When the stall is open you can walk into the cupboard and have just enough room to walk between the rolls of fabric which stand upright, about 3 to 4 rolls deep and a shelf at about head height holds yet more fabric, reaching up another couple of metres. Each roll is prevented from unrolling with a large elastic band which also holds a hand-written label with a very brief fabric description and the price per metre. The stall holder stands outside the cupboards at a table, surrounded by more rolls and baskets of fabric. He is armed with a wooden metre ruler and a pair of scissors. This stall is not for the faint-hearted or the claustrophobic!

Anyway, it was here that I found a roll of grey fleece, which the very nice stall-holder manhandled out from amidst all the other rolls of fabric for me. I would have been too scared to get it myself in case moving one roll caused a landslide of all the other rolls. In that event I'm sure the emergency services would still be trying to dig me out!

I really wanted 4 metres but thought I could just about get away with 3.4 metres, which was what was left on the roll. I left feeling very pleased with myself and not without a small sense of serendipity. This particular stall is only a few metres away from the place that my great grandfather had his fruit and vegetable stall, which also employed my grandfather and great uncles from about the 1930s.

Alas, at home, I discovered that the accuracy of the measurements at the stall didn't quite match my own measurements. Once spread out on the lounge floor, I discovered I had only 3.1 metres of fabric, certainly not enough for two large blankets. I therefore cut one generous blanket and will have to think what to make with the rest. It will make two cot blankets but am not sure that grey is a good baby colour, even though I'm assured that grey is the new black! That will have to be something I ponder on. In the meantime, I had craft club to prepare for, so gathered my blanket-making paraphernalia. This time it was going to be a blanket for me so the fabric and colour choice may look familiar.

If you are a regular reader, then you may know that the members of our monthly craft club take it in turns to host and others then contribute cake and dishes for dinner (we meet at 2pm, stop for tea and cake mid-afternoon, and then all gather round for dinner at around 6.30 or 7pm). I had volunteered to make the cake again - I am getting the impression that not many of my fellow crafters are keen bakers - and so started to look for something suitable. Perhaps inspired by my trip to St Nick's Market and being reminded of my grandfather, I stumbled on a recipe that reminded me of something my grandmother used to make - a Raspberry and Coconut Slice.

First make the raspberry layer by placing 150g raspberries and 50g granulated sugar in a small pan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves then simmer for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy. Next make the base by beating together 100g caster sugar and 100g softened butter until pale and creamy. Separate three eggs and add the yolks, one at a time, to the creamed butter and sugar. Stir in 100g ground rice and 100g desiccated coconut and mix to form a firm dough. Press this into a lightly greased or lined 30 x 20cm shallow, oblong cake tin, before spreading over the raspberry jam mixture.

For the topping, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in 75g caster sugar until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Finally, fold in 50g desiccated coconut and spread over the raspberries to cover. I then scattered the top with coconut flakes but you need to watch these don't burn. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180C or gas mark 4.

As it turned out, it didn't have the texture of the version my grandmother used to make - mine was distinctly moist and gooey, whereas hers definitely had a crispy top - but the flavours were certainly there.

Hits and Misses

My recent creative outpourings have been of the culinary kind but I've been very remiss in taking any photographs, perhaps because I was too busy focusing on serving up the results to my various guests. I'm pleased to say the dishes were very much hits - shame about the missed photographs!

However, I can start with a photograph of the Chocolate Biscuit Raspberry Cake, which I managed to photograph just before the last few pieces disappeared. Raspberries are still in season and this is very simple to make (a bit of a cheat if I'm honest) so I urge you to give it a try if you like the look of it (despite the poor food styling!)

Place 250g digestive biscuits (gluten-free or normal) into a large plastic food bag and roll with a rolling pin to crush finely. Mix with 25g icing sugar and about 50g of honeycomb pieces (these tend to be available in the baking section of your supermarket but can be omitted if you can't find them). Melt 150g dark chocolate with 100g butter and then mix thoroughly with the biscuit mixture.  Press firmly into a 20cm x 25cm swiss roll tin, lined with baking parchment.  Chill for 15 minutes until set.

