British Cream Tea : Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

A toddler's lunch

Because I am still ill and Toby has another tooth coming through...easy and quick and oh so yummy on a caterpillar plate ;)

Strawberries
Blackberries
Cherry Tomatoes
Kiwi
Brie
Home baked bread

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Scouse and a day in the kitchen

Both of us are ill today and are crossing our fingers Toby does not come down with it too...so for the ultimate comfort food and spirit lifting activity I spent the morning in the kitchen baking biscuits and bread and making the Liverpudlian blanket-in-a-bowl that is scouse. Rarely found outside the confines of Merseyside, scouse rivals even the chicken soup and hot lemon & honey cures of my childhood when it comes to cold feet and runny noses.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion

250g carrots

250g minced beef

500g potatoes

1 beef stock cube

1 oxo cube

1. Chop the carrots, onion and potatoes.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the carrot and onion and fry until soft and the onion is translucent.

3. Add the mince and stir gently until browned, then add the potatoes.

4. Barely cover the mixture with water and add the stock cube and oxo cube.

5. Simmer for as long as you can wait, at least 3 or 4 hours, stirring regularly and adding more water if necessary.

6. Serve with slices of bread and butter and pickled red cabbage ;)

Oh and the bread was fabulous in my new tin...let me know if you want my tested recipe in future!!

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Jam tart biscuits ;)

Last night I wanted to make jam tarts, but at 10.30 at night I had no desire to make pastry from scratch, so I thought I would try something new...and an idea came out of the blue...

I made a basic short biscuit mix, squashed balls of dough into a tiny fairy cake tin I rarely use due the fact it is so hard to get paper cases small enough, and added spoonfuls of raspberry jam.

They turned out so scrumptious, teeny and cute I thought I'd share!

225g softened butter

100g icing (confectioners) sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g ground almonds

200g plain flour

raspberry jam

1. Grease the wells in a fairy cake tray (I used a small one with wells about 1.5"/4cm across but you could use any size).

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy and add the vanilla. Add in the ground almonds and gradually stir in the flour.

3. Dust your hands with flour and form the dough into balls about the size of a walnut. Place one in each well of the tin and squash down the middle with your thumb to form a cup shape. Chill for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes. Fill each hole with a tsp or so of jam and return to the oven until pale golden (about 5 minutes).

5. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes or so before removing them and placing on a wire rack to cool.

6. Try to resist eating them whilst hot as you will burn your mouth. We never managed this as children, or adults for that matter, and I still burn my mouth on the jam every time! ;)

These can be filled with strawberry jam, blackcurrant jam, apricot jam, orange marmalade, lime marmalade, lime curd or lemon curd...or make a few of each for a pretty plate full....mmmm...

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

What I adore about Autumn

Russet brown, curling leaves crunching underfoot and being played with by children outside Cath Kidston as their parents look on and laugh.

Tiny resilient purple flowers peeking up through the dying flower beds of the Bluecoat Gallery.

Brick Walls with recent wounds revealing splashes of orange.

Leaves lying on quiet, empty benches that in summer would be filled with people drinking tea and chattering.

The crisp chill in the air as the days get shorter and the evenings demand hot chocolate, closed blinds and heaps of cosy blankets.

Window displays full of scarves, bobble hats, wellington boots and winter coats.

The first time the cold air fogs each breath and for a moment you can actually see your words.

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

The Company

I am tired tonight; very, very tired.

So this evening I have a date with my little black cat and The Company on DVD. I can never resist the scenes of the endless ballet training, exercising, practicing, choreography and performing...be still my beating heart ;)

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Wonderful patisserie *swoon*

I love cookery on television (I bet you would never have guessed that right?).

I also love reality type television when it is based around something creative (Design for Life or Project Catwalk/Runway) or business (The Apprentice). But Billy is not keen on those at all so they are my guilty pleasures; to be watched on evenings alone after Toby's bedtime, when I am accompanied only by chocolate.

Masterchef, however, is a nightly ritual that both of us watch, and last night's episode, based around patisserie and afternoon teas, was amazing! Make sure you watch at least the first 20 minutes or so of this and be ready to swoon! Oh and the video will only be there for a week (BBC iPLayer) so hurry...

I so want to really learn how to do all those techniques!

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Satsuma on The Storque

I discovered last night that my satsuma is featured in an article about felt on Etsy's blog The Storque

I just love the colours of all the featured items and obviously love being amoungst them!!

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Je Ne Regrette Rien

  

I know most of my blog and my work is British, but this is not British, it is 100% French,

and it is my favourite song of all time...

    

Non, Rien De Rien,Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Ni Le Bien Qu'on M'a Fait, Ni Le Mal
Tout Ca M'est Bien Egal
Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
C'est Paye, Balaye, Oublie, Je Me Fous Du Passe

Avec Mes Souvenirs J'ai Allume Le Feu
Mes Shagrins, Mes Plaisirs,
Je N'ai Plus Besoin D'eux
Balaye Les Amours Avec Leurs Tremolos
Balaye Pour Toujours
Je Reparas A Zero

Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Ni Le Bien Qu'on M'a Fait, Ni Le Mal
Tout Ca M'est Bien Egal
Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Car Ma Vie, Car Me Joies
Aujourd'hui Ca Commence Avec Toi

  

and in English (as near as I can make it!).....

  

No! Nothing at all
No! I regret nothing at all
Not the good, nor the evil.
It is all the same.
No! Nothing at all
No! I regret nothing at all
everything is paid, swept away, forgotten, I don't care for what's gone by

With my memories, I've lit a fire
My sorrows, my pleasures
I don't need them anymore
My love stories are swept away, with the tremblings they brought
Swept away forever
I set out once more from zero

No! Nothing at all
No! I regret nothing at all
Not the good, nor the evil.
It is all the same.
No! Nothing at all
No! I regret nothing at all
Because my life, because my joys
Today it all begins with you.

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

100 ideas...

I found this list today on artist and author Kerri Smith's blog and love some of the ideas for creativity.

Some are so simple and yet I never thought about them before!!

Just wanted to share ;)

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture

Biscuit infatuation

I am in love with Biscuiteers' biscuits. They truly are edible art.

My favourite is their London Set; a beautiful tin filled with London shaped, hand decorated biscuits. Big Ben, the London Eye, a pillar box, a phone box, London Bridge, underground signs and a black cab.

Perfect!!

They also do a baking set...

...and  Paris set which I am seriously coveting!!

If I had a spare few pounds I would have ordered a few tins just to look at them as they are all almost too beautiful to eat. Shame they would go furry if I tried to frame them!

British Cream Tea: Delicious British Felt Food Sculpture