Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Recipe Monday... on a Tuesday!

Lemon and Lentil Soup

lentil soup

I know it sounds kind of funny, and it doesn't look too swell, but this is a great soup, and it only takes about half and hour to make. I made a huge pot of it on Sunday afternoon and we ate it for lunch and dinner.

You'll need:

olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tbs finely grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups of red lentils, rinsed
2 cups of veggie or chicken stock
1-2 cups of water

Some yoghurt if you like.

All you need to do is:

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add onion, cumin & coriander until soft and brown (about 5 mins).

2. Add the lemon zest, lentils, stock and water; bring to the boil and let simmer for 20 minutes. You want it to be cooked, but not mushy.

3. That's it! You may need to add some more water, depending on the consistency you prefer, taste it and add some yoghurt if you like that kind of thing-- I usually put a tea spoon into my bowl.

More recipes at Amityville Boronia, and look at the scrolls I made from Jemma's recipe a couple of weeks ago... they didn't last long!

scrolls
Woo hoo!
B.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Sew Mama Sew comp closed...

and the winners are...........

1. Casey, you get to keep Gordon!
2. Messy Mama, you get something special which I'll post later in the day!

My follower/reader people will get something super cool (well I think so...) later in the day too, when it's in better shape than it is right now!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone for playing along. I was amazed with 272 comments!
Hope Monday isn't too painful for everyone...
B.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

So I went a little nuts at the fabric shop today...

oppppppssss....
And this isn't the entirety of it... but I'm really happy with what I got!

P1015650

P1015647

I'm going to draw the giveaway tomorrow night, and I'm going to throw in a couple of extra prizes, I really wasn't expecting so many entries... it was a nice suprise to see so many, so I'm going to pick 2 winners, and I'm going to pick one of the followers to win something a little different!

Good night and good luck! ;)
B.



Thursday, May 28, 2009

My Creative Space

Well, today is going to be a non-event for productivity... the house is a mess, even for me, and I need to spend some time really cleaning, tidying and ordering things... my brain always works better when the space is ordered, but the way I create is to pull things out of their 'away space', and mix colours and look at fabrics, and look at books, and compare old designs... and generally make a huge mess.

This is what you'll find around the place at the moment...

sketches
1. Lots of sketches... they seem to be multiplying around here...

screen printing...
2. Some fabric I printed using a photo emulsion screen. It's no where near perfect, but it's a vast improvement on the last time I used the emulsion, so I will stick at it!

ruby doll in the works
3. A Ruby Doll I'm making for the Craft Hope project: dolls for girls living in an orphanage in South America.

fabric
4. Some fabric I have no idea what to do with, but could not resist whilst Etsy shopping a little while ago...

new baby bug
5. And of course, there are new bugs arriving all the time! This one is a little baby bug, inspired by the 'premmy' cabbage patch I had as a kid, made using cotton and Japanese linen.

More creative spaces as always at Kootoyoo!
Well, I'm off to clean and cook a big quiche for my Grandmother's birthday! Wish me luck!
B, x.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

It ' s Giveaway Day!

And you can win Gordon!
Gordon the cat
"But you just did a giveaway" I hear you say... yes, that's true, but that was all about me... this one is all about everyone else! As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Sew Mama Sew is hosting a giveaway day where a whole bunch of blogs giveaway a whole bunch of stuff. It starts today and closes on the 31st (this Sunday), so go check it out and have a look at all the freebies up for grabs, as well as a whole list of blogs that may or may not be new to you. How exciting!?!

Note: Since Sew Mama Sew is a US blog, you'll have to wait till their 27th of May, which begins in a little while!

To win Gordon the cat, leave a comment, any comment, preferably a nice one, and I'll pick a winner randomly on Sunday. Overseas entries are fine!

Cheerio! 
B.

P.S. Make sure you leave some way of getting in contact in case you win!
P.P.S. I have a giveaway group on Facebook to let you all know when I'm doing freebies, so feel free to join or visit!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tucked up in Bed...

My Words and Pictures for this week... I'm an eager beaver aren't I???

tucked up in bed...
Ok, so it doesn't snow in Wollongong, and a lot of people would say it doesn't even get cold... but I really, really feel the cold... and it's generally whilst in situations such as these, that I appreciate the simplicity of being tucked up warm in bed, in clean-sunshiny-smelling flannelette sheets, and a big squishy warm doona!

More Words and Pictures via Meet me at Mikes!

Goodnight! I have to go put my clean-sunshiny-smelling flannelette sheets back on my bed now!

B, x.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Recipe Monday

Gingerbread Men
gingerbread men
You'll need:

200g butter
90g white sugar
90g brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
4 cloves, pounded in a mortar
1 egg
550g plain flour
2tsp bi-carb soda
pinch salt

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses, spices and egg, and mix well.

2. Sieve together the flour, the bi-carb and salt, and add butter and egg mixture a bit at a time; stir well after each addition.

3. Knead the dough a couple of times to make sure it is well mixed. Refrigerate for an hour (but I don’t always do this and they’re fine!).

4. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

5. Roll out dough on a floured bench until 3mm thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out as many gingerbread men (or whatever shape) as you can.

6. Placed on a lined baking tray, and bake for 12 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. Cool on a wire rack, then ice or sprinkle some icing sugar on top!

Jemma at Amityville Boronia has a Mr. Linky up, so if you have a recipe to share, pop over and play along!

Enjoy,
B.

P.S. I forgot to mention: I had trouble buying molasses at the supermarket... try health food stores!