Melt 150g milk chocolate and spread this over the biscuit base. Arrange 200g fresh raspberries over the top, plus a few more pieces of honeycomb (optional). Chill until set but bring to room temperature before attempting to cut it into about 20 squares.  I didn't do the latter, hence it looks a bit crumbly and the chocolate topping has cracked, but it made no difference to the enjoyment of eating it!

My next culinary creation was a Greek-inspired, three course meal for my parents. It was a post-holiday catch up combined with a very belated Father's Day lunch. I settled on the Greek theme partly as a way of showing that's there's more to Greece than a debt crisis and partly as an attempt to conjure up a sense of summer. Here I completely missed with the photographs but I'm told my parents were still talking about the meal the following day so it was a total hit.

We began with a Watermelon and Feta Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. Allow about 200g watermelon, 50g feta and 12g pumpkin seeds per person. Firstly place the pumpkin seeds in a non-stick frying pan and place over a medium-high heat for a few minutes shaking every now and again. The seeds will brown slightly and may puff up or split (see photos below). The flavour this dry-frying gives to the seeds is fantastic. Dice the watermelon, crumble over the feta, sprinkle on the seeds, season with freshly ground black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with toasted pitta bread to help mop up the oil. Simple but delicious - I promise!

'Normal' Pumpkin Seeds

Dry-fried Pumpkin Seeds

For the main course I marinated four lamb leg steaks in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, a teaspoon of Greek honey, a crushed clove of garlic and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, but longer if you have time, before cooking on a very hot, ridged griddle pan for 2-3 minutes per side.  Remove from the pan and allow to rest on a warm serving plate whilst you pour the remaining marinade into the griddle with a splash of water and let it bubble up before pouring over the lamb.

I served these with scrubbed baby new potatoes which I cooked with a drizzle of olive oil in a large non-stick frying plan with a tight-fitting lid. Place over a moderate heat and cook for 25-40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes, until they are soft. Keep shaking the pan to make sure they are browned evenly. If you don't have a non-stick pan you need to be more careful and may need to add the occasional splash of water to stop them sticking. These were sprinkled with sea salt before serving.

To accompany the lamb and potatoes I made a Rocket, Orange and Dill Salad. Remove as much of the orange pith and membrane as you can and toss the juicy orange segments with the rocket, and chopped dill. For four I used 2 oranges, one cut into segments, the other juiced for the dressing; 50g of rocket; 50g of small black olives, drained and tossed in dried mixed herbs; and for the dressing mixed 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the orange juice along with some salt and pepper. Toss in the dressing just before serving.

For dessert, I served Roast Figs with Walnuts and Yoghurt. Simply take 1 large or 2 medium figs per person. Preheat the oven to 220C or gas mark 7. Cut each fig into quarters but only 2/3rds of the way through each fruit. Squeeze each fruit gently to open them out and then place snugly into an oven-proof dish. For each person take about 20g chopped walnuts and mix with a dessertspoon full of Greek honey. Spoon the mix into the top of each cut fig and bake for about 10 minutes. Serve warm, with a large dollop of authentic Greek yoghurt and an extra drizzle of honey.

Sorry there aren't any photos except for the pumpkin seeds.

This evening I have just enjoyed a salad with some freshly made Roasted Carrot and Harissa Houmous with salad and some toasted pumpkin seeds, which is what reminded me of the Greek meal and inspired me to finally write a new blog post.

From Waitrose Kitchen July '15

The houmous and salad before I threw on the toasted pumpkin seeds

I hope I've inspired you to try a bit of summer cooking. Meanwhile, I'm on a fabric-shopping mission. I'm looking for some denim to make some placemats for the not-so-new garden furniture and some black fabric to make a pair of work trousers using the pattern I used for the navy blue linen. So far I have drawn a blank but will try a different part of town next weekend. Wish me luck!