Patchwork Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie

I may have lied just a little when I said I was back to blogging.  I’ve since turned in my final essay, so I will keep my promise from now on.  I’ve been trying to catch up with all the things I didn’t have time for when I was writing my dissertation, including baking, and thought I would give this recipe that I found in Good Food Magazine a try.

The recipe called for making the pastry from scratch, a step which I decided to skip, as I am much too lazy for that.  I also decided to switch the gooseberries for rhubarb because, as you might be able to tell from my Rhubarb, Apple and Blueberry Crumble, I’m a huge rhubarb fan.

Ingredients:

500g short crust pastry

500g strawberries (halved)

500g rhubarb (chopped to same size as strawberries)

100g golden caster sugar (and an extra tbsp for the top)

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp of semolina

Recipe:

1.  Heat oven to 200c.

2.  Cook fruit and sugar in a pan for 5 minutes until syrupy.

3.  Once cooked, drain liquid from the fruit and put both aside.

4.  Roll out half of pastry to line and line the tin.  Prick base with fork.  Chill until firm and then line with tin foil and fill with baking beans.

5.  Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

6.  Roll out the other half of the pastry and cut into squares.

7.  Scatter the semolina on the pastry base.

8.  Add the fruit to the base and top with 2 tbsp of the extra syrup.

9.  Arrange the squares of pastry over the top of the fruit.  Brush with an egg white.

10.  Mix cinnamon and the extra 1 tbsp of sugar and scatter half of the mixture over the top of the pie.

11.  Cover the crust with a collar of foil and bake for 30 minutes.

12.  Sprinkle over the rest of the sugar/cinnamon.

13.  Serve with the extra syrup and yoghurt or ice cream.

I’m Back.

I’m very excited to be finished writing my dissertation (had to take a photo for proof, of course), and this means I will finally have the time to get back to my poor, neglected blog.

And now for some sappy stuff…

This time last year I thought I had everything planned out, but as I have found out, life is never straightforward.  While there have been some major disappointments, I’m pretty happy with the way that things have worked out.  I’ve met some amazing people and even though I don’t know what I’m going to be doing when I graduate, I know I’ll figure something out.

Until then, I’ve got a long list of projects that I haven’t had the time to start and I look forward to sharing them with you.

DIY: The ‘Taylor’ Blazer

There is a story behind this latest project, but it is a tad embarrassing, so bear with me.  Exam stress and the need to procrastinate led me to start watching The Rachel Zoe Project, which I quickly became obsessed with.  I also fell in love… with most of Taylor’s wardrobe, especially a black embellished blazer she wore in an episode from Season 2.  After some googling I found out that it was from Victor and Rolf, and as a poor student I could never afford it.  In most of the pictures it is impossible to tell what is used to decorate the lapels, but I figured something similar might be achieved using buttons or gems.  My mum then informed me that she had a large collection of vintage buttons lying around that seemed perfect for the job.  I snapped up a plain black blazer from the Topshop sale and some strong gem glue and got to work.  So, here is my new ‘Taylor’ blazer.  Hope you like!

What you need:

• Strong embellishing glue
• Big buttons or gems
• Some small seed beads (not pictured)
• A plain blazer

How to: 

1.  Lay the buttons out so you have a rough idea of where you want them to be and how many you will need.

2.  Apply a generous amount of glue to the back of each button with a tooth pick and press them down onto the blazer.

3.  Once the entire blazer is covered fill the gaps with glue and sprinkle over the seed beads to give extra sparkle and secure the larger buttons properly.

4.  Wait at least 24 hours for the glue to dry.  Some seed beads will fall off when you pick it up for the first time, but the rest should be secure.

PS. Lets all just ignore the fact that my t-shirt is really unflattering and that I look tired.  Thanks.

DIY Wrap Bracelets

I made a ton of these bracelets using Honestly WTF’s tutorial during the summer and wore them so much that the coloured linen faded.  As my training day was cancelled today because of the snow, I figured it was a good time to make some more.  I wish I had more silver chain as I would happily wear these in every colour possible.  Erica has written a great tutorial with clear instructions and pictures.  As I ran out of chain I used some bead trim instead, not sure I like it as much, but it worked.  I also used hemp cord instead of waxed linen as it’s all I could find, but it seems to work just the same.

Here’s the finished result:

Winter Craft Challenge: Glitter Candle Holder

So Karel and I decided that our Fall Craft Challenge was so much fun that we would make the challenges a seasonal thing.  I’ve already done a load of crafty things for Christmas, so decided to go for something a little simpler that could be used throughout the winter and not just for the one holiday.  I loved the look of these DIY Glitter Votives and decided to give it a go.  I don’t think my turned out as nicely as the original post, but it is sparkly and smells great nonetheless.

What you need:

• A plain candle
• Mod Podge
• Glitter
• A pain brush to brush away the extra glitter

How to:

1.  Using a brush spread the Mod Podge over the area of the candle you want to glitter.

2.  Shake the glitter over the glue (it helps to put a sheet of paper underneath).  To cover the rim of the holder, dip it in the extra glitter on the sheet of paper.

3.  Leave to dry for a little while.  Then using a clean brush, brush off the excess glitter.

Happy Holidays everyone and don’t forget out to check out Karel’s post when she has the time to post it!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Beckett and myself would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  Thanks for all your support and lovely comments.  We hope you have a fantastic day!

Christmas Countdown 7: Candy Cane Truffles

In case you were wondering what I did with the rest of the giant packet of candy canes, here’s what I used them for: white chocolate and candy cane truffles.

The original recipe is from Your Cup of Cake, but as it is my nature to meddle with things and ignore instructions, I made some changes, which I think turned out pretty well.

I followed the original recipe for the most part, but instead of immediately rolling the truffles in the candy cane pieces, I chilled the centres and dipped them in an additional layer of white chocolate before sprinkling with the crushed pieces of candy cane.

Once I ran out of the melted white chocolate I began to make the truffles as the original instructions suggested.  Although these look much more professional (they actually stayed round), I have to say I do prefer the ones dipped in chocolate.  I also think it might be a fun idea of experiment by dipping these centres in dark or milk chocolate as well.