Thursday, 24 May 2012

Prep, prep, prepping!

This Saturday sees the return of the ever popular Vintage and Makers' Market at the Shire Hall in Chelmsford. This market is extra special as there will also be stalls in the High Street (opposite Superdrug) and there are a whole host of excting things to purchase with the odd drop in workshop too.

I'll be there with my wares, and the last few days have seen me preparing my stock and making sure I have everything ready to go. There are a couple of new items for sale and the day is set to be a busy one for all the stall holders as the weather looks promising!

I hope to see you there if you're in the area, so do pop by and say hi! This market is the perfect opportunity to buy an unusual birthday gift or even just a treat for yourself!

Vintage & Makers’ Market
Saturday 26th May 2012
10am – 4.30pm
Shire Hall (top of Chelmsford High Street)
Chelmsford

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

The Up Side

The up side to all the rain we've had recently is that the garden is starting to look very green and showing signs of coming back to life. And to proved that we did in fact have a warm and sunny weekend, here are a few garden pics.

Happy windmill

Still to be planted

Raspberries

Rhubarb

Potatoes
Raspberries

Kiwi tree!!

Potatoes

Raspberries

I'm eagerly awaiting the fruit growing so I can get munching on it! Last year we had somewhere in the region of 20-30kg of raspberries, so hopefully this year's crop will be equally bountiful!!

Monday, 14 May 2012

Weekend Instagrams

Hello! I feel the need to do some blogging but have no new crafty things to share (just yet) so I thought I'd share some of my Instagram pics from the weekend.

Saturday night in making progress on the baby blanket

Love this table cloth and the minimal look after doing the dusting

Bubble insists on getting involved with the crochet

Carrot cake cupcakes, fresh out the oven

The only way to protect the kitchen from icing sugar dust while making icing!



Hope you're weekend was sunny, warm and productive. If you want to follow me on Instagram, search for PrincessCrafts and you'll find me!

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

A jolly day out by the sea

As I progress through my pregnancy, it's becoming more important to me that Mr PC and I spend time together doing things as a couple. Sometimes this is just vegging out in front of the telly, but mostly it's about going out and doing things while we are still free to do as we please. Once the Little Poppet arrives, we will still go out and do stuff, but the dynamic will be different so I want us to make the most of the time we have left while it's still just the two of us.

This bank holiday we decided to visit Leigh-on-Sea which we haven't been to in years. We had a fab day out mooching along the old town and treated ourselves to a posh lunch at The Boatyard. I thought I'd share a few pics from the day, you will see that seafood featured heavily which was a shame for me as I'm not supposed to eat it at the moment but Mr PC loved it though which makes me happy.









Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Bake List: Butteries

Another item ticked off my Bake List! Butteries are something I have always wanted to make, particularly as you can't buy them in England and so the only way to have any is to make them yourself. I decided to make these yummy baked treats for the weekend as I was staying at my mum and dad's along with my aunt and we are all big buttery fans. They went down a treat!


I have a great book of traditional Scottish recipes called 'Taste Ye Back' and so used the buttery recipe from there. It called for a shocking amount of lard, vegetable fat and salt and knowing what goes into them has slightly put me off eating too many. Heart attack on a plate, esp when you add whatever accompaniment you have with them!

The method is pretty easy, a bit like making bread, but a bit 'stagey' as you have to prove them twice before baking. And handling the lard was rather gross, might wear rubber gloves next time!





If you've never had a buttery before, the best way to describe them is: like a very salty, dense croissant. They are best warm and toast really well. I had mine with some ham which balanced out the saltiness, my mum had hers with strawberry jam and my aunt had egg and bacon with hers! So that goes to show there are several ways to eat them. Next time I will use a bit less salt as the recipe called for 40g which we all felt made them that bit too salty.


Check out the rest of my Bake List and the progress so far.

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

2 into 1

Have you ever bought a dress that's not your normal style but are convinced that it will become a firm favourite anyway only to discover that you probably should have left it in the shop? Well, I've done that a few times!

I had a lovely summery dress which I bought under the whole 'I need something interesting in my wardrobe' theory and after wearing it twice decided that it just wasn't 'me' so it was shoved to the back of the wardrobe and forgotten about.

A while ago I found a tutorial on Pinterest about how to make a maxi dress using a vest top and some jersey cotton. This got me thinking about that (expensive) dress which hadn't seen the light of day in eons. I also had a white tunic top which I never wore either. Then I had the inspiration to chop them both in half and sew them into a new dress! It took some thinking and a bit of planning along with some hoping that it would work and a couple of hours later I had this:

 

I kept the pretty lace waistband which was on the dress and managed to also incorporate the existing shirred elastic back that it had so it will be nice and comfy.



If the summer ever graces us with its presence this year, I hope to get to wear it. At the moment though, I'm not sure how much longer it will fit as my baby bump is growing every week! This is a long flowy dress with acres of skirt so hopefully I'll get a few wears out of it this year.

NB: The photos are awful because it is once again a dark and dingy day with little chance of any good photography, even with a 'proper' camera.

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

The Cook List: Sausage Rolls

Way back in September last year, I wrote my Cook List which identified a number of dishes that I want to make for the first time. Between one thing and another, this culinary wish list has been on the back burner. Well, last week I got round to making item number 11 from the list - Sausage Rolls.

I found a recipe on Cherry Menlove's website and instantly knew I had to make them!! I actually first made these at Christmas but never got a photo as they were gobbled up so quickly. I made them again last weekend for a party, and guess what, no photo this time either! So you'll have to pop over here to see what they look like and get the recipe. 

These are actually the best sausage rolls I've ever tasted and mine turned out exactly like the picture too! Make these for the next party you're invited to and you'll have a ton of new friends!!


